West Brunswick High School

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Apr 17 / Varsity Women's Soccer
West Brunswick High School

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Apr 17 / Varsity Baseball
West Brunswick High School

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West Bladen

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Apr 15 / Varsity Women’s Soccer
West Brunswick High School

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South Brunswick

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Apr 15 / Varsity Women’s Soccer
West Brunswick High School

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Hoggard

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Apr 14 / Varsity Baseball
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Hoggard

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Apr 14 / Varsity Softball

Pressure of Wrestling

Why developing a strong mindset is as crucial as physical training.

Savannah Robinson, Samantha Grubb, and Lillian Baird

Dec 8, 2025

Junior Josh Connick cheering on his team mates.

Why it matters

The number of students leaving the wrestling team throughout a season can have an impact on our school performance. With few team members, the potential of winning conferences and matches decreases significantly. As many wrestlers continue to leave as the season advances, immense pressure can get added onto any remaining players, as well as the coaches, often causing an unfair disadvantage against the team, such as lower confidence and team morale.

“Last season we had a roster of 50 kids,” said junior Josh Connick. “We ended with 18.”

DETAILS

Wrestling is a sport that can cause a lot of mental and physical pressure throughout the season, and while many are prepared for the workload, some may face stress causing them to leave the team. Some reasons some players might leave the team before the season is complete include:

Making weight – Wrestlers must make weight for every match, meaning they can not be above or below their weight class as this would cause them to not be able to compete. This can cause wrestlers to participate in a decreased food intake. Wrestlers will go to the extreme to lose a few pounds or even ounces before a match, some ways being spitting into a bottle or even wearing extra layers to sweat a little more in order to shed the last few ounces of extra weight. Often times this can cause wrestlers to experience a constant state of feeling light headed on top of being dehydrated and malnourished.

Daily cardio – Wrestling is a very physically demanding sport, meaning it takes a lot of endurance to keep up with. There are often practices held every afternoon when the season is in play. These workouts can involve lots of activities including conditioning, practice matches, weight training, and technique practice.

Off season practice – Wrestlers often join clubs in the off season in order to improve techniques for the upcoming season. Wrestling is a sport that takes a lot of commitment, even once the season is complete.

Drawing people to the mat

While there are reasons students may not want to join the wrestling team, some get drawn to its independent nature. In other sports, like football, a player ends up relying on his or her team in order to perform well against the opponents. It is different, however, for wrestling because a player will end up putting an added pressure on themselves due to the fact that it’s a one on one event.

“I like putting pressure on myself, and I don’t want to rely on anybody else for it,” said junior Josh Connick.” “and I feel like wrestling is the definition of that.”

Pressure point:

The pressure that comes with sports that compete individually is intense and can strongly affect the athletes mentality and their confidence. When they compete they can’t pass the pressure to a team mate, they have to know what to do at all times, and all the responsibility is on them. Not only that but the whole crowd focused on them, the pressure to succeed is intense. These factors all affect the players and lead to many teams to struggle.

“It’s very nerve-wracking because all eyes are on you.” said sophomore Catherine Lu Bui, “they’re watching you and you can just feel this weird tension and a bunch of pressure.”

Lenience and patience:

Most wrestlers that leave the team will often do it before or during Christmas break, as wrestlers are expected to keep up with the team’s schedule during the holidays. However, if wrestlers make it to this point they are offered a two pound allowance. This means that although they may wrestle at 145 they can weigh in at 147, giving a lot more lenience if they are able to make it halfway through the season. However, the stress of long workouts on top of winter exams oftentimes causes a lot of individuals to leave before they even get the opportunity to eat more or cut less.

What they are saying:

“I think an important thing to realize is that sometimes the sport sucks, like you’re not always going to be having a fun time, but sometimes you just gotta stick with it,” said junior Josh Connick. “I hated my whole freshman year: I wasn’t having any fun. I was getting beat all the time. I was losing matches I shouldn’t have, and it’s a really hard sport.”

The big picture:

Wrestling is a very interesting sport, and takes heart and dedication. Everyday is not going to be fun or easy.However once you get your first win and hear your team cheering for you that is when you know all the work you are putting in is worth it and why you have given it your all even when it’s hard.

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Your donation will support the student journalists of West Brunswick High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributors

Savannah Robinson, Event Coverage Coordinator and Assistant Broadcast Director

17-year-old senior Savannah Robinson is currently in her fourth semester of journalism and serving as the event coverage coordinator and the assistant broadcast director. Robinson was born in Monroe, NC before relocating to Ash. She is part of a softball team and was picked to go to the World Series for her recreational softball team in 2023. In the West Wind she was a staff writer and a broadcast director each for two semesters. “Being the broadcast director was stressful but it was a good experience.” said Robinson. This semester being the event coverage coordinator and the assistant broadcast director, she will be in charge of all the events that the students will be posting on the website. She will also be in charge of helping the broadcast director with all the videos that will be posted. “I’m glad I still get to do something in broadcast and still get to look at the event coverages.” said Robinson. “I’m glad I still get to have a role on the board but not be the main person that people came too because it got stressful at times.” She has been playing softball since she could walk. Robinson also has been on the softball team here since her freshman year. In her free time in the future, she hopes she could coach the sport. After high school, Robinson plans on going to Gardner-Webb to get her teaching degree. “I want to teach special education at a preschool,” said Robinson. “In some schools, the people who need extra help can’t get it because they do not have the available staff.” Robinson was inspired to get her teaching degree when she saw that some kids were not getting the help they needed. If all goes according to plan, Robinson will continue to play softball in college.

Samantha Grubb, Staff Writer

Samantha Grubb is a 16 year old junior entering her first semester of journalism. Grubb was born in Freehold, New Jersey and soon after moved to Calabash, North Carolina, where she has spent most of her life. Balancing between school and work is a big part in Grubb’s life as she is dedicated to be actively participating in both. Grubb strives to work at least 30 hour work weeks on top of keeping up with her grades in school. When it comes to academics, Grubb has never drifted from an A average, which she recognizes as a proud accomplishment every year. Grubb also tries her hardest to participate in school clubs whenever possible. Entering her junior year, Grubb decided to reach out of her comfort zone and explore new class opportunities, and one that caught her eye was journalism. “I wanted to join journalism because my brother would always talk so highly of not only the class, but the teacher as well,” said Grubb. “ I would also constantly see the West Wind page on TikTok, and I always thought that the people who were participating in the class were super lucky.” In her free time, Grubb constantly finds new hobbies. Starting this year, she has been committed to doing her own nails, learning new techniques and designs with every new set. She also spends Sundays often hanging out with her partner and getting into the habit of going to church. Grubb enjoys various hands-on activities, such as bracelet making, painting, and drawing that match her artsy characteristics. After graduation in 2027, Grubb hopes to go to UNCW for four years. While her future occupation is still undecided, she knows that she is interested in majoring in healthcare. “Since starting high school, I have been dedicated to completing all the health science courses,” Grubb said. “I started off being interested in a veterinarian as a kid, because I have always loved animals,” Grubb said, “But upon entering my teenage years, I’ve grown to become really comfortable around kids, so I’ve started to look into occupations that would allow me to not only work with but also help young children, like a pediatrician.”

Lillian Baird, staff writer

Lillian Baird is a 15-year-old sophomore who is now taking journalism for the first time. She first grew an interest in the class after seeing some of the West Wind TikTok videos and a lot of her friends telling her about the class. “After I kept seeing their videos and hearing a lot of my friends talking about how good of a class it was, I decided I wanted to sign up for the class,” said Baird. “It just looked like a good and fun group to be a part of.” Baird was born in Hickory, North Carolina and lived there until she was 5. She and her family then moved to Holden beach in 2014. After coming down on a vacation, where they realized they wanted to move down. Since they moved down there, they go to the beach very often. It’s one of her favorite things to do with her family. “I love when I get the chance to go to the beach with my family, it’s definitely one of my favorite things that we get to do, and it’s one of the reasons we moved down to the beach in the first place,” said Baird. “We just fell in love with it.” Baird’s favorite sport is lacrosse, and she spends most of her time either playing or practicing. She started playing when she was in middle school at Cedar Grove. She now plays for a travel team based in Shallotte, NC called Wild Tide. Baird is also a part of the varsity women’s lacrosse team at school. Baird has made most of her friends through the sport and really enjoys it. She wants to continue playing lacrosse through high school and hopefully college as well. “Lacrosse is definitely my favorite sport and my favorite way to spend my time. Playing lacrosse has helped me meet so many people and friends,” said Baird. “I really hope to continue playing– would be a dream of mine.” In the future, Baird is not fully sure about what she wants to do after high school, but she does have some interest in exploring things like real estate or the sales world. When she was little, she dreamed of being a baker, but she has recently grown out of that. Baird does plan on attending college, where she wants to pursue her lacrosse career until graduation. “When I was little I always wanted to be a baker, I found so much comfort in being able to just make my favorite things, I learned how to bake from my grandma and it’s something me and her could always bond over.” said Baird

Mary Payton Pendergrass, Online Director

Sixteen-year-old Mary Payton Pendergrass, or as many refer to her as M.P., is a junior this year and is currently in her fourth semester of the West Wind. Pendergrass was born and raised in Ocean Isle Beach and loves being by the beach. “I love being just a ten minute drive from the beach,” said Pendergrass. “I couldn’t imagine not being able to go to the beach whenever I want to. I wish everyone had the chance that others in Brunswick County do.” When Pendergrass is not at the beach, she enjoys many other activities such as soccer, hanging out with friends, exploring new things, working and journalism. Pendergrass found her interest in journalism due to her pause in soccer after tearing her ACL at the end of her freshman year. Despite the setback she took the challenge with an open mind and tried this new interest of journalism. “It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to push through,” Pendergrass said. “I’ve played soccer since I was four, so having to take a step back and not be able to play for a year was really hard, but it also opened my eyes up to new possibilities and hobbies.” Since Pendergrass was sideline, she decided to pick up a camera and begin to take photos at athletic events. Even making her own social media accounts (@shotswithmp) and gaining some followers on there. “Taking pictures is lots of fun,” said Pendergrass. “It’s not a skill I’m fantastic at, but something I more so just picked up for fun but I really enjoy it and hope it is something I can get better at.” When Pendergrass is not playing soccer or doing photography, she often is doing other events around the school, from DECA to Juniorettes. In DECA, Pendergrass runs the social media pages as VP of Marketing, while in Juniorettes she is VP of Leadership in which she helps plan events and make this new club run as smoothly as possible. “I like staying busy,” said Pendergrass. “I think staying involved, interacting with others, and helping people is so important and a lot of fun.” While Pendergrass does not have an exact plan for her future, she would wish to attend UNC Chapel Hill or NC State and pursue something in sports. From sports media, journalism, administration or management Pendergrass is not exactly sure where she was to land but knows she wants to work in or near a sports environment when she is older. “Sports have always been something that interests me,” Pendergrass said. “I have always played sports, from soccer, dance, softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and more. The idea of just being a competitive athlete and having a built in family of teammates is always something I find interesting. Playing sports over time I feel like I’ve developed a strong sense of the game and a pretty decent sports IQ as well.” Pendergrass is excited to be in her fourth semester and is looking forward to learning new things, helping others, and sharing her love for journalism throughout the class, school, and community. “I can’t wait to see what this year has in store,” Pendergrass said. “I think it is going to be a really great year and we’re going to have lots of fun!”