The Norwin Knights wrestling team has had an extremely successful and promising start to their unusual COVID season. Like every other winter sport, the wrestling team was also given the challenge of adapting to the new COVID rules for the season. The boys must wear masks while in practice and warm us before the match. Although they are allowed to wrestle without a mask on. 

     But they also had the flux of a new coach, Kyle Martin. 

     Even though the team encountered multiple changes at the start of the season, that has not stopped Martin and the team from winning right out of the gate. 

     The wrestling team just recently secured a spot in playoffs by beating Latrobe and Greensburg Salem, forfeiting their match against Norwin. The team now heads  into the playoffs with a record of 6-1 with their only loss against Kiski Area.

      Now that the team has secured their spot in the playoffs, senior wrestler John Altieri has high hopes for the rest of the season.

      “We are 100% going to make a great, solid run before states this year,” said Altieri. “We have a good squad this year to be successful and continue to win matches and have multiple wrestlers go to states.” 

     Not only did the team receive a confidence boost when making it to the playoffs, but they gained even more confidence after some individual wins this weekend at the prestigious Powerade Tournament.

     This weekend (Jan 30-31), the wrestling team competed in the annual Powerade tournament. As usual, the tournament was a success and multiple wrestlers walked out with hardware. 

     In this year’s tournament, three boys placed. Junior Chase Kranitz placed 2nd, senior John Altieri placed 3rd, and junior Luke Passarelli placed 6th. 

     These wins have given an extra confidence boost to the team and those three individuals especially. Overall, the team is prepared to continue their winning season and thrive as a team. 

     “After the three of us won we gained more confidence in ourselves, we now just have to stay out of our heads,” said Altieri. “We have an overload of confidence and that will keep us successful for the rest of the season.”