Unlike the girls team, the majority of the boys varsity wrestling team is made up of athletes who have participated in the sport for years, oftentimes outside of school. Brett Pelfrey ’22 has been a wrestler for 13 years and participates in club wrestling. Most of his family has also been an avid part of this sport.

“My whole family wrestled. My dad wrestled, my grandpa wrestled, [and] all of my older brothers,” Pelfrey said. “It is in my blood.”

Like many members of the team, Pelfrey was exposed to the sport at a younger age, and as a result, has more experience. Similarly to those on the girls team, many on the boys team participate in other sports. Pelfrey is in football and shot put along with wrestling. He believes that the difference between those sports and wrestling is that wrestling is much less of a team sport.

“It’s a lot more personal … Only you can step on that mat,” said Pelfrey.

Although it is not a team sport, Pelfrey believes that wrestling cultivates a good team atmosphere.

“Wrestling at West is just like a big family [because of] the work we all put in and the familiarity we all have with each other,” said Pelfrey.

Because the team is older, they have more experienced members who have wrestled with each other in and outside of West.

“I think most of the guys on varsity are pretty good, they do club during the off season. We have four or five guys that are ranked top five in the state,” said one of the boys team managers, Lorena Tran ’20.

Since the team has been around for longer, they have made some traditions and will likely make more in the future.

“They make up team hashtags each year, plus they have treats after the tournaments [….] for the whole week they can’t eat to make weight, so after they do the tournaments the managers make treats for them,” said Tran.