Unbeaten Wayne keeps rolling.
Wayne Wrestlers Assure Future
by Bill Pucko
photo by Andy Heinze
Published Feb 01, 2005

Welcome to Wayne's world where wrestling is something more than an athletic afterthought. "We try to make it a positive experience for the kids from the time they walk in the door," said coach Scott Freischlag. "It's a tremendous amount of work. It is a very challenging sport. It's obviously a personal sport. The kids have to learn to deal with adversity right away."

There has been precious little adversity here this year. The Wayne Eagles are unbeaten, third ranked in the state with a win over Spencerport. It was the Rangers first head to head loss in eleven years. "We are really enjoying the benefits of alot of hard work over the last several years to get these guys to the kind of team we want."

Meanwhile the students have become the masters. There is another tradition at Wayne. The varsity wrestlers, the captains mostly, teach the sport to the kids. This is how you caretake a succesful program. "There are alot of moves and alot of technique," said co-captain and 200 win man Nathan Patterson, "but really only need a few moves. You gotta get good at a few moves that you want to do and that'll really help you to be successful."

With so many other activities to chose from, wrestling is a tough sell in alot of schools, but not here. "Every year we try to get better," said coach Freischlag. We try to look at what we do, evaluate ourselves and try to incorporate some changes year in and year out. We've had some great kids, alot of kid with great character, that's helped us alot. It's not one factor, I think it's a combination of alot of those things that got us to the point where we're at now."