Reece Wrage, sophomore, wrestles in the 220 pounds weight class and qualified for State Wrestling this year. 

Wrage had been preparing to qualify for State wrestling since he started in kindergarten. “To qualify for the State Wrestling Tournament, you have to work through all the challenges you go through while competing, work as hard as you can all the time, and keep a clean mind set as much as possible. I battled through multiple small injuries throughout the year, but I tried to keep the best attitude I could about it and keep going,” Wrage shared. 

Although qualifying for State Wrestling is a big accomplishment itself, the work Wrage had to put in was not over yet. He still had more matches to overcome before his season was over. 

As he put the work in at State, Wrage unfortunately had two very strong competitors that he lost to. Even though he was very happy with this turn out he mentioned, “I know I’ll be back next year.”

Since the tournament is now over, Wrage now has new goals set for his future career in wrestling. “Going to State as an underclassmen is something that all wrestlers want to do and doing that was a big ego boost for me and made me more excited for the next two years,” Wrage shares. 

In past years, North Polk has had many wrestlers qualify to compete at the State Tournament, but this year Wrage was the only one to qualify. In hopes that more people will qualify in future years, Wrage states, “I will not be the only wrestler walking the halls in the send off next year.