Nov. 13 marked the start of a new wrestling season here at Bellarmine. Across the wrestling team handbook reads a short saying in bold, capitalized letters: “Hard work! No excuses!”

It’s no lie that being a part of the wrestling team means being a part of something better. It takes character and motivation, not only in the wrestling room or at competitions, but in the classroom as well.

The coaches’ expectations of players states: “The Bellarmine Prep Wrestling Program is a tool to help motivate our wrestlers to do well in school. There are two expectations concerning your work in the classroom: accountability and responsibility.”

Players can attest to this, junior Tim Jensen being one of them. “Wrestling is about conquering the mental side to accomplish great things. You’re only as good as you think you are.”

Senior Dario Titus added, “If you can wrestle, then you can do anything, because it requires a physical and mental commitment. This translates to any part of life.”

These words have been taken into account leading up to the start of the new season. Preparations started a month ago, and the team is looking forward to a great season.

“We had a bunch of people show up for the pre-season workouts and there are many new freshmen who have joined the team. There is a lot of potential this year. As our team is very young, our biggest goal is improvement. Since we’re in the toughest league in the state we’re here to compete at every tournament,” Titus said.

Senior Daniel Ladenburg agreed. “The team is competing with the best, and we hope to be competitors with such a young team. We hope to be succesful!”

Led by head coach Dave Grisaffi, the 2017-2018 wrestling season this winter surely shows great promise and pursuit of the motto of “hard work, no excuses.”