Fond memories for senior wrestlers

Their time on the wrestling mat has ended, but the memories will live on for three Washington wrestlers.

Trey Van Weelden, Karlton Skubal and Kyle Anderson took part in their last wrestling match last week in Des Moines, ending long careers on the mat with years of memories.

?I?ve been wrestling for as long as I can remember,? Van Weelden said. ?I think I started in kindergarten, but I don?t really know for sure.?

?I started in maybe first or second grade,? Skubal said. ?But I haven?t been wrestling for all that time, as I did take a break for a few years.?

Anderson started when we was even younger.

?I was in preschool, so I?ve been wrestling for something like 14 years or so,? he said.

Why wrestling?

?It was just something our group of friends did at a young age,? Van Weelden said. ?We all hung out together as little kids and all got into wrestling at the same time.?

?I grew up being told ?you?d better do this,?? Skubal said. ?So after a while, you just get used to it. Then you decided that you?ll go out for wrestling. It was fun.?

?I would say we hung out because all our parents made us wrestle,? Anderson said with a chuckle.

?All of our parents wrestled, so that?s what drove us to do it,? Van Weelden said.

There have been many challenges along the road.

?My biggest challenge was breaking my arm when I was younger,? Van Weelden said. ?I broke it while wrestling against another senior, Austin Hazelett. We were wrestling in a tournament match. He sort of threw me and I broke my arm. Other than that happening, I really haven?t had any challenges.?

?I didn?t have any problems when I was younger,? Anderson said.

?When I was young, I was really good. In high school, I got my first concussion. Everyone thinks they?re really tough so they have to step it up and try to throw you so there might be more injuries involved, but it?s nothing too bad.?

Not only have there been challenges, there also have been great memories.

The one that stands out most for Van Weelden was heading to Des Moines for the first time to be part of the state duals meet.

?That was last year,? he said. ?It was the first time in school history we made it to state. It was crazy to be part of that.?

Skubal agreed.

?The atmosphere in the gym the night of the regional duals was very high,? he said. ?It was a great time to be a Demon.?

Anderson?s fondest memory came three years ago.

?My best memory was probably in my freshman year,? he said. ?It was fun because I earned my first state medal that year. It was just myself and the upper classmen that medaled. I was in a situation where I was with just them and I really got to bond with them.?

All three agree on the most valuable learning experience while wrestling.

?It?s learning to just push through hard experiences,? Van Weelden said. ?We have been going to wrestling camps and a practice called Eastern Iowa all summer and they are crazy hard. You just really have to push yourself to continue to make yourself better through the summer and offseason.?

Now that they are finished wrestling at Washington, what will they miss most?

For Van Weelden, it?s the time immediately following a win.

?After you pull off an upset or a victory that nobody expects you to win and the crowed goes crazy and congratulating you, it?s the surreal feeling of being in the moment,? he said.

?I liked all the camps that our team went to together,? Skubal said. ?We all bonded. I will miss the fans, too. They followed us pretty much anywhere we went. They are so supportive in everything we do and how we do it.?

For Anderson it was something different.

?I?m going to miss getting my hand raised after a victory,? he said. ?In wrestling, when you win, it?s all by yourself. There?s not a teammate doing this. It?s all you. You know you earned it.?