![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
The best wrestlers from across the state will gather at the Berry Center in Cypress, TX this weekend to compete for a spot on the podium at the State Championships.
Seven T-Wolves, along with Coach Richard Eckley, left to a DEN sendoff today. These athletes are seniors Tristan Fay and Rachel Corley, junior Max Brandt, sophomores Cade Haskins and Gavin Wood and freshmen Nathan Reilly and Jet Mentel.
“Tournaments take a long time and typically you [compete] every hour or so,” Corley said. “Duals are really fun. They are really hyped up around the team and everyone is cheering for everybody. Every meet or tournament will go in weight order. I enjoy the competitiveness of meets like when you are warming up for a match, seeing your opponent and getting ready to wrestle them. Our team as a whole is looking really good going to state. We have quite a few athletes and I think we will have a couple state placers and even some state champions.”
During practice, the team focuses on conditioning their bodies and working on the drills they use in matches such as different pins, turns and takedowns. They also focus on live conditioning, where they wrestle each other to give them the most realistic match-like practice.
“For the bigger meets we have throughout the season, we’ll usually start the week off with harder practices,” Brandt said. “Usually doing 30-45 minutes of live wrestling then some sprints for conditioning. Then towards the end of the week we tone it down a bit and start to do more drills and stretches to keep our bodies from getting too banged up so we can be at our best for that upcoming tournament.”
Since a new head coach came in this school year, the athletes have had to adjust to the new coaching style while also continuing to build their own team chemistry. According to Corley, the team has to just keep going and focus on the benefits the team has had with a new perspective and push forward for the goals they have as a team.
“I like how close knit our team is,” Corley said. “I made a lot of friends that I wouldn’t have met otherwise and we support each other in a lot of ways. We cheer for each other a lot, we like to coach each other. We will even go mat-side at tournaments and I have even won matches because of other people telling me what to do. Strengths of our team are how close we are together and we have to have a lot of trust in each other. It’s a really genuine environment to be in.”
The support of teammates has an impact on the performance of the team. As they prepare for the state tournament, the mindset and hard work each partner has put in to make all seven athletes better will come into play during their matches to come.
“My favorite thing about the team is the connections I’ve made,” senior David Postelnicu said. “I basically have another family away from home. I feel a lot of love from my wrestling family. I feel comfortable with the whole team to express myself and be myself everyday. Advice I would give people interested in wrestling is to give it a shot. You might be better than you think. It’s going to be hard but the reward is going to be worth it. Stick to your team, don’t distance yourself and build that family because they are going to get you places.
