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American Poet Maya Angelou aptly summed up how to cope with hard times when she wrote: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."

High school athletes across the nation can easily relate to Angelou's words as they find themselves competing in year #2 of a pandemic. It is definitely something they CANNOT change and, for the Sugar River Raiders Wrestling team, it's taken an attitude adjustment to navigate what wrestling looks and feels like under the strains of COVID. Nothing is the same – from shortened seasons, to new safety protocols (which include mask wearing, testing, and quarantines) to keep teammates healthy and able to compete. In short, the landscape for high school wrestling has radically changed from norms once established prior to the virus taking hold globally.

These are not changes that anyone would wish upon high school athletes, but the desire to compete in the sport they love has remained the one thing unchanged for teammates on the Sugar River Raiders Wrestling team. As Angelou suggested, if you can't change an obstacle in one's path, the only thing left is to adjust how you think about it. So, for teammates on the Sugar River Raiders Wrestling team, an "attitude adjustment" was in store if they wanted to escape being pinned by the COVID virus. This was the only way to play the mental game necessary to be successful. Without an attitude adjustment, the pandemic would continue to have wrestlers in a headlock – uncertain of how to make strides to gain an advantage over such difficult odds as they moved through their high school athletic careers. Learning to be flexible, adjust to health advisories and still stay fit, healthy, and ready to compete takes stamina – both physically and mentally. So, these wrestlers have truly been put to the test since the COVID virus first appeared on the horizon in 2020.

The Sugar River Raiders Wrestling team has now gone two seasons persevering through a changed landscape where this virus continues to affect daily life; but with a positive attitude, it has grown from just six members to a team of eighteen. It is a young team, with its members consisting of mostly underclassmen and only two seniors – Avery Lettman and Matthew Loshaw. However, the fact that it is made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores does not phase their coach Peter Swenson, and he feels the team has a bright future.

Swenson says, "Even though the team is young, they have been very competitive in all their dual meets and tournaments. Freshman Blake Endres, Brennan Keyes, Ryker Swenson, Riley Weber, and Adalyn Danz-Grass make up a solid foundation for the team. Sophomores include Mason Mau (return state qualifier), Carson Loshaw, Isaac Erb, and Bo Zantow. Seniors Avery and Matthew are wrapping up great careers as Raider wrestlers."

This season has had its ups and downs, with COVID gaining an advantage at times, which affected the team's ability to participate in early January. Injuries also played a part in sidelining some of the starters, so it has again proven to be a challenging season – requiring resilience from teammates in the area of perseverance and attitude. Wrestlers have learned more than ever that mindset is EVERYTHING if they are going to make it through the rough moments a tough sport like wrestling requires. Heap a mountain of COVID-related challenges on top of that and you really have to be thick-skinned as a high school athlete to strive to be your BEST!

Ultimately, the lessons learned from COVID for these wrestlers will undoubtedly play out far beyond the mat this year! Just like when a wrestler is facing a stronger opponent, that interaction teaches him important lessons that he can take back to practice, work on, and come back stronger because wrestling is more than a sport that demands just physical power – it requires great mental strength as well! This lesson is one that when learned well can empower these young men to make headway in everything they set out to do in life.

What is important in today's world is:

"Never giving up when situations get hard and keeping the right mindset through those hard times," says Coach Swenson.

Wrestling over the last two seasons has taught these high school athletes patience, perseverance, mental strength, integrity, and how to play one's "long game" to the fullest. But, beyond anything, these young athletes have shown to their coach, teammates, schools, and local community that they are strong in the face of adversity - an attribute that has been deeply chiseled into each member of this 18-person team as they have wrestled with COVID. Win, lose or draw, they have not let this virus control them and they are preparing for the final "takedown" as they've re-envisioned how to master bringing a positive attitude to the mat each time they wrestle.