Through My Eyes

What does WRESTLING look like through the eyes of an athlete?

For freshman Hunter Hampl, wrestling with the varsity team this year was “Just like any other sport.” This year, Hampl had the opportunity to face junior and senior wrestlers, which he explains leads to nervousness because they have more experience than he does.
“As a freshman, you want to win everything no matter what it is,” Hampl said. “You want to win.” As for the crowd, Hampl’s dedication to taking down his opponents prevents him from hearing their cheers.
“I was too focused on how to take down my opponent and pin him,” Hampl said. “The most intense parts were when it was a really close match between my opponent and me.”

Q and Athlete

Q & A with Cheer Senior Dylan Johnson

Kaden Strametz: How long have you been doing cheer? What is your favorite part about it?

Dylan Johnson: I started cheer just this year. My favorite part about it was getting to know all the girls on the team.

KS: How does it feel to be the only guy on cheer?

DJ: It feels weird at times, being the only guy, because they talk about gossip and talk about girl things, but they at least try to include me.

KS: What drives you continue cheer?

DJ: What drives me to continue cheer is all of the inspiration from my team and all of the drive in them.

KS: Do you see this as a career option?

DJ: I would consider cheer a career option for sure. If OSU or someone thinks I’d be good enough [to be] on their team, yeah I’d do it.

Inspired By

Dance Chain of Inspiration

Freshman Brianna Hickman is inspired by

“[Junior] Kylie Hammon. She’s always super upbeat at practices, performances, and competitions. She always has a smile on her face and has been so sweet to all the freshman this year. I can’t wait for the rest of the season with [her] positivity!”

Who is inspired by

“[Senior] Frances Reyes inspires me, because she is always positive and smiling at practice — no matter what happens.”

Who is inspired by

“[Junior] Megan Carroll inspires me because she dances with so much emotion and energy that whenever I watch her dance I can feel it from the bleachers or wherever I am in the formation. She always leaves me in awe and makes me want to dance just like her.”

Who is inspired by

“Coach Haven [inspires me] because she chooses to be an assistant coach for us and puts as us a top priority. She was a Hi-Stepper as well in high school and she still dances and inspires so many of us to follow our aspirations.”

Team Tradition

Dribbling toward tradition

The freshman basketball team enjoys its time together as a whole. “We have team film days with our coach. We also have team lunches on Monday,” freshman boys basketball player Luke Killinger said. They have time for work, but at the end of the day it’s just having game. “When something funny happened while watching film we would usually laugh about it, rewatch it, and then get back to business. Eating lunch together was cool because we were surrounded by other people who loved the same game we did,” freshman boys basketball player Tagen Shew explains.