Greene County High School’s wrestlers start the 2022-23 season on Tuesday at home in the high school gym in Jefferson by hosting Van Meter, Ogden, and PCM (Monroe). Zach Beekman is in his fifth season as head coach and there are just 16 out for the sport in grades 10, 11, 12. No freshmen went out for wrestling.

The coach talked with Raccoon Valley Radio about practices with smaller numbers. “We still start with basics. I mean we go over stance and everything in between and just kind of work through the progressions, but it’s a little bit faster. We shortened practice times up a little bit this year and decided to add our lifts to the mornings, so we lift (weights) in the morning and practice in the afternoon, but everything’s just a little bit shorter.”

Bork Ernsness is a foreign exchange student from Norway who is new to wrestling, the only one on the team that is. Coach Beekman said, “He’s a quick learner, so he’s picking up on things pretty fast.”

The Rams have three State Tournament veterans in the lineup that combined have qualified for eight trip to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines in as many seasons. Senior Kale Petersen is a two-time State Champion, while senior McKinley Robbins is a past Champion and three-time State finalist. Junior Gavin Scheuermann has qualified for State both years of high school.