Pleasant Valley’s wrestling season may be a little different than it has in the past. With wrestlers Christian Foote, Chance Cary, David Carr,and Spencer Nevills graduated, it opens up the mats to new shining wrestlers.  Returning PV senior, Brady Bormann, hopes to set new records this year. “This year we will have to adjust to some adversity due to the lack of experience with young wrestlers,” says Bormann.

Pleasant Valley, in the past, has been a competitive school when it comes to wrestling. PV has been crowned seven individual state champions, including Tyler Willers. Willers became the school’s first two-time state champion after earning his first title in 2010.

With Iowa being the number one state in wrestling, there are high competitive schools in the area. Bettendorf, being PV’s biggest rival, has always had a great wrestling program and has developed collegiate wrestlers. This has determined the Pleasant Valley team to come together and encourage each other to be the best they can be.

Coaches at PV have the mentality to push through, while it might hurt and may be tiring, the coaches remind them that the training is not only for the meets coming up, but also for the end result where it really counts. PV wrestling hopes to take many athletes to the state competition in Des Moines, but with the team being young, it will require hard work and determination to get there.

This year’s team is focused on making each other the best they can be. They know they may not be the best team in the state, so they have instead decided to focus on the weaknesses and changing them into strengths. Bormann states, “As a senior this year, our mentality is to keep the younger wrestlers motivated to make the season better.” As the 2016/17 season begins and ends, PV hopes to see great success in the program.