By Desiree Velazquez

It is Thanksgiving morning and Danny Carlson, Div. 477, is covered head to toe in a sweater, sweatpants, and a hat as he runs on the treadmill, hoping to shed a few pounds before dinner.
Thanksgiving is normally a time for everyone to feast. However, wrestlers have to watch what they eat in order to maintain their weight, and prepare for their hardest practice of the year.
Every year the day after Thanksgiving the wrestling team has a four hour practice. The wrestlers must always be on top of their weight which is why they have a four hour practice after the biggest meal of the year. It is also the hardest practice of the year because it is right before the biggest meet of the year.
Right before practice the wrestlers all stand around anxiously waiting to be weighed. No one wants to be over weight, especially before their first big meet.
“The coaches have been a little upset because we have not been responsible with making weight,” Carlson said.
For Chris Regalado, Div. 465, Thanksgiving means eating little and working out more. In order to wrestle, Regaldo has to maintain a weight of 126 pounds.
“First I run and do a couple push-ups and sit-ups, then I eat, and then I work out again,” Regalado said.
Practice is split up into two halves. The first is actual wrestling and some running and the other is playing weight loss games, such as basketball.
On Nov. 30 the team had their second meet and they did not perform well going 0-3 in a tournament against Naperville Central, Batavia and Downers Grove.
“It was a rough week for all of us. A lot of us were on edge because we barely got to eat for Thanksgiving,” Carlson said.
Carlson was a bright spot for the team at the tournament, pinning two opponents and winning his last match 5-1.
“This year our main goal is to win City, and redeem what is rightfully ours,” Carlson said.