Rose’s wrestling program is making a comeback this school year after being discontinued five years ago. With a strong coaching staff and 32 wrestlers currently on the roster, the Rose wrestling team is beginning to rebuild and get back on the mat. 

     Five years ago, the head coach for the wrestling team at the time, Greg Sisk, got a job offer to coach at John Paul II Catholic High School. When he took that job, the wrestling program began to fall apart. This led to the downfall of the program and eventually led to it being cut altogether. 

     Now, however, it has been decided that wrestling is returning to Rose this year. Phil Harris, who has been a football coach at Rose for three years, was offered the head coach position for the wrestling team. Harris is aware of Rose’s rich wrestling history and hopes to exceed the expectations that are being set for this program.

     “We have a couple state champions [including] Ron Butler and Brandon Leech,” Harris said. “Leech is actually one of the assistant coaches for the wrestling team, so we are excited to have him.”

     Harris believes that the wrestling program returning to Rose is going to benefit and strengthen many other sports teams. Wrestling is a sport that impacts an athlete’s performance overall. 

     “Wrestling makes you better in any other sport that you play,” Harris said. “I tell all my football players that if you want to be better at football, then come wrestle.”

     Coaches have been busy recruiting students to join the wrestling team. They typically recruit football players first because these players usually have the body makeup of a good wrestler. Much interest has been shown from not just football players, but many other students as well.  Sophomore Colby Dawson is excited to have the chance to wrestle this year. He has high hopes and goals for this season. 

     “I wanted to wrestle last year, … it’s something I was looking forward to,” Dawson said. “I’m actually able to do it [now that I’m] in high school, since it wasn’t an option at my middle school.”

     The season has officially been put in motion, with matches being scheduled and practices taking place every day. The wrestling team has two main home matches. One of them is called Friday Night Lights, and it takes place on Friday, Jan. 3. This is a tradition Rose wrestling used to do in the past, this year they are bringing it back. 

     “It’s gonna be about six to seven teams that will come to our high school and we will have three mats in the gym,” Harris said. “That will be the first opportunity for students and parents to come see us wrestle.”

     The second big home match is the Pitt County Championship. Because this is Rose’s first season of wrestling, the school has the opportunity to host this championship. All Pitt County schools that have wrestling teams are invited to come to Rose and participate in this match. 

     The program aims to bring attention to the wrestling team being brought back to Rose. Harris encourages students to come to these matches and watch the wrestling team perform what they have been working so hard on. 

     The new team has big plans and goals that they hope to achieve this season. They have been dedicated and have put in a lot of effort into being successful this year. Some of their goals are to never be outworked, to win matches and most importantly, to have fun. 

     “We are Rose High and we have a lot of talent, we just need to teach the sport,” Harris said. “We are working hard, and we want to put the best program on the mat.”