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Marissa Jacobs

Junior Caiden Casella attempts to pin the Blue Valley wrestler. The junior would pin his opponent to give help complete the comeback.

How long have you been wrestling for?

This is my ninth year competing in wrestling.

Have you ever played any other sports?

I played football, but wrestling is where I found most of my success. I’m better at it than I was at football, which I like more.

What is your favorite thing about wrestling?

You don’t have to worry about other people, you just have to rely on yourself. It’s not like in football where everyone has to work as a team, you personally just have to work.

Did you set any goals for yourself at the beginning of the season?

Place top three at state, that’s my biggest goal. And have less than 10 losses, which I’m doing pretty good with now, I’m 42-6 right now.

How do you prepare yourself before meets?

Make sure I get my weight down. I have a little tradition where I always take an ice bath before our tournaments just so my legs aren’t shocked and other than that I just kind of relax and get my mind right.

What emotions were you feeling when you took first at EKL and second at regionals?

I was going crazy. At EKL last year I lost to the guy I ended up beating in the finals, so it was a little bit of revenge. Last year I dislocated my shoulder in the final so I kind of felt cheated out of it. For regionals it was tough losing in the finals, but it was still a great win.

What are you doing to prepare for state?

The week before and the week of state I always train a little bit harder. I’ll go to practice, I’ll wear sweatpants, just layers of clothes and work my butt off. I’ll go home and do a bunch of pull-ups or push-ups and all these workouts that my mom gave me. I also swim a lot more.

*After conducting the interview, Casella took third place at the 6A Kansas state wrestling tournament.