Starting when he was just 5 years old, senior Mitchell Derhammer has wrestled for most of his life. After 13 years on the wrestling mat, he finally fulfilled his goal of making it to state.

The state tournament has been Derhammer’s main goal for the last three years.  In his freshman and sophomore year, he fell one match short of advancing at the regional tournament.  Those losses drove him to practice even harder. Derhammer himself said that, “The training and conditioning is tough, but a lot of it is mental. We do a lot of drilling moves, and we work at a pretty high pace the whole practice.”

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Mitchell Derhammer, pictured in the orange and gray Huskies wrestling uniform, has been one of the team’s most hardworking wrestlers. He is shown competing in individual and group competitions.

“They practice 5 days a week and around 90 minutes per session,” confirmed coach Chris Furlong. “[Derhammer] does everything that is necessary to make it to the level he is at. I hope he reaches his goal of making it to all state.”

For now, he’s preparing. “My next goal is to place at the Ford Field on March 2nd,” Derhammer said. “Finally getting to this point feels like there has been a weight taken off my shoulders.”