When the District XI 3A Individual Wrestling Tournament commences this weekend, senior Josh Grol and the rest of his Zephyr teammates will be looking to take that journey a step further in a tough field that boasts some of the toughest wrestlers in the state.

Grol has been a member of the varsity since his freshman season. He participated in the D-11 tourney since that time and is focused on making this postseason appearance memorable.

“My main goal is that I want to make it to regionals,” said Grol. “I want to place top-five and see how far I can go since this is my last year. I want to end with a bang.”

In order to accomplish that goal, Grol said it’s necessary to stay positive, practice hard, and rely on his teammates since it’s a close knit group inside the practice room.

When the lights go on Friday afternoon at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium, Grol knows what lies ahead when he begins to weave his way through the 132 lb. bracket.

“It’s probably one of the hardest tournaments, in my opinion, so the mindset is just to be aggressive the whole time,” said Grol. “Also stay active and don’t let other guys capitalize off of you; instead, capitalize off of them. And just keep a positive mindset no matter what happens.”

Grol has wrestled a lot of bouts since he first stepped onto the mat in a maroon and gold singlet and understands the rigors of wrestling at the varsity level.

“My freshman year was probably my hardest year,” said Grol, “It was a wake-up call to me, especially competing in high school wrestling in general.”

He said that the difference from competing in the youth programs was literally night and day from wrestling for the varsity.

“I had to work harder and just progress my way up,” said Grol. “In varsity you work on smaller goals such as getting a positive record, or making the second day of tournaments, and practicing hard in the room.”

That hard work has translated into an 18-9 record this season. He was also instrumental in helping the Zephyrs post a 12-8 record this year.

Grol said that the coaching staff led by Tim Cunningham have been an integral part of that success.

“They’re always pushing us, and they’re our biggest supporters,” said Grol. “The way they drill us, they know how we wrestle and they just work with us, and that progresses a lot throughout the season. From the beginning of the year to the end, we’ve made a lot of improvement.”

This year the Zephyrs have a strong contingent of wrestlers who have a good shot of placing in the top-five and making it to the next round. Grol said that it boils down to effort.

“Try to make sure that everyone goes their absolute hardest,” he said.

That’s what he plans to do since it will be the final season he gets to wrestle as a member of the Zephyr wrestling team.

“It’s been my favorite year so I want to go as far as I can,” said Grol.

In the Ray Nunamaker Memorial District XI Junior Varsity Wrestling Tournament held last weekend, Mike Hernandez placed 5th in the tourney at 182. The team title was won by Northampton who had six champs.