The 2024-25 wrestling season begins for the Redhawks Friday and Saturday with the Panther Invitational in Addison. 

Practicing for several weeks, the tournament will be a first for some Redhawks. 

“My goal for JV is for them to at least experience a match and how a tournament is,” girls’ head coach Viviana Espinoza said. “Expectations are high for them, I know that they put a lot of pressure on themselves. I just want them to get through a match and complete the tournament. For varsity I want them to start feeling more confident for girls and boys.”

After the Panther Invitational, the wrestling teams will compete in several tournaments over the next few weeks with the district meet in January. 

“I expect the season to go pretty well just because we have a lot of upperclassmen and we are showing a lot of improvement,” junior Nolan Koons said. “To motivate my team I say there is nothing to lose out there so why not give it everything you got.”

But for boys’ head coach Justin Koons, there’s no rush to set expectations

“I think the outlook is pretty good, we do have a tough district and on the girls side we are competing with Frisco High which is ranked 2nd in the state,” Koons said. “I think our girls are tough and I think we have an opportunity to push for a district championship on the girls’ side. The guys have some holes to fill but we have some time to fill those holes and get everybody where we need them to be and on weight. Wrestling is a process so we take it slow and steady.”