Glen Lake wrestling is prepared to hit the mat in its second season since the program’s revival.
The Lakers will be returning a plethora of experience that hopes to propel Glen Lake both as a team and individually throughout the season.
The Lakers are coached by Luke Moeggenberg,who’s in his second season.
A pipeline is starting to be established throughout youth and middle school programs.
“Having a group of student athletes who now have an understanding of what the sport can offer for them, it’s going to make it really nice moving forward. It’s going to give us a little bit more of a competitive edge because we can focus more specifically on the goals at hand. We can look to develop to a whole nother level of what the sport has,” Moeggenberg said. “We should have some pretty good numbers and some really good kids coming back for the youth program as well. We’re looking to build the middle school program a little more, and try to get some more interest at that level.”
Glen Lake will sport 19 wrestlers as of now (17 boys, 2 girls).
The Lakers will have almost all weight classes filled this year, despite not being able to compete in eight weight classes last year. They are lacking at the 126-pound division out of 14 total weight classes for both boys and girls.
Glen Lake senior Emily Alaimo will be looking for a stellar senior year as she competed against the best girls last season. Alaimo finished her wrestling season at regionals last year with a 2-2 record in the consolation semifinals.
“She’s our little firecracker. She’s put a lot of time into the sport and she’s got some goals for herself,” Moeggenberg said. “I’m very excited to have her here. She’s a very good leader. She’s been a very integral part to our program. Everybody on the team responds well to her … As far as leadership goes, I think that she’s got everything that we need.”
Girls wrestling is the fastestgrowing high school sport across the country. In 2023, there were 31,000 female wrestlers compared to 112 across the country in 1990.
The Lakers will also be hoping for big seasons from several boys, including sophomores Abraham Feeney and Caden Sheehan, and several seniors.
Glen Lake won one dual match last season and is primed for an explosive season.
“This year we want to be more competitive in our dual meets. We want to win those close matches that we maybe wouldn’t have won in the past just because we have that experience now,” Moeggenberg said.
Glen Lake will host two home meets this year. The Lakers start their season Saturday at a tournament in Manton. Last year, for the first time in 22 years, Glen Lake returned to the mat at the Manton Invitational.
The Lakers finished fifth out of 18 teams.
“We have kids that are in their first week of practice. We have some kids that have been wrestling for eight years … So as a whole, I really want to see our kids not give up, honestly,” Moegenberg said.
Glen Lake hosted a team district last year against Frankfort and Benzie. The Lakers had to dig deep to defeat the Panthers 40-24 to face the Huskies in the district final. The Lakers goal was to get to the finals after losing to Frankfort earlier in the season in a close match.
Glen Lake lost in the district championship match against Benzie Central 69-12. The Huskies clinched back-to-back district titles with the win and will be reloaded again this season.
No boys wrestlers advanced to the regional championships last season and several will be looking to change that this season.
