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Daisy Erickson

Dominic Frankmore (12) started wrestling when he was in seventh grade. He then won his first tournament in 8th grade. Currently he has lettered all three years in wrestling. He also plays football in the fall and is interested in art. "

For Manitou Springs wrestlers Billy Ryan (12) and Dominic Frankmore (12), it’s not an easy task motivating their underclassmen. A better wrestler can’t help a wrestler that’s not as skilled, and a wrestler can’t tag in Frankmore or Ryan. But there are other ways to help inspire their teammates. For Ryan, it’s all about hard work: “[I try to] push them to their limits at practice, just to make them better… Actions speak louder than words.”

The primary goal for Manitou wrestling is to get the whole team to state. That’s an extremely hard task to accomplish, “obviously we can’t bring the whole team, but as many as possible”, said Frankmore.

Just as the team has goals for the season, so do the players. As it’s Ryan’s and Frankmore’s last season wrestling in their high school career, they’d both like to end on a happy note.

There’s no higher achievement for a wrestler in Colorado other than being a state champion. That’s the end goal for Ryan. “I wanna be a state champion…. I want my picture to be on the state champion board,” he said. While Ryan wants to be a state champion, Frankmore would rather win tournaments, though he’s still hoping to place at state.

Even though Ryan and Frankmore are seniors, underclassmen still know the conditions that upperclassmen go through.

Unlike most high school sports, wrestling is a sport that can have very little separation between the grade barriers. “What also helps is everyone is on the same level, it helps build relationships between the upperclassmen and the underclassmen, unlike other sports like basketball, you could have a freshman wrestling varsity,” said Frankmore.

Manitou looks forward to another promising wrestling season with the team lead by Ryan and Frankmore. As long as they continue to work out and push their own limits, the Mustangs will have another good season.