Led by a talented group of seniors, the Bearden wrestling team looks to use their vast experience to their advantage this upcoming season.

Many of these seniors have been around the program for the length of their high school careers and have gained knowledge through that process.

Seniors Tristen Majors, Jackson Manning, Dustin Wilson, Luis De La Cruz, Brandon Fitzpatrick, and Musab Henderson bring a large amount of that knowledge to the table. The experience that they possess allows for a lot of pressure to be lifted from Coach Donnie Floyd’s shoulders, as they take it upon themselves to help teach the younger wrestlers.

“The older guys are always there to show moves to someone when I’m helping someone else or when I’m busy with something,” Coach Floyd said. “They are like an assistant coach for me, and the younger guys are able to just watch them and learn a thing or two.”

That extra coaching has been crucial for the team during practices and has just added to the experience that the group can boast about.

The seniors, however, have not brought all of the experience; some of the underclassmen on the team have been contributing as well.

“We’ve got a strong group of younger guys this season who really have stepped up their game,” Majors said. “They all were great last year and we are really excited about what they will do this season.”

Sophomore Jacob Gerken, who was a few matches short of All-State honors last season, and David Gaiterbrandt, a junior transfer from Farragut who was the region champion last year, are younger wrestlers who help lead the team alongside of the upperclassmen.

With all that leadership and experience, you can see why the group has high hopes for this season.

The team opened their season up with scrimmages last week and now prepare for the MTSU Alumni Duals competition, in which they will square off against the likes of Ravenwood, Wilson Central, and Beech, who all were placed in the top ten of the division 3-A classifications this season. These matches will take place on Nov. 23 in Nashville.

Bearden’s next home match will be Nov. 29 against Seymour.