The wrestling season is under way and the Warhawks are facing quality competition immediately.

They faced the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Wartburg College and UW-La Crosse.

The ’Hawks ended up losing both matches, but senior Reid Dickerson thought they did pretty well and fought hard in every battle.

Head coach Tim Fader’s reasoning behind the strength of schedule is to get the guys to work on fundamentals.

“There are different ways you can set up your schedule,” Fader said. “On Sunday, we wrestled a Big Ten team in Wisconsin and then we wrestled a number one team in the country Division-III in Wartburg, and then four days later we wrestled the number two team. I believe in that way of scheduling.”

Fader wanted the guys to be up for a challenge after wrestling a Big Ten team and they had success with the ’Hawks 130 pounder, Trevor Pruett, who was flying around and scoring points against the Badgers.

The Warhawks are scheduled to wrestle four of the top six schools in the first half of the season.

“Our schedule is no joke,” Fader said.

Senior Corey Schmidt said wrestling tough opponents at the beginning of the season helps the team.

“If you’re going to go out there and wrestle bad teams, your faults don’t get exposed,” Schmidt said. “You have to compete against good teams that can actually dig in and find where you need improvement. You can figure that out when they take advantage of your faults.”

The ’Hawks added a heavyweight in transfer senior Corey Anderson, whose presence has helped the team.

Senior leadership is key for the Warhawks. Schmidt is a big part of helping the newcomers become part of the team.

“As a senior, I’ve been there,” Schmidt said. “A lot of guys look to me for motivation or just talk to me when they’re downI have a lot of guys asking me what classes to take. I give them my experiences and what usually helps me to get through things.”

According to Schmidt and Dickerson, the Warhawks have a lot of young talent, great team camaraderie, and every wrestler’s focus is on the same thing. The ’Hawks goal is to improve every week and knock off UW-La Crosse.

“We’ve got a lot of time to get better,” Dickerson said.

The ’Hawks went 4-0 over the weekend at the Olivet Comet Duals in Michigan. The Warhawks are now 6-3 on the season and will compete in the Wisconsin Open at 9 a.m. Dec. 3 in Kenosha.