Freshman Quinn McKenna only heard one word. Back on the sidelines, his wrestling coaches yelled for his next move. Down three points with only seconds to spare, McKenna made a snap decision. He went for the scarf.

McKenna acted fast. He spun to the right and hugged his opponent’s arms. McKenna thumped into a seated position and stretched his opponent’s shoulders to the mat. Within moments, the referee called the pin.

The crowd burst into a frenzy. While the NNHS team gave him a standing ovation, head coach Thomas Champion may have cheered the loudest. McKenna changed the momentum of the meet.

“You can’t predict some of the things that help you win dual meets,” Champion said. “Quinn McKenna pinned a guy at 120 pounds. That’s insane. No one does those moves. You don’t expect a freshman to do those moves.”

The victory pushed the Huskies back into the game, lessening the gap between the Lake Park Lancers 13-16. The varsity squad then went on to beat the Lancers 34-20, and NNHS was able to win all four levels of competition. By the end of the Dec. 5 meet, the Huskies boasted an undefeated 15-0 combined record, with a perfect 5-0 varsity record.

According to McKenna, the match marked one of the most exciting moments in his nine-year wrestling career.

“It was awesome,” McKenna said. “I’ll remember that match forever. I really look forward to the team winning and to me winning.”

McKenna is one of three freshmen who wrestle varsity. According to Champion, this is highly unusual number for the program. Freshmen rarely wrestle on the varsity squad. Champion said that the mix of underclassmen and returning lettermen add diversity and depth to the team. He looks to the upperclassmen to help mentor and motivate the younger wrestlers.

“We actually had the seniors talk to the team before the meet instead of the coaches,” Champion said. “That’s something I’ve never done before. I need this to be a senior-led team because it can’t always be the coaches saying we need to do this and we need to do that. We need the kids to want this too.”

Senior captain Chris Zhang takes this responsibility very seriously. He hopes to establish his credibility as a leader on the mat.

“I try to lead by example,” Zhang said. “We preach to always go for the bonus points and such. When I wrestle, I try to do the same. I listen to the coach and I do what he says to set an example of what should be done.”

Facing an especially tough competitor, Zhang narrowly won his match with a take-down. Champion said that many NNHS wrestlers were also up against talented Lancers.

“This is a more put-together team than we’ve seen. They had six returning starters from last year,” Champion said. “They came in here trying to win. It was super impressive. Now, the caliber will ramp up every week. We have some tough teams coming up.”