Nothing matters more for Skyline this weekend than the wrestling team’s regional tournament.

The Skyline wrestling team will be competing in the North Regional Wrestling Tournament on December 3. The team will bring nine wrestlers into the tournament, all with the hopes of becoming a state qualifier.

With the wrestling season coming to an end, the North Regional Tournament is the final stop before the state. Aspirations to be a state qualifier ride solely on this tournament, as only the top six in a weight class continue their season.

“No matter how we did at the previous tournaments this season, our coaches always reminded us it was to prepare us for regionals and state,” Aaron Aquino said.

Team captain Brady Green has thrown away the results this season and is coming into the tournament with a fresh mindset.

“Even though there’s people better than me and have more wins, I don’t care about that,” Green said. “I don’t really care about the past losses. Even though I lost this past season I’m still trying to be a state champion.”

Accolades collected throughout the season mean a lot for the wrestler tournament ranking in the tournament. But once they hit the mat, it is up to them to prove that the season was not a fluke.

“I’ve been taking first and third all year,” wrestler Dupra Goodman said. “But right now, I’m just worried about placing top six at regionals, because regardless of how high I’m ranked in state, it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t qualify.”

The grind of a wrestling season is tough. Injuries accumulate by the end of the season, and some wrestlers are starting to break down both mentally and physically.

“The toughest thing is sticking it out the whole season,” Green said. “A lot of the top guys in the weight class are already broken (mentally), injured or just quit.”

In college wrestling, nothing is given to the wrestlers. They must perform once they hit the center of the mat. Their performance in the North Regional Tournament will make or break their season

“It’s college wrestling, anything can happen,” Goodman said. “But I got the mindset that I’m going to win and nothing’s going to stop me.”