On February 7th 2023, 9 individuals, one girl and 8 boys, were celebrated at Steinbrenner’s annual wrestling senior night. These individuals have grown as athletes and as people by leaving their blood, sweat and tears on the mat.  

Even though these seniors have been a part of the Steinbrenner wrestling community during different time spans, they all have one thing in common in this sport, a tight-knit family. Their coach, Paul Noble, has been an influential teacher and mentor at Steinbrenner for 14 years. Noble was even nominated by one of his seniors, Ben Geraghty, for the positive coaching alliance double gold coach award this year and was one of the regional winners.  

“My coach is the greatest coach that has ever lived on this planet earth. He has always supported and been there for me and has taught me the ways of wrestling” said Alexander Mesa a senior on the team. Noble has been a figure of strength and determination for the wrestlers and students at Steinbrenner.  

This year one of the seniors that will be leaving to accomplish more at the college level is RJ Noble, Coach Noble’s son. “Wrestling is more about being tough than anything else,” said RJ. It has been a long journey for this team that has built a strong foundation for not only the team but for everyone on the team. “It will be sad but it’s time for them to go. To move on to the next part of their lives” said Coach, “Some people have been around here for a long time, RJ has been here since he was 5 years old”.  

Other than learning the art and techniques of wrestling the seniors are leaving the mat with a survivor mentality. “I will always cherish this team forever for the rest of my life” Said Mesa, “I’ve learned that you have to have a strong mindset for whatever comes your way in life” This team has been a grounding force in some of the senior’s lives, “wrestling just kind has been there for me all 4 years” Said Geraghty.  

These students are leaving the mat of their Steinbrenner wrestling career, full of memories with their, family-like team. “We are very bonded together very close everybody is always there for each other we are all very nice I promise, even if we are throwing each other around all the time” said Payton Miller a senior on the recently established, girls wrestling team.