The 2020-2021 winter sports seasons started on Nov 30, after almost a month of delay due to COVID-19. Yet competition did not start until the week of January 18, almost two months after the initial start date. COVID-19 has impacted winter athletes and their seasons, yet they are still hopeful that they will get a full season, especially after the AIA executive board almost cancelled the winter sports season with a 5-4 decision that has since been reversed.

The OHS varsity boys soccer team is off to a 2-1 start after a 4-1 win against Liberty, 6-1 win against Valley Vista, and a 1-3 loss against Chaparral putting them at  third in their conference. Throughout the pandemic they have been working hard and training from home in hopes to have a successful season.

“We just do home workouts, drilling at home, that kinda stuff. I just get my friends to go with me and practice outside,” said Sota Irla, junior.

Since winter sports have started, teams are now able to practice together. Many teams are practicing harder to make up for the lost time. OHS varsity boys basketball has a rigorous practice schedule in order to get the team in shape to win games. This has already led to a 61- 45 win over Pinnacle, before taking losses to Mountain Ridge and Liberty. This 1-2 record has not deterred them from hard work, as they still wake up early in the morning and go to the gym to prepare for the next game.

“We’ve still been able to get in the weightroom a little bit, and outside of that everyone’s been working hard individually by themselves at home doing what they can do,” said Luke Kearney, junior.

The OHS girls varsity soccer team has started off the season with a 9-0 win over Valley Vista, then a close 1-0 loss to Chaparral and a 2-3 loss to Liberty putting them at number 6 in their conference with a 1-2 record. They are still committed to ensuring that they do everything they can to have a season by masking up on and off the field and taking precautions.

“I’m just still hoping my season is going to happen in general so any precautions that need to be taken, I will take to have a season,” said Jordyn Mathews, senior.

The OHS varsity girls basketball team is off to a 2-1 start with a big 53-30 win against Pinnacle and a 71-42 win against Mountain Ridge along with a 55-62 loss to Hamilton, putting them at number 2 in their conference. They have still been working hard in the gym despite knowing their season will not be the same. Even though they will have a shortened schedule, they feel they can win every time they step foot on the court.

“It’s a challenge this year, due to the new schedule that we have. It’s just very difficult to take in, as a senior, to know not everything is going to be the same,” said Maya Cobb, senior.

The OHS wrestling team is also off to a 1-1 start to the season, losing their first dual to Pinnacle 36-32. Then bouncing back for a dominant win against Shadow Ridge 51-22. The team also has a much smaller roster for the 2020-2021 season, with only around 20 members, in most other seasons the team starts with 60 participants. With the barrier of a small team and having to wear a mask on the mat they still have their goals set and are hoping to start doing well at the state tournament.

“I have hope for our team this year, because we’ve been doing a lot of training through conditioning which is a lot more than other people are doing… My goal is to win state and as a team it’s to start placing at state,” said Caulin Moskop, junior.