Washington wrestling has had a near-perfect start to the season. The boys have come out victorious in most outings and they have consistently tested themselves against some of the best teams in the area.

The goal a few months back at the beginning of the season was to repeat as 2-A Eastern Plains Conference Champions. The Pam Pack is on pace to achieve that, as well as make an impact at the state level.

“I couldn’t ask for much better,” said coach Chris Penhollow.. “We have that one close loss to Havelock, which looks pretty good. They won the (Beast in the East) tournament and won it pretty handily. We’ve wrestled some pretty tough competition. We’re doing what we need to do.”

Big wins over Conley and East Duplin in the most recent tri marked the end of the first half of the Pam Pack’s season. Now the team gets a break for the Christmas and New Year holidays, but its work is far from over. The downtime has been spent returning to fundamentals. It’s the perfect point in the season to step back and shift focus internally.

“We’ll have two weeks where we can just work on fundamentals,” Penhollow said. “We won’t have to get ready for a match. … We’ll get in here and do a lot of technique.”

Penhollow has noticed specific fundamental aspects he plans on addressing during the holiday layoff.

“We have some things we’re still working on,” he said. “As a team, we’re not doing good enough clearing that arm, chopping that arm from the bottom, moving a little bit more on the bottom. I’ve been saying all year that when we don’t move, that’s when we get caught and get in trouble. We’ll just keep bringing those things along.”

Penhollow isn’t working alone. He’s enlisted the help of Pam Pack alumni, including current Penn State wrestler Devon Van Cura. He’s had a chance to get in the ring and roll around with about everyone on the team. He’s entrusted the coaching duties to Penhollow and company, but hasn’t been shy to offer some advice when working with the boys one-on-one.

“One of the big things is scrambling,” Van Cura said. “I’m trying to show some of the guys on the team a couple of things there to give them a little bit of an edge. … It gives you a different feel. You get to wrestle different guys and see some different moves when you wrestle guys you don’t typically get to wrestle against.”

For Van Cura, one of the best things about visiting his alma mater to help out is seeing how far his former teammates have come. He wrestled with some of the boys that are now elders on the team. The growth he’s seen excited him for the rest of the season and the future.

It’s not a one-way road, either. Wrestling someone else provides an opportunity for Van Cura to pick up on a few things, too.

It’s not all business. The wrestlers are still on break, after all. They can still enjoy a piece of pie and lounge around watching football for a bit during their vacation. The NCHSAA allows each wrestler a two-pound allotment as long as he has made weight in his class at at least one event this season. So, for example, a 120-pound competitor is allowed to weigh in at 122 pounds from now on, so long as he made weight at 120 pounds once this season.