Anyone who’s been to a mixer before might be surprised to hear that that a wrestling mixer, there are no music, DJ’s and people dancing around, only wrestlers working hard0 to get better at their sport.

Wrestling has three types of competitions: A dual, where only two schools compete against each other for points; a regular tournament where several schools compete against each other for first place, and a mixer, which consists of mostly sub–varsity wrestlers put up against guys close to their weight and ability to compete against other schools and get as many matches as possible.

“We have coaches send us the weight of their wrestlers and rank them according to their skill,” Conor Fitzgerald, wrestling coach, said.

In mixers, wrestlers are usually divided into three groups.

“Group A are more experienced wrestlers, B group are okay wrestlers and C group is for people who are fairly new to the sport,” Fitzgerald said.

Which school hosts the mixer varies from time to time, and any school that is going to attend a mixer needs to pay $50, which goes to pay the costs of the equipment and hiring referees.

“Mixers are a relatively new concept,” Fitzgerald said. “Twelve years ago, when I was a wrestler at Olathe South, we didn’t have them.”

There isn’t any kind of score or winner at a mixer beside individual wins, but schools still try to do their best as the point of the mixers is for wrestlers to get more experience on the mat.

“Every competition matters in my mind,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not about wins and losses; it’s about improvement.”