Wrestling, if anything, is grueling.
Walk into any wrestling room, such as the one at Norristown, and you're smacked in the face with the palpable waft of sweat and exhaustion.
Wrestlers, such as Brett Harner and Shane Springer, are by turns working each other over, their clothes drenched, amid the thick, thick air; rolling, locking, breathing hard.
If they can endure the grind, the rewards could be plentiful.
Harner's philosophy: "If you're a state-caliber wrestler, why not practice like it?"
He should know. Two years into high school, Harner, a junior, has two PIAA Class AAA medals, placing eighth as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore.
He's just one of two Pennsylvania wrestlers in the class of 2013 to have medaled at states in their first two seasons. It's all well and good, but hardly matters if he doesn't get any better. Harner would be the first to agree. This year, he's thinking much bigger.
"Right now, the goal is simple: a state title," Harner said. "That's the only thing I'm really looking at right now."
Harner through two seasons: 101 wins, 16 losses; 51 wins by pin; a 152-pound Southeast Regional championship; two District 1 North gold medals; and the list kind of goes on.
This year, with Norristown sporting upper-echelon talent in several weight classes, Harner has perhaps the ideal practice partner.
Springer, a two-time state medalist himself, transferred to Norristown after three years at La Salle, where he was the state runner-up as a sophomore and took fifth as a junior.
Springer's Norristown ties run deep. He came up through juniors with Harner. His younger brother, Mike, is a sophomore on the team. His father, Chuck, is the director of Norristown P.A.L., a youth wrestling program.
"I don't think he transferred. I think he came home," said Mark Harner, Brett's father and Norristown's head coach.
Springer, who will wrestle at 170 pounds this year, is ranked No. 1 in the state by PA Power Rankings. He and Harner, at 160 this season and ranked No. 4, provide each other with a familiar if challenging training partner, the kind that can help them take those coveted steps up the podium in March.
"It's nothing new. I've wrestled Brett since I was six - I've hated it since then," Springer said with a laugh. "Why do I hate it? He knows me so well, and I know him so well. It's not really fun."
Turns out that's a good thing. It forces the two to work on new techniques and makes nailing their preferred moves in real matches easier.
