Senior wrestlers David Bauer and Scott Mackenzie decided they need to gather fans to come to their wrestling meets in the winter. They came up with the idea of cheering in a fan section at another sports event. Not football. Not boys’ soccer. But field hockey.

“[The wrestlers] really went out of their way for us,” Lauren Borrelli, senior and varsity field hockey player, said. “They have been trying to be supportive and trying to bring the student body out. We’re grateful and appreciative, and it was fun to see them cheer us on.”

The KHS varsity field hockey team was playing Parkway South Sept. 15 when unfamiliar loud cheers started to erupt from the unusual fan base.

“Scott [Mackenzie] and I went to one game to watch and cheer for a couple of our friends,” Bauer said. “We enjoyed it a lot. We wanted to bring the other wrestlers out to join us, watch and go crazy.”

Bauer and his wrestling teammates believed they could help the fan base at the games by adding an extra spunk of cheer. The field hockey girls had few fans to cheer them on. With the wrestlers though, there was jumping around, loud roars that overpower the other cheers and sounds created by air horns and vuvuzela. This was a reminder from the wrestlers that the players they are not alone. The wrestlers gathered for the rivalry game between Kirkwood and Webster to give the field hockey girls a boost of confidence.

“Like wrestling, field hockey is a very unappreciated sport,” Bauer said. “No one comes out to support us besides our families and sometimes some of our friends. We wanted to let the field hockey players know that they have support.”

Borrelli, good friends of Bauer and Mackenzie, believed the wrestlers had an impact on their 7-0 win over Webster on Sept. 22.

Supporting the field hockey team is not the only goal for the wrestlers.

“Our hope is that by supporting other sports such as field hockey, we can draw more fans to our matches and cheer us on,” Mackenzie said.