Alliance wrestlers train with Lincoln firefighters

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Seventeen wrestlers from Alliance made the six-hour trip to the Capital City Wednesday to exercise and compete alongside firefighters in training, all for a team building experience.

“They were challenging one another, they couldn’t move on to the next station until the person in front of them was finished,” said Nancy Crist with Lincoln Fire and Rescue. “So it was team building; they were yelling, hollering. We had loud music. I mean, it was awesome. Kids were all encouraging each other.”

The Alliance wrestling coach wanted his athletes to learn from the Lincoln Fire Department and to see what a day in the life of a first responder looks like. The exercise also benefitted LFR, showing the recruits with just 13 weeks of training what areas they need to improve on.

“We just learned about public education, and what to do with these types of events, so it was really great to be able to put it to the test, and being able to interact with these kids, and help them out and work out with them and teach them about being a firefighter; It’s been really fun,” Samantha Wilkins, LFR recruit said.

And while school is out for summer vacation, the Alliance wrestlers have already started training for next season. So for some, Wednesday was just another workout.

“I was kind of prepared for this because we’ve been working out, and doing a whole bunch of stuff the last couple weeks,” wrestler Jayla Grant said.

LFR is hoping to do more of these workouts in the future, and continue the benefits for both the recruits and the young athletes.

“Part of our job is going into schools, nursing homes, daycare centers and teaching fire safety, so this gave them the opportunity to kind of try it out, and actually teach the skills that they’ve been working on,” Crist said.

The high schoolers wrapped up their day with tours of fire stations around Lincoln. LFR is hoping the challenge made an impact on them, and down the road they’ll think about joining the department.