NILES — Before wrestling meets at Brandywine, players can be found in veteran coach Rex Pomranka’s classroom watching any number of inspiring sports movies.

The goal of the movies is to help his athletes focus before their upcoming match.

It is a simple game ritual that first began when Pomranka became head coach at Brandywine 16 years ago, and it has been a tried and true method to keep his athletes focused on what awaits them on the mat.

“We usually watch some kind of movie: ‘Underdogs,’ ‘Vision Quest,’ ‘Warrior.’ Something that is sports-related,” Pomranka said. “I’ve shown ‘Miracle,’ about the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, and we show some kind of movie to get the kids in the mindset.”

Pomranka uses the movie as a way to also encourage his athletes to work on their homework, especially as the team travels further distances to be in dual meets. 

Sometimes, it will take the wrestling team two or three meets to get through the entire movie they have selected.

“If I really want to get them motivated, I have several movies that I just show certain clips of, you know,” Pomranka said, “to get the kids ready to come out and wrestle.”

Pomranka reflected on his own game ritual experiences as a wrestler. When Pomranka competed, onsite weigh-ins were still an aspect of the sport. His gameday rituals included eating the same stuff and deciding how much of it he would eat. 

He also usually spent time working a job before his competitions.

Sometimes, Pomranka will let his athletes select which movie they want to watch, but for the veteran Bobcat coach, the go-to wrestling movie is “Vision Quest.” If the wrestling squad is entering a meet as an underdog, then unsurprisingly, “Underdog” will be played.

“[The athletes] like the ‘Warrior,’  he said. “They like ‘Cinderella [Man]’ and the other boxing movies. You can also throw in a little ‘Rocky’ in once in a while, too.”

The wrestling team began its season and movie binging last Wednesday with a home meet against Bronson, Constantine and Berrien Springs.

Transitioning from the wrestling mat to the basketball court, the Brandywine boys varsity basketball team plays a shooting game called bubblegum at their practices the night before a game.

The loser of the game, who ends up with the most “bubblegum” or points from missing shots, buys gum for the entire team before the next game.

“It’s just a fun thing the team does to get focused on shooting,” said head coach Nathan Knapp, who has coached at Brandywine for the past 15 years.

The boys varsity basketball team, along with a fresh pack of bubblegum, played their home opener and second season game against Bridgman last Friday.