Wright City wrestling coach Fred Ross spoke positively about the wrestling season for both the boys and girls wrestling teams at Wright City.
The Wildcats sent three wrestlers to the state tournament this year. Junior Joe Rice finished fourth in the 126-pound weight class in Class 2 at the Missouri state wrestling tournament. Demetrice Lenoir and Elizabeth Riggs also qualified for the state tournament this season.
“Saw great growth and development from everybody,” Ross said. “Very pleased team-wise how much better we did. We started out with twice as many people...For a lot of first year wrestlers and young wrestlers, this is an outstanding year. Very, very pleased.”
Ross noted wrestling can be especially challenging for wrestlers new to the sport. The wrestlers have to worry about what they are doing and also what their opponent is doing, Ross said. He also stressed the impact styles and matchups can have in who wins a wrestling match.
“As an athlete and as a young person, it teaches a lot of things,” Ross said. “Discipline, just hard work ethic, just the types of training you have to do. There’s a lot of things you have to be able to do. Balance, agility. So it just works numerous amount of your athletic ability.”
The Wildcats fell just short of the goal of every Wildcat wrestler winning a district match. All but one wrestler on each the boys and girls wrestling teams who participated in the district tournament won a district match. They were pleased to be close to their goal, Ross said. He added they also had all but three wrestlers medal in a tournament.
“That means we’re getting better,” Ross said. “From day one, practice got better once we had people healthy.”
Riley Shive, Daniel McGowan and Eric Jensen were the three seniors on the Wright City wrestling team this past season. Shive was a three-year starter and McGowan was a two-year starter. This was Jensen’s first year on the wrestling team. Ross is not anticipating who among his non-seniors will be back for the boys and girls wrestling teams, he said.
“I give them the opportunity to work in the weight room,” Ross said. “We’ll have some open gyms during the summer. And see how it goes from there. You don’t know what kids’ family situations. You don’t know what’s going to arise. So I never take consideration of that. My consideration is you prepare with what you get. Opening day and we’ll go from there. And then kind of adjust on the fly of what those things are going to do.”