By Kary Booher
You would have assumed that, after his program won yet another state championship, Neosho High School wrestling coach Jeremy Phillips would have taken a breather last spring, right?
Not really.
“I had a week off – that was dead week,” Phillips said.
But such is the life when trying to expand on what’s considered the premier wrestling program in southwest Missouri. The Wildcats have won six of the past seven state championships, including four consecutive in Class 3.
Yet Phillips is putting the onus on those in the room to meet expectations just months after seeing the departures of key wrestlers, including state champion Kyler Rea (now at West Virginia), second-place medalist John Williams and third-place medalist Kyle Hostetter (now at Southern Illinois).
And there is a reason why Phillips isn’t afraid to publicly challenge his guys.
“We don’t have an offseason. We have an out-of-season. Some guys haven’t been as driven and not where I want them to be,” Phillips said.
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Among returnees are 220-pound state runner-up Adrian Hitchcock, 120-pound state runner-up Trenton Young, three-time state medalist Dalton Kivett, two-time medalist Gannon Millard, and lettermen John Meyer, Zachary Plummer, Robert Davis and Johnsper Septey.
Hitchcock competed in a major Kansas City showcase in September.
“His dedication and commitment in the offseason was very good,” Phillips said. “My goal for him – and I hope he is stepping up to the challenge I’m giving him – is to be ranked nationally. That will set up him to be recruited next year.”
Kivett could make a jump now that he is healthy. He dealt with a hernia late last season. Williams beat Willard’s Kyle Caldwell, a state champion, at one point last season.
“He’s evolving into a team leader,” Phillips said of Williams. “He’s got a work ethic and a desire that I want all of my kids to have.”
Keep an eye on a trio of freshmen, Brady Franklin, Kolton Sanders and Bret Camerer. Should they make varsity, they could be challenged at the Kansas City Stampede, one of the most challenging tournaments of the season.
“It’ll be an eye-opening experience,” Phillips said. “But that’s what I like.”
For Phillips, now in his 12th season as head coach, the offseason was yet another busy one. Other than the daily weight-lifting sessions, the Wildcats traveled to Columbia for a team camp at the University of Missouri and also held its own camp, with alum and former Arizona State wrestler Blake Stauffer on hand.
More so, Phillips appears to have found a steady calmness in his time as head coach. The pressure is there, yes. But it is Phillips putting the pressure on himself, rather than worrying about expectations from the community and statewide.
“I focus on what I have control of,” Phillips said. “I’m not worried about what others think. I used to read all that stuff (on message boards) and it didn’t help my anxiety. But there is only so much energy I have, and I focus on what I have control of.”
