By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After graduating a state champion and having to say goodbye to two other successful wrestlers who moved away with their military family, Waynesville High School wrestling coach Lucas Smith is getting creative.
Simply put, he has been pointing to Gaven Sax and the McDaniel brothers, Aaron and Johnathan, and telling members of this year’s team to follow their work ethics.
“That’s what we’re doing with a lot of our returners,” Smith said. “A lot of them have been in our program three or four years. They see it, and that goes for the girls, too.”
This marks Smith’s 15th with Waynesville, with this being his seventh year as head coach. A year ago, the Tigers finished as the Ozark Conference Tournament runner-up.
He said the Tigers anticipate about 40 boys on the roster and 15 girls. That includes nine returning starters, although none qualified for the state tournament.
This year’s roster includes: freshman William Austin (106), sophomore Dustin Greene (120), junior Kennon Redlinger (132), freshman Kaden Cruz (145) and seniors Isaac Peterson and Martin Medrano at either 152 or 160. Senior Colton Justus could be at 195, while sophomore Jacob Forshey likely at heavyweight.
A number of other weight classes are unknown, but Smith anticipates a full lineup.
Austin was a qualifier in the youth USA Wrestling state tournament.
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“With COVID, they didn’t get to finish state,” Smith said. “He would up a couple of weights just to get more competition.”
Greene finished one match away from qualifying for the MSHSAA state tournament.
“He had a learning curve at the beginning of the year but put together a nice run last year,” Smith said.
Redling “has been trying to put in the work,” Smith.
Kaden Cruz is a previous state medalist in USA Wrestling.
“He’s been coming up through our youth program since he was 6,” Smith said. “And he wrestles all year round. And he’s a pretty big kid. If you saw him walking around in school, you wouldn’t think he’s a freshman.”
Peterson and Medrano are ready to lead.
“They’re a couple of our senior leaders and we’ll see where they fall,” Smith said.
Justus also plays football, and Forshey is a defensive and offensive lineman.
“Every time I see (Forshey), he’s a foot taller,” Smith said. “Overall, we want to see where everyone falls weight-wise.”
A big plus is that Waynesville now has a new mat and access to a middle school room, allowing the Tigers to accommodate more wrestlers. That may play a big role, not only in battling COVID but also in helping several returners to focus in. Several saw their seasons end in bubble matches last February.
“Well we are hoping for a successful season for all our athletes where they meet their goals as well as our team goals,” Smith said.
Girls wrestling
Waynesville is anticipating 15 girls on the roster this season.
Among the notables are Somia McPherson-Williams, Marissa Gonzalas, Xochial Medrano, Deanna Williamson and Kaile Fritz. They were all varsity. Somia and Marissa reached the bubble match, and all were all-conference.
McPherson competed at 142 last year. Gonzalas is in her second year in the sport.
“(Gonzalas) started in middle school, so she wasn’t brand new,” Smith said.
Medrano was a junior varsity conference champion. She wrestled at 103.
Williamson finished 13-2 and had success after the team lost Justice Seely to an injury. Williamson finished as a conference runner-up.
“It’s good to see her back,” Smith said.
Fritz has been a cheerleader and soccer player.
“We’re pretty young still, so we’re hoping for some positive results,” Smith said.
