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Camdenton senior Grant Garrett has improved every wrestling season.
“He just keeps coming at you. That’s the thing, he just keeps coming at you and he’s hard to shake off,” Lakers wrestling coach Grant Leighty said.
He didn’t qualify for state freshman year, sophomore year he qualified and didn’t place, his junior season he finished third, and his senior year he’s hoping for his first state title.
“All of those things kept inspiring him to work harder and work harder,” Leighty said.
“Wins and losses are really learning experiences, especially the losses,” said Garrett.
To be the best you’ve got to beat the best, and he’s hoping to beat them all.
“I’ve been doing it since I was four years old. It’s just something that over time I’ve built a passion. I think anything in life that you do, you don’t want to be mediocre at it you want to be the best at it. So, that’s my goal is to just be the best and I think that’s what drives me. I know there are people beating me, and I know I can be better,” Garrett said.
Grant is 9th on the all-time wins list and a state title would put him in a tie for 7th, but in these wins he’s thinking more about his team than himself.
“Camdenton — where I’m from — is more known for football, and so my overarching goal is to take a program that barely had a full line up as a freshman, to something people talk about when they show up to tournaments,” Garrett said.
“That is the kind of stuff right there that you just keep building on, and I believe that he’s going to leave the impression on these young kids that we can get even better,” said Leighty.
With or without a state title this week, Grant Garrett’s impact on the Lakers’ wrestling program will be felt for years to come, and that’s why he’s our Arby’s High School Athlete of the Week.
