By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
For some coaches, spending 25 winters in wrestling rooms can become old hat.
Not for Shane Williams, who is now in his second season coaching the Waynesville High School wrestling team.
“I am always excited about wrestling season,” Williams said. “I think the youth on the team will bring an energy that we need. That will also be how I create a positive atmosphere. The kids know how I feel about them and the sport and that I am always looking out for their best interests.”
Even better, he has his heart in the right place, especially considering Waynesville can be a moment in time for teens whose military families are part of nearby Fort Leonard Wood.
“I try and build good people first before good teams,” Williams said. “I will lose 1,000 dual meets with good people over winning a title with kids whose attitudes and behavior are poor.”
With Williams having established residency in town after having lived in south Kansas City before summer 2021, he has been able to persuade wrestlers to keep working out in the summer.
Nearly 25 did, and many competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments.
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Projected roster
The Tigers could fill every weight class this year, thanks to having 70 wrestlers in the room.
Look for freshman Caesar Trujillo and sophomore Josh Emmett at 106 pounds, followed by freshman Lincoln Stearns and sophomore Isaac Quiroz at 113, freshman Mason Zamora at 120, freshman Jameson Henry at 126, sophomore Aiden Smith at 132, freshman Carson Sutphin at 138 and freshman Jonah Manual-Seeley at 145.
In the upper weights, it could be sophomore Michael Kelsey at 150 pounds, with junior Kaiden Cruz and sophomore Mason MacDonald at 157, senior Aiden Stearns and sophomore Braylin Scott at 165, senior Josh Bess at 175, senior Dillon Smith at 190, junior Thomas Reynolds and sophomore Ian Sheppard at 215 and seniors Jacob Forshey and Jonathan Hubbard at 285.
You can bet that Smith, Sheppard and Forshey are coming off in with a mission, considering they suffered injuries last year and missed the district tournament.
Manual made the Greco-Roman junior national team.
However, Waynesville doesn’t have any returning state qualifiers.
Excitement
Williams wrestled his first two years at Wentzville High School before focusing on baseball and played for Truman State University’s baseball team. He coached wrestling at Grain Valley in 1998 and 1999, was an assistant at Missouri Baptist University for a stretch and was a coach for the Missouri National Team for 14 years.
He is optimistic that a young team will respond to his aggressive style, as he has long been a fan of the University of Iowa wrestling program.
“I don’t know if it is a strength, but our youth is a positive to me,” Williams said. “Building a new program is hard with a team full of vets who are set in their ways and the ways of the former regime. With young kids, we can change whatever culture needs changing, and they will take on my personality and how I want things done.”
Waynesville Girls
Waynesville has found success in girls wrestling since MSHSAA began offering the sport.
Two keys are state qualifiers in sophomore Yisel Perez and senior Xochitl Madrano.
They’ll be joined by junior Meckenzie Moffett, senior Skye Scott, sophomore Elisabeth Colson, Gabby Hoag, junior Josie Moody, junior Maya Duncan, and sophomore Haylie Fort.
