Willard’s Gary Walker is hearing a new voice in his corner this year. With former Bolivar coach Jeff Davis in his first year in Willard.
“The first thing I asked him was, ‘Why didn’t you shoot on Tyson more in the finals?'” said Davis.
“It caught me off guard,” said Gary, a junior for the Tigers. “I’m like ‘Wow, he’s my coach now.’ It’s just fun.”
Davis coached against Gary in last year’s state championship match for the 160 pound title. That’s when Gary finished runner-up to Bolivar’s Tyson Moore. For Gary, it’s an opportunity few athletes ever get. To pick the brain of the coach who devised a game plan that worked against him in the biggest moment.
“He told me that he wanted to be defensive,” Gary said. “Because I’m an offensive shooter. Just block me out of all my shots and stuff like that. And it worked.”
“Tyson was a very gifted wrestler and very savvy on the mat,” Davis said. “Gary is the exact same kind of kid. He knows what he did wrong in that match and how to fix it, so we’re excited.”
Davis says it takes a special kind of wrestler to take that criticism and make it a positive. “He’s very coachable,” Davis said. “He’s a good kid. He asks questions and looks to improve. He looks to get better and he wants to go to college to wrestle.”
Gary want to wrestle on the division one level. But first he wants to bring some hardware to Willard’s campus. “Winning a state title,” Gary said, when asked what his biggest goal in this year. “It’s probably the biggest one. I’ve been close the last two years and I really want it. I’m going to go for it this year.”
And he’s got a coach who knows exactly what Gary needs to do to get it.
