Aurora boys and girls wrestling has a new head coach in Joshua Johannes this season.
BOYS TEAM
Seven wrestlers return with experience including Luke Miller (senior, 157), Caymen Cornelison (senior, 150), Cody Parnell (junior, 144), Slate Schwin (sophomore, 144), LJ Beck (junior, 165), Wyatt Hankins (sophomore, 175) and Carlos Torress (senior, 285).
“Luke Miller, Cayman Cornelison and Slate Schwin have all put in a lot of work in the off-season to become elite wrestlers,” Johannes said. “LJ Beck is a starter on the football team who showed major growth as an athlete training and performing on the field.”
Johannes hopes to have a large group of freshmen this season to be led by a strong group of seniors.
“We have a very solid group of seniors who have been wrestling since the program started and are looking to make a push to state in their senior seasons,” Johannes said. “We want to see numbers in the program continue to rise. We want to fill weight classes to compete in duals and tournaments. We want to see some of our guys, especially our seniors, secure a spot at state this year.”
GIRLS TEAM
Three wrestlers return to the girls lineup including Case Parnell (sophomore, 125), Jasmine Koehler (junior, 140) and Melissa Barnett (junior, 155).
“Case and Jasmine have both been very impressive at the start of our practices this season,” Johannes said. “They are both seasoned wrestlers who are aggressive and talented.”
Kaylin English and Kylie Tanner are a pair of newcomers who will look to make an impact.
“We have several girls that have worked hard, and we would love to see that turn that into success,” Johannes said. “If they can build as the season goes on, several could make noise in districts and fight for a spot at state.”
