(Avoca) AHSTW has one of the biggest wrestling rosters they’ve had in a long time.
Evan McCarthy, head coach of the Vikings says 25 athletes are on the team. He says there are a lot of young guys and new faces, but Hayden Fischer and Denver Pauley are among the known commodities. “They main two are probably a couple of returning state qualifiers, Hayden Fischer and Denver Pauley. Both of those guys made it to the state tournament. Hayden made it as a freshman as well, so we are going to lean on those guys quite a bit.”
Coach McCarthy looks for a couple of others to have a chance at breakout seasons. “Garrison Gettler is going to fit somewhere right in the middle of the lineup this year. He looks like he put a lot of good weight on and good muscle on this summer in the little big time that he was allowed to get in the weight room. Then we have a bigger guy, Quintin Nissen, who did some good stuff for us last year on the JV mat and hopefully he’s going to be ready to get on the varsity mat and do some good stuff for us this year.”
Their depth should make them a quality dual team. “We hope so. Duals are important to us. We like the opportunity where everybody gets a chance to compete and score for their team. We feel like we can fill all 14 weight classes. We might have to get a little creative in couple spots asking guys to bump up. If you fill 14 weights you are going to have a good chance to compete in most of your duals.”
A couple of the freshmen have been past AAU state place winners, but many of them are fairly inexperienced. “Don’t have a ton of experience, but there is quite a bit of athleticism and potential in the group. Hopefully they are guys we can be relying on by the end of the year.”
According to a letter sent out last weekend by Superintendent Darin Jones, AHSTW has postponed all practices and competitions associated with the wrestling program through Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The team will return to practice on Thursday, December 3, 2020 with a return to competition beginning the week of December 7, 2020.
