(Guthrie Center) The ACGC wrestling team continues to show improvement this season. The Chargers enter the holiday break with a mix of youth and experience in the room.
The last competition for the Chargers was the West Central Activities Conference Tournament on Saturday, December 18th. Coach Lane Rumelhart shares some of the highlights. “I’d say the most impressive part of the day was probably the guys that got 3rd with Tatum Bates, Michael Fuller, and Payton Jacobe. All guys that are pretty much brand new in my eyes. Tatum went out for wrestling when he was a little kid and I think Michael Fuller maybe went out for a year in 2nd grade, but really those guys haven’t been on the mat for a long time. Their records are starting to improve and they are starting to get better. Those performances were probably the most impressive to me on our team.”
Rumelhart says he and some of the assistants on the football staff helped influence some athletes to give wrestling a shot. “I was talking with some kids. I came around to the weight room and baseball games this summer. We were able to get a few more kids excited about the sport and get them out. For them it’s really about focusing on getting a little bit better every week. From week one until now you can see a lot of improvement in all of those guys. It’s been really rewarding so far this first half of the season.”
The new additions have seen the roster swell from a projected 7-8 kids to 17 on the team. Rumelhart comments on the mainstays that have been leading the way. “Gavin Sloss is a freshman, he’s wrestled his whole life. He’s a freshman, so still new to high school, but he’s got some experience. Tegan Slaybaugh returns is a returning state qualifier. Dawson Muller, Cayden Jensen, and Bryce Rochholz are my three seniors. Those guys are doing a nice job. They are wrestling hard. I’ve been bumping them around finding them good matches. Their records reflect it a little bit. Tegan has had some relaly tough guys that I’ve bumped him around to wrestle. Some of them have gone his way and some of them haven’t. I think they appreciate it and know that’s going to pay off for them once the postseason comes around.”
Gavin Sloss and Cayden Jensen each have 15 wins on the season while Tegan Slaybaugh is 12-4. Coach Rumelhart says they’ll emphasize working out from bottom during the holiday break. “We just haven’t spent enough time on the mat. We are getting beat by guys on top running hard turns on us. We have to spend a lot of time on break focusing on getting our hands cleared, get to our feet, get our escape point, and get back to work on our feet. That’s going to be the #1 area we are going to start focusing on.”
The Chargers return to action January 4th.
ACGC coach Lane Rumelhart:
