Growth within program Wrestiling program recuits new players

Words

by | Addi Foster

For the 2022-23 school year, Pittsburg High School’s wrestling team recruited new members.

LC Davis, Head Wrestling Coach for Boys and Girls and Student Support Coordinator for CIS, has been coaching wrestling for 20 years. This is his fifth season coaching for PHS.

“I knew after finishing my college wrestling career that I wanted to coach wrestling,” Davis said. “But what drew me to PHS was the potential I saw in the wrestling program.”

This year, the wrestling team has done a lot to advertise their program.

“[We post] stuff on social media, make announcements, I do a wrestling unit for the PE classes every year, we hosted the Grapple on the Gridiron event at Carnie Smith Stadium this summer,” Davis said. “We are trying to show kids how fun the sport is and how rewarding it is as well.”

Compared to last year, the wrestling team experienced a rapid increase in members interested in their program.

“We lost our biggest point scorer and State Medalist Matt Smith (and a few others), but we returned nearly everyone and expect tons of new faces also,” Davis said. “Eventually we may need another wrestling room or a bigger wrestling room.”

According to Davis, there are a lot of cool factors that go into joining wrestling.

“It’s the oldest sport known to man, the only sport you can do for your school while learning self-defense, it’s the number one martial arts fighting technique, women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the US right now, and the wrestling coach at PHS is pretty cool too,” Davis said.

As can be seen, there are a lot of things about wrestling that can be beneficial in the long run. If anyone is interested in trying wrestling, they should just go for it.

“Give it a try! I was talked into giving it a try my freshman year in high school and now I’m a wrestling coach,” Davis said. “The sport of wrestling played a huge role in the man I am today.”

From a player’s perspective, Gorley claimed that it is fun getting to watch the other teams play against each other.

“We have some pretty good teams that come and play and by observing other play, you can learn a lot,” Gorley said.

Girls

1st place: Carl Junction

2nd place: Kickapoo

3rd place: Willard

Reaching milestones

Basketball player scores 1000th point

Words by | John Lee

On Feb. 14, PHS junior Mason English was awarded 1000 total points scored throughout his high school career in basketball.

“I’ve been thinking about my 1000 points since sophomore year,” English said. “It was a goal that I wanted to reach by junior year, and it happening is just a blessing. I owe it all to God.”

Playing as the point guard, English put extra work in to get to this milestone. A connection can be seen between his work and the results of it.

“I’ve been in the gym constantly day in and day out,” English said. “That extra work that I have put in shows how much I’ve been working and just chasing my dreams.”

It should be noted that English didn’t work alone. In fact, he mentions that there are others to give credit to as well.

“I just want to thank all my trainers and mentors who have helped not only improve my game but also to improve my speed, agility, and mindset,” English said. “All of those things correlate to my game and made me become a better basketball player.”

Above all, he gives the most credit to his family, notably, his brother.

“The biggest shoutout goes to my brother Marque for always pushing me through the toughest times and telling me I can when I think I can’t,” English said.

English wasn’t the only one who benefited from this experience, though. His coach, Jordan Woods has adapted his methods of coaching after having English as a player.

“[Now I] just have high expectations for all the players, so at the end of the year, we can feel like we did everything we could to give ourselves a chance to have a successful season,” Woods said.

It can be seen that English’s 1000th point was one that held a large impact on English.

“It was my biggest emotional impact, just because I wanted it for so long,” English said.

And although Woods has seen a player score 1000 points before, it still had meaning for him as well.

“I feel like there was a lot leading up into that moment,” Woods said. “It is a great accomplishment and something to be proud of.”