He puts himself deeper into the zone, swaying back and forth, jumping slightly up and down. He is all alone, no emotions, blocking out all the commotion around him. He stands near the wrestling coaches, anticipating his name being called.
Mat one, Tyler Smith.
The weekend of Feb.11-13, wrestling had their annual districts competition, and sophomore Smith qualified to compete at State, which is being held at Mizzou. During Smith’s freshman year, he also was able to make it all the way to State. Achieving such an huge accomplishment has put him where he is today. Even making it so far early on hasn’t stopped Smith from achieving that goal again this season.
“This year I’m going to be more confident at State since I now know what to expect,” Smith said. “I feel really good because making it to State was my goal all season.”
Smith is in the 119 pound weight group and has a record of 29-13. He feels pretty confident in the way he has been performing. Since the previous season, Smith has done a lot better overall and has been using better techniques during his matches.
“Tyler has improved since last season by just fixing a lot of the small things and working hard during practice,” senior Harold Ritchie said. “He is definitely the strongest in his weight class so that makes him stand out from the rest.”
Though he has proven to be a rising star on the team, there are still ways that Smith can improve. Even though he comes out hard when he’s on the mat, behind the scenes he is someone that stays to himself. Most of the team has high respect for Smith and can also agree that he is a man of few words, but don’t be fooled by that when he arrives at a meet.
“Even though Tyler has done good this season, I feel like he needs to learn to open up with the people around him and show his personality through talking then just his wrestling” wrestling manager Kenzie Luecker said.
According to Ritchie, Smith has been looking tough by beating some really good kids, and with that he sets the tone for the team. This season the team has been working hard but with these last few weeks, they will have to step it up and work even harder.
“Tyler has definitely improved in his defense and he has a lot more confidence in himself,” Varsity coach Chris Brown said. “He just has a very good work ethic, is coach-able and he is one of the strongest in his weight class. With those skills I think he will succeed.”

by Chelsey Damalas