Thadeus Meneses is a senior on the varsity wrestling team. After finishing fourth in the district tournament Meneses will be competing in the state wrestling tournament, along with fellow senior Josh Simmons and freshman Mason Apple, starting on Feb. 14 at Mizzou.

Q: When the season began, what were your goals for yourself?

A: Well one of my main goals was to make it to state and also have everyone else make it to state. We’re a team, I want all of us to be in it together and thankfully we had three of us make it to state.

Q: With it being your senior year, how important was it to reach your goal?

A: It was very important, especially since it was my senior year, because it’s my last year of wrestling. After this, I’m done. State is that last tournament, that last big stage that we’ll wrestle at.

Q: You were forced to sit out of wrestling for about a month after suffering a broken rib. How were you able to keep in shape while you were out?

A: I wasn’t able to wrestle, but I was still able to do cardio, so I was hitting the bike pretty much everyday. I was still working out my legs by jogging, doing sprints, or just anything else that would keep me in shape for the wrestling season.

Q: While you were out, did you have any doubts that you couldn’t get to state?

A: For sure. So when I first got injured, I’m not going to lie, I cried a lot. I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able to come back and reach my goal of going to state. So while I was injured, I was super down on myself and didn’t believe I could make it all the way. I just pushed through and I was able to make it to state.

Q: After everything you had been through, you were able to qualify for state. How did it feel to make it?

A: It felt amazing, especially since I was losing the match that determined if I would go onto state or not at first, but I came back from behind to pin the guy. It was amazing being able to come back from losing to him, to pinning him, so it felt great.

Q: How do you hope to do at state. How will you achieve that?

A: Just like my fellow teammates, I hope to at least place at state and get my name up on the wall. I just need to wrestle like I’ve been wrestling the entire season. I just have to wrestle hard, I can’t just psych myself out of wrestling because these other wrestlers are very good, they’re the best in the state.

Q: Before starting high school, you moved from New York down to St. Louis. How has wrestling helped you cope with the FHN environment

A: When I first came here, I didn’t really know many people, only one person who was on the wrestling team. So joining wrestling introduced me to a lot of new people and that was a way for me to make a lot of new friends that I still hang out with today. So it introduced me to a lot of new opportunities.