Photo by Daniel Mohrmann
In a way, the Manitou Springs wrestling team is at a unique advantage heading into the regular season. Emmett Wolfe is gone, and Wesley Reeves isn’t coming back.
Terry Lindh is back as a state qualifier from two years ago, but this Manitou team really has to rely on recent tradition as its standard. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and understanding what the expectations have been for the past few years, years in which multiple Manitou wrestlers have qualified for the state tournament.
“We’re going to go and do some chalk talk and really talk about expectations and traditions of this team,” coach Paul Bonner said. “I think those are important aspects, having kids go to the state tournament and place every year. Those should be expectations of the program.”
The task now is getting the results to meet those expectations. This is a relatively young Manitou team, but there is certainly desire when it comes to performing at a high level. It has helped in the past that athletes on the team have been to the state tournament as fans.
Taking in the experience that comes with competing at a big venue such as Ball Arena is something that those kids haven’t taken lightly, even if watching from the stands.
Just witnessing the tournament has made them hungry to get there.
“More than I ever thought it would,” senior Grayer Whipkey said. “I went two years ago and it was probably one of the best experiences ever, even though I didn’t qualify. Just sitting mat side and seeing how intense every match was from early in the day to the finals, it shows that no one gets there by doing the minimum (amount of work).”
Walking into the first day of practice, Whipkey knows that getting to state requires getting better outside of the standard practice time offered each day.
Knowing what the standards for the team are and seeing first-hand what it takes to compete at the year’s final tournament, the team has to be willing to put in extra work and help the team compete at a higher level.
“I’ve told coach that this is my last year and I think we need to push the pace so we can make some things happen,” Whipkey said.
“I’ve come up short the last three years. For me personally, I know that I’m willing to put in the extra work and I expect as a team sport that we’re all going to be in the effort. It has to be a collaborative effort.”
What will help in that regard is the season getting back to a more normal feel. A year ago, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the wrestling season was limited to seven weeks and full tournaments weren’t held. Teams competed in only duals until they got to regionals.
“The hope that we can have a ‘normal’ season is very exciting,” Bonner said. “We’ll be able to get kids a lot more experience after not having bracket tournaments last year. Kids didn’t get that experience competing last year and it would help get the younger kids more matches.”
And that’s part of the process that will help them develop as wrestlers and overall athletes.
The Mustangs open their season with a quad meet at The Classical Academy on Tuesday, Nov. 30.