The Fair Grove High School wrestling team began their season with a tournament at Bolivar on December 7th, 2024.
The team has been focused on several different things to prepare for the first season of wrestling. Head Coach, Chris Holt, said, “As a first year head coach in a brand new program, our focus has just been on teaching our kids the fundamentals of wrestling and building interest in the program.”
Assistant Coach, Natalie Palomo, also explained, “At practice we’ve tried to focus on fundamentals to get a good baseline, since we are all new. We’re trying to instill good basics and an understanding of the sport rather than get fancy right away!”
Many of the wrestlers are excited for different reasons. Brylee Mallard (10) explained that she is excited to be doing a new sport with a different group of people. “With many sports, you are playing with the same people from elementary school, with wrestling it is a whole new group of people,” said Mallard.
Timothy Barber (10) explained that he is excited to be winning matches in the upcoming weeks and hopefully living up to his brothers’ expectations.
The members of the team and the coaches hope to accomplish a lot as the first generation of Fair Grove wrestlers. Barber explained that he hopes to set a good foundation for the first year of Fair Grove wrestling and a good standard for those in the future. Andrew Mcguire (9) stated that he wants to achieve as much as he can. He wants to win and see how far he can in the tournaments.
While some students enjoy the physical aspects they also enjoy the mental aspects of the sport. Barber stated that he loves the competitive drive he feels and is always persevering. He wants to come out on top and try to be the best. Mallard explained that she loved the satisfaction of learning something new and doing something you didn’t think you could.
The coaches believe that the Fair Grove wrestling team has impacted the school district in many ways. Palomo explained, “I think it’s already impacted Fair Grove by giving kids another outlet and another chance to try something new. We have a lot of kids involved who aren’t in any other sports, and it’s cool to see them pushing themselves right alongside our wrestlers who are involved elsewhere.”
The boys wrestling team will be back in action on December 20 and 21 at Sedalia in the Battle on the Katy Trail tournament. The girls team will have their next match at Hillcrest on January 17.
