HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

Lexington Wildcats varsity wrestling coach Derek Strobel has established a winning tradition in the sport, recently notching his 400th win as a head coach.

“There are so many things that are important when it comes to winning,” said Strobel when asked what his secret was to get to 400 wins. “Feeder programs, parental support, and school administration support can go a long way to keep a team successful over the years.”

There are two main points he makes, however, to explain the Wildcats’ overall success.

“The two things I believe are the most important are having coaches in your program that are as passionate as you about the sport working with the kids on a daily basis to give them the best opportunity to grow as an athlete,” he said. “And a family such as mine that understands the sacrifice needed and picks up the slack for the time I spend away from them.”

Like any coach, Strobel has to motivate his players and get them ready to perform at their best, but he says it is really up to each student athlete to decide.

“You can’t force a kid to want to compete,” Strobel said. “We have been lucky to have wrestlers who have gone on to national college programs, and paved that road for others, but each individual athlete has to decide which way they want to go.”

The 2018-2019 Wildcat program should be as competitive as ever, but it will be a young group.

“We will be starting seven freshmen, but we have a great group of experienced guys that the whole program can look to,” he said. “Our expectations are always high, and our job is to compete with everyone and be ready come February.

“Our middle to upper weights are super solid. Chance Kilcrease, Brady Leaphart, Isaac Manning, Will Frazier, Evan Clark, Torren Hicks and Walker Anderson are all very experienced and should make a lot of noise.”

Crosstown rivals River Bluff aren’t on the schedule until late January. Strobel agrees that its a healthy thing to have more than one good program in town.

“It’s a rivalry because the kids all wrestled together in elementary and middle school, and now they are competing against each other,” He observes. “River Bluff is doing great, and have great coaches; it is a good thing to have other teams in the area that are solid, too—it wouldn’t be much fun if one team always beat another team all the time.”

Like most high school athletics programs, Strobel says wrestling isn’t always about just winning matches.

“It’s really about the growth of the person and what they take from their experience,” he concludes. “Not everyone has the joy of being a state champion, but if they stick it out I hope they will look back and say that being a part of this program has helped make them the person they are.”

SCMAT.COM PRESEASON WRESTLING RANKINGS

(Class 5A)

1. Rock Hill, 2. River Bluff, 3. J.F. Byrnes, 4. Fort Mill,

5. Hillcrest, 6. Chapin, 7. Lexington, 8. Cane Bay, 9. Fort Dorchester, 10. Lugoff-Elgin, 11. Summerville, 12. Dorman, 13. Stratford, 14. Ashley Ridge, 15. Goose Creek,

16. Woodmont, 17. Carolina Forest, 18. White Knoll, 19. Northwestern, 20. Boiling Springs