Since November, Coach Kellen Laws and his wrestlers have been competing and preparing for their ultimate goal of the season: the State tournament. After the district competition, three wrestlers from Rolla High School qualified to participate in it: all seniors Jesse Conoway (135), Wesley Crutcher (140), and Sam Hofheins (160). When the post season started, the practice curriculum for the wrestlers changed from earlier in the year, to prepare them for the upcoming strenuous competition.
“The biggest thing is we cut down on practices and practice time, we focus more on individuals and not so much as teams and comparing the kids. We don’t want to go to extreme lengths, we want to shorten everything down so we can prepare and be at our peak performance. We don’t want to be run down, but rested and ready to go for the competition,” Laws said.
As practice intensity decreases, the team as a whole becomes more individualized as each athlete prepares for his own personal matches leading up to State.
“We work on individual things. Every wrestler has their own practice plan of certain things we want certain kids to work on— things that they might be struggling with or things they need to prepare for in certain situations that they would not usually do in a normal practice setting. We like to put them through certain situations, like when they are down in a match or if they would be winning a match, to prepare them for that kind of situation. So when they go to the district and then State competition they will know how to react to it,” Laws said.
Not only do Laws and his fellow coaches have to train the wrestlers into physical excellence, but mental preparation is essential. Laws explains the importance of having a strong mindset going into the state tournament.
“Have confidence. They have got to have confidence when they step out on the mat and know that what they have been preparing for back in November, that it is going to pay off this time,” Laws said.
Just like every year, this year’s competition is going to be fierce. The best wrestlers from the entire state of Missouri will be participating. But certain things, like the order of the competing wrestlers, can have great advantages.
“We like our draws that we have for those three kids; that is a large part of it, where you are going to see different kids from different parts of the state at what time. We like how we are set up, so now we just have to go out and compete,” Laws said.
The wrestling State Tournament is a three day event, from February 17th-19th, ending on a Saturday. Laws predicts good results from the boys.
“I think we will have a good three days, if they wrestle how they are capable of. I think we will be happy with the turnout on Saturday evening,” Laws said.
