Young talent leads Olympus wrestling team to future

By Jesse Sindelar | [email protected]

Olympus wrestling will have a bright future to look ahead to for some time now, with a young team led by two young stars.

And this team is already starting to have success. After a long season from November to February, the team ended the regular season second in the region, with three wrestlers qualifying for the state tournament in early February.

Two of those wrestlers who went to state were sophomores Issac Wilcox and Riley Noble, the teams star wrestlers and leaders. Noble was the runner up for state in his weight class, and Wilcox won the state championship for his weight class.

These two young wrestlers are the helm of this young team, and are starting to make waves in the wrestling community — and they are only sophomores.

 “Making it to a state title fight is tough, which speaks plenty to the amount of time these two have spent wrestling. They have different styles, but both work,” said head coach Devin Ashcroft.

Wilcox won the 138-lb. weight class state title, and Noble lost in the finals of the 132-lb. state title, but they are only improving more and more.

“These two are great wrestlers, and their talent is clear if you knew how much time they have spent in wrestling matches. They are wrestling all year long, for high school, spring time with clubs and national matches,” said Ashcroft.

With such a young team, Ashcroft is looking to mold the team into a competitive force. To do that, he is working more with the team this summer, and trying to encourage wrestling to be a priority in their lives.

“A lot of these athletes are multi-sport athletes that play football or do cross-country, so it is all about finding the balance while still trying to get the most out of them as wrestlers,” Ashcroft said.

To be that competitive, however, their summer training needs to be intensive as well. The team is attempting to do that, with open mats during the summer  as well as a weeklong camp.

“We have a weeklong camp up in Heber that is led by some college-level wrestlers, so that will be great to use their experiences to show some of the younger, less experienced guys what it is all about,” said Ashcroft.

For the future, Ashcroft has some lofty goals for the team, which he’s excited for them to chase after.

“My goals are team oriented. I want us to be region champ and place in the top 10 in state. This is a young team. We have good-sized junior, sophomore and freshman classes. We wanna be successive for years to come,” Ashcroft said.

While their goals are high, they are nowhere near impossible. After a second-place finish in region and finishing 13th in state, they are closer than ever to getting there.

And with a young team, led by stars like Wilcox and Noble, there is no telling when this Olympus wrestling team will slow down.