Wymore Southern Wrestling Team Continues To Gain Momentum

The room was filled with pride. Senior and state qualifying wrestlers from Wymore Southern gathered to talk about the end of the season where the Raiders finished eighth as a team in state and two state champions were crowned, Wyatt Forney and Drake Troxel.“The thing that makes this team special is the bond we have together,” Noah Troxel said.Steel sharpens steel when it comes to this Raider group.“We improve each other inside the practice room and outside, no matter what, we are always together and build off of each other,” Noah Troxel said.“They feed off of each other pretty well,” Wymore Southern Head Wrestling Coach Preston Jurgens noted. “It is pretty impressive.”Jurgens noted that he feels the same energy with this squad that he did with the 2014 Beatrice wrestling squad, that finished runner-up in the state.“The energy of feeding off of each other. When one guy does lose, the next guy steps up and gets the ball rolling again,” Jurgens said.“We keep pushing each other and improve. We went from not being very good and working intensely, it helped build off of that,” Noah Troxel said.“We watch each other and when one goes hard in practice, we try to go harder and top them,” Wyatt Forney said. “We push each other constantly.”“Be the best in the room,” Noah Troxel said.“Me wrestling with them helped, but watching them push each other, it was really impressive how everything started flowing,” Jurgens said.For the seniors, being a Raider has deep meaning.“Underdog,” Blaze Barleen said.“I take pride in it, do what I can to show the best for our school and always try to represent what Southern can do,” Noah Troxel said. “We are trying to get our name out there. We love being Raiders.”“We have a great team bond. It means a lot to be a team and not by yourself,” Kolton Ideaus said.Wymore Southern was district runner-up, eighth in the state in class D and produced two state champions. Southern has 11 state champions in school history and Drake Troxel is the second to be a two-time state champion. This year the Raiders went to nine tournaments, winning two, runner-ups in three and in top five in all the rest.“Winning a state title feels good. It was really important bringing it home. I have wanted it since I was in kindergarten,” Wyatt Forney said. “Just being able to stand on that podium and seeing the crowd cheer for you is a really good feeling.”“It feels good that you represent your hometown and your school. We build off of each other and seeing Wyatt win before me made me want to win even more,” Drake Troxel said.This source of pride and accomplishment goes back seven years, Jurgens noted, with this group of wrestlers.“From where they started back then to now, it is just wow,” Jurgens said. “We were banged up and still managed to push through this season.”These wrestlers have been together since they were young kids.They said their parents put them in wrestling as a friend group around kindergarten and they have stuck with it ever since.“Watching my older brother and seeing the love he had for it brought me into it,” Ideaus said.“They put us in and we loved it and stuck with it and now we’re here,” Noah Troxel said.The group noted that they are constantly honing their skills on the mat all year, either at camps or finding time to get to a gym and work on getting better.What is next for the program? Noah Troxel hopes that the results from recent years will produce a higher level for future Raiders.“We want them to follow in our steps and be better than us,” Noah Troxel said. “Build from what we started.”

Harold Leo Huber,

Area Boys Basketball Action

Related Articles

Lopers Face Mo West Wednesday in MIAA Tourney; Aschoff & Weers to Set New Records

Area Boys Basketball Action

FHS To Hire New Activities Director

Raider Program Produces Two Champions At 2026 State Wrestling Tournament