Last weekend was momentous for the Iola wrestling club under the direction of John and Jana Taylor.
The club, now in its seventh year, competed in the USAWKS 2018 State Folkstyle Championship at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka and had their most successful outing ever.
It was a year of firsts for us for a lot of things and this weekend has just been a culmination of everything weve been working toward, John Taylor said.
The team placed 43rd overall out of 169 teams and scored 84 team points (both team records). Five Iola wrestlers placed in the top five out of the 12 wrestlers that qualified (another record for the club) and to top it all off, the club got its first state champion (during the seven years the Taylors have run the club) in Logan Brown who, though almost 20 pounds smaller than some of his competition, battled his way to the middle of the bracket to place first in the 265-pound division.
The last kid I went against, I heard that he pinned every kid he ever faced so that made me a little nervous, Brown said. But I thought whatever happens, happens, and I gave him a good run and I pinned him. I was so excited, I started to tear up.
Also placing was Bryce Walden (170-pounds) and TJ Taylor (85-pounds) who both finished third, Trenton Jones (140-pounds) who finished fourth and Dylon Reiter (155-pounds) who finished fifth.
Four other Mustangs were able to get a win to put forth points toward the team total.
I cant say enough about what the boys did this weekend, Taylor said. Because even the boys that didnt place scored us points to get us where we were. They grew. They wrestled better than they ever have despite whether they were standing on the podium or not. They wrestled with their hair on fire, I guess. It was an amazing weekend.
LOGAN Brown may have been the clubs first state champion, but he was also the first kid that John Taylor had to kick off the team when he originally joined five years ago.
By Browns own admission, he used to be a troublemaker. He was a kid prone to anger, aggression and fights behaviors that that Taylor wouldnt put up with.
I recruited him to wrestle in fourth grade after watching him play football, Taylor said. Hes one of the most gifted athletes youll ever see. Hes strong and he may not look like it but hes fast and balanced. He has every tool you could ask for. But because of behavioral issues, I had to throw him off the team. I love the kid to death. That was four years ago. Hes really come around since then.
The trouble for Brown has subsided and now the aggression has been channeled constructively. Fights are saved for the wrestling mat and the club, which rolls out their blue mats on the floor of the American Legion for practices, is now a place he wants to come to.
Its kept me out of trouble, Brown said. I can do things in wrestling that help get out that aggression that I cant do otherwise. Its a relief. Its helped me a lot. Ive made a lot of friends on the team.
Kids like Brown are something that John looks for not only because he thinks he can help them, but also because he sees himself in them.
I look at the kids that come from a background where, not that their parents dont love them but maybe because they work a lot. For one reason or another theyre lost, Taylor said. Thats how I was as a youth. I didnt have a dad growing up and thats what wrestling did to me. It made me a man.
