Lansing wrestling enjoys talented sophomore core

The Lansing wrestling team is one of the youngest teams in the section. Of the Bobcats’ nine wrestlers, six are sophomores while two seniors and one freshman make up the rest of the squad. But they are far from inexperienced and quite a few have found plenty of success in their still-early careers.

Owen Clark has gotten off to the most dominant start out of the Bobcat wrestlers. Clark has won 22 matches (as of January 15) and has only lost once. This isn’t a surprise to anybody given his outstanding freshman campaign: a 29-8 record, an IAC championship at the 124-pound weight class, a third-place finish at sectionals, and a second straight state tournament appearance. Head coach Fredy Stroker believes he’s on track to have even more success this time around at the 138-pound weight class, especially based off of his mentality.

“He’s starting to figure out what works for him, and he’s able to control his energy and emotions better when he competes, too,” Stroker said. “He’s such a nice kid, and I feel like in wrestling, you almost have to have a little bit of bitterness towards your opponent, or like a little chip on your shoulder. You have to be willing to put that guy down because it’s either you or him. Last year he would let guys get over on him a little bit, but this year he’s starting to lay the hammer down more. It’s been really, really awesome to watch.”

Another sophomore who has continued to thrive is Aaden McMillen. He’s 17-4 to begin the year and has placed in the top three in every meet so far. He’s also coming off a terrific freshman year where he went 20-10 and finished runner-up at IACs. His move up from the 108-pound weight class to the 116-pound weight class has been mostly seamless.

“He’s very athletic,” Stroker said. “He’s the type of kid that can be standing still at one point and then behind you and throwing you on your head at the next, but he needs to kind of learn how to not go for that right away. Sometimes he’s the type of guy to always go for the big boot. But against tough competition, they see that coming. You need to kind of set things up a little bit more, and I’d like to see him be a little bit more patient and tactical when he wrestles instead of throwing the kitchen sink.”

Evan Sheils completes the trifecta of standout sophomores. Sheils is 20-6, competing both at the 131-pound and 124-pound weight classes. He’ll look to improve on his sixth place finish at sectionals last time out, and there are plenty of positive signs he’ll be able to do so.

“I think of him as like a cool cat,” Stroker said. “He’s always kind of got this swagger about him where he’s just never too high and never too low. He’s been able to work himself through some good matches and some good wins. He was able to place at the Windsor tournament, which is a pretty tough tournament. That was a good test for him… He’s kind of in between weight classes, but as the season goes on, I think we’ll figure out which way is best for him and where he’ll have the best success.”

Like that trifecta of sophomores, Stroker knows what it’s like to wrestle at an elite level, having competed at Cornell for two seasons. He joined forces with Gene Nighman last season to co-coach the team. Nighman, of course, is a fellow Cornell wrestling alum who has plenty of coaching experience, and Stroker learned plenty from him to fly solo as a head coach this year.

“I felt like he was always the type of guy that was really positive and always came into practice with a smile and high energy,” Stroker said. “I try and carry that on to my practices, because you never want a coach that doesn’t seem like he wants to be there. If you come in there with a positive attitude, those kids usually resonate with that, and it brings the best out of them, too.”

While the state tournament is still a couple months away, multiple wrestlers on the Bobcats are aiming to wrestle on the big stage to close out the season. While there’s a good chance the Bobcats could be well-represented come March, Stroker hopes that the Bobcats don’t burn themselves out in pursuit of that goal and focus on enjoying their time out on the mat.

“If you can walk off the mat with your head held high and feel proud about the performance that you put out, that’s all that you can really ask for,” Stroker said. “Obviously you want to have goals and stuff, but I think if you can just keep it light and not think about the outcome too much and just put your best foot forward, there’s not really too much that you can hang your head about.”