Comanche wrestlers working hard as season gets going

Casy Rowell has been coaching long enough to know that making adjustments is key to maintaining a program’s success. This year is no different for the Comanche wrestling coach as he sits in his office after a Friday practice talking about the upcoming season.

“It’s been great so far, practices have been really good,” Rowell said. “I’ve done some things a little differently. I have a philosophy and certain methods I stick to, but every year, it seems like I tweak them a little bit based on the kids that I have.”

The Indians had a young team last season, but now many of those wrestlers return a year older and wiser.

“Last year was giving them a foundation and a base for wrestling - there’s a lot of technique and drilling going on and this year we’ve changed it up,” Rowell said. “There’s been a lot of just getting in here and getting after it. They know what to do, we just need to get in shape. The moves seem to work easier the better shape you’re in.”

That’s why the wrestlers were in the wrestling gym the day after Thanksgiving working up a sweat while many of their peers were at home watching football and eating leftover turkey sandwiches.

“That’s the biggest thing right now is we are working hard,” Rowell said. “Like today, we had a great day. We had probably 10 alumni in here. It was pretty brutal in here. We had two or three state champions from the past, so the kids in here got a little taste of some high-level stuff.”

The hard work encompasses the boys and girls’ teams.

“Monday, Duncan came in and worked out with us and brought their girls and we just had a girls’ practice,” Rowell said. “There were probably 30 or 40 girls in here. It was crazy how many girls were in here. I’ve never been in a room like that ever where you had a group of four over here, a group of five over there and another group of four over there. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is what it should be like.’”

Girls’ wrestling is reportedly the fastest-growing sport in the nation and area numbers seem to support that.

“You see it in the boys’ rooms quite a bit, but the girls, the way the sport is growing, when you have that many girls in the room, the energy just rises up and the competition starts to rise up, especially them being from Duncan and us from Comanche,” Rowell said. “We’re in here just trying to get better, but the girls seemed to try a little bit harder that day. It was great for us and I think it was good for them.”

The girls return two state qualifiers in Celina Quezada, who finished third, and Brook West, who returns as a defending state champion and is the first girl from Comanche to finish on top of the podium.

The boys return several state qualifiers headed by senior Gage Jessen, who finished as state runner-up last season and has verbally committed to wrestle at Ouachita Baptist University. 

He will be joined by Erik Roy, Aidan Frye and Kanon Clift, who finished in third. Legend Yates did not qualify last year but did so the previous two years.

“Those are our core group coming back,” Rowell said. “We got a few other ones in our lineup that I think could step in there this year and maybe put themselves into a qualifying position, we’ll just have to see. In this sport you’ve got to pay the price if you want to get the rewards. We’ve got a lot of great guys and girls but my definition of pay the price and their definition of pay the price might not be the same.”

He cited the example of an open pre-season tournament a few days before in Marlow where the competition was live and the competition was stiff.

“It’s a tough sport. You step on the line and that person wants to win just as bad as you do,” Rowell said. “So, what’s the difference? A lot of it comes down to the preparation you put in during the practice time and how much are you willing to fight for it on the spot.”

Rowell believes by the time district duals arrive, the Indians will have every weight class filled.

“It’s kind of a big goal when it comes to the dual stuff is to be ready for districts,” Rowell said. “Everything up until then is preparing you for  that because you want to be able to go to Dual State. But that’s my goal, to get all the pieces ready in line for that district dual.”

Comanche will once again be hosting the district dual tournament. In years past when Comanche has hosted, it has been at the Stephens County Fairgrounds. This year, the Indians will host it at the high school.

“It will be cool because it will be during the school day and hopefully some of the kids will be able to get out of class and come watch us,” Rowell said. “We’re excited, but its not going to be easy. Hinton, Watonga and Heritage Hall are some good teams. We weren’t the favorites last year and we kind of snaked them a little bit and got it. So, I’m sure this year they’ll be hungry. They didn’t lose much either from last year’s teams. 

Comanche opens the season at the Kingfisher Tournament on Dec. 6 and then hosts Altus for a dual on Dec. 10.