Spencer Thomas and his assistant coach, Rick Schneider, enforce one major principle when it comes to their wrestlers: no one quits. “We don’t allow them to say ‘I can’t’ or ‘I quit.’ Those are two things you cannot do. You cannot quit on yourself, and you can always do something if you try hard enough. There’s nothing you can’t overcome, and our kids live by that.”
While he started as an assistant with the Manning High School football team, Thomas jumped at the chance to coach wrestling. “We had the opportunity to start a wrestling program and I [thought] ok, that’s something I feel more compelled to do.”
While Thomas played rugby in high school, he knew wrestling would be a good fit for him as a coach. He felt more familiar with the sport and was confident in Schneider’s experience as well.
Thomas and Schneider have coached the wrestling team for over three years now. When the program first kicked off, they had 7 students on the roster. However, after their first tournament, 5 wrestlers dropped out. This left the coaching duo to spend every practice that season on the mat, sparring with the remaining wrestlers themselves. Since then, they’ve kept consistent numbers and currently have 9 wrestlers in total, 7 boys and 2 girls.
“This year, I definitely say they are family before anything else ... and we built them into a family who will back each other up ... everybody’s there to support each other,” Thomas said.
Thomas shares that the family bond was clear when the girls went to compete at Lower State. Although the boys had their regional tournament that same day, most of the team was able to make it to the competition to finish seeing the girls wrestle. This relationship building is clearly making a difference.
“Every single person who made it with our team this year, through the season, they have all progressed to the lower state tournaments,” Thomas explained.
The boys roster and standings are as follows: Tyrell Nelson (126lb) - 4th AAA-VII, Kyler Corley (132lb) - 1st AAA-VII, Edward Morales (157lb) - 4th AAA-VII, Jayden Bennett (165lb) - 1st AAA-VII, Evinn Flores (175lb) - 4th AAA-VII, Ethan Lowder (190lb) - 4th AAA- VII, and Thomas Pate (215lb) - 4th AAA-VII. Emmanuel Betrand (215lb) was injured for regionals and did not participate.
On the girls roster is Kymarielle Cleveland (110lb), who is a Lower State qualifier, and Breanna Corley (135). Corley placed 2nd at Lower State and has advanced to the state championship. Corley is both the first MHS student to ever qualify for state as well as the first female to do so. The girls state championship is Feb. 24 in Anderson, SC.
