Wrestlers and Coaches discuss their upcoming season, what they are most excited for, and why students should come support their home matches.
Wrestling is a fairly new sport at Eureka College as it was just added to Eureka athletics in 2022. Since then, the sport of wrestling has only continued to gain popularity and interest from Red Devil students. The inaugural season had just 24 wrestlers with 18 male athletes and just 6 female athletes. In its second season, the recruitment grew to 33 as there were 21 male athletes and 12 female athletes. The roster continues to increase as there are a total of 37 Red Devil wrestlers with 25 male athletes and 12 female athletes this year.
Wrestlers have already taken the mat this season, and have done quite well. The men’s team was picked second in SLIAC preseason poll with 22 points, just one point behind College of the Ozarks. The Red Devils men’s team will return five all SLIAC players, Trevor Hedges and Gaige Owens who were honored with first-team-all-conference selections. Nathan Berta and Thomas Culp will return after a second-team-all-conference season and Jackson Creasy scored third-team-all-conference. The team is looking to build off these honors this season and continue to build their winning culture.
The women’s wrestling team is on the same path as they were also picked second in SLIAC preseason poll with 16 points. A large part of this high ranking is due to first-team and Women’s Wrestler of the Year McKenzie Cook who returns for her senior year. That is not all the Red Devils success as Kyley Bair and Natallie Tobuk return as second-team-all-conference players. Jaylah Dalton and Audrey Driskell also return after a third-team-all-conference season. These returners look to lead the way into a winning and memorable year.
This season aims to be an exciting one as new and returning players are enjoying the competition. Senior and seven year experienced wrestler out of Pekin, Illinois Audrey Driskell shared what she finds most exciting and how this season differs from previous ones,
“This season is different from past seasons because we have more girls than before and it’s awesome that the room is fuller. It’s also different because I am just enjoying wrestling and being in the mat room more than I had this past season” Audrey said.
Driskell came from Lincoln College, where their head coach Eric Biehl coached before accepting the Red Devil coaching position. Biehl is currently in his eighth year as a college coach, but this is his first coaching experience at a division three school and has faced some challenges starting this program.
“This is my first time coaching at the division III level. So that was a big change but I think it made me better at recruiting and having to find new selling points outside of athletic aid.” Biehl said.
Adjusting to this new recruitment process did not seem to be an issue as he has increased the number of wrestlers every year. Another reason to be excited for this season is the hardware the wrestling Red Devils plan to achieve.
“ I believe this year we can have some All-Americans and make a run at bringing home a conference banner again. Most importantly I’m just excited for the day to day work with my student athletes”
Wrestling is a very disciplined and physically taxing sport. The intensity the wrestlers have to bring and receive at every match in a one-on-one capacity is like no other. In this sport, there is no blaming or hiding, only self accountability. Having to meet these demands on an everyday basis is a strength that Biehl believes will stick with these athletes long beyond college.
Driskell and Biehl both encourage students to go to a home match this season. There will be opportunities to receive Trident points for athletics teams, giveaways, and student involvement.
“Come see what it’s about! Wrestling is fairly new to Eureka and a lot of students have not seen a wrestling match so it would be fun to experience a different sport and get points for the trident trophy.” Driskell said.
The next home match takes place in the Raegan on Friday, January tenth at 6:30p.m.
