In his first season as a wide receiver for the Grain Valley varsity football team, sophomore Anthony Greco made a name for himself.
With No. 1 wide receiver Logan Pratt missing a few games due to an ankle injury, including the team’s last two playoff games, Greco stepped up in a big way. He led the team in catches with 27, had a team-high 363 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
He helped the Eagles reach the Class 5 quarterfinals for the second year in a row, and with Pratt graduating in 2022, that would open the door for Greco to be quarterback Caleb Larson’s No. 1 option next season.
The sophomore is a three-sport athlete, and after a standout football season, he will now try to make a name for himself in Grain Valley’s wrestling room. Greco wrestled for the first time last season and had his biggest moment of his career when he won the Winnetonka Tournament’s 152 pound bracket.
He mostly wrestled as a junior varsity competitor during the 2020-21 season, but now as a sophomore, this could be the year he breaks out as a varsity wrestler. MissouriWrestling.com asked the talented sophomore about his high school career in football and wrestling up to this point and what the future could hold.
Q: What made you want to play wide receiver?
Greco: “It’s a fun position and there is a chance to make big gametime plays. You use your hands in wrestling and as a receiver in football. It works out by getting off the line.”
Q: How has your connection been with Caleb Larson?
Greco: “We have been coming here all summer. We’ve had nothing better to do. We were getting outside and working a lot and that helped us this season in building chemistry.”
Q: You play football, you wrestle and you play baseball. Which sport do you see your future in when it comes to playing a sport in college?
Greco: “I love sports all the way around, but I would have to say football. There is nothing like being under the lights, with a big crowd and the whole city behind you. Football is what I am most successful at.”
Q: How has your wrestling career gone so far?
Greco: “I just picked up wrestling last year. It’s a conditioning thing. It’s a big mental thing. You get a lot of discipline from wrestling. I wrestled as a kid and I picked it up from my dad. He wrestled.”
Q: What do you like most about wrestling?
Greco: “The hardships that you go through. I don’t like them because they are hard, but it helped me learn a lot of life lessons. They are good for you, especially moving into adulthood. I am preparing myself for the future.”
Q: What do you think you did best while wrestling last year and what do you feel you need to improve on?
Greco: “My best thing was that I was on the faster side for people in my weight class. I definitely had a good quick shot and I am fast with my hands. I think I can improve on my defense. I am kind of lengthy so my opponents like to get in on my legs. I just need to get a good sprawl and get my hands down.”
Q: What are your goals for the upcoming wrestling season?
Greco: “I didn’t get to wrestle in districts last year. My season ended early. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to wrestle in districts his season and see how far I can get.”