Cody Thorn
The announcement of the William Jewell men’s wrestling program going on pause at the end of this season has sent ripple effects down the roster.
There are a handful of wrestlers who are now out trying to find a place to continue to do the sport they love. MissouriWrestling.com has contacted or been contacted by several members of the Cardinals’ final squad.
Here are a few thoughts from wrestlers now in the transfer portal, Part I
Wade Stanton, fr., Mid-Buchanan
He built up quite the resume at Mid-Buchanan, earning all-state honors each season with the Dragons. He was a state champion twice in Class 1 – at 182 and 195 pounds. He was also sixth at 170 pounds as a freshman. In Class 2 this past season, he was third at 190.
“It’s been messy; I’ve been trying to find a new place to go and it is kind of aggravating,” he said of change in the program status. “That’s probably the best way to describe it. I believe I will transfer to a new school at semester. None of us want to use our eligibility on a team that’s not going to stay.”
He was part of the meeting with the administration that announced on Sept. 11 that the program would be put on pause following this season. However, he questions the timing on the matter – a common theme among the players toward those sitting behind a desk.
“It’s a huge slap in the face, you know, especially since they kind of had to know they or had an idea they weren’t going to keep the program at some point. I’m sure they didn’t make the decision that Monday. It would’ve been better to know in like July, that way we would’ve started school.”
Like many of the other Cardinals that came into the program, he was sold the idea of the program growing with the addition of The Link athletic facility. Stanton was told it would be done before his freshman year and when he arrived on campus this summer, he learned it was pushed back at least a year.
Stanton took some early visits quickly after the news broke, going with several teammates to Quincy and Drury, both Division II programs.
“The recruiting process is stressful,” Stanton said. “I was really glad to get it over with last year and now I gotta do it again and I wish I didn’t have to …”
He trailed off without finishing the sentence. Now, he’s looking for a school and recalls last year’s recruiting process.
“I remember on my visit my dad asked ‘There’s no chance you guys are getting rid of the program any time soon?”
Stanton recalls the answer was ‘no, that wasn’t a possibility.’
“That makes recruiting a little harder because now I have to go to a very respectable program and one that has been around for a while,” he said. “I got to do my research because I don’t want what happened here to happen again.”
Stanton praised the wrestling community for reaching out to provide support in the aftermath of the heartbreaking news. He says the team has grown closer together because of the decision, but the fact they won’t ever get a chance to compete together is a shame.
“I can’t really go anywhere without people asking me about it,” he said. “It’s weird. I wish I could forget about it, but it is everywhere (on campus) right now.”
Nate Wishne, so., Lee’s Summit
The product of Lee’s Summit was a three-time state qualifier in the Class 4 tournament for the Tigers.
Last year was his first year with William Jewell, going 12-16 overall and 2-4 in Great Lakes Valley Conference meets. He was the team’s 133-pound wrestler and was one of only three with 10 or more wins last season.
Last winter, twelve of the 13 wrestlers were either freshmen or sophomores for Coach Tom Molony.
Wishne was pretty direct with his thoughts on the move.
“I think it is B.S.,” he said. “If they really were dedicated to us and they wanted us to succeed, they would’ve set us to success in the first place with better resources. The room they gave us, they knew it wasn’t going to be great, but they didn’t really make any steps toward a new one. It is hard to recruit with what we’ve been given. This year we didn’t have a huge number of recruits but I feel the quality is there. I feel like we were going to impress a lot of people. I don’t think we were going to win a national title or even a conference or anything like that, but we were moving in the right direction. So cutting us off is kind of a shock.”
Wishne said the school, with the timing, pretty much guaranteed all of the students would stay on campus this semester. To be in the transfer portal and find a new school, they have to be in school, he says. Many will leave the Liberty school at semester and he is looking at that option.
He came there for Coach Keenan Hagerty but stayed after Hagerty left to go to Missouri, though many of the other recruits left campus.
“I really thought that the school was supportive of wrestling because the school has so many sports and it seems like they’re supportive of those sports,” he said. “I was really looking forward to coming to a school where I felt like we could be a part of history and grow a program that in the future can be really competitive in D-II. I mean, I was really looking forward to that. The school itself, and the people, at the school are great. Unfortunately, the administration, just in my opinion, is not successful here … it’s kind of been the downfall.”
Wishne didn’t expect to go through the recruiting process again but he has visited Quincy and Millikin in Illinois in the aftermath of the Jewell news.
He said he enjoyed the time with his teammates who were also looking at the schools, but juggling recruiting, class work and practice has been a lot. Wishne said for a moment he considered just finishing his degree at William Jewell, but the competitive side is too hard to walk away from. He wants to be back on the mat as soon as he can.
“We’ve been really fortunate with the coaches that have been reaching out and basically ensuring that no matter what, we will have somewhere to go, which is good; it’s a good feeling,” he said. “If we had our way we would stay here and wrestle out the rest of our careers and get our degrees here. But I guess the administration had different plans for us. So I mean, we’re gonna deal with the hand we’re dealt and trying to make the best of it.”
