Excitement among kids

MEEKER I “We have a little bit of excitement amongst the kids,” Meeker High School wrestling coach J.C. Watt said of the attitude in the wrestling room.
Watt will start his second year at the helm of the Meeker wrestling program and will have more wrestlers out for the team this season. More than 20 showed up to the first practice last Friday and Watt credits his assistant’s middle school program for the increased participation.
“Coach (Lee) Overton has been doing a good job at the middle school, getting kids interested in the program and it helps at the high school level,” Watt said.
The Cowboys will be led this year by seniors J.R. Crawford and Lathrop Hughes. Crawford qualified for the state tournament last year and won a match but did not place and Hughes has varsity experience.
“We want them to work hard and be good examples for their teammates,” Watt said of his seniors.
Meeker also has several wrestlers out with varsity experience including J.C. Henderson, who qualified for the state tournament last year too, along with Crawford. Varsity wrestlers Willis Begaye, Aaron Cochran, Kyloe Goedert, Sam lange, Tristin Pelloni, Calvin Shepherd and Anthony Watt.
The Cowboys will open the season at Colorado Mesa University in a dual meet tournament starting Dec. 1 and coach Watt said his team should wrestle at least five duals in the opening weekend.
“We have more of a team concept in the wrestling program now and we want to try to wrestle more duals so we can build on the team concept,” Watt said.