Wrestling is a sport that does not get as much attention as it deserves. That's especially true on the high school level.
However, the state of Kansas has some outstanding wrestlers on the prep level. Lawrence Free State junior wrestler Tate Steele is one of those wrestlers who's a rising star and is only getting better.
Last school year, Steele won the Kansas Class 6A Individual Wrestling State Championship in the 132 pound weight division. He knows that his competition is going to bring their A-game when wrestling against him. His goal is to get better and stronger and repeat as a state champion. But, that may not be easy.
"Everything's been going well. I've stuck to my same techniques that I have in the past," Steele said. "I've been more aggressive. You gain a little bit more confidence."
His wrestling coach speaks very highly of Steele and the accomplishments he has gained during his high school career.
"Tate's been a tremendous asset for our program. He's our first-ever state champion for our program," Firebirds Wrestling Head Coach Mike Gillman said. "You know, he's a kid that works hard in school and on the mat. You know what the best part about Tate is I feel; he does a great job with our younger kids that might not know wrestling as much. He really tries to stop and pay attention and really kind of help them out as much as he can."
This year, Steele is already off to another flying start. He won two matches during the Lawrence Free State Double Dual on December 1 - one by forfeit against Bishop Miege and a 16-1 victory over Olathe East's Danny Malekani in the 138-pound division. That helped the Firebirds wrestling team win their double dual tournament overall (70-12 vs. Bishop Miege, 65-12 vs. Olathe East).
Steele followed up that spirited performance with an even better showing in the December 4 Leavenworth Challenger Tournament. He won all five of his matches to earn his first tournament title of the season in the 138 pound weight class. His dominance helped Lawrence Free State finish second overall (151.5 points) to Washburn Rural in the Leavenworth Challenge.
Those performances helped him to earn the Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week honor.
Each year, Steele has moved up in weight divisions. He won last year's state championship at the 132 pound weight division and is now in the 138 pound weight division. So the aforementioned spirited performances are even more impressive considering the increased difficulty of winning matches because of Steele playing better competition.
"I've been trying to be more aggressive when you get in these higher weight classes," Steele said. "My freshman year, I was 106 [pounds]. So, you go up all those weight classes and I've just found, you have to be a lot more aggressive. And, that's just been the key."
Steele said several colleges and universities have started showing interest in him academically and athletically. Stanford and Pennsylvania have written letters showing interest in Steele pursuing wrestling at their institutions. His newfound success has certainly given him confidence. But, while Steele is confident in his own abilities, as a wrestler, he stays grounded and keeps his eyes on the prize of winning a second state title.
"It's really important that I need to work on my basics. Going up in weight, I don't have to focus on losing weight. So, it's nice to be able to work on your technique in here. So, if I get more reps in here and just get that down and get in a little bit better shape, I think I can do it again," Steele said.
Coach Gillman said that while Steele has proven himself on the mat, he's always been a consistent, good student and even better person off the mat.
"You know, as a young man, he's really a nice kid," Coach Gillman said. "You know, wrestling can get a little aggressive. He's definitely an animal on the mat. But when it comes to outside, you know, he's a normal kid poking fun [and] has fun in the locker room and has a great time. [He] smiles. He's a really fun kid to have in the room.
NOTE: The Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week piece normally airs every Thursday night during the 10 p.m. sportscast for the entire school year.
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Ryan Marshall can be reached at Ryan.Marshall@KSHB.com.
