Midway High School is stepping up to the mat as the home of McLennan County’s first-ever high school wrestling team.
“It started off really just kind of as a grassroots effort,” Midway High School Teacher and Wrestling Coach Temkai Clark said. “Our student-athletes just took off with it and really grasped the sport. It has been a springboard for this year.”
Now in its second year as a school club team, Midway High School Wrestling has grown from 24 founding members to 35 student-athletes representing Midway at meets across Central Texas.
“The sport of wrestling in Texas has exploded, and we're extremely proud and excited for Midway to be a part of that growth,” Coach Clark said. “For them to come together and start something, it's special. It's not necessarily easy, but if it's easy, it wouldn't be special.”
Junior wrestler Kannon Hendrickson knows this firsthand. As a freshman, he tried to start the team but was told there wasn’t enough interest.
“The next year, people actually started having interest,” Hendrickson said. “We had our first practice in the ROTC room with a mat that got donated to us, and that’s how it started.”
Midway Wrestlers—both boys and girls—compete in weight classes from 100 pounds to 285 pounds. A typical wrestling practice at Midway includes a mix of drills and live practice.
“We go through practice with a little bit of techniques,” Hendrickson said, “and then we go into live rounds and mat time.”
Midway High School Wrestling has been competing under a club status since it was established in the fall of 2023. It hopes to become a full varsity sport as early as next year.
“Since the beginning, Coach Gomez and I have really strived to create a UIL varsity-sponsored sport,” Coach Clark said. “Our next step is to get UIL approval.”
Junior wrestler Elijah Arroyo is one of many who are looking forward to the club’s future as an established UIL team.
“I think a few years from now, we're going to have a lot of really strong kids going to state and winning districts,” Arroyo said. “I can't wait for that to happen.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Midway High School made history by hosting the first-ever high school wrestling meet in McLennan County. Volunteer coaches for the team are teachers Andrew Gomez and Temkai Clark from Midway High School and Rico Bolivar from River Valley Middle School.
“Our sport is unique in that when you step on the mat, it's just you,” Coach Clark said. “But when you look around our facilities, you look around our room, we have a true team.”
