The Southern Standard wants to take the opportunity to highlight the standout WCHS athletes. Partnering with R3 Logistics and Mud Bums Family Sports Grill, we will be honoring a Pioneer of the Week throughout the 2022-23 school year. Our honorees from Feb. 19-25 are WCHS wrestlers Zerek Keel, Aidan Lindsay and Seth Lindsay.
Matt Turner is fond of saying "burn the ships," to his teams, letting them know to not let past failures dictate whether there can be future success. Standing on the mats at the TSSAA state tournament Friday, he was given a similar speech to a trio of Pioneer wrestling standouts.
By no means were Aidan Lindsay, Seth Lindsay or Zerek Keel failures -- in fact, they were far from it as they all competed at the highest level of wrestling in Tennessee. But all three left the state tournament without medals, so Turner took time to give them an uplifting message: While other top wrestlers in the state may be finishing their careers last weekend, the Pioneer stars are just getting started.
"All three earned a win and that is a great accomplishment and foundation for next year," said Turner. "Our guys were young this year and we still won a district championship. Now we're bringing back everybody - including three state qualifiers. One of those (Keel) is a two-time state qualifier now. We'll fill a few holes with kids coach (Ben) Matheney is sending up. Next year has the potential to be one of the best squads ever in Warren County."
Keel started his second run at state with a bang, beating Farragut senior Zach Martin by pinfall (3:12). The next two matches didn't go his way though, but Keel's shoulders never hit the mat for good. He lost by 4-1 decision to Jensen Schrieber and by technical fall to Standford Thompson.
Seth beat Franklin senior Brendon Lestrange (12-5), but fell in matches to senior Coen Myers from Beech (1:43 fall) and returning medalist Clark Vaughn (4-1). Both Myers and Vaughn left the TSSAA tournament with medals Saturday.
Both of the wrestlers to defeat Aidan, a freshman who won 40-plus matches in the 106-pound division this year, were also medalists too. He fell to senior Chase Fisher from Wilson Central in his opening match and was eliminated Brentwood's Reed Loeffel. In between those matches, Aidan beat Cole Sanders by 12-4 decision.
"The boys wrestled tremendously against the best in the state," said Turner.
Nine of the 18 medalists in the weight classes featuring Warren County wrestlers were seniors, leaving the clear path to the podium for the special Pioneers next year.
