EHS wrestling team looks toward the future

EHS wrestlers greet friends and family during the state tournament. Five wrestlers qualified for state this year. Courtesy Photo

By Robert Islava

Now that wrestling season is over, the wrestling team is recalibrating and reflecting on the season. Dillon Archer is the boy’s head wrestling coach at Eisenhower High School. Archer said this year the team struggled with some setbacks that were out of their control such as injuries and illnesses.

“That was a pretty big whammy,” Archer said. “But the guys that were there were able to compete. It didn’t really go our way this year.”

But there was one positive.

“We had five guys (qualify for state), which is the most we’ve had since the COVID season I believe,” he said. “So just having that number of guys qualifying for state was a step in the right direction and hopefully that kind of success can carry into the state tournament moving forward.” 

Archer said one of his favorite moments of this year was when he felt the team took ownership of their own success.

“At the end of practice, I was about to be done with conditioning for the day, but the team themselves wanted to do more.”

Senior Abe Starnes was a leader and star player on the wrestling team this year, and he plans to continue wrestling after graduation.

“Our team was pretty tight knit and supportive of each other. That really helped us do well as a team,” Starnes said.

As far as the future of the program, Archer is excited about where it is going. Last year, Eisenhower started its own feeder club with the Wichita Training Center, which develops younger players and prepares them for high school. 

“That’s been huge for our future and just kind of building that momentum and seeing those kids as they progress into high school,” Archer said. 

As one of the newer schools in the area, EHS has never had a wrestler win state, and Archer is looking forward to a student stepping up and claiming the title. 

“They’d be the first ones in school history,” he said.