Returning All-American Ryan Sutton (Oakville)

Q: What are the differences this year compared to last year?

A: It’s a different dynamic in the room. Last year Dave (Coach Dave Mirikitani) was the sole teacher of wrestling technique due to the amount of rookies we had in the room. This year everyone just feeds off each other technically. Banging with a room/workout partners that have D-1 caliber talent sharpens the tools that everyone already has.

 

 

 

 

Returning All-American Kyle Foley (Oakville)

Q: Are there major differences between this year and last?

A: It’s a lot more intense in the room because there are only 10 spots and everybody wants to compete.

Q: What do you think the team’s goals are this year?

A: The ultimate team goal is to win the national title.

Q: What will it take to reach that goal?

A: It takes time to become a family, and we are slowly getting there. I feel that once we all come together and push each other to the max, the sky is the limit. Everybody has to want the same thing.

 

4x Mo State Champ from Kearney- Aaron Senzee

Q: Tell me the differences between high school and college wrestling?

A: In College I have a lot better workout partners and a little better coaching.

Q: How does the pre-season conditioning compare?

A: The pre-season was a lot tougher in general.

Q: Do you have any personal goals as a competitor while you are at Meramec?

A: Win a National Title, a team title too.

Q How is it living away from home for the first time?

A: It’s a new experience.

Q: Any challenges associated with that?

A: You have to be more independent. You have to do everything on your own.

Transfer student from Mizzou Zach Schuller ( Ohio)

Q: How do you like Meramec as a school compared to Mizzou?

A: There is not as many lectures so you get more personal attention. Classes are a bit smaller.

Q: As a wrestling team?

A: I love the team aspect. Everyone grinds together and goes through pain together so we respect each other.

Q: Is that different from Mizzou?

A: Naaw. Wrestling pretty much wrestling anywhere you go.

Transfer from Missouri Baptist Zorian Price (Sumner)

Q: What are the differences between Mo Bap and Meramec?

A: Academically I think I would prefer Mo Bap. However, there is a much more diverse student population at Meramec which I enjoy.

Q: How do you like the wrestling at Meramec? I can look in any direction, even two weights below me, and get challenged. It’s tough, but I like it.

3x State Champ- High School National Champ from Liberty High- Deron Winn

Q: Tell me about the challenges of living away from home? How do you like it?

A: It’s kind of hard in the sense that I have never been on my own and I’ve always had to depend on my mom, but now it’s just growing up and being a man and doing things for yourself and taking on a bunch of new responsibilities that a grown man should have.

Q: Where are you living right now?

A: I live in a house with 5 other room mates. They are all wrestlers, all on the team, and it’s kind of good because I knew a lot of them before I moved into the house.

Q: Do they ever make you mad?

A: All the time. A lot of it in the house is: Who is the big dog? It’s kind of like proving a point. There is a lot of pride that factors into the dynamics of our house.

Q: Any differences between Liberty and Meramec?

A: At the college level there are a lot better workout partners and at the college level wrestlers are just more serious about wrestling compared to a high school kid who is an athlete that participates in wrestling. It seems like all the coaches are more into the sport than just a high school teacher that coaches wrestling.

Q: Are there differences in the pre-season?

A: It’s a lot of the same stuff. Getting your cardio level up to avoid injury, knocking the rust off and getting your timing back, trimming off your fat. At the college level, it’s definitely.

Q: Any surprises?

A: Not really. I pretty much knew what I was getting into. I knew both Coach Dave and Coach Ron very well before I committed.

Q: Talk to me about some of the ways that the wrestling program supports you in ways other than wrestling.

A: The Coaches are more interested in how you are doing in school and they stay on you a lot more. In high school I was never really punished for not doing well in school. Here, you get punished hard if you are not taking care of business.

Q: What are your personal goals?

A: I really want to keep my grades up, and I really want to get out of here in two years. It’s not that I don’t want to be here. It’s just that I’ll be a step closer to where I want to be. I definitely want to be a national champ. I want to prove a point that a lot of these D-1 guys are not that far off my level.

Q: When somebody thinks Meramec wrestling or Deron Winn what do you think they think?

A: I think that Meramec has absolutely made great strides in their program. Coach Dave did a great job recruiting and signed some big name guys early which helped more guys decide to come.

Q Tell me about team chemistry?

A: There is not really a kid on the team that anybody dislikes. Everyone gets along. It’s some of the best team bonding that I’ve ever seen. I’d actually like to address some of the posts up on missouriwrestling.com that comment on our team having too many big names and our ego’s clashing in the room. I think that’s ridiculous. Even the most talented kids on our team keep their heads and don’t show off or think they are better than anybody. To get respect you have to give respect. I invite anybody who wants to come and see it to come on in the room and check out 1 of our practices.