In a surprising upset on Friday, February 12th, Big Sandy's 110 pound Wesley Cox wrestled against and pinned 160 pound Jaxon Coates of Cascade, Montana in the third round of their match, despite giving up nearly 50 pounds and several inches of height. The sight of the two wrestlers stepping out onto the mat was strange to watch as Jaxon towered over Wes, though the pair of athletes are the same age. Wesley later explained that he really didn't expect to win. He attributed his victory to "Technique and energy. Or having the willpower to win. You got to want it more than the other person."
The mismatched pair faced off because Wesley is one of the more experienced wrestlers on his team. Having 9 years of experience in the sport means he is often chosen to face off against students who lack competitors in their own weight class. Jaxon had been wrestling "4 or 5 years" according to Wes. He described facing off against an opponent that was so much larger than he was as "weird."
Coach Kyle Rodewald commented on the match: "Oh, he was completely outmatched. Those are the ones you just go try, just to see if you can actually do it. Those are the ones you show up for, the ones that you're not supposed to win, and you go out and get it done anyhow. That's why you wrestle."
The match was not an easy one for Wes, who reached the third round down in points: 4 to 2. He spent most of the first two rounds fighting to keep from being pinned as Jaxon managed to cradle him several times. Wes admits, he thought he had lost at several points: "A couple times, yeah... Just don't stop kicking your legs and get out. Keep fighting. Don't ever stop."
Coach Rodewald explains the early struggle: "Wes was trying to match him muscle for muscle and wrestle the same type of match. When you're giving up 50 pounds, don't try to get in a slugfest. You're gonna lose. You better use technique, that's all there is to it. And he finally did and finally came through. He just had to stay disciplined."
In the third round, Wes managed a reversal against Jaxon. "I coulda done a little more at the beginning. At the start it was 4 to 2, I was down. Then I just got out from the referee's position. Used my butcher." The referee position refers to starting in the defensive position on the mat. The Butcher refers to a wrestling technique that can be used to gain back points. Wesley was able to use the technique to put the much larger athlete on his back. In the process, he gained 6 points and took the lead. "Once I got that reversal and got back on top, got my back fall, then finally he just tired out and I pinned him... I think one of us had a little more will to win. I had a little more energy."
"They both did (ran out of gas). But that was definitely a factor," Coach Rodewald agreed. However, he attributed the win to Wes' discipline and technique. "He just kept disciplined, and he kept using his technique. He was going against a bigger kid, but the bigger kid's got less experience. The bigger kid could just outmuscle him and just flat mow him over, but it's just one of those deals where technique, if you use it right and stick with it, you can actually go against bigger opponents and come out successful..."
Wes echoed the coach's words in his explanation of the victory: "I think it (experience) made just a little bit of a difference. The biggest difference was the moves I learned from my coaches and how to use them. Technique."
"My grandma has said a lot about it. She always brags about that stuff," Wes answered when asked about reactions of those around him to the victory.
"That's probably about the biggest kid he's ever beaten," Shane Cox, Wesley's father explained. "I was impressed. Wes has always worked hard. We knew what that kid's experience was compared to Wes' and I kinda had the feeling that his speed and technique was what was going to propel him to the win."
"I always know what Wesley, or any of my kids are capable of doing. They're in the wrestling room, and I've coached Wesley for at least 7 years now. I know what he's capable of doing. What he can accomplish. Just like any of them. Wesley's no different than any other kid in the room. If you can keep their brains straight and keep them using technique and what they've learned, they're all capable of doing the exact same thing. No problem," Coach Rodewald explained.
