The Canyon Cougar wrestling team has had an amazing 2023-2024 season. As of January ninth, 2024, they are 14-4 in duals and have their district meet on February third. They also had a “Senior Night” on January 11, 2024, which celebrated and recognized all of the seniors in wrestling, followed by a dual against New Braunfels High School.

Coach Ron Baker has been coaching for a total of 32 years, 12 of those years being at Canyon High School. He says, “Each meet has its own highlights, but as long as the kids keep learning how to get better and better each week, that’s always a good highlight. Even if it’s not about winning, it’s about the pursuit of how to win, not the actual wins that matter too much.” 

Coach Baker also said the team’s season started well. They have had a lot of injuries but have still managed to win 14 duals and are on their way to district. He mentioned, “We hope to take at least three girls to state and maybe five boys, which would be the most we’ve ever taken to state.”

To celebrate the seniors each year, they host a “Senior Night”. Baker explained how they turn all the lights out in the gym and have a spotlight on the mat. Each senior wrestler gets to choose a walk-out song and they have a match against someone from the New Braunfels team.

Senior Trenton Johnson has been wrestling for one year and said, “My favorite part [of senior night] would be all the slams that happened.” A slam is when a wrestler picks his opponent up and slams them onto the mat to get a pin.

Johnson also said, “The biggest challenge in general would probably be the mental aspect of wrestling.” Every move on the mat comes from hours of drilling moves and training. He also mentioned that injuries and learning to push through those injuries were a big challenge in wrestling. 

Canyon High School’s wrestling team is slamming their way into victory. We wish them the best of luck at district and state and congratulate all of the seniors for their hard work over the years.