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Van Dyk, Brooks headline Tiger wrestling roster
Two of Nevada High’s three state-qualifying wrestlers — juniors Lotus Van Dyk and Lane Brooks return to the mat this season.
Van Dyk became the first female wrestler in school history to qualify for the state championship meet.
Competing at 136 pounds, Van Dyk entered the Class 1 showcase tournament 16-2 overall, winning three of her five matches, en route to a sixth-place finish.
“What Lotus was able to accomplish last season raised the awareness of girls’ wrestling in our school and town,” said NHS head coach, David Hawks. “I think it has encouraged more participation, and we will have more girls out for the team this season.”
Hawks said that in order for Van Dyk to reach her full potential she would need to first get stronger.
“We have talked with her about improving her strength, and that will help her avoid being down big in some of those matches, like we saw (last) year,” Hawks said, noting that Van Dyk spent part of her summer on the travel-circuit with the Missouri girls’ National Team.”
Added Hawks: “My favorite memory from coaching Lotus (last) year was at the district tournament in Nixa. She was wresting in the semifinals match against a girl from Versailles. If she wins the match she becomes a state-qualifier. She was down by eight points in the first period, but she never gave up. She was able to reverse the girl, and put her on her back. Once Lotus got her on her back, she was able to secure the pin, and become our first-ever (girls) state-qualifier.”
Hawks continued: “Lotus’ number one strength is her ability to continue to wrestle, no matter the score in a match. We saw it several times throughout the year, where she would be losing, sometimes by as many as nine points, and end up pinning her opponent.”
Brooks, competing at 113 pounds, achieved his state tournament breakthrough as well — but suffered a disqualification from the tourney after not making weight.
“Lane certainly had a learning experience last year in Columbia,” noted Hawks of Brooks’ state championship meet outing. “I think he has grown as a person, and is determined to not let the same thing happen this year.”
Said Hawks: “Lane has been active on the swim team this fall, so we are excited to see how that is going to help improve his wrestling. We’re confident his conditioning will be at a higher level than it has been in the past.”
Hawks discussed the remainder of his squad.
“We have some good senior leadership this year, (with) a couple three-year letter-winners in Corbin Eastwood and Brock Marquardt. We will look to these two to be our leaders in the practice room. The best thing about Corbin and Brock is that they are great students and community members. We expect for Corbin to be around the middle-weights again, and for Brock to have a spot in the upper-weights.”
Hawks said he’s excited about the future of the girls’ program, as they expanded their roster-size from one to six this season.
“We think we’ll have some quality girls, that could do well this year,” Hawks said. “We should also have several freshmen coming in, up-and-down the weight classes, that will help push our older guys in the practice room.”
Nevada opens its season Dec. 6-7 at the Steve Leslie Invitational in Pleasant Hill. Additionally, the first official girls’ meet is slated for Dec. 10 in Webb City.
Editor’s note: Some quotes appearing in this article where distributed by head coach David Hawks to multiple media outlets, including the Daily Mail