By Clint Thompson

THOMASVILLE – Interest continues to grow in the Thomas County Central wrestling program. That’s a positive development for the Yellow Jackets, both this year and in the future.

“We’ve probably got around 70 middle schoolers, 30 high schoolers and then we’ve probably got another 70 pre-k through fourth graders,” Central coach Matt Tanner said. “I’ve had to do some adjusting as far as practice goes. For two weeks, we’ve been going with everybody in there at one time. You would think you’d have plenty of room in a gym, but we don’t.”

This is the third year that Tanner and the wrestling program have opened practices up to the elementary schools.

“It’s grown every year, and we’ve never had to cut it off,” Tanner said. “It’s an hour where they could be introduced to us and wrestling. I love providing that service to the community.

“It’s been fun. They work. It’s loud.”

Since the Yellow Jackets have been practicing together, it’s allowed the younger wrestlers to soak up the energy and knowledge of being around the older and more experienced wrestlers. 

“That’s what’s helped us over the years. We’ve always practiced our middle school and high school together. The middle schoolers, when they get to ninth grade, it’s just the next year. It’s not a big deal. They’re coached by the same folks. It’s just the next man up,” Tanner said. “It’s cool having those little kids in there. My boy’s in there. He’s in first grade this year, but he’s been doing it since pre-K.”

“It’s just cool because we’re starting to finally see some of these kids that are getting to the high school that were in our youth program. We’ve had a couple of cycles of kids who have come through the whole middle school program. We’re starting to see a lot of full circles now.”