| My name is Xavier Glover, and I started wrestling in middle school. At first, I didn’t think much of it. In fact, I thought it was a little strange, but I started because a friend suggested it might be fun. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I went undefeated my eighth-grade year and won the middle school championships. I felt unstoppable. |
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| High school wrestling, however, was much different. My freshman year was a period of learning and adjusting, and honestly, it didn’t go great for me. I didn’t place at regionals and didn’t qualify for the state tournament. That made me a bit angry, but I managed to push through. |
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| The next year, as a sophomore, I was determined to succeed. A large part of our team was seniors, so I felt I had big shoes to fill. Unfortunately, that year I didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped. I was adjusting to a higher weight class and was significantly underweight. At regionals, I won one match and lost two, which took a toll on my confidence. Still, I pushed through and promised myself I would do better the next year. |
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| I wrestled in the offseason until summer football began, focusing on getting stronger and working on my technique. By the time my junior wrestling season came around, I was ready. I wanted to succeed; I needed to.. |
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| I won 1st place at the Sparks Tournament. Then, I took 6th place at the Sierra Nevada Classic and was feeling great. However, I followed that up with a disappointing 5th place finish at the Fernley tournament. I didn’t let that setback affect me. I told myself I would beat everyone the next week at the seeding duals. I did, with the exception of one wrestler. I kept telling myself I needed this and pushed myself harder than ever. |
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| At Regionals, I took 1st place. I was feeling great, but I knew the job wasn’t finished because the state tournament was next, and I was determined to win. I had to. And I did: I took 1st at State, and now I am a 2026 Nevada State Champion, and the first one for Wooster High School since Ian Timmins in 2018. Well, that summarizes my wrestling career so far. |
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