Warner junior Xander Torix admits it took some doing to get him involved in wrestling.

“My dad started try to talk me into going out in the third grade, but it took a year before I finally agreed and since then I’ve loved it.”

Torix qualified for the state wrestling tournament last year at 132 pounds and gives a lot of credit to his coach Scott Mayfield and assistant coach Tyson Hume.

“I was doing okay in wrestling but when coach Mayfield took over the program that’s when I really started getting more serious about it. Coach Hume has been kind of a role model for me. He wrestled at Ouachita Baptist and has taught me a lot and helped me with weight control,” said Torix who also runs hurdles on the track team.

Mayfield, now in his fifth year of running Warner’s wrestling program, says he depends a lot on Xander and the other juniors to be team leaders this year.

“He’s a great leader in the weight room and always works hard. He takes weightlifting classes and shows up all the time, even for optional practices.  I can depend on him to be the one to make sure practices get started and set a good example for the many freshmen we have this year. His biggest attribute is his willingness to learn and be coachable.”

Making it to state last year was a big deal for Xander and proved to himself that his hard work is paying off.

“Going to state was really exciting and I had a good friend who was a senior so getting to go with him made it special. I think the biggest lesson l learned from that was that the harder you work, the further you can go.”

This year Torix has moved up to the 138-pound weight class and says one of the things he’s working on is staying on an even keel and not getting frustrated when things don’t go quite right while maintaining a positive attitude. And, of course, his goal is to not only qualify again for state but to end up on the medal stand this year.