BY HUNTER DONELSON

Chase Schroeder lost a heartbreaking match, last season, that put him in 3rd place in the Missouri State Championship. He was proud of how far he had gotten, but he wanted to go all the way. Now, this season has arrived and he has shown that he really wants it all.

“I want to make it back to state and win,” Schroeder said.

But it hasn’t always been easy for Schroeder. He has been wrestling for only five years and entering his freshman season he quickly realized it wasn’t going to be the same. Schroeder shared some of the biggest changes he experienced walking into his freshman year and how he has had to overcome the battle.

“In middle school, it kind of comes natural, but in high school I definitely had to work harder,” Schroeder said.

It wasn’t just Schroeder who noticed the difference between the levels of wrestling, and it only took varsity wrestling coach, Levi Goes, a few practices to note that Schroeder was looking for great improvement but would be stubborn to change his routine.

“Coming in his freshman year, I could tell Chase had had success and that he wanted to transfer that to his high school career, but like many freshmen, Chase was resistant to change.”

Coach Goes broke that ‘resistance to change’ for Schroeder and over the years Schroeder has clearly improved and taken those big steps to become the all-state wrestler he is today.

“Since his freshman year he has become more coachable and willing to take criticism and critiques more easily,” Goes said. “ I also believe that Chase learns a little something from each match that he loses.”

It was only a season later when we saw Schroeder begin to show those improvements and all his hard work come into play.

When asking Schroeder what he did to make those improvements he said, “I’m just trying to stay healthy by conditioning more often.”

The wrestling coaches here at Truman are a big reason for Schroeder’s success.

“We, as a coaching staff, are pretty hard on him and expect a lot from him,” Goes said. “And I have talked with Chase quite a bit about being a leader for the team and how that will make him a better wrestler, as well”

Chase has taken over that leadership role on the wrestling team just as Coach Goes wanted him to.

Schroeder and Coach Goes’ relationship has built up over the years and they have definitely helped out one another.

“I would like to think that Chase and I have a pretty good relationship. Chase has lofty goals and I want to support him in reaching those goals,” said Goes.

One of Schroeder’s big goals is winning state this season; however, his biggest goal is to be wrestling collegiately after his senior year.

“I would love to wrestle in college,” Chase said.

This season Chase has at least four top two finishes, including a first place victory at our very own Truman Invitational. Although Schroeder is dealing with an injury that will put him out for a week or so, it shouldn’t affect him going into the postseason.

Patriot Vision’s Trevor McPherson tells us a little more about the wrestling team.