Avon senior hopes to cap wrestling career with a state championship

Avon senior hopes to cap wrestling career with a state championship

By Mike Beas

To high school wrestlers in Indiana, having the spotlight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse aimed your direction in front of thousands of onlookers is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Avon senior Jaden Reynolds continues to inch closer to a berth in a championship match at the annual state finals, placing third a year ago at 145 pounds after a fifth-place showing at 138 as a sophomore.

The third time, he hopes, is the charm.

Reynolds is the latest in the long line of outstanding wrestlers to be part of the Avon pipeline. It’s a fraternity that includes nine state individual champions and four runners-up, along with second-place finishes in the final team standings in 2005 and 2019.

Having watched friends and teammates make the slow walk to the center of the floor in an otherwise darkened Bankers Life, Reynolds wants to hear his career credentials rattled off by the public address announcer.

The senior has yet to decide whether he’ll remain at 145 for his final season with the Orioles or bump up to 152 pounds. He enters the 2020-21 season with a career record of 98-26 and the type of skill set, work ethic and determination that translates to whichever class he decides.  

“I think Jaden is certainly one of the top returning wrestlers in that class (145), but I think he’s good enough to win state in either weight class,” said Avon coach Zach Errett. “He has the strength to match his technique and sticks to what he does really well.”

Reynolds, who carries a 3.74 grade-point average at Avon, hopes to major in business and be part of the wrestling program once he decides on a college.

Reynolds did a Q&A with ICON:

Q: How long have you been wrestling and what motivated you to start?

A: I started when I was 5. One day my dad asked me if I wanted to wrestle, and at the time it was something new. I came to the Avon Wrestling Club, and the first day I was on my back getting pinned and was smiling. Once I started to get good, I liked the feeling of winning.

Q: Moving up or down a weight class seems as though it would be difficult. Is it?

A: It’s probably the worst part of the sport, really. It’s definitely a mental game to play when you’re cutting weight. I’ve realized the past four seasons how to manage my body and what I can eat and drink to where I can lose weight easily and still feel energized.

Q: How valuable was being a state finalist the past two years when preparing for this season?

A: It’s very important. It gave me quite a bit of confidence, but it also just drove me to be better. I go out there to have fun and show off the work I’ve put in during the offseason.