Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s male Gamers of the Week to seniors Dyson Bowers and William Smith of the Winfield High School wrestling team.
This has been one crazy year with hybrid learning, virtual classrooms, and the delay of winter sports, but that has not stopped two seniors from Winfield High School from reaching their 100th win in their wrestling career. Dyson Bowers and William Smith are both senior captains for the Winfield High School wrestling team, with this being Bowers’ second year leading the team.
Bowers has been wrestling since elementary school and enjoys the individual aspect of the sport very much. During the off-season, he spends most of his time training in the gym along with his teammate Smith.
Smith has been wrestling for the past seven years and got into wrestling when he moved to Winfield and wanted to try a new sport.
“I like the individual aspect of wrestling because you’re basically relying on yourself out there and if you lose, it’s on you and it’s not really on anyone else,” said Smith.
Bowers is a two-time State Qualifier and Cardinal Conference Champion. His current record is 23-3 on the season for the 138-pound weight class, where 9 of his wins were by way of pin. Bowers received his 100th win at a quad hosted at Poca High School on March 16, 2021 and is currently sitting on 103 total wins.
Bowers stated, “I had to win against every one of the teams to get my 100th win. It was a result of all my hard work.”
Smith is a three-time State Qualifier. His current record is 20-3 on the season for the 120-pound weight class, where 6 of his wins were by way of pin. Smith received his 100th win at a quad hosted at Williamstown High School on March 20, 2021 and expects several more wins before the season is through.
“It’s cool to see all the people I once looked up to on the team, the upperclassmen, who did make it to 100 wins and to be on the poster with them is pretty cool as well,” remarked Smith.
Coach Mike Cochran commented on Bowers and Smith’s respective 100th wins.
“The 100th mark, the century mark, is a pretty big milestone for wrestling because you have to average at least 25 matches or wins a season, and that’s kind of difficult when you have a rather good schedule. We usually have a competitive schedule, so there is nothing guaranteed. There’s very few easy wins and forfeits to pick up those victories.
“It was business as usual for their achievements. They just wrestled like they were supposed to and got their victories,” Cochran concluded.
Coach Cochran also commented on how it has been a great four years working with Bowers and Smith.
“They’ve worked really hard, and you can tell by the way they conduct themselves that wrestling really means a lot to them, and most of the time I can pretty much count on them.”
Bowers and Smith were voted as team captains by the rest of their teammates at the beginning of the season.
“They’ve been good role models and have the respect of their fellow teammates,” Cochran said. “They try to lead by example and by working really hard the previous three years, have carried them through to their senior year which has been a crazy year.”
Both Bowers and Smith plan to qualify for states this year. As captains, their goal for the team is to get as many people to states as possible.
“We’ve been doing pretty well in the past few years. We are getting a decent amount of our weight classes to states. It would be pretty cool to have a couple place this year, too,” said Smith.
After high school, Dyson plans to attend West Virginia State University, where he will major in engineering. William also plans to attend West Virginia State University but is currently undecided on a major.
Please look for other local high school athletes to be named in next week’s male Gamer of the Week Sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc., and The Putnam Herald.
Taylor Life, LAT, ATC, is an Athletic Trainer at Teays Physical Therapy Center and Potential Plus.
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