Wresting is one of the more challenging sports offered at Searcy. It take a lot of upper body strength to overtake the other wrestler and win the match. And according to Coach Jerry Evans, wrestling is a unique sport in that it is not only a team sport, but it is also an individual contact sport.

“To prepare a wrestler to step onto the mat,  you must help them find confidence in their skills and a want to please their teammates,” Evans said. “We all count on one another to do our best every day. We know that our success is dependant on the success of each member of the team. My job is to get them to understand that and take pride in competing to the best of their ability.”


When Evans first started coaching, he didn’t have much history in Wresting. Over the years, his love for the sport grew stronger.

“To be honest, I lucked into the sport. Coach Leonard was the head coach at the time and offered me an opportunity to come and be an assistant coach for him,” Evans said. “I did not know much about the sport, but quickly learned that I enjoyed it. Little did I know how much I would come to love it over the next few years.”

Evans added each year he is part of this spot it drives his love for it deeper.

“I believe there are two things that make this spot so great for me: One, there is a place for everyone, no matter the size. Two, the combination of team and individual competition and possibilities of success that are derived from that,” said Evans.


Evans and assistant coach Steve Leonard work hard to coach the wrestlers and train them to be the best. Evans has it own way of preparing the wrestlers for the season.


“We began preparing for this season last May,” said Evans. “I opened the wrestling room up for the guys all summer and continued practicing into the fall. Our primary goals were to increase our knowledge of technique and have amazing endurance on the first date of  the season.”

The coaches have different expectations for the season since majority of the team is younger. Evans hoped the team could be in the top Eight out of 24v teams at the end of the year. 


“I knew that coming into the season the guys would be younger than most teams we face,” Evans said.  “We only have four upper classmen including our one senior Garet Dillon. My expectations were to be competitive, but not elite.”


Coach likes to think of the team as a family, instead of just a team, a family that works together


“As the season has continued, I believed our team has started to form an identity,” Evans said. “We are beginning to find a belief that by working together as hard as we can in practice and supporting each other on the mat we can be greater than we thought.

“We are not a team of super stars; we are workers. That is what is making us successful and giving me hope that we might do something special this year in the upcoming tournaments,” he said.