Lincoln-Way Central head coach Tyrone Byrd reflected on last season’s performance and outlined the goals for the upcoming wrestling season. Byrd discussed the team’s progress and expectations during the program’s media day at Lincoln-Way Central High School.
“Last year, we were 17–8. We finished, I want to say, third in the regional, and I believe we were third or fourth in the conference. We had two state qualifiers — Jaden Zimmer and Jalen Byrd — and two alternates for state in Aiden Hennings and Caden Harvey,” said Byrd. “I brought two seniors. They’re leaders in our school and our program. Jalen Byrd is a 175-pound wrestler who qualified last year with over 40 wins. He’s a three-year starter, making this his fourth year. Aiden Hennings was a state alternate last year — one of our better wrestlers. He’s also a three-year starter including this year. We weren’t planning on seeing these guys until after Thanksgiving. We obviously got them a little earlier than that. Always happy to have them — but we definitely were preparing for post-Thanksgiving. The obvious answer is the scoring has changed. Tech falls aren’t that special anymore because now you have four-point near falls, three-point near falls, two-point near falls, and three-point takedowns. Scores get elevated a lot quicker.”
According to Byrd, Lincoln-Way Central finished last season with a 17–8 record, placing third in the regional and finishing in the top half of the conference standings. The team qualified two wrestlers for the state tournament last season and had two additional athletes serve as state alternates.
Byrd noted that West returns most of its lineup this season after graduating only three starters from a young roster. Two senior leaders in the program bring both wrestling experience and football postseason experience to the mat.
