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Dexter wrestling's Waldner hopes to pin down undefeated season
Editor's note: The Semoball Awards will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 13, 2019, at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau. The Dexter Statesman is featuring Dexter's Travis Waldner, who has been nominated for the wresting award. Visit semoball.com and click on Semoball Awards for more information.
Dexter senior Travis Waldner doesn’t seem overly concerned about winning a state wrestling championship.
Waldner placed third in the state at 126 pounds as a sophomore and fourth at 138 last season. While he admitted that he was disappointed he didn’t at least equal his finish from his sophomore year, he brushed off last winter’s loss in the third-place match, saying, “That’s just wrestling. Stuff happens.”
However, if he accomplishes his goal for this season he will walk away a state champion.
“My goal is to go undefeated to make sure they know I’m the best,” Waldner said. “That sounds cocky, but I know I was the last two years. I just want to prove it.”
Waldner carries a 128-14 record and a long list of accomplishments into his senior year:
2019: Waldner (40-3) won a district championship, the SEMO Conference regional tournament and the Cape Central Tiger Classic. He reached 100 career wins at the Ste. Genevieve Duals in early January.
2018: Waldner (45-5) won the Owensville Invitational, the SEMO Conference regional tournament and the district tournament, and was runner-up at the Tiger Classic. He placed third at state.
2017: Waldner, who wrestled at 106 pounds as a freshman, placed second at the Tiger Classic, the SEMO Conference regional tournament and the district tournament. He reached the third round of wrestle backs at state, finishing two wins short of an all-state medal.
“He’s a talented kid, but he’s not the most athletic. He’s a really hard worker,” Dexter coach James Sneed said. “His work ethic, his ability to go out and compete. He hates to lose. He’s a kid who puts in the work. I met him every morning at 7 and he got a workout in. He goes to practice. Even after the state tournament, we started up again at 7 in the morning. He didn’t miss any days Monday through Friday up until the last day of school.”
Waldner was named Dexter High School’s male athlete of the year for his accomplishments last season.
“That’s impressive because he’s basically a one-sport athlete,” Sneed said. “That tells you what the coaches and everyone thinks of him.”
Waldner went undefeated in his weight class last season but entered the district tournament with a 39-1 record.
“The only match I lost. I went up to 145 (pounds) because there was this kid (Austin Coons) that was a two-time (state) runner-up, I wanted to wrestle him,” Waldner said. “So I wrestled him and beat him. Then I lost to a kid that I was supposed (to beat).”
Waldner beat Coons, of Bolivar, formerly of Odessa, 3-1, at the Marshfield Duals. Coons was a Class 2 state runner-up as a freshman (106), a sophomore (120) and a junior (145).
Gabe Hodge, of Pleasant Hill, beat Waldner 6-5, handing the latter his only loss of the regular season. Waldner finished 36-0 against 138-pounders, entering the district tournament. He didn’t lose another match until the quarterfinal round of the Class 2 state tournament.
“I lost only one match going into state,” Waldner said. “My quarterfinal, I took a bad shot. Then it went into overtime and I took another bad shot and he beat me by one.”
Chase Cordia, of Osage, won 7-5 in overtime.
“I didn’t take it deep enough. It wasn’t there. I just forced it,” Waldner said. “That kid actually came back and got fifth and I got fourth.”
Hunter Williams, of Excelsior Springs, defeated Waldner 2-1 in the third-place match.
“I know I should have beat the kid for third place. I had a takedown the last second,” Waldner said.
Moving up
Waldner plans to move up three or four weight classes for the upcoming season, wrestling at 160 or 170 pounds.
“I want to wrestle 160 or 170 so I don’t have to cut as much (weight),” he said. “Some wrestlers can cut a lot of weight and feel fine, and they can’t compete at the weight they’re naturally at. I feel like I’m naturally strong enough and athletic enough that I can compete at the weight I’m naturally at.”
According to Sneed, Waldner’s current weight is around 170 pounds.
Offseason competition
Waldner competed in the Missouri Freestyle and Greco tournament on May 1 in Sedalia, where he placed fourth at 152 pounds. He was seeded last because he hadn’t wrestled at that weight. While he qualified for the national tournament with a top-four finish, he doesn’t plan to participate.
Waldner, who wants to compete in the Super 32 Challenge on Oct. 12-13 in Greensboro, North Carolina, will continue training this summer. He would need to advance through a qualifying tournament to participate in the Challenge.
“I just lift and I do stance and motion a lot to make sure my stance stays the same,” Waldner said. “If you have a good stance, no one can take you down. I go up to Jackson and wrestle with their team sometimes. They have open gyms for just like everyone around the area.”
Starting out
Waldner began wrestling when he was 6, tagging along with his brother, Trevor, and sister, MaKayla, who competed in the Dexter Elks youth wrestling program.
While MaKayla moved on to other sports — she is playing soccer at Mississippi State — Trevor continued to wrestle. He won a state championship at 138 pounds during his senior year when he went 40-3.
“It’s always his goal to win the state tournament,” Sneed said of Travis. “He’s got one more year. His brother won a state title. He’s accomplished a lot of things his brother didn’t, but his brother has that state title. He’s working hard to get one for himself.”
Waldner said he loves the brutality of wrestling.
“It’s you vs. someone else. You don’t have to rely on anyone,” Waldner said. “… It’s a great way to relieve stress. It’s a great way to work out. It’s just a great all-around sport.”
He said he loves to dominate his opponents.
“(It’s) not so much pinning (people), but the more points I score,” he said. “(Establish) your dominance.”
Favorite moment
Waldner said one of the highlights of his high school days so far was helping his team win its first district wrestling championship in February.
“That was big. I was pumped,” Waldner said. “It was between us and Ste. Gen. One of my buddies, at 220, Colten Gibson, had Ste. Gen.’s kid in the finals. He had to beat him or else they were going to win.”
Gibson’s opponent placed second in the heavyweight class at state in 2018. Isaac Boyd moved down to 220 because of an injury.
“We’re like, ‘Oh boy. He’s not going to win.’ It sounds horrible,” Waldner said. “When he won, everyone was ecstatic. No one really likes Ste. Gen. because they’ve won it like the last how many years. It’s just nice to see someone else win it.”
Waldner believes the Bearcats will have a shot at repeating as district champions next season.
Looking ahead
As for his future after high school, Waldner wants to wrestle for an NCAA Division I university (large or small) and dreams of competing in the UFC one day.