Six members of the duals and traditional state champion Baylor wrestling team have been ranked in SEWrestle.com's top 15.
Wrestling
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Overview
The wrestling program at Baylor is one of the most successful athletic programs in the state in any sport, with 25 team state championships and over 100 individual wrestlers winning state crowns.
Baylor fields wrestling teams at the Upper School varsity and junior varsity levels, as well as the Middle School level for grades 6-8. The varsity team competes in the TSSAA, Division II
Fast Facts on Baylor Wrestling
- Baylor was the traditional state champs in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2019, and 2020, and the duals champs in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019, and 2020.
- Baylor wrestlers have been TSSAA individual champions 111 times since 1971.
- Baylor wrestlers have won national championships 15 times.
- Jordan Leen '04 was a 2008 NCAA champion for Cornell University.
- Zach Watson '12 is Baylor's only 5-time state champ and one of only two 5-time champs in the state's history.
- Mason Reiniche ’19 is a 3-time state champion, 3-time National Prep runner-up, NHSCA national champion and 2-time NHSCA national runner-up, and a World Team member.
- Retired coach Jim Morgan was selected by the National Wrestling Coaches Association as the 2009-2010 National "Coach of the Year."
- Schaack Van Deusen was named nation's top assistant wrestling coach in 2001 by USA Wrestling magazine.
Since 1949, Baylor has had only four head wrestling coaches.
Program Highlights
Baylor Wrestling Year by Year
TSSAA Totals
Baylor Wrestling State Champions
Head Coaches
National Champions
The Mid-South Years
Schedules & Scoreboard
Varsity
Opponent | Date | Time | Location | Advantage | Details | Result | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vs.
Bradley Central
|
|
|
Home | Details | Win | 37-26 | |
Cleveland Duals
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|
All Day
|
Cleveland HS | Details | Cancelled | ||
Knockout Christmas Classic (Kissimmee, FL)
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|
All Day
|
Away | Details | |||
vs.
McCallie
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|
|
Home | Details | Win | 51-14 | |
State Duals Semifinals vs Father Ryan
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|
|
Mill Creek Middle School | Details | Win | 55-9 | |
State Duals Championship vs. Christian Brothers
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|
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Mill Creek Middle School | Details | Win | 48-21 | |
Traditional Region Tournament
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|
All Day
|
McCallie | Details | |||
Traditional State Championships
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|
All Day
|
Chattanooga Convention Center | Details |
Junior Varsity
Middle School
News
Baylor head wrestling coach Ben Nelson told team members Monday, March 9 that he is leaving Baylor and assistant coach Rex Kendle will take over the program.
The Baylor wrestling team is currently ranked 40th in the nation by InterMat Wrestling, the gold standard website for ranking wrestling teams in the U.S.
A memorial service for retired Baylor chemistry teacher and legendary wrestling coach Jim Morgan held in Baylor's Alumni Chapel on Sunday, Jan. 27.
Michael Murphy '16, now a sophomore at the University of Virginia, was the 149-pound champion at the Franklin and Marshall Open wrestling tournament.
Baylor juniors Mason Reiniche and Andrew Pace finished as runner-up and in sixth place respectively at the National Prep Wrestling Championships. Connor Duffy and Riley Westlake also competed at the national event.
Baylor junior Mason Reiniche, representing the United States, competed at the United World Wrestling Cadet Championships in Athens, Greece on September 5 and 6.
Coaches
Head Coach: Rex Kendle
Assistant Coach: Shane Turner
Middle School
Head Coach: Henry Blue
Rex Kendle
Hailing from Edwardsburg, Mich., head coach Rex Kendle was a four-time Big Ten Academic All-American wrestler at Michigan State University. While earning his B.S. in biological sciences, he captained the Spartan team and was an NCAA national qualifier and an Academic All-American in 2009. After serving as an assistant coach, Kendle was named the head coach in 2020.
"I love my job as a classroom teacher and as a coach," says Kendle. "At Baylor, I get to do both at a very high level which is a situation that is hard to come by - the best of both worlds. I can develop strong relationships with Baylor's student-athletes because I see them in more than one realm of their school lives."
"A good coach must be able to push the right buttons to help his athletes achieve competitive greatness," continues Kendle. "The key is developing relationships with the athletes and then guiding them and pushing them harder than they thought possible. Most human beings are not capable of reaching their potential without help, and that's where a good coach comes in. Their potential may be a state champ, or it may be NCAA All-American. I believe Baylor has program that can help kids get to the next level."
Learn more about why Kendle loves coaching at Baylor by watching this interview with trackwrestling.com.