Summit High School wrestling coach Peter Miller was a guest on 104.5 The Zone’s High School Sports Saturday radio show with Tate Mathews Saturday where he talked about his squad making the TSSAA State Duals tournament in only the school’s fourth year.
“We’ve got a great group of kids that have stuck around since year one,” Miller told Mathews. “They’ve worked their tail off to get here – qualifying for the state tournament this year.”
The Spartans clenched a berth in the tournament by beating Antioch 45-24 Thursday in the Region 6-AAA semifinals. They went on to lose to McGavock in the region championship.
In his second year as coach, Miller credits a great deal of the team’s success to their willingness to do what’s best for the team. Only naturally being able to fill 13 out of 14 weight classes, players have been asked to wrestling out of their range and have done so with a smile on their face.
“Our guys are really able to step up when we ask them,” the coach said. “They don’t second guess anything the coaches ask of them. We say you’re going to step up a weight class they say “Yes Sir, I’m thankful to have the ability to wrestle on the varsity squad.”
The results speak for themselves as the Spartans are 29-3 in dual matches this season.
Summit has strong senior leadership with all three healthy wrestlers having 20 or more wins (their fourth senior has been injured), despite not having large numbers in the upper class. The freshman and sophomore classes make up the largest portion of the team and they have not been afraid to tangle with older competition.
“These guys have come in and responded,” Miller said. “They’ve come through our middle school program, so they’ve been developed into the system that we want. The young guys have definitely stepped up and their not scared to go with our juniors and seniors.”
The TSSAA State Duals tournament begins Jan. 30 at the Williamson County Expo Center.
