Stanley County Wrestling has seen continuous growth over the last few seasons. Wrestlers from both the boys and girls programs have advanced to state, and the program itself is starting to dig in their heels as the success continues to present itself in competition. However, as any wrestler will tell you, it’s the work done outside of competition, in the weight and wrestling rooms where the success truly comes together. For Stanley County, their wrestling room hosted a few legends of the sport over the past two days to help continue that growth and continue the upward trajectory of Buffalo wrestling.
Mark Manning, the current head wrestling coach at Nebraska and former Vermillion coach was thrilled to be in Fort Pierre to train with Stanley County, Pierre and other high school wrestlers on Monday and Tuesday of this week. To understand the magnitude of having Manning in attendance to help train, drill and mentor these athletes, all you have to do is look at the NCAA’s wrestling program rankings. Currently, they have Nebraska listed as the fifth-best program in the country joined by powerhouses like Penn State, Iowa and others. Nebraska is a juggernaut in their own respect, boasting a National Champion in Vincent Robinson who joined Manning at the camp. With over 100 years of Cornhusker wrestling history, the school holds one of the most storied programs in NCAA history. There is no question about legitimacy with these two, so for these male and female wrestlers at the high school level to be able to learn, work and roll with some of the best was almost a dream come true.
We asked Manning about what it meant for him to give back to a program in the state he once served as a high school head coach:
Manning ran a tight ship. The camp was loud, intense and informative; Just as a wrestling camp should be. As much intensity as there was, there was equal amounts of encouragement from the two-time Big10 Coach of the Year. The feel in the Stanley County wrestling room was as if each wrestler was a proverbial sponge, trying to soak up every word out of Manning and Robinson’s mouths. Manning always works to improve each wrestler he is working with, whether that be at the top of the food-chain in collegiate wrestling, or working with underclassmen at the high school level. Manning’s goal has and continues to be to develop and shape brighter futures for every wrestler or athlete he gets the chance to work with:
Not only does Manning view wrestling as a way to shape your life, he also views it as a way to help progress in other sports off the mat. He believes that wrestling can be a great jumping off point to help you thrive in other sports because of the different types of muscles you are working, but also the many fundamentals that are crossed-over to other sports:
There are thousands of high school wrestlers looking to be recruited by the top programs like Nebraska, many of whom may be focused on some of the wrong things at the wrong times. We asked Manning what it is that he looks for when recruiting a high school athlete both in the wrestling room, yet also in the classroom and in their daily lives:
After the camp concluded, the kind-hearted Manning and Robinson stuck around to answer questions, take pictures with campers and sign autographs on coveted ‘Nebraska Wrestling’ shirts he brought for the attendees. Manning held court with members of the Stanley County coaching staff as they discussed the state of collegiate wrestling while also planning a trip to Lincoln for a match in the upcoming season.
The biggest takeaway from it all is that the programs in Fort Pierre and Pierre are in a state of continuous growth, and will continue to see success thanks to camps like these tucked away in the wrestling rooms of the Buffaloes who
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