SHANE SHOEMAKER
Writer
Mason Keel wasn’t even sure he wanted the job. He said he would think about it. Two days later, an email landed in his inbox that read: “Congratulations, Head Middle School Coach, Wrestling.”
“Okay, I guess we’re doing this,” Keel said.
One year later, Keel helped lead the Jasper Middle School wrestling team to the TMSAA Class A Dual Wrestling State Championship.
JMS defeated Providence Middle 51-34 and then DuPont Hadley Middle 52-36 to claim the state title — a first in many ways for the young program under Keel’s guidance.
Wrestling has not traditionally been a staple within the Marion County school system. The sport has come and gone at the high school level over the decades and had never existed at the middle school before last year, making Keel the program’s first head coach.
Now, the JMS wrestling team has an advantage few programs in the valley — or even surrounding areas — can claim. The team practices exclusively in the old Jasper Middle School gymnasium, using nearly every square inch for mat space.
“I’ve been in a lot of wrestling rooms,” Keel said. “And I’ll say having this much mat space at a school like this — it’s probably a top wrestling room in the state.”
The idea to bring wrestling to the middle school level came from current Marion County High School head wrestling coach and middle school football coach Rob Minton, who believed Keel — a former player he coached — was the right person for the job.
Keel, 21, wrestled and played football at MCHS and was helping Minton coach middle school football last season when the idea was raised. At the time, Keel had just retired from football after tearing the ACL in his left knee twice within a 12-month span playing linebacker at Kentucky Wesleyan.
Since then, Keel has balanced life as a student — working toward a bachelor’s degree in exercise and health science at UTC — while substitute teaching at JMS, where he hopes to land full time after graduating in May.
Substitute teaching is also how Keel built his wrestling team. He started with the football players, selling the idea that wrestling was a way to become stronger, tougher and better conditioned.
“When I started wrestling, I noticed a big, drastic difference in football,” Keel said. “These two sports go hand in hand. Getting those football guys and telling them, ‘Hey, when you come out and do this, it’s going to get you in crazy shape you’ve never been in before.’”
Whenever he filled in, Keel roamed the halls asking students their weight, trying to fill all 15 weight classes, which range from 75 to 260 pounds.
While there were gaps in the first season, Keel assembled a roster of 18 wrestlers this year, spanning sixth through eighth grade. When the Warriors reached the state tournament, they were missing only two weight classes — meaning they began the championship dual down 12 points due to forfeits.
Down early, Keel delivered a simple message: no pins allowed against them.
A pin is worth six team points in dual meets, while decisions are worth three, major decisions four and technical falls five. Giving up pins would quickly end their title hopes.
Several wrestlers answered the call with clutch performances, including seventh-grader Weston Kirkpatrick, who finished the season 17-0, along with eighth graders Callahan McEntyre, Brayden Sitz and Cooper Keys.
“I told him, ‘Just let it all hang out here. It’s the last match of the year — we can be tired later,’” Keel said he told Keys.
Keys responded with a major decision, earning four team points and swinging momentum back in the Warriors’ favor.
With the championship, the JMS wrestling team continued what has become a new moniker for their athletics — “The Everything School.” JMS teams have now won recent championships in baseball, basketball, softball, football and cheerleading.
“These kids at the school are second-to-none athletes,” Keel said. “They’re unstoppable in the valley — and now in the state.”
Photo from Jasper Middle School Facebook Page