All-American

Lucas Chesher is an All-American teenager.

Literally.

The 125-pound Central Valley wrestler placed seventh in his weight class at the Cadet National wrestling tournament last summer in Greco-Roman wrestling to earn the designation.

“As far as I can tell, he’s the first All-American this school has ever had,” coach John Owen said. “I don’t think there’s ever been one at Central Valley.”

Chesher already has wrestled in two state tournaments, placing eighth at last year’s Mat Classic.

But wrestling at a national tournament is a different story. First, because of the sheer size of the tournament. Second, because a national tournament encompasses both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling – the international styles of the Olympic Games.

“I wrestled well in Greco-Roman, but I didn’t do as well when it came time to do freestyle,” Chesher said. “It’s tough to make the switch from one to the other. You wrestle so much in the one style, it’s hard to suddenly change to do the other.”

There are benefits to being an All-American.

Perhaps most importantly, Chesher knows he can walk onto the mat with anyone and compete.

“I think it gives you a mental edge, a boost of confidence,” he said. “Mostly, it’s just experience against great competition.”

Back home, Chesher is an anchor for the Bears – one of three state-caliber wrestlers on the squad. Camren Ebat was a district champion at 152 pounds a year ago, placed fifth at the regional tournament and qualified for state. Geoff Palachuck was the runner-up at district last year, finished fifth at the regional and was a state alternate.

Having reached the awards platform at Mat Classic, Chesher is ranked among the top wrestlers in the state at 125 pounds. He is a favorite at this weekend’s annual Tri-State Tournament at North Idaho College.

Being a leader changes very little, Chesher said.

“I don’t feel any special pressure being a team leader,” he said. “I’m still coming in every day and working as hard as I can to get better.”

Chesher won five of his first six matches to start the season, losing only to Lewis and Clark’s Nate Powell, by a point, in the finals of the Inland Empire Tournament Saturday at CV.

“I’m still missing a few things,” he said. “There are still some moves that I’m not getting quite right or I’m not reacting to as quickly as I can. I still need to work on those things, but that’s what you expect this time of year.”

Chesher still has the majority of the tough Greater Spokane League season ahead of him, including the Jan. 20 Battle of the Bone at University.

“Some guys really look forward to that match because of the individual match-ups,” Chesher said. “And there’s a lot of stuff built up around that match. But mostly, I just look forward to getting on the mat with University.

“Wrestling in the GSL prepares you for state. I know in my weight class, you’ve got a number of guys who are state-caliber wrestlers.”

The Bears still have some important tournaments on their schedule. Before the end of January, the team will have wrestled in the Pacific Northwest Tournament at University High and the Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

By the end of last year, Chesher’s coaches had to be careful he didn’t exceed the maximum number of matches a high school athlete can have.

“This year I’m going to sit out a few matches – matches where the guy in my weight class isn’t all that tough or where we really don’t need the points,” he said. “That way I can keep from having too many matches by the end of the year.”

A year ago the Bears hit their peak in the cross-over match, upsetting Clarkston to claim third-place in the GSL.

“That was a big match for us, because they had beaten us pretty badly during the regular season,” he said. “Beating them really got us ready for the postseason tournaments. It showed us what we could accomplish if we worked hard.

“I think that’s carried over this year. I think we’ve all worked that much harder coming into the season, and we’re all willing to do whatever it takes to improve.”