The boys and the girls wrestling teams in Lebanon are having good seasons, and both won the Ozark Conference tournament.
Many of the athletes contributing to the Yellowjackets’ success this season are related.
Sports teams often call themselves a family, and in some ways Lebanon wrestling actually is a family.
“Someone has a sibling that wrestles, or twins, or has an older brother that wrestles. It’s just so cool, everyone knows each other and nobody’s left out,” said Lebanon junior Taydem Johnson.
As a matter of fact, there’s Jax and Quincey Glendenning, Bailey, Davis and Jessa Joiner, Taylor and Taydem Johnson, Connor and Ethan Brand, Jonathon and Micah Perryman, and Adeline and Lillian Cottongim.
That’s six groups of siblings including three sets of twins.
“It’s sure nice, keeps the numbers up. In the past it seems like when one brother graduates, you’re getting another,” Lebanon wrestling coach Randy Roark said.
Not only are these brothers and sisters good for the program but having someone by your side in the sport helps too.
“Being able to help each other out through it all just makes it fun,” freshman Jax Glendenning said.
“It’s good because then you have somebody that you know and so when you’re having trouble you just ask ‘what’s this about?’ And they tell you,” freshman Jessa Joiner added.
“Helps a lot. They help encourage me, they’re on the sidelines cheering me on every match,” said freshman Micah Perryman.
“It’s very cool, she’s my best friend. It’s just like goofing around with your sister every day, having fun with your best friend and learning and growing with each other,” sophomore Lillian Cottongim said.
“It really helps in different cases because they know how you wrestle so they can help you in situations that you need help on,” said junior Davis Joiner.
“He knows the stuff I do; he’s watched my matches and he tells me what corrections I need to make,” senior Connor Brand added.
There’s even siblings on the coaching staff.
“It’s awesome. We go home and we talk about it and critique each other, it’s a great time,” said assistant coach Kaeli Sobbing, Darby Neely’s sister.
“They’re siblings, but it’s also another thing we can bond over and watching them progress is amazing,” said assistant coach and Lillian and Adeline’s brother Race Cottengim.
Although these siblings help each other, their relationships wouldn’t be complete without a little sibling rivalry.
“Sometimes you get brothers and sisters in there it turns into a fight instead of a wrestling match. You just never know,” Roark said.
“You see how siblings fight it out and how we all relate to each other and how we both kind of deal with this brotherly love situation and how we both fight all the time. Every brother and sister here fight all the time in the wrestling room, we just kind of laugh at it and enjoy it,” said Connor Brand.
“They pick on me a little bit but it’s all fun,” Micah Perryman added.
“It definitely pushes me more when we wrestle, she’ll always be like ‘Yeah I can still take you on and I’m this old,’” senior Darby Neely said.
Whether fighting or helping each other, there’s no doubt these siblings are a big part of Lebanon’s success on the mat.
