John Raffel
Sports Scene
Taylor Grenawalt expects to accomplish plenty during his junior season on Haslett’s wrestling team.
He definitely has the credentials to do so.
As a sophomore last year, Grenawalt had a 46-4 record at 140 pounds and took second place in the Division 2 state finals. He lost to Lowell’s Gabe Morse 9-3 in the title match.
“I felt like I did really well,” Grenawalt said. “I improved a great deal from my freshman year. I still feel there’s room for improvement and room to grow as a wrestler and learn from mistakes I made last year.”
He is hoping to improve his technique on the mat “so I can be more versatile so if I have an aggressive kid, a smart kid on the mat, I can react right…and no matter what type of wrestling they’re doing, I can counter that, and pretty much work on technique and mastering moves.”
Grenawalt is comfortable with his mental game on the mat.
“I feel like I never give up,” he said. “I’m real aggressive no matter who it is I’m wrestling and no matter where they’re from. I always go into the match with the same aggression and try to be positive and keep trying to do what I need to do to win. My aggression and my mental focus and everything is probably my [strength.]”
During the off-season, Grenawalt wrestled in several tournaments, including national tournaments in which he was on the starting team for the Michigan Freeze.
“That showed me what I need to work on, and that I still have a lot to improve upon and work on this year so I can hopefully win at state,” he said. “My goal is to make it to the finals and win it this year rather than taking to second. Right now, all I can improve upon is taking first.”
Grenawalt has gone up from last year’s 140-pound weight class. “At tournaments I’ve wrestled at so far, my weight class was 152,” he said. “At this point in time, I don’t really know..I like being at 152 because I can have more strength and energy. But if I feel I can make it, I’ll make an adjustment call and decide if I want to cut down to 145 or 150.”
No matter what class he wrestles in, Grenawalt will be up for the challenge.