Liberty's Gavin Linsman wins fourth Missouri individual state wrestling title, fourth team championship
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – Moments after stepping off the top of the podium, with his Missouri Class 4 first-place medal around his neck, Liberty senior Gavin Linsman was going through a wide range of emotions.
Missouri’s newest four-time state champion – just one of two wrestlers to accomplish the feat this week – was struggling a bit to put his latest accomplishment in proper perspective.
“I've been coming here, my dad's been taking me to watch this tournament since I think I was seven or eight, and just watching these people do it, just getting it done means a lot more – and it's way bigger,” Linsman said. “It's kind of like a roller coaster of emotions right now. I'm up and down. Trying not to cry. It's a tough setting. But I mean, I'm happy. It's weird. You know, it's indescribable.”
Linsman won two individual and two team championships as a freshman and sophomore at Whitfield before moving across the state and finishing his career by winning two more individual and two more team titles with the Blue Jays.
But the senior standout was still driven to prove people wrong up until the final seconds of his remarkable high school career. Those emotions flooded out as he closed out a 7-1 decision over Fort Osage’s Colby Gray in the Class 4 150-pound title match.
“I've had a lot of people in my high school career doubt me,” said Linsman, who is ranked 14th at 150 pounds in the SBLive national wrestling rankings. “And it proves that and to the end with at districts, them giving me the second seed. And I mean, when people doubt me, it just, like, OK, let's go. And so it was just more of a I'm here, I'm here.”
He wants his accomplishment to serve as motivation for wrestlers in the future – an example of what they can achieve if they put in the hard work.
“I feel like it's a great opportunity to encourage other kids coming into the sport. I want them to be able to strive for the goal and what I've reached, I want them to strive for that, because it's a very unique, unique feeling. And it's just amazing.”
Linsman, who is headed to North Carolina State next year, achieved the rare feat only minutes after his friend and former Whitfield teammate, Porter Matecki, capped off his career with his fourth straight state championship.
Linsman said he and Matecki don’t talk as often as he’d like, but are still really good friends and were planning to spend time together later on Saturday and take a photo together.
“Porter’s a great kid,” Linsman said. “And we've always had a little competition going, especially since we were at the same school and won state together. And we both ended on 151 wins. We both finished on that which is honestly crazy. He will say he had three less losses than me, but I'll give him crap though because he didn't wrestle part of the season because he was hurt. … So we just always have a little rivalry going, it just makes it fun. We're real good friends.”
Linsman was one of four Liberty wrestlers – joining Hunter Taylor (120 pounds), Peyton Westphal (175) and Isaiah Hung (215) – to win individual championships on Saturday night as the Blue Jays ran away with their fifth consecutive team title.
Liberty (188.5 points) topped Lafayette (Wildwood) (139.5), Staley (118.5) and Hickman (113.5) for the Class 4 title.
“It's pretty cool,” Linsman said. “You know, obviously, freshman and sophomore year, I was at Whitfield, and we won two team state titles, their fourth and fifth consecutive. And I moved here, and we are winning our fifth consecutive state title. And so it's really big, you know, it really just gives you that confidence. Being a part of a program like this gives you confidence, it makes you feel better going out of the mat, like, I'm a part of this program, I've trained harder than anybody else in the state – I will do whatever it takes to win. And that's just that's how we go. And it just means a lot.”
Liberty's Gavin Linsman
Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports
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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz
