The Eureka girls swimming and diving team still has plenty of firepower left, despite the graduation of one of the school’s best swimmers ever.
Haiden Schoessel, now competing for Arizona State University, won the 50-yard freestyle at the 2024 Class 2 state championships, finished second in the 100 freestyle and swam on the Wildcats’ state-champion 4x100 relay and runner-up 4x200 medley relay. She helped Eureka finish in a second-place tie with Mary Institute Country Day School with 168 points.
Schoessel also set the state record in the 50-free and 100-free in 2023.
Eureka head coach Anna Jovanovic said she likes to remind her team that they aren’t the only school that loses talented swimmers each year.
“Everyone across the board lost people; it wasn’t just us,” Jovanovic said. “Kirkwood (fourth at state) lost some of their fastest sprinters. Parkway South lost some big names. I’m confident in my girls. I’m excited for my girls. We’ll be right at the top again with everyone else.”
One of the top returning performers is senior Chloe Robinson, who swam on both medal-winning relays at state and placed fifth in the 100 backstroke. With a clocking of 58.08 seconds, she’s taking aim at the school record of 57.43.
“I feel very confident that we will place the same or higher, both as a team and individually, as we did last year,” Robinson said. “This year, I’m definitely getting it (the record). Last year, I was (off by) just under a couple hundredths of a second. Hopefully, I can go under 57 seconds. I don’t think that’s something that’s out of reach.
‘I feel very confident in myself and the work we do here. I hope to place higher at state this year as well.”
Robinson doesn’t lack confidence in her teammates, either.
“I think you’ll see (senior) Emmerson Hicks also break a (school) record this year. She’s our strongest breaststroke swimmer, and she’s a hard worker.
“Another amazing swimmer, (junior) Paige Samuelson, will do well in the 100 butterfly this year. She’s going to make our 4x100 free relay a lot faster, and our 4x200 medley relay faster as well. I’m excited to see those times drop.”
Jovanovic expressed high hopes for both Robinson and Hicks.
“We want to get them up and racing and the times will work themselves out,” the coach said. “Chloe and Emmerson are both competitors when they get in the water. They can be racing their best friends, laughing on the pool deck or the block, but the moment they hit the water they are ready to compete. It’s so much fun watching them race.”
Jovanovic added that there’s even more incentive for Robinson.
“Chloe’s brother (sophomore Isaiah Robinson) just got on the record board for the (100 breast stroke), so that’s even more motivation for her to get there.”
Senior Adeline Stephens also swam on the 4x100 free relay state championship team. She said she looks forward to defending the 4x100 title, even without Schoessel, and hopes to help develop the next generation of Wildcats in the water.
“I’m really excited for all the new freshmen who have joined,” Stephens said. “I’m hoping that I can make it as welcoming for them, as I was welcomed. All of us love this team so much, and we just want them to feel that same love for the team.”
Another senior veteran, Bridget Peckham, said she’s hoping to crack the lineup this season in her favorite race, the 100 backstroke, knowing it won’t be easy.
“We have a lot of talented girls on our team, and they get put in that race often,” Peckham said. “But this year, I hope to get my chance. I’m really excited for that because I get to work on my favorite thing.”
Peckham said she’s also enthusiastic about the freshmen.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the freshmen at the first meet. The first meet, for me, is when I fell in love with this team. Our team is a family, from singing on the bus rides to laughing by the side of the pool to cheering on our teammates. Getting to see (the freshmen) experience that for the first time, I can’t wait.”
Jovanovic said she believes her team has what it takes to meet and exceed last year’s results.
“Last year, I told them at the beginning of the season, we could really make an impact at state. And I don’t think they really believed me.”
Smiling, she added, “I think they believe me now.”
Boys, girls wrestling previews
The more the Eureka football team wins, the longer Luke Gentry has to wait.
Gentry, an assistant coach for the football team, also is head coach of the Wildcat boys wrestling squad. In 2023, Eureka reached the Class 5 football quarterfinals, and the season didn’t end until Nov. 18. It was a different story this fall as the top-seeded Wildcats were upset 14-13 by Washington in the district playoffs Nov. 8.
Winter sports practice was barely a week old when the gridders hit the wrestling mat to prepare for a new season.
“It was an unfortunate loss, but the one good thing is I’ve had my full team for three weeks, which I’ve never had,” Gentry said.
Five Eureka wrestlers qualified for state last year and three of them – Ryan Thornhill, second at 175 pounds; Noah Richardson, sixth at 144; and Caden Gousetis, fourth at 165 – won medals but have graduated. Heavyweight Jacob Boucher, a junior, is the only Wildcat returning state qualifier.
Gentry said the junior class will carry the load this year. Most will be doing it with little or no varsity experience.
“I’m very excited to see the new leadership step up,” Gentry said. “We’ve had so much age in our lineup the last couple of years. Our juniors are going to have a great opportunity to show what they can do.”
Boucher finished 20-20 last year after falling from medal contention in the second consolation round.
“He works hard every day and we’re excited to see what he’s going to do,” Gentry said.
The other seniors in the lineup are Blake Forke (157 or 165 pounds), who lost in the consolation finals at districts, and Quinton Bernat (132).
The juniors include 126-pound Connor Stephens in his third year on the varsity; he also narrowly missed qualifying for state a year ago. Taybryn Geiler wrestles at 150 and his older brother, William, was a state qualifier in 2022. Fischer Skaggs (157) competed in a couple of varsity matches last year and had success.
“So we’re excited to see him expand on that,” Gentry said. “I’m really excited about this (junior) class. They’re going to get a good chance coming in as unknowns.”
Sophomore Noah McCollum (215) comes over from football, where he played on the defensive line, and is still at his football weight of 230. Gentry said he might try his hand at heavyweight (285).
“We’re not sure if he’s going to get down there (215). (In practice) I’ll be showing him a drill and he hurts me. He’s a tank. Wherever he lands, he’s going to be a force.”
The other sophomores are Noah Morris (106) and Braxton Vanderveen (120).
The Missouri State High School Activities Association split the state tournaments into two groups. Class 1-2 boys and Class 1 girls are slated for Feb. 26-27 at Mizzou Arena, while Class 3-4 boys and Class 2 girls will be held Feb. 28-March 1.
Liberty has won five straight Class 4 championships. Eureka was 12th last season.
“It’s a double-edged sword having a young team,” Gentry said. “We’ll be fighting through our matches. Ultimately I want to get as many kids to state as possible. State is crazy. Let’s just get there and see what happens. When you have a younger team it’s about growth and maturity.”
The Wildcat boys start the season Dec. 4 at home against Northwest.
Girls have new head coach
Gentry’s dad, Mark, stepped down at the end of last season as Eureka’s girls head coach and is enjoying spending more time as a grandfather.
Clayton Wegener got an early look at the Wildcats as their new head coach Nov. 23 at the Rookie Wonder Woman Tournament at St. Charles High.
“I was super-impressed; they wowed me,” Wegener said of his first-year wrestlers.
Freshman Mia Fijan won all four of her matches at 100 pounds and claimed the Wildcats’ first tournament title of the year. Fijan pinned teammate Iris Richardson in 20 seconds in the final.
“Mia pinned everyone,” Wegener said. “She wrestled about two minutes in her four matches.”
The other Eureka wrestlers at St. Charles were senior Brooke Belosi (11th, 130), sophomore Reagan Hageman (ninth, 140) and freshman Lucy Sumner (second, 145),
“(Belosi) is fiery, super-aggressive,” Wegener said. “She’s still in that learning phase. She’ll figure it out.”
Four of last year’s five state qualifiers are back for the Wildcats, missing only Autumn Ashlock, who moved away from Eureka.
Senior Addison Neumann, a two-time state qualifier, was fifth in the state at 235.
“We don’t have a 190-pounder for her to work with, so we can’t tell where she’s at without competition,” Wegener said. “We’re on the girls to make sure they’re working hard.”
Junior Mira Richardson made it to the second consolation round at state at 125 and is back at 130.
“She’ll do anything the coaches ask,” Wegener said. “She’s super-supportive of her teammates. She asks questions about technique and is doing what she can to become a state medalist.”
A state qualifier at 115, junior Kirra Dunscombe will stay there or drop down to 110.
“She’s strong for her weight class. She learns new moves quickly and puts them into her arsenal.”
Sophomore Ellie Smith had never wrestled before last December and ended up a state qualifier at 105. She could move to 110.
The girls will join the boys squad in hosting Northwest Dec. 4.
“We’re super excited,” Wegener said. “We can win that dual. It’s hard to beat them because they always have a full lineup, but we’ll have 13 of 14 weight classes filled. I think we’ll surprise some people.”