Wyatt Clements works at Terrebonne’s wrestling practice Aug. 2 at Houma Junior High. Clements is one of two Terrebonne High wrestlers who signed this past year to compete in college.
Recent Terrebonne High School graduate Wyatt Clements is fairly new to wrestling, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t excelled.
The 2023 graduate, who signed with Cleary University in Howell, Michigan earlier this year, only wrestled for two years in high school. But during that time, he did enough to catch the eyes of several college coaches before picking Cleary University.
Clements and teammate Darian White were the first wrestling signings in Terrebonne Parish history, as Terrebonne High has the first program in parish history. It’s now joined by Vandebilt Catholic, who started a team recently.
Clements said last week he learned about Cleary University through a recruiting app he was encouraged to sign up for at a football camp. Also, his coaches sending packets to colleges of their senior wrestlers helped draw the attention.
With his college destination set, Clements is working to improve.
“Right now I’m working on just maintaining a good weight, building a lot more muscle and really perfecting techniques,” Clements said, adding he also is still learning because he only has wrestled for two years.
Terrebonne High Wrestling coach Coty Knoblock said the improvement Clements made was “exponential” from his first to second years wrestling.
“He’s always putting work in,” Knoblock said. “Wyatt’s that kind of kid that if I call a practice on Christmas, Wyatt will be there. … He’s here during the summer where a lot of kids are not, and he’s putting in work to prepare himself for college.”
Clements is listed at the 184-pound weight class on Cleary’s website. He said currently he is trying to work in the 184-pound class, but he wants to move up to the 195-pound class.
“I think he’s going to do well,” Knoblock said. “I’m interested to see when he comes back to me after a year of college wrestling how much he’s grown.”
Cleary, whose athletes compete in NAIA competition, completed last season with a seventh-place finish at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships in Rochester, Michigan, in February.
The university begins its 2023-24 season Nov. 4 with a meet at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
White also inked to continue his career at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
White concluded his senior season with a top-10 finish at the state wrestling meet in the 160-pound class.
“He put the work in,” Knoblock said. “The coach in Nebraska saw him when we sent him our senior packets. That coach has been after him since he saw it.”
Nebraska Wesleyan completed its season at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional in Springfield, Illinois, where it finished tied for 14th place.
The squad, which competes in NCAA Division 3, will begin its 2023 season Oct. 28 when it hosts its Black and Gold Classic.
A third wrestler, Loukas Naquin, opted to join the U.S. Marine Corps instead of wrestle in college but certainly could have, Knoblock said. Naquin finished fifth in the state in the 170-pound weight class this past year. It marked the first time ever a Terrebonne High wrestler reached one of six podium spots at state competition.
Knoblock said the college signings are positives for the program.
“Those colleges really reached out,” he said. “We got a lot of inquiries. I think each one of my (senior) guys had at least four or five offers to wrestle in college. It kind of also validates the system that we have here that obviously these colleges coaches are looking at our guys and seeing something that they like and making offers.”
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