Despite his unbridled loyalty to the Green Bay Packers, West Iredell assistant wrestling coach Tim Shuford named his son after “Sweetness,” the Chicago Bears’ Hall of Fame running back who passed away in 1999.
“Walter Payton was great, and he did it the right way,” Shuford said.
So does Shuford’s son, Payton.
A freshman at West Iredell, Payton has taken the wrestling mat by storm in his first high school season.
He is 24-0 with 14 pinfall victories and the ninth-ranked 3A wrestler in his weight class, 125 pounds.
Payton shied away from the recognition and deflected praise.
“I’ve got a great coach (Tom Pavia), and my practice partner (Trey Mills) is a senior and I work hard with him,” Payton said. “They always push me.”
Payton’s victories include a 7-2 decision Dec. 11 against Lake Norman wrestler Ryan Renfroe (27-5), ranked No. 9 at 125 pounds among 4A wrestlers.
Trey, who wrestles at 135 pounds, and Payton were the only West Iredell winners in a 63-8 loss to touted Lake Norman, the second-ranked 4A team in the state.
Payton’s speedy emergence should not surprise anyone who followed his footsteps leading up to high school.
At West Middle, Payton captured the Iredell-Statesville Schools middle school championship at 119 pounds. He was crowned middle school state champion in his weight division while competing through USA Wrestling and earned the organization’s “Future Olympians” top ranking at 120 pounds.
Payton, who began wrestling at age 4, traced the vast part of his development in the sport back to his fifth-grade year, when he joined Iredell Rattlers Wrestling Club and began training and competing in AAU and USA Wrestling tournaments.
“That helped me a lot at a young age, as far as understanding it,” he said.
His maturation continues.
Buoyed by self-confidence, Payton began wrestling at West Iredell this season without a deer-in-headlights look.
“I was a little nervous and stuff, but I thought, ‘I’ll be all right,’ ” he said. “ ‘They’re the same weight class as you. It’s not like you’re wrestling anybody bigger. It’s just older.’ ”
With age comes experience and wisdom.
Payton seems very astute already.
After matches, Payton studies his technique on film.
“I want to get as good as I can,” he said. “If I see problems, I want to try to fix them.”
Payton has helped West Iredell right the ship.
The Warriors wrestling program fell on hard times in recent years. Pavia took over after George Saffos stepped down as head coach following a 3-25 season in 2009-10.
Having followed West Iredell wrestling prior to his arrival, Payton knows the struggles.
“It was ridiculous, they used to have just like four or five kids on the team,” said Payton, whose older brother, Colton, a senior, also wrestles for the Warriors. “It wouldn’t even matter if everybody from West pinned everybody, they didn’t really have a shot to win it. Now we’ve got a full team, plus extras.”
With nine dual-team match victories, the Warriors have tripled their win total so far and the 2010-11 season isn’t over yet. In addition, last month they took third place in the Greyhound Classic and fifth place in the Raider Invitational, a pair of individual tournaments.
Pavia has a history of breathing life into a slumping wrestling program.
Lake Norman had never had a winning campaign and was 2-27 the season before the Wildcats handed the reins to Pavia in 2006. He guided the Wildcats to 76 dual-team victories in three seasons before resigning after the 2008 season. Lake Norman continues to thrive in his absence.
“I love having him as coach,” Payton said of Pavia. “I respect Coach Saffos, too. I have him as a football coach and a Social Studies teacher. Pavia has just been better at recruiting guys, getting people to come out for wrestling.”
It didn’t take any arm-twisting for Payton to jump on board.
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