Buxton flourishing with Waynesburg wrestling
Tristan Buxton is a self-admitted late-bloomer.
He started wrestling in the eighth grade at Trinity Middle School, when his father, Mark, brought him to a practice and made him watch.
“He told me, ‘If you like it, you like it,'” said Buxton. “Well, I really liked it.”
That’s how Buxton’s career began. He battled through his varsity career at Trinity, clawing out 66 wins but missing out on qualifying for the state tournament.
He chose Waynesburg University and fought his way through the lineup. Buxton went 13-13 as a freshman, 33-12 as sophomore and is now 22-2 and the mainstay at 125 pounds for the Yellow Jackets.
“A lot of it is just gaining confidence,” Buxton said of the steady improvement. “In my sophomore year, I got a little more confident and as a returning starter, that gave me a boost.”
Of his 22 wins, 13 came in dual meets, four by pins and three by major decisions. His only losses were a 5-3 decision to Peter Del Gallo of Southern Maine at the Washington & Jefferson College Invitational last month and a 9-8 decision to Anthony Munoz of Elmhurst in the Gator Boots Duals four days ago in Nashville, Tenn.
He won the 125-pound weight class at the Ohio Northern tournament in early December.
“He started late,” said head coach Ron Headlee, who has Waynesburg off to a 5-9 start in dual meets. “Kids like that have a lot of desire. He was always at a lightweight so he’s been growing into the weight for us. He’s growing into that and is showing a lot of ability. He’s right there with everybody and we feel he has a good chance to go to nationals and be an All-America.”
Buxton is part of a talented Waynesburg team that boasts a number of local wrestlers. Junior Derek Hull of Chartiers-Houston has a 9-8 record at 157; sophomore Nick Kusich of Avella is 2-3 at 157; sophomore Tristan Nicholson of Burgettstown is 0-3 at 165; freshman Cory Supan is 0-5 at 165; and sophomore Will Van Norman of West Greene is 2-2 at heavyweight.
And in January, the Yellow Jackets will got former Waynesburg High School standout Shaun Wilson, who just recently enrolled. He has the talent to start, most likely at 149. Wilson finished fifth in the PIAA Championships at 138 as a senior.
“I think we’ll be better in the second semester,” said Headlee. “We had some injuries right off the bat. We lost Zach Swarrow (Beth-Center) with a shoulder injury.”
Interestingly, heavyweight Jake Evans is a 28-year-old sophomore with a 19-3 record and Ryan Shank is a 25-year-old senior with a 21-3 record at 184.
“Evans was out of school for a while and he was going to a club and training,” said Headlee. “Ryan was doing MMA for a while. He always loved the wrestling part. … Ryan has been doing it. Our heavyweight took time to get his timing back but he’s beaten some pretty good kids. We don’t want to beat them up because their bodies can’t take as much. It’s a grind every day and that part, we try to keep an eye on.”