The 2024 Mavericks wrestling team won the state championship with five state champions and a total of seven placers. That was just the beginning of the incredible careers of multiple wrestlers.
High school wrestling uses a different style of wrestling than international wrestling. The two styles used in international wrestling are Freestyle and Greco-Roman. Greco-Roman is much different than the other two because you can not use leg attacks. Freestyle is closer to high school wrestling, but it is still much different. The scoring is very different from high school and much more entertaining. Multiple Mead wrestlers are finding success in Greco-Roman.
Hunter Humphrey (‘25) was a part of the state championship team, but never placed at the state tournament. That never stopped him from having success at the next level. He is wrestling at Doane University in Nebraska and placed eighth in the U20 U.S. Open.
Jake Glade (‘24) was a two-time state champion for the Mavericks. He is the all-time leader in wins and a four-time state placer. The past two years, he’s wrestled at Western Wyoming Community College. Their program finished third and second at nationals during his time there. Glade found success at the U.S. Open, finishing seventh in the U20.
Leister Bowling IV (‘25) was also a two-time state champion during his time at Mead. He leads the program in takedowns and is third all-time in wins. This year, he redshirted for the Iowa Hawkeyes. In 2025, he was a member of the U20 World Team. He won the Pan-Am Championship last year and finished fifth at the U20 World Championships. In the U.S. Open, Bowling took first place and made his second World Team. He will wrestle at the Pan-Am Championship in July.
Otto Black (‘24) was only a part of the Mead wrestling team for one year, but he left a lasting impact. He was a great leader that year and played a major role in the improvement of the state championship team. Black had an undefeated season for the Mavericks where he won 52 matches. He is currently training at Northern Michigan University. In 2024, Black won the U20 Pan-Am Championship and was a World Silver Medalist. In 2025, Black won bronze at the U23 World Championships. His success continued as he won the Senior U.S. Open. He will wrestle in the Pan-Am Championships this May.
