Name: Aidan Kenney

School: Coal City

Sport: Boys wrestling

Year: Senior

Why he was selected: One of three Coaler seniors to earn second-place finishes at the Class 1A State Finals, Kenney was runner-up at 157 pounds two weekends ago and is 49-2 after a pair of wins at last weekend’s Dual Team State Finals, where the Coalers finished a 40-0 season and repeated as state champions.

Between helping the soccer team to its first trip to state and now both winning individual silver and a team state championship (and undefeated season), your name will be all over the Coal City athletic record books. Has it hit you yet that you’ve had such a historic career?

I don’t think it has hit me yet. As I get older, I think I’ll understand the magnitude of both teams’ accomplishments.

How does the training, preparation, routine, etc., compare and/or contrast between soccer and wrestling?

Wrestling and soccer practices have a lot of similarities and differences. At soccer practices, we conditioned and worked on connecting the team as a whole. We did a lot of passing drills and other drills where the whole team participated. At wrestling practice, we did a lot of conditioning drills and techniques. Soccer focused more on team connection, and wrestling focused more on mental toughness.

Similarly, how did the week leading up to individual state compare and/or contrast with the week leading up to dual team state at practice?

Both weeks had the same idea leading up to state: perfection. The coaches wanted the wrestlers to feel refreshed and ready to participate at the highest level. Preparation for both individual and team states was very similar.

From your perspective, what’s allowed Coal City wrestling to become such a dominant force for so long?

I think our kids’ club, Lil’ Coalers, has had the largest impact on Coal City’s dominance in wrestling. Lil’ Coalers brought the whole wrestling community together, creating the Coal City wrestling culture. All of the wrestlers quickly turned into a family to me. Wrestling together made us a stronger wrestling team all together. This continued through high school as we remained a strong team. All of our high school coaches helped us to continue building mentally and helped us to refine our skills. The community support also helped us to continue being dominant. There is nothing better than looking in the stands and seeing our community support.

There are countless to choose from, but what are some of the memories, moments or matches that you think you will remember most fondly?

I think winning our first team state championship in wrestling when I was a freshman will be the most memorable. Seeing the reactions of my coaches and the seniors made this the best experience in my sporting career.

Which member of the Coal City wrestling team (coaches included) would make the best crossover into the WWE style of wrestling? What would their name/persona be?

I think the lower weights of the wrestling team together would make a great WWE crossover. At practice, we call some of the lower weights “crickets.” Jake Munsterman, Ryder Gill, Jason Piatak and Owen Petersen are all a part of the “crickets.” The Crickets would make an awesome group within the WWE.