Father and daughter wrestling journey came full circle at CIC Regionals — and it’s not done yet

Kassidie Sheets started wrestling when she was a sixth grader in middle school down in Hampton, Virginia. Her journey took her to West Anchorage High, where as a senior she claimed her first individual conference title Saturday at the Cook Inlet Conference tournament at South High.

Her father Jeff Sheets has been there every step of the way, including as her head coach this year. He is in his first season at helm of the West wrestling program and also coaches football at the school as well.

“It’s been a long journey but she’s always had a great attitude and just works and improves every time she goes out,” Jeff Sheets said.

She didn’t qualify for state as freshman in Virginia and didn’t get to wrestle as a sophomore because of COVID and her family moved during the school year.

Her junior season was cut short by a severe knee injury suffered at last year’s Lancer Smith Tournament but to be able to come back as a senior and win her first regional title with a chance to do the same at the state championship tournament next weekend has been extremely rewarding.

“It’s a really great feeling,” Kassidie Sheets said.

She won the girls regional title at 185 pounds with a second period pin of South’s Allison Coffey.

Sheets still has to wear a brace on her knee to keep it stable but now the injury is the furthest thing from her mind.

“After she got the first match or two under her belt, she doesn’t really think about the knee as much,” Jeff Sheets said. “Once she got the new brace for it, she has wrestled care-free.”

He said coaching his daughter has been fun and it all began when she and her brother helped him organize a wrestling event where she witnessed girls wrestling for the first time. It got her interested and she’s loved it ever since.

“There was this girl on the high school wrestling team where my brother briefly wrestled,” Kassidie Sheets said. “She was really amazing, I would watch some of her matches, she would do so well and I knew I wanted to be like her.”

She said being able to get coached by her dad has been a great experience for her and she’s excited they’ll have another week to make even more memories.

“There’s always part coach-part dad there but in times like this, especially when I know I do good in a match, there’s always that emotional support of him just being there not just as my coach but as my dad,” Kassidie Sheets said.

It’s hard for him to separate being a coach from being a father, but when he has another coach in the corner with him, he said he’s able to compartmentalize a little more.

“Even when I know she has it under control, the nerves come up a lot more,” Jeff Sheets said. “It makes it really exciting.”

She said winning state with her dad both in her corner and as the head coach would be a dream come true for them both

“That would be absolutely amazing and I’m hoping we’ll get to do that this week,” Jeff Sheets said

South and Service claim team titles

It was business as usual for the host Wolverines on Saturday as they cruised to their 11th straight conference title and fifth in a row under head coach Randy Hanson. Several of their wrestlers tore through their respective brackets.

“That was our goal kind of, you know going in,” Hanson said. “We have a team state title on our minds and we’ve been talking about to the kids that this is the first step. Regions is the first step qualifying.”

Six South wrestlers claimed individual titles and their 311.5 total team points was 118 more than the next closest team which was Service with 193.5.

The Wolverines qualified 24 of their 26 wrestlers for next weekend’s state tournament where they will be looking to end Colony’s stranglehold on the team state title after finishing as runner-ups in each of the last three seasons.

“Our goal is to qualify our whole team, but we might get a wildcard bid for the (other two) so 24 out of 26 is still pretty solid,” Hanson said.

The Service girls won the girls regional title with 60 total points which edged out host South by just three points as the Wolverines finished with 57 points.