A sharp whistle blows. From the mat in the center of the gym, a referee raises an exhausted wrestler’s hand, declaring them the match winner. The crowd erupts into cheers.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, boys wrestling head coach Zeke Allison quietly achieves a major landmark: 100 career wins.

“I wanted to keep it a little hush and not make a big deal about it. When it did happen, I didn’t know the team had posters. They kind of surprised me. I didn’t think they knew about it, so I was going to keep it that way, but it was nice to see them and their support [in] giving back to me,” Allison said.

Although he only came to West in 2015, wrestling has always been a part of Allison’s life.

“I was born into wrestling. My dad was a coach at Parkway South for about 18 years, and he got me started young. That’s kind of how I fell in love with the sport,” Allison said. “I started in second grade and wrestled throughout high school. After I graduated [college], the assistant coaching job [at West] became open. I applied for it and, luckily, I got it.”

After serving as an assistant coach for a year, Allison was promoted to the position of head coach. This season marks his eighth year holding that title.

“You’ve got easy coaches who like to teach the technique, and then we have hard coaches who will just drill us. [Allison] is a nice middle ground between the two,” wrestler and senior Nicholas Herman said. 

Under Allison’s leadership, the wrestling program has reached several goals. In 2021, wrestler and alumna Paige Wehrmeister became the first woman in district history to win a wrestling state title — a feat she repeated in 2022. Furthermore, from 2017-2020, the wrestling team won their conference for three consecutive years.

“[During those years], we had a great group of kids that just kept coming back each year. We had the same kids in the starting lineup for three or four years [who] grew together,” Allison said. “A lot of people came through the practice room and just made it fun, but [there] was a lot of competition as well.”

Members of the team, which has a 13-4 record this season, credit much of their success to Allison’s leadership.

“[Allison] is really good at organizing us. He studies other teams to let us know what we’re up against and does a really good job analyzing what we need to work on and focus on more,” wrestler and senior Maurice Beers said.

Meanwhile, on an individual level, Allison was recognized as Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Part of his coaching philosophy is to help his athletes develop a community around wrestling.

“[I] always come in here [at the] start of the season and try to get everybody to learn all the basics and try to build camaraderie between the team each year. You start each year a little bit [after] the seniors graduate,” Allison said. “Students, they come in and out of here, and [I] just try to get them to fall in love with the sport. It’s done so much for me over the years.”

This story was originally published on Pathfinder on February 5, 2024.