Oscar Galvez, Ethan Meyer sign letters of intent to wrestle for Minnesota West
May 11—WORTHINGTON — After strong careers on the wrestling mats of Worthington High School, seniors Ethan Meyer and Oscar Galvez signed letters of intent to wrestle at Minnesota West Community and Technical College next fall.
Meyer and Galvez were recruited to join a sizable incoming wrestling class under first-year coach Brayden Curry.
The WHS seniors were coached by Kirk Feit since their freshman year of high school.
"It was my first season as head coach, but I had been with them before through the youth program," said Feit of his experiences with Meyer and Galvez. "The best thing about coaches getting great athletes is you are never going to have to ask these two to work out and get after it."
"One thing that did (happen), Ethan really opened up to me. I think he said seven words his freshman year and by the end of his senior season I couldn't hardly get him to shut up," Feit said. "Oscar, he is my grinder. You ask him to do something, he is going to get in there and he is going to do it.
"I always thought Oscar was one of the hardest nosed individuals on the team. He is going to go out there and, if a guy is going to push him, he is going to push back. And if it needs to turn into a brawl, Oscar is willing to do that too — all legal," Feit said with a smile.
Also speaking at the event was Curry, who spent last season as an assistant coach to Randy Baker, a southwest Minnesota legend who coached at Jackson County Central and then Minnesota West for the past five seasons.
"There is a lot of excitement with the new program," Curry said on the outlook as recruiting begins to wind down. "It's one of the biggest — if not the biggest — teams Minnesota West has seen wrestling-wise. We have some good talent coming in from 10 different states."
The Bluejays not only have a large roster, they also have high aspirations of competitive team scores.
"We expect them to step up and to step into that leadership role," said Curry of the two Worthington commits. "When you are kind of in new footing with a new head coach, new coaching staff and a lot of new faces on a team, the team is looking for leaders, the staff is looking for leaders and we expect those guys to step into that role and have an opportunity to compete — and be the leaders in the classroom and on the mat."
Meyer plans to study two years at Minnesota West before transferring on to pursue a degree in physical education. He said his career plan came together his senior year while working at Worthington Middle School with teacher Cory Smidt.
"In late September, early October, I was more set on being an electrician," said Meyer. "But when I started SVSing (student volunteer service) with Smidt, that made me decide that I really wanted to be a teacher. It just seemed really fun."
Meyer said visiting Minnesota West this year — and his conversations with Curry — made the commitment to be a Bluejay a reality.
"Meeting him (Curry) was great. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here," said Meyer. "I definitely think it will be a lot harder than high school, but I think it is going to be a good experience."
Galvez plans to study at Minnesota West to become an electrician. Being close to home was also a selling point.
"This team looks like it is going to have a full team and I feel like we are going to be able to compete and it is going to be the start of a new era," said Galvez. "Wrestling is different. It is on you, you push yourself, you get better as an individual — not only in wrestling but also in life."
Galvez said he's wanted to become an electrician for a long time, but has not ruled out pursuing wrestling if the opportunity arises.
"If I want to, after these two years, I can go on to maybe a DII, DIII school or something like that and try to pursue being an All-American there or NCAA title — we will see," Galvez said.
Curry, a decorated prep wrestler at Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, and collegiate wrestler at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hopes his own experiences can help his team grow at Minnesota West.
"The way that we have a schedule set up right now, we will wrestle our conference opponents, we will wrestle some tougher teams that we will see at the national tournament, (and) we will also wrestle some Division II and Division III teams to get these guys looks," said Curry. "The better brand that they have, the more recruitable they are going to be. There are plenty of teams around our centrally located area and throughout the nation that need athletes that are accountable in the classroom and accountable on the mats. This is a perfect opportunity for anybody looking to get into college wrestling."
Another important part of wrestling for Minnesota West and Curry is the student athlete's academics.
"A little bit about me, when I first got to college I was wrestling, wrestling, wrestling and that was all I wanted to do. I slacked off the school side of things and it had its repercussions," said a candid Curry. "I preach to my guys big time that I made that mistake so you guys don't have to. The blessing was I was able to get things straight in school and ended up graduating with above a 3.0 (GPA) and ended up having success on the mat as well.
"But the sooner we can get that started for them and the sooner they can get into the kind of rigid schedule that any student athlete needs to live by — the better off they are going to be not only for their time at Minnesota West, but possibly for their next program and the rest of their lives as well."
