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Hometown Hero Schmitz Finds Success at Truman
By David Boyce
Long before Colton Schmitz started winning state wrestling titles at Kirksville High School, his work ethic caught the attention of Truman University coach David Schutter.
By seeing him running on his own as an eighth grader convinced Schutter that Schmitz was a special competitor.
"I've watched him since he was in little league in Kirksville," Schutter said. "He's always been a winner, but more than anything he's always been a hard worker."
The dedication led to Schmitz putting together a remarkable four years at Kirksville.
Schmitz closed out his high school career last winter with a 150-14 record. He won the Missouri Class title as a senior at 140 pounds. He also finished first in state as a junior at 135 pounds. Schmitz was runner-up as a sophomore at 125 and finished third as a freshman at 112.
Schmitz had the type of career that Schutter believes could have easily led to a Divison I college career.
"He gotten better every year," Schutter said. "I thought he was a kid MU would try to suck up."
Instead, Schmitz's love of Kirksville and family kept him home. His grandfather works the scorer's table at basketball games and the clock at football games and wrestling matches.
"It's pretty cool," Schmitz said. "I'm lucky to have pretty much my whole family in Kirksville to support me."
They are watching him make the difficult transition from high school in which Schmitz faced many wrestlers below his level to Division II wrestling in which he's facing former high school state qualifiers and state champions nearly every time out.
Although he has nearly lost as many matches in half a season at Truman as he did his entire time in high school, Schmitz has found success. He's 17-12 wrestling at 141.
"It is pretty tough," he said. "But I didn't expect to walk through college at all. High school was pretty easy for me. I look at it as another step I have to take.
"I've learned I'm not going to pin people and I'm not going to win big. I just have to wrestle smart and wrestle my own match and style and come out with a victory however I can."
Two months through the season, Schutter has seen growth in Schmitz. He points to a match Schmitz had against a Division I wrestler in which Schmitz was pinned.
Schmitz lost the rematch but the nature of the outcome was much different. Schmitz fell 7-5 on a takedown in the final seconds.
"So Colton is just a real good competitor," Schutter said. "He's a really strong kid. He's just a tough-minded, hard-nose kid.
"He's made the transition well because he's such a competitor. Those types of kids are hard to find. If I had 20 kids like Colton Schmitz we would be able to compete with Nebraska-Omaha for a national title."
Unlike basketball or football, not many schools in the MIAA participate in wrestling. There are only four, including Central Missouri and Fort Hays.
Obviously, with so few league teams, rivalries are not big, but that doesn't mean the competition between the schools is not fierce.
"It's not necessarily a conference thing for wrestling; it's just that competitive spirit that's burns in them from the day they were born," Schutter said. "It doesn't matter who they are wrestling, they just want to win."
Schutter definitely knows he has that in Schmitz.
Being able to get a wrestler of Schmitz's caliber from the hometown is meaningful. Shutter said it is beneficial for the university to get top athletes from Kirksville to come to Truman.
"It's huge," Schutter said. "When I was recruiting him one of the sell points was I could go out and sign a high school All-American from New York and the kid could come in and be a two- or three-time national champ for me, but that wouldn't do as much good as you coming in and being a national champ for me.
"Having a local kid is way better than having a kid from New York that nobody knows about. We need those local kids."
All indications are that Schmitz will be a great example of the benefits of staying home for college. With the majority of his college wrestling career still ahead of him, Schmitz is off to a good start and it extends off the wrestling mat.
"I'm meeting new people, making new friends and having fun," he said.
To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail to dboyce@themiaa.com.
