This time last year, Simley’s wrestling state tournament run looked drastically different. The Spartans were knocked off their six-consecutive titles streak with a fourth-place finish at the 2025 tournament.

This year, the team found its form once again, taking home the Class 2A title on Feb. 27. It marked the 18th wrestling title in school history, thanks to a winning mentality, a group of stellar seniors and a box of sweatshirts.

“It started with our sweatshirts,” recalled head coach Will Short. “We use the Spartan shield logo on the front of our sweatshirts because the shield represents that not only are you taking care of yourself, but you’re taking care of your person to your left and your right. That means every day when you came in and you’re lifting weights or you’re running, not only were you doing it, but you were making sure your partner was doing it, you’re making sure your teammates were at the level that you were at.”

The Spartans secured four of five matches in the tournament and then won five of seven final matchups over the state tournament weekend.

The real work started well before the last weekend in February.

“We had really good summer training,” Short said. “We had some really great seniors in Brenden Watts and Vicente Elustondo, Amilio Salas, Parker Lundell. These guys help lead summer practices and got kids all on the same page of the standard of work that we’re going to hold everybody to, and that standard of work is what it’s going to take us to a championship at the end of the year.”

Simley 145-pounder Jake Kos felt as though the team’s year-long focus had paid off after last year’ semifinal loss.

“I think it put a little fire under our butts the whole year,” Kos said. “It really carried us towards the end year, towards team sections. It really made us dig deep.”

The team will celebrate with tacos, but mostly with a sigh of relief and a sense of gratitude.

“We celebrated with their families, and we’re excited,” Short said. “But what I got from my team and from my kids, as I was walking around, hugging guys and talking to guys, was a lot of gratitude, a lot of a lot of ‘Hey, we’re in a really great situation here at Simley.’”

Nominate a team: Want to nominate a varsity team for Taco Bell Team of the Week consideration? Email us at varsity@startribune.com. Winning teams receive free tacos from Taco Bell and Border Foods.