Homeschooler Heads to The Well for State Wrestling Tournament
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You don’t get to the State Finals alone. It’s a Family thing. It is a wrestling community thing.
Homeschool Teen Heads to Wells Fargo Arena
Tomorrow, Reuben Smith, is headed to Wells Fargo Arena to compete in the State Wrestling Tournament representing Interstate 35 High School. No athlete gets to this place in their sport without a community of supporters backing them. Reuben along with his nine other siblings, are also representing the homeschooling families in Clarke County and beyond. His trip to The Well is a testament to the opportunities offered to athletes in Iowa, who choose alternative educational paths. If you’ve met Reuben and his siblings you know they are far from distant, unsocialized or reclusive. This homeschool family has seized the community and connection that small-town, Iowa life is so good at providing.
Small Town Life Means Seeing & Being Seen
This winning season would never had come to pass if it wasn’t for some pretty significant characters stepping into the Smith’s lives and taking an interest in their children.
The Smith family became owners of Nana Greer’s Family Table Restaurant back in 2003, the same year Reuben was born. They added seven more children to the family since then but were committed to raising them in a smaller, rural community.
About seven years ago Amber Smith started taking a few of the older kids to the restaurant on Friday mornings while she attended payroll and bills in the back office. The Smiths were “restaurant kids.” They teased, and got teased by the regulars and the coffee drinkers that occupied their standard Friday morning table. The pre-teens carried on conversations with the staff and enjoyed the attention as much as their weekly cheese balls.
Iowa Gives Homeschooling Atheletes Choices
One of the individuals they made a connection with was Ryan Snyder, the then head wrestling coach for Interstate 35 High School. He saw something in those two wiry middle sons. He extended invitations to the boys to become wrestlers over the next two years. Eventually, they were won over to the idea and the ball got rolling in Reuben’s ninth grade year. Since their older brothers had played baseball for Interstate 35, their mother again, used Iowa’s option to open enroll out of district and the brothers, Reuben and Isaiah got their first taste of the wrestling room.
There is No Behind… Just Work to Be Done
Community is the only way this leap in skills and obstacles was possible. Working parents know the difficulties of dividing duties and trying to get kids to activities. Wrestling out of their home district meant a drive of 44 miles, twice a day, five days a week. Reuben attended both the 6 am, Jr. High and High School workouts after school. Coming in as a Freshman, Reuben understood that he had some catching up to do. He was going to have to work harder, but the team embraced the brothers. The Smiths discovered the Wrestling Community was unlike any they had experienced. Seniors like Casey Baker and Ethan Elliott, shared their wealth of knowledge. Team mates and their dad’s invited the brothers over for workouts or extra practice.
Community Make this Program Work
Coach Snyder went above and beyond the call of Coach. Whether he was mentoring, providing rides when both Smith parents were working, or motivating the boys minds with books and bodies with creative summer workouts, he won over their hearts. He made these brothers into wrestlers. Though Ryan retired at the end of the 2019 season, his role is significant in this trip to the Well.
In 2020, Interstate brought Cody Swim and Tanner Warrington on to lead the school’s wrestling program. Transitioning to a new leader was hard, but Reuben was determined to keep winning. That meant sticking with the program through changes and finding his role in the room as a Senior himself this year. Keeping the sense of community and connection they were offered as underclassmen has been a priority to the boys in the wrestling room.
Beyond the Wrestling Community
The support efforts didn’t end with the wrestling community. Over the summer, Eddie Otto, the Youth Pastor from Murray Church of Christ invested himself by coming over the the Smith’s home for workouts and mentorship. As a former high school football player and Jr high coach, Otto brought the energy and structure Reuben needed to stay in shape during the off season. The boys lifelong homeschool friends continue to come over for workouts to keep the boys tuned up. Everyone of these men, fathers, friends and classmates have a hand in this trip to the 2021 State Wrestling Tournament.
“When we bought this house, I wanted to raise my kids in the same place from start to finish. I wanted them to experience what is was like to have a community.” said Reuben’s Mother, Amber. So, what does she think? She says, “This is what community looks like. It is lived out over years, days and moments.”
The Senior Dream Hand off
The Interstate 35 team is sending four wrestlers to the State Tournament in the 1A Class. Ryan Steinlage at 126, Reuben Smith at 132, Nick Steinlage 138 and Sam Vonnahme for the 220 weight class. Reuben was also awarded his 100th Career Win for his match at the District Tournament.
Good Luck to Reuben from all of us.
And to the community at Nana Greer’s Family Table, thank you for creating more than just an income for all of us. We’re a family.
