Fox Wrestling Phenom Chandler Sykes Undefeated

Dominating the competition on the wrestling mat is a habit for Arnold resident and Fox High School sophomore Chandler Sykes. He has won championships at nearly every level of youth and junior league wrestling since he began the sport.

All during that time, Sykes has dreamed of winning a state title as a Fox wrestler.

The talented grappler had to delay his dreams when he suffered a broken wrist during his freshman year, last year. He spent the entire season on the injured list.

“It sucked. It really did,” Sykes said, after a recent meet in which pinned three straight opponents to run his 2011-2012 season record to 16-0. “I hated having to sit out the whole year. I’ve been wrestling every year since I could remember, and it was just so hard to have to sit out the whole year.”

And what made it worse for Sykes was the injury prevented him from training or working out. It was too big a risk that he might aggravate the injured wrist.

“All I could do is watch,” he said. “So I just watched everybody and thought about how hard I was going to work once it got healed up.”

All that watching has paid off big time for the 5-foot-8-inch, 112-pound phenom.

This season, Sykes hasn’t lost a match. With a full year to perfect his strategy and technique in his mind, he’s pinned nearly every opponent he’s faced this year—some in record fashion, such as the opponent from Kirkwood he faced in a match at Whitfield last week. It took Sykes only 16 seconds to put the opponent on his back.

“I like pinning guys,” Sykes said. “I just look for my chance to get him on the ground. And then, I don’t know, I just go for a cradle and try to pin him. I love it.”

Surprisingly, Sykes’ name isn’t listed in the top 10 rankings on any of the respected Missouri high school wrestling websites.

Perhaps Sykes' year away has caused some experts, who vote in the rankings, to forget about a talented young performer. Sykes should be on a list of the best 113-pound wrestlers in the state.

“I don’t really worry about anything other than my matches,” Sykes said. “I’ve been waiting for a long time, and I just really, really want to win (state).

“I probably need to get better on my ‘shoots’ and some other stuff, but I think I can do it. Winning state is my No. 1 goal.”

Sykes and his Warrior teammates, who all seem to be having fabulous seasons, including 120-pounder Anthony Alagna, 182-pounder Dominic Vitale, 195-pounder Chris Repple, and 220-pounder Anthony Reno, have two big meets coming up in January before the district, sectional, and state championship meets come up in February.

In two weeks, Fox will be competing in the All-St. Louis Suburban Conference Wrestling Championships at Hazelwood Central High School in Florissant.

The event will be held on Jan. 6 and 7 and will feature many of the best wrestlers in the area, which will also give Sykes the chance—if he performs well—to earn a coveted spot in the state rankings.

The following weekend, Jan. 13-14, Fox will be in southwest Missouri, for the  Branson Tournament of Champions, an event that has also been known to help  wrestlers make a name for themselves.

But the big opportunity for Sykes will come when the state tournament begins in February.

And that’s when Sykes can begin to prove that he is among the best wrestlers in the state.

“I know I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to it, and I’m just going to work every day to try and get better.”