Carl Junction’s Tony Stewart won our poll for Outstanding Wrestler with 133 votes from the community. Each poll winner is then featured in their own article where we spotlight that athlete’s life and accomplishments.

Stewart told Prep Sports “Wrestling has taught me so many different things like work ethic, being humble, and camaraderie. Wrestling is just a sport that makes everything else in life seem so much easier”. This year he hopes to “win the state championship but also to help my practice partners to place high in state”.

Wrestling alongside Stewart is fellow Bulldog Bentley Rowdan who Stewart shared is “a senior this year on our football team and has had a huge impact on me. Teaching me how to bring energy, have fun doing the things we love, and just be an amazing person. That just feels like a brotherly bond”. Not only has Stewart been inspired by his teammate, but he also expressed that “my dad inspires me the most because when he’s proud of something you did it’s just an amazing feeling and makes you feel good about yourself”.

Off-the-mats Stewart participates in “community service for a class and I go to Bright Futures and help out there with getting food packs and essentials for kids that may not be able to afford it.” Also, a member of the Carl Junction Video Production class, Stewart told us that of all the advice he’s ever been given the best has been ” that when you win something big to act like you’ve been there before and be humble”.

Before the end of the interview Stewart wanted to take a moment and say “Thanks to my parents and my grandma for always being there for me, my brothers for always making me more competitive, all my coaches from football and wrestling for making me a better person and pushing me, and all my teammates for being like a sencond family to me”.