We’re going team-by-team, with information from each local wrestling team! Here’s the season preview info for Union County.

*Information/Interview Questions by Jason Lord**

PRESEASON INFO

2022-23: 5th Place in Traditional; DNQ for State Dual
Head Coach: Justin Byers (8th Season)
Key Departures: NONE
Key Returners: Asa Smith-Foot, Payton Legatt, Anderson Clouse, David Heredia

QUESTIONS FOR THE COACH

Returning state champs, placers, starters?
“We will return all of our main starters including our four state placers, Anderson Clouse, Asa Smith-Foot, Payton Legatt, and David Heredia.”

Region/State finishes last year?
“We finished third in our area but did not make it to the state Duals. We finished 5th overall at State Traditional and had four state placers (all taking 3rd place). We finished 2nd in Area last year behind Fannin County.”

Strengths/concerns?
“We are returning a solid core of upperclassmen with a lot of varsity mat time. This includes our four returning state placers. We also have an extremely strong group of freshmen this year that will be ready for varsity.”

Expectations?
“My expectations this year is that we build on our success from last year. We have returned most of our starters and we have a special group of freshmen that I think will be extremely successful this year. Overall I am expecting for us to be one of the top teams in our area and make a big showing this year at state.”

How is the growth on the girls side at Union?
“We have only two girls currently in our program. We are actively looking to build that up.”