Wyatt Koelling, a junior at Davis High, is a top wrestler in Utah for his weight division. Wyatt has been turning heads and leaving people slack-jawed ever since he started wrestling. But his success did not come without a price. Wyatt has a work ethic that is unrivaled by most high school athletes. He has always gone the extra mile in practices and that, in turn, has showed in his matches.

Coach Porter, Wyatt’s high school wrestling coach, has coached Wyatt ever since Wyatt moved from Logan in sixth grade. He has a high opinion of Wyatt as a wrestler and a person. “[Wyatt] puts in the extra mile. He wrestles year around and he always has. When other kids are doing other sports, he’s still practicing wrestling, he’s still putting in more time.” Porter said.

Wyatt is ranked second in his weight division on wrestleutah.com. His compilation of achievements and awards over the years are beyond impressive. Wyatt took state in his weight division during his sophomore year, was runner-up three times in nationals, won three national championships, and took third in world team trials.

Wyatt and his coach accredit Wyatt’s success to the same thing. “I just put in the extra time, ya know? We get told to do ten shots and I do eleven, I stay after practice for a couple hours and put some work in… and then go workout” Wyatt said. “A lot of kids have skill and a lot of kids have physical talent… but they don’t have the work ethic and he doesn’t burn out. He just keeps going and going and wants to do more and more and he wants to be the best he can. A lot of people say they want to be the best but he actually does the work” Coach Porter said.

Wyatt has had many memorable moments in his years of wrestling. Coach Porter believes that his most memorable moment was when he was an underdog in the state tournament. “There was one match when he was a freshmen at state where he was wrestling a kid from Taylorsville and he was losing with really short time left and he hit an awesome move that kinda sealed the win for him, it was really memorable for me,” Porter said.

Wyatt’s passion for wrestling is an inspiration to many, he has many different reasons for being a wrestler but when asked about it, he described his love for wrestling in greater detail. “[I love] the grind, not very many people do it. It’s an individual thing, there’s no greater feeling than going and working your guts out and beating someone and knowing it’s all you, there’s no one else you can give the credit to,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt is always working to get better. He has set his sights high when it comes to wrestling. Coach Porter has seen his progress and believes Wyatt could go far in his wrestling career. “Wyatt has very, very high goals. He wants to be on the national Olympic teams so he’s going to be competing in college and beyond as much as he can and as long as he can,” Porter said.