Kings Mountain senior eyes second state wrestling title

KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — Will Varner returns to the Greensboro Coliseum this weekend as Kings Mountain High School’s defending 38-0 NCHSAA 3A state champion at 150 pounds, seeking to cap his career with back-to-back titles while competing at 6A 165 pounds this senior year as the classification has realigned.

One year after a perfect junior season, Varner has faced a tougher path this year with losses at the Southern Slam tournament exposing bad habits and lapses in mental focus that kept him from being fully dialed in.

Varner’s wrestling roots trace to Mat Masters in Gastonia, where coach Ronny Huitt sparked his passion. “Yeah, he really got me into it. Really started the love for wrestling and really kind of got that go-go-go mentality in me right off the rip,” Varner said.

He advanced at Charlotte’s Darkhorse Wrestling Club under head coach Jim Avola. “Coach Jim and Adam right off the bat really helped me and really kind of bought into me right off the bat and I really got a whole lot better. And it made it more of a lifestyle,” he recalled.

Darkhorse assistant Jake Glunt instilled a guiding principle. “I would say do the hard things… the harder things you do, the easier life gets and the easier things do, the harder life gets. So that’s one big thing that I try to live by every day,” Varner said.

Reflecting on his undefeated junior campaign, Varner credited his inner circle. “Everybody that went into it made it special, especially people like Ryan Hayes and Jake Glunt… it kind of was a major milestone that was bound to happen that finally happened and to be undefeated just put the icing on cake for it,” he said.

In middle school, national tournaments paired Varner with elite talents like North Carolina native Joe Sealey — a High Point Central state champ who later dominated at Wyoming Seminary before Penn State — and Jax Forrest, now at Oklahoma State. “Being in their shadow 24/7, it helped me kind of rise… I’m very competitive, so I was always trying to outdo them, which would never happen, but it definitely helped me grow as a person as a wrestler,” he said.

Those experiences put high school stakes in perspective: “North Carolina State Championship really isn’t that big. It’s a huge deal, but there’s a whole lot more to it than just that.”

Post-thumb surgery, Varner’s junior year produced a 38-0 mark, 3A title, and 120 career wins, honored by the City of Kings Mountain. He singles out the state semifinal: “I got taken down twice or maybe three times back to back to back… and came back and scored 34 points and I think that showed really who I was.”

This season tested him differently. “Head really wasn’t in the right place. Didn’t have a lot of great habits… It was all stuff that I could fix… I think it was needed,” Varner said of his Southern Slam results. He acknowledges mental gaps aside from any physical setbacks: “I definitely haven’t been 100… mentally I just haven’t matured as a wrestler to do all the right things and keep consistent behaviors.”

Support remains key. “The people in my corner really play a major role,” he said of his Kings Mountain and Darkhorse circle.

For states at 165 pounds, Varner keeps it straightforward: “All the adversity… setting a goal and going in there and achieving it… Just going out there and let it fly.” After his final match: “I think it’s going to be how much more could I have done?… a little bit of regret… but… a great feeling.”

Varner wants to compete in college wrestling at the highest attainable level and expects to make a decision soon.

To young fans, his advice carries edge: “I hope they just take away the overall personality. Just the free spirit… be a little mean out there… carry a little bit of grit.”

This weekend, Varner takes the mat for the final time in a Kings Mountain singlet, chasing that second state championship.