Farragut senior wrestlers win in their home finale against Karns
By Ken Lay
After scoring a pin in his match against Karns High’s Stone Johnson, Michael Stafford was greeted by congratulatory handshakes and hugs from his co-workers Farragut High School’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium Friday night.
“These are my co-workers at Weigel’s,” Stafford said after the Admirals’ 72-5 victory over the Beavers on Senior Night. “I work whenever I can, but once wrestling season starts, it’s kind of hard.
“But I work when I can.”
Stafford, who stuck Johnson in 1 minute, 34 seconds in the 165-pound bout, is one of three seniors on Farragut’s 2024-25 roster. He works at Weigel’s when he’s not representing the Admirals on the mats. He’s the only senior holdover on the team as he’s in his third season competing at the school.
But he almost didn’t have a senior campaign. Former coach David Gararandt, who was a high school wrestler, left following last season. The Admirals had a prolonged coaching search but no one came forth to take the reins for the once proud program that had fallen on hard times due to lack of interested athletes.
Farragut finally found its man after school started as Charlie Rohn stepped forward to reboot the program. The new coach took the job out of necessity. He and his family relocated to the Knoxville area from Maryland.
And Rohn’s son, Dylan, had been a star grappler in Maryland. But with no team at Farragut, Dylan would have also missed out on his senior season.
“That is very correct. We wouldn’t have had a team this year,” Stafford said. “I was so glad when coach Rohn came here. (Garabrndt) just didn’t have time to do it anymore.”
Upon taking the Farragut job, Charlie Rohn, now in semi-retirement, dedicated himself to rebuilding the program — almost from scratch. He went to the school during the lunch periods and began walking the hallways looking for potential wrestlers.
And Stafford went recruiting alongside the new coach, and together, they found enough athletes to field almost an entire roster, meaning that he and Dylan Rohn would get to wrestle this season.
“Michael Stafford helped me recruit people,” coach Rohn said. “This is his third year wrestling.”
Dylan is one of the area’s top middleweights. He’s primarily competed in the 150-pound weight class but has also seen time at 144 pounds. He won his bout against the Beavers by forfeit Friday night.
“It’s been great to wrestle here,” Dylan Rohn said. “It’s been fun being here and watching all these kids get better.
“I haven’t been out and about here in Farragut much, but there’s good food here and it’s nice to be so close to everything, have everything close together. Where I lived before, everything was about two miles away.”
The third wrestler in the senior trio is Owen Walker, a 195-pounder. He’s a first-time athlete at the school as he’s come along, in his short time as a wrestler.
“I have a group of good kids but the one I’m the most impressed with is Owen,” coach Rohn said. “He’s never played any sports and the first day he showed up and I didn’t think he would ever come back.
“He really struggled but he stuck with it. When he came in, he weighed about 220 pounds. Now, he’s almost a solid 190. He weighed in at 195 tonight, so he’s lost 25 pounds. And in five of his last seven matches, he’s had pins.”
Walker is making his first endeavor into athletics but’s he’s been active in the school’s ROTC program.
He’s developed such a passion for the sport of wrestling that he’s actively seeking opportunities to wrestle at the next level.
“I had a lot of my friends who were in wrestling and they talked me into it,” Walker said. “And I really liked it. It was fun.”
