Payne and Eads Earn Gamer of the Week Honors

Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s male Gamer of the Week to Mac Payne and Moses Eads of St. Albans Wrestling!

Mac Payne and Moses Eads have been standout performers for St. Albans Wrestling! Eads is 34-1 and Payne is 26-9 during their senior campaign this season. “The season has been going well…a lot of my teammates and I train at a wrestling club in St. Albans called Mahindra, and we train there year-round,” said Payne.  

Payne is wrestling in the 126lb class and has career record of 95-32. “Mac has been very instrumental for the competitiveness that our team has had this year. He is a leader on our team and at Winners Choice he had a great placement match over the number three wrestler in the state. We can’t wait to see what kind of toughness he will bring to the matches the rest of the season!” said head wrestling coach Daren Gilfilen. 

Payne says his dad got him started in wrestling at a young age, and attributes a lot of his development as a wrestler to his club coach Josh Humphreys, who finished 3rd at NCAA’s. Payne says that he likes that wrestling is a one-on-one sport and you can see the work you put in translate to the mat. Payne won the Region last year and is looking to repeat his success at regional and improve his placement at the state tournament this season.  

Eads is wrestling in the 150lb class and has a career record of 142-10. “Moses always brings a high level of wrestling to the match. Moses is usually in the talks when it comes to the finals match and always gives everything he has to win! Moses had a great championship match Saturday at Winners Choice with a 1-0 victory over the number one ranked AA wrestler. If he can keep up this level of intensity the sky is the limit for this young man!” said head wrestling coach Daren Gilfilen.  

Eads started wrestling when he was 5, when his dad took him to a wrestling gym. He attributes a lot of his success to his dad, for helping with all his workouts and practices. When discussing what he like about the sport, Eads spoke of mentality “I like how I can walk into a room and feel confident enough in myself that I don’t have to be scared of anyone, but humble enough that I don’t have to prove myself to anyone either.” The senior says he has been working on his stamina and being patient, pacing himself through the matches. The work has definitely paid off as he has won 34 straight matches this year. Eads is looking to continue the win streak this season and win the WSAZ and State tournaments.  

St. Albans Wrestling will be back in action on January 27th at the WSAZ Tournament.

Please look for other local high school athletes to be named in next week’s male Gamer of the Week Sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc., and The Putnam Herald.

AJ WHITE, MS, MBA, CSCS, IS AN INSTRUCTOR AT POTENTIAL PLUS.