Youth no obstacle for West Laurens’ Mannella

West Laurens wrestling head coach Michael Slaughter had a pretty good idea about what Vincent Mannella could do as the wrestler entered his freshman season.

By way of feeder and middle school wrestling programs, coaches are able to get somewhat of a handle on what type of athletes will be at their disposal on the high school level.

But when it came to Mannella, he simply carried over the level of success from national competition against pretty much anyone he lined up across from in the GHSA ranks.

By the end of his freshman season, he had compiled a 51-1 record, winning an area and Class 4A title along the way and placing third in his national tournament.

Mannella, who by way of his overall performance earned a top-20 national ranking as a ninth-grader, is The Telegraph’s 2017 All-Middle Georgia Wrestler of the Year.

“I didn’t really expect to have the total success I did,” Mannella said. “I knew there were going to be plenty of tough matches as I got into my high school career. I kind of got confidence from the past years. I had some great coaches and amazing partners that have helped me.”

So how does a freshman seamlessly merge into the heat of competition and thrive in a way that Mannella did?

According to Slaughter, it’s an energy that’s not only on the wrestling mat, but off of it, as well.

“His work ethic is probably by far above any wrestler I have ever worked with,” Slaughter said. “Even when he will work with me during practices, he is constantly doing a little bit extra before and after practice and on weekends when he is home.”

That work ethic served Mannella well this year. And that was even when he wrestled within and above his weight class. Slaughter shuffled his lineup during a better part of the season, aligning Mannella for the 113-pound division before shifting him down to 106 in January for the state duals. And like most things this season, grappling against competition a bit heavier and more experienced didn’t rattle Mannella, either.

“With Vincent, it’s not the higher weight class, he just wants the challenge of not cutting much weight,” Slaughter said. “The competition just motivated him even more.”

And when it came time for individual state competition and an even bigger spotlight, Mannella was up to the challenge. He took care of his first two opponents by pinfalls before technical falls gave him 17-1 and 19-4 wins to claim the state title.

That piling up of points was fitting for Mannella, given the way that he describes himself as a wrestler, not to mention the biggest area of which he feels he improved this past season.

“I think I improved on scoring more points,” he said. “The focus is always on the attack and I just tried to stay loose. I look at myself as someone who is always on the offensive — my best defense is my best offense. I always try and keep the pace high and score as many points as possible.”

And with a state title already in hand, Manella has already set lofty goals in front of himself, which include bigger national wins, wrestling on the Division I level in college and making his way up the ladder to wrestle in the Olympics.

“In this sport, you don’t want to dial them back,” said Slaughter, who had a quality high school and college wrestling career of his own. “You kind of want them to push their limit each day. The other guys see it and are like ‘holy crap, he’s doing this, what do I need to do to do what he is doing?’ He leads the other guys in ways that I can’t.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Youth no obstacle for West Laurens’ Mannella."