By Ken Hansard
Like many wrestlers, Noah Mathis, a junior 215-pounder for the Lansing Lions, started at a young age, placing third in the state as an eight-year-old. Since that time, he has only improved.
Mathis is a five-time USAWKS State Champ, a two-time UKC League Champ and two-time Regional Champion. He placed third at KSHSAA state as a freshman and was Runner-Up as a sophomore. He has been highly decorated in several other rankings and is currently ranked #13 in the country by Sports Illustrated at 215 pounds and #18 at 215 on TKDWN Media. He is additionally ranked #75 in the Class of 2027 Top 100 Big Board.
As a sophomore, Mathis was 46-1, winning the UKC Championship and dropping his only match to a senior in the KSHSAA State Championship finals. Along the way, Mathis also broke Lansing’s school record for pins in a season. This season has started with more of the same.
As of this writing, Mathis is currently 26-0 with 25 pins, and he’s far from finished, which could be very bad news for the competition, “I’ve run into some challenges with some shoulder issues, but nothing that will keep me off the mat or off the field. In the off-season, I worked on my cardio and my scrambling, and I feel I have only gotten better. I have goals to win state and then make some more noise on a national level by going to some national events, like the U.S. Open at Fargo.”
Now that he is an upperclassman, Mathis is trying to give back to the sport and the program’s culture by taking on a greater role in the locker room and on the mat as a role model for his younger teammates, “I see myself as a leader for the younger freshmen who may need help with confidence and just help being better all-around athletes and people.”
Mathis has experienced similar success on the gridiron for the Lions. In football, Noah was also named 2024 SIK 4A All-State, SIK Large Class All-State for non-seniors, and an SIK defensive Player of the Year finalist after finishing the season second in the state in total tackles. Noah took his junior season off from playing football but currently plans to play again as a senior.
To add to his exploits in competition, Noah also carries an impressive 3.5 GPA and is currently committed to continuing his academic and wrestling career at Oregon State University.
