In the past few months, there was worry Payton Anderson might not be able to wrestle his senior season for the Class AA No. 3-ranked Fairmont/Martin County West Red Bulls. Now, he’s signed to continue his career with the Augustana University Vikings in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“For a couple of weeks I didn’t think I was going to be able to play football, let alone wrestle,” Anderson said. “There was a lot of doubts I had about everything. I was probably one doctor visit away from being done for the entire year. The doctor gave me a chance to try and I took advantage of that. It hasn’t bothered me much, you just have to block it out and have some mental toughness.”

Early in the football season, Anderson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He came back weeks later to complete the regular season and Martin County West’s run to the Section 3A championship game, playing with a brace on his knee.

Anderson said since the injury he has gone to physical therapy once a week to learn new exercises to strengthen the rest of his leg. He said the goal is to keep the rest of his leg strong enough to get past his injury.

Red Bulls head coach Adam Williamson said Anderson’s return from injury is just one sign of his leadership.

“With any injury, you’re worried about the time table for returning to any kind of competition, but he showed that he’s very determined and very motivated to get back,” Williamson said. “He missed only a couple of football games, then ended up finishing the whole rest of the season with that injury. That answered a lot of questions about his pain tolerance, what he’s willing to endure for his teammates and as we’ve been in the first couple weeks of practice, he hasn’t shown any signs of being limited by his injury or by his brace. We’re happy with where he’s at and he’s very excited to wrestle the whole season.

“Overcoming some of the obstacles that he’s dealt with over the last few years has been something for other kids to look up to. It’s kind of a no-excuses approach. He’s gone through his shoulder surgery and now his knee injury where he’s had to miss some time, but has fought his way back and showed that he can overcome those obstacles as they come his way. That’s just a shining example to the younger crew of what kind of person and teammate he is.”

Williamson said Anderson has taken a leadership role in his senior season with the Red Bulls, building on the experience of being with the varsity team since seventh grade.

In his five full seasons with the Red Bulls, Anderson has had monumental success. He’s qualified for the individual state tournament each of the past three seasons, medaling twice. He placed second as a freshman in the 132-pound bracket, then finished fourth last season at 145 as a junior.

This year, Anderson moves to the 152-pound weight class where he enters the season at the No. 2 spot in the Guillotine preseason rankings.

With years of experience and success, Anderson said he still tries to work on the little things.

“You always can get better at the basics,” Anderson said. “If you’re good at the basics, you’re a good wrestler. If you can win using the stuff that always works for you, that’s what you gotta do, use your bread and butter.”

Williamson said Anderson’s work ethic is key for moving to the college level.

“Payton is just a really self-driven, self-motivated kid and if he sets his mind to something, he’s going to do everything in his power to get it done,” Williamson said. “I think that lends itself really nicely to the college level where it takes a lot bigger dedication to be a college athlete. I think it fits him just perfectly to continue that at the next level.”

Anderson will join a Vikings program that had a record of 5-4 in dual meets in the 2018-19 season and 11-4 in the 2017-18 season.

Anderson said he’s looking forward to the higher level of competition that college athletics brings. He said competing against some of the best wrestlers from the area every day in practice will be a good way to continue to grow and develop his talents on the mat.

Anderson said he choose Augustana to continue his career because of what he thought the coaches valued.

“It’s just a really great school, good academics,” Anderson said. “The wrestling team is getting better every year. They showed a lot of interest from the start and the coach was more interested in me as a person instead of as an athlete and I really valued that. I’m gonna get a great education there and get to continue wrestling.”

While his future at Augustana is yet to be written, Anderson has grown through his years with the Red Bulls.

“The wrestling kind of speaks for itself, but one of the things the public doesn’t see is the leadership,” Williamson said. “He’s stepped up into that true captain role and he sets the example for what has to happen in the offseason, the extra work that has to be put in to become a champion and he’s just really filled that role for us nicely. …

“We’re really happy to have that for him and still have him here for his senior year, which I think is going to be outstanding.”