While most seniors in high school experience their last game and last practice for their sport, a slim 7 percent of high school students make the ultimate decision to continue their athletic careers in college. Three students from Wright City have now become a part of this 7 percent. 

During the last week of school, coaches, parents, teammates and friends gathered to celebrate these student-athletes from Wright City High School as they recently signed their letters of intent for their respective collegiate sport. 

These three seniors were Elizabeth Riggs, Zoe Ervin and Joey Gendron. Riggs will be attending Missouri Valley college for wrestling. Ervin will be attending Lindenwood University for dance and Gendron will be attending William Woods University for football. 

Ervin started dance lessons after her parents noticed her constant dancing around the house, so for her birthday she was given dance studio classes as a present. For the past nine years, she has competed in dance. 

“I just began to fall in love with it the more I did it and the more classes I took,” Ervin said. 

Ervin auditioned to be on the team at Lindenwood and when she was accepted into the program, she immediately jumped at the opportunity because of her love for dance and the friendships it has brought her.

“Lindenwood felt like home,” Ervin said. “They had the programs that would help me get to my goals later in life and their campus is beautiful and close to home.” 

Ervin plans on majoring in dance and exercise science while minoring in dance studio management. She is thinking about dancing professionally or working with athletes and their nutrition. 

Gendron will continue to play quarterback for Williams Woods University. He has not played any other sports and focuses on football since he has been playing “since diapers.” 

Gendron received offers from other schools, but ultimately decided that William Woods was the right fit for him.

“Even as soon as I got there, they were super welcoming,” Gendron said.

This quarterback decided to continue his career in college because when he is not tossing around a football or getting ready for a game, he finds himself bored.

“I’ve just always loved it,” Gendron said. “It’s like the only thing I truly and really enjoy.” 

Gendron has not declared a major yet, but is thinking about possibly majoring in business administration. 

While Riggs has had an amazing high school track career, her wrestling career is just as impressive. Riggs joined the wrestling team at Wright City her freshman year, which was also the first year the school offered girls wrestling.

Riggs started her first year of wrestling with a 50-50 win-loss record. By the end of her high school career, she became a district champion and placed third at the state tournament as well as helping her team win numerous team trophies. 

With the help of one other girl, Riggs transformed the girls wrestling program. In her freshman year, there was only one other girl on the team. By the end of her senior year, 15 girls joined the program. 

“My older brother started wrestling and I thought ‘I want to do that’ and it looked like a new challenging thing for me to try,” Riggs said. “I was always up for a new challenge, especially anything athletically and physically.” 

Riggs struggled with whether to commit to run track or play wrestling in college. She received offers for both sports at other colleges, but fell in love with Missouri Valley’s wrestling program and coaching staff. 

“The more I thought about it, the more I knew I wasn’t done with my wrestling career,” Riggs said. “Deciding came down to what I could grow more in as an athlete and what I would flourish in more. It was something I knew I could get better at and really take to the next level.” 

While Riggs did find it difficult to decide between wrestling and track, she is thinking about running track with Missouri Valley if they are willing to let her do both sports, but she is still undecided on her decision. 

Riggs plans on majoring in exercise science and receiving a masters degree in dietetics.