Wyatt Messex doesn't just play four sports - he excels in all of them.
Photo courtesy of Small Town Big Shots by Michelle Messex
When
Wyatt Messex gets ready for school each morning, he opens a dresser drawer and looks up.
On his dresser mirror are sticky notes with specific goals. Some are short-term goals. Others are long-term goals.
His ultimate goal: take each note down once he's checked it off the list.
"I think it's just always a reminder," Messex said. "There are some days as a student-athlete where things can get really stressful. At the end of the day, you remember why you're doing it and the main motivation behind all your actions."
Messex has always been goal-orientated and driven. As a four-sport athlete carrying a 3.97 grade point average at
Granger (Texas), he has achieved everything he has set out to do.
Messex just finished an All-State career in baseball
as well.
Photo courtesy of Small Town Big Shots by Michelle Messex
The 18-year-old will graduate from tiny Granger in a few short weeks, capping an illustrious run at the small school. Messex was a four-year starting quarterback on the football team, a three-year starter on the basketball team, ran track for the final two years of his career and capped off four years as a starter on the baseball team. He was academic All-District in all the sports for three years and All-State this year.
"I think that's really what kind of defines me, just because I do a lot of sports. But it just shows how serious I take other aspects of life and my schoolwork," Messex said.
He isn't an intimidating figure at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, but he does his talking in the heat of competition.
"He performs at a high level no matter what he's doing," Granger baseball coach Kody Kuhl said.
One of Messex's goals entering high school was starting on the baseball team as freshman. It took just a couple games for Kuhl to realize who his everyday shortstop would be. Messex took the reins and never let go.
"That says a lot about the type of athlete and kid he is," Kuhl said. "It doesn't matter how big your school is, to have a ninth-grader start for you on your varsity at a position like shortstop (is special). Anything up the middle of the field, those are pretty important positions."
Messex stood out as a 15-year-old with excellent range and exceptional arm strength, two areas that have only improved over the years.
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Messex moved into the quarterback spot as a
freshman and eventually became his district's
offensive MVP as a senior.
Photo courtesy of Small Town Big Shots by Michelle Messex
"He made the routine plays look easy and that's what you always like, but he got the balls up the middle or in the hole that other guys couldn't," Kuhl said. "It seemed like, as a freshman, that he was maybe playing at a junior level."
Messex was a defensive-minded player in his first season and a good table-setter at the plate from the leadoff spot. When the next season rolled around, he was terrorizing opposing pitchers. That carried over into his junior year, when he hit a remarkable .500 in the No. 3 hole.
"We're a small school, Class 2A, but if you can hit .400 or above at this level, that's excellent. He hit .500," Kuhl said. "You couldn't ask for more. He definitely was a go-to guy for us."
The honors poured in for Messex. He was named to the Class 2A All-State Team and earned District Offensive MVP honors.
"It was a very humbling experience to be named that and it feels like some of your work pays off when your work is noticed," said Messex, who started playing organized baseball at 3.
Messex closed out his senior season May 5, hitting .492 with 29 runs scored, 27 RBIs and 12 extra-base hits. For his career, he logged phenomenal numbers: .410 average, 114 runs scored, 83 RBIs, 48 extra-base hits and a fielding percentage of .906.
He wasn't just a single-sport athlete during the spring. He also juggled running on the track team. Messex picked up the sport halfway through his junior season and raced full-time this year.
Messex proved to be a really strong sprinter, competing in the 100-meter dash, and 400-meter and 800-meter relays. Granger, which is roughly 35 miles northeast of Austin, competes in a tough district. In the district meet a few weeks ago, Messex was in second place in the 100 and running his ideal race. But he abruptly pulled up because of a cramp 10 meters before the finish line and placed fifth. He didn't advance in the postseason in the 100 or either relay to close out his career.
It was interesting trying to balance two sports during the same season, but Messex somehow mastered it.
"We have several kids who do it, and it's tough," Kuhl said. "I don't know what to say about him that he's able to go out there and do a track workout and push his body to the limit it seems, because you're trying to get faster and get in shape for meets, especially as a sprinter. Then he leaves there and gets about a 10-minute break and comes to baseball. We don't ask him to do a whole lot of conditioning because he just got done doing it. But he's still running bases, fielding ground balls, making plays, doing what he's supposed to do. It's like he doesn't even miss a beat."
Messex decided to take up track despite also
playing on the baseball team.
Photo courtesy of Small Town Big Shots by Michelle Messex
Spring wasn't the only busy time of year for Messex. In the fall of his freshman year, he started at the slot receiver position for a few games before the team's top quarterback went down with an injury. Messex moved seamlessly into the starting quarterback role.
Granger won three games combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons. However, the Lions turned around their fortune and placed second in the district the past two years.
Messex had a great senior campaign, which earned him District Offensive MVP honors, throwing for 2,165 yards with a 71 percent completion rate. He also rushed for 1,500 yards. As a defensive back, he racked up 42 tackles and two interceptions. He was named All-State in a state that breeds big time college- and NFL-caliber quarterbacks.
In basketball, Messex was a three-year starter and four-year All-District selection at shooting guard. He was a big-time 3-point shooter and lockdown defender. In his final season, he averaged 13.5 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
When Messex isn't on a field or court, he's focused on doing well in school, ranking No. 2 in his class of 38 students. He wants more than anything to finish at the top of his class, but time is running out before graduation.
"There's always been a lot of competition between us two," Messex said. "He's a good friend of mine and his brother goes to Yale and studied abroad and all that, so I've always known he's going to be my toughest competition."
He's competitive even in the classroom.
Messex is finishing his final high school semester taking a number of dual-credit classes and has filled his schedule with advanced placement and honors courses to prep him for college. He has been a part of the National Honor Society for three years and is the president as a senior. He's also involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Leadership Ambassadors.
In the fall, Messex plans to head to Trinity University in San Antonio and play football. The Division III college isn't able to offer athletic scholarship, but because of Messex's solid grades, he's receiving $21,000 in academic scholarships.
He's planning on majoring in finance and minoring in sports management.
"I would like to work in sports marketing," Messex said. "A dream job would be a sports agent."
That's another sticky note Messex will look to peel off his mirror.
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