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Sincere Snipes’ wrestling journey has been anything but conventional. The LaGrange High senior has carved out his own path on the mats over the last couple of years, and his journey will continue at the next level as Snipes signed to wrestle at Andrew College.

“This doesn’t feel real,” he said. “Two years ago, coach (Michael) Pharis tried to get me out, and I wouldn’t do it, but he finally convinced me in my junior year. I didn’t love it at first, but by the end of my junior year, I started to think about wrestling at the next level.”

Snipes had just one college offer a few weeks ago — a school up north and far from home. That was until he went to Nationals in Virginia Beach over spring break. Andrew College, based in Cuthbert, GA, saw a diamond in the rough in Snipes and gave him a second college offer.

“I was actually at Nationals, and I was nervous about taking my other offer, and they actually liked what they saw from me at Nationals and made me an offer, and it just felt right,” Snipes said. 

It was truly a dream come true for Snipes to earn an offer closer to home. This was not some long-held dream either; Snipes did not join the wrestling team until his junior year. It took some time, but he eventually fell in love with the sport and was having a hard time letting it go.

“At the start of my senior year, it started to sink in that I wouldn’t be wrestling much longer if I didn’t start looking at places to wrestle in college,” Snipes said. 

The LaGrange High wrestling program has been a safe haven for Snipes. It has allowed Snipes to find a second family.

“This team has been like a family to me,” Snipes said. “I’m going to miss every single one of them.”

He will especially miss Pharis, who has been like a father to Snipes these last couple of years. 

“He’s been a father figure for me,” Snipes said. “He has done so much for me over the last few years.”

Respect and admiration are a two-way street when it comes to Snipes and Pharis. The latter knows just how instrumental the former was in turning the LaGrange High wrestling program around during Pharis’ time as head coach. 

“One of the reasons why I came down to LaGrange in the first place was because of all the incredible multi-sport athletes like Sincere Snipes,” Pharis said. “He is one of those guys with a background in track, and the way that he works hard, I knew that he was going to be a big asset for the team. He went from someone who never knew what a singlet was and what a wristband looked like to a real leader for our team.”