Sikeston junior making surprising, positive impact on the pitch

The success of the Sikeston High School boy’s soccer program this fall may have caught some in the area by a bit of a surprise. In large part, that is because the Bulldogs added a couple of weapons in juniors PJ Farmer and Tristan Wiggins, who had never even played for the program before a couple of months ago.

“Offensively,” veteran Bulldog coach Gabe Dement said earlier this year, “we lost nine seniors, but we didn’t know Tristan Wiggins would be here.”

Farmer was a late addition after MSHSAA ruled him eligible in early September after his transfer from Charleston High School, while Wiggins has been a soccer player for a large portion of his life but hadn’t played at Sikeston.

The Bulldogs will play their final home match on Wednesday at the Sikeston Sports Complex against St. Pius X (Festus) (7-11-1) at 5 p.m. having already made a memorable season this autumn, and in the case of Wiggins, he can just keep adding chapters to his great season.

Wiggins recently scored three goals and passed for an assist in Sikeston’s 8-2 rout over the Black Cats at Fredericktown, and those goals put Wiggins in the number five spot for goals in a single season for the Bulldog program.

“Tristan had played all the way through his eighth-grade year,” Dement said, “but this is his first year at the varsity level.”

It hasn’t been a bad season for a rookie.

As a program, Sikeston (10-11) has reached double-digit victories for the first time since 2018, and for Wiggins, he just keeps climbing in the Bulldog record books with each goal and each assist.

“He played a little bit of travel (soccer) with a team out of Paducah in his early years,” Dement explained, “but his main focus has been basketball.”

Wiggins and Farmer have followed similar paths, in that regard. However, Dement sees a great deal of potential for Wiggins on the pitch, more so, than on the hardwood.

“I’m trying to tell him that he could be a really amazing soccer player,” Dement said. “I might be able to get him some looks from colleges.”

Dement said Wiggins has strength and athleticism, which are invaluable on the pitch, and he’ll show that ability within almost every match.

“Every once in a while,” Dement said, “I’ll look at him and tell him ‘I told you so.’”

The Bulldogs have won five of their past eight matches, and in recent wins over Hillsboro and Festus, Wiggins had a total of five goals and an assist.

Even in a recent loss to area-power Notre Dame, Wiggins still had the assist to Farmer on the Bulldogs’ lone goal.

“I wasn’t expecting Tristan to play,” Dement said of this season. “But he had talked about it.”

Wiggins is finally healthy this fall, which may have played a role in his decision.

Dement explained that Wiggins broke his leg in the eighth grade and then moved to Texas to work with a relative in the medical field to heal the injury.

He returned to Sikeston as a sophomore, and “thought about playing, but was worried about his leg,” according to Dement.

Dement reached out to Wiggins and said, “Hey man, I really think you could have a future in this sport.”

“At least,” Dement said, “he was going to have a great time. And he is.”

The Bulldogs will wrap up their regular season on Wednesday and will travel to Hillsboro on Saturday to open the postseason in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament against Poplar Bluff (13-5-1) at 11:30 a.m.

The Bulldogs are the No. 5 seed in the tournament while the Mules are the No. 4 seed.

The two teams played last month at Poplar Bluff with the Mules taking a 2-1 decision.