Wayne State College is not always the setting for underdog stories.

To be fair, WSC isn’t always the setting for any stories.

But in the case of Brady Metz, WSC is the exact place for an underdog story:

A kid from Grand Island who didn’t want to stop playing sports.

Track wasn’t always his first option, but it was his only option.

He made Wayne, America his home.

He made Rice Auditorium his playground.

And he made an impact on WSC Track and Field that will last a lifetime.

This is the story of the Mayor of #BounceTown.

Brady Metz had no intentions on ever running track. Football and basketball were the only things he needed in life to make himself happy. But as freshman year of basketball wound down, he thought he didn’t know how to spend spring.

Track?

He never had thought about it until he thought about not having his friends around. So they decided track and field would be an okay idea. They could all compete while being able to spend time with each other at the same time. He did the long jump for his first two years of high school but never really took it seriously.

Junior year, Metz started learning to triple jump as well. It came naturally to him and he didn’t have to practice it all that much to become good at it.

Senior year, Metz got to the point where he felt his childhood dreams were realized to never be possible. He was too small to play college basketball and was not cut out for college football. Like most kids, Metz didn’t want to stop playing. The shear adrenaline rush of playing sports was almost addicting in the sense that it’s something he never wanted to lose. With his main sports gone to the wind, he turned to track.

He worked hard his senior year to prove himself to college scouts, and to make his dream of being a college athlete a reality. WSC noticed him and kept in contact. He signed his letter of intent for a preferred walk-on spot at WSC.

Senior track season came around and he was ready to shine. Metz had worked so hard for this season. But then came the University of Nebraska – Kearney indoor meet. Brady strained his meniscus and it bothered him for the rest of the year.

District time. Metz doesn’t jump well at all and finishes one spot away from qualifying for the state meet. He was devastated. There’s no way he can compete in college if he couldn’t even qualify for state. No way at all.

He contacted the coach at WSC, and told him that he didn’t qualify and that he didn’t know what to do. He was reassured and decided to go after it at WSC. He was already signed so there was nowhere to go but north.

A Facebook messenger notification popped up on Metz’s phone. It was a message from someone he was not friends with on Facebook, but after a bit of snooping he found out who it was. Braxton Adams, another future Wildcat, had messaged Brady to get to know him a bit before they arrived on campus. They struck up a conversation and became friends.

The first day of freshman year, Metz met Nate Lechtenberg, Derek Lahm and Brandon Marker, who were also WSC Track athletes. He was going to like it here.

Freshman year was very rough for Metz. Being out of shape, not eating right, and enduring the stress of year round training took its toll on Metz. As a walk-on, he knew running track at WSC was not going to be the easiest thing to do.

“We get no F—ing respect around here; we don’t even have our own locker room,” Metz said.

That’s a hard culture to come into from a walk-on’s perspective. Your program gets no respect and you’re not even getting your schooling paid for to be here representing them. He and the rest of his class were ready to take on those challenges.

After an okay freshman campaign, Metz was put on scholarship. With more stress to perform on his shoulders now, he needed to work harder and impress.

He slowly got better and ended with a sixth place in the NSIC conference triple jump, but rarely placed other than that.

Junior year was when everything changed.

Metz competed well at almost every meet. He tied the WSC triple jump record at the Concordia indoor meet. Got third at conference in the triple jump which earned him All-Conference honors. Missed out on nationals by 5 cm. Which is the length of two nickels.

Metz was on top of the world. He was competing at the highest level of D2 track alongside his fellow jumpers, Lahm and Robert Sullivan. They dubbed themselves #BounceTown, and used the hashtag in all of their social media posts. Metz would post a video on meet day of the New York Jets dancing to “444+222” by Lil Uzi Vert along with it. The boys were ready to take on year four at WSC, and there was nothing that was going to stop them.

Senior year was finally here. Metz was ready for all that was coming to him. He was a WSC record holder now and at the top of his game.

That was when his mental struggles started to slowly creep in. He had so much pressure on himself that he started overthinking his jumping. Focusing on measurements and accolades instead of having fun and flying.

His back became a problem after the first outdoor meet of the year. Taking way too many ibuprofen and going through Icy Hot like crazy, because nothing would stop him from competing during his final year.

Conference meet time came around again and so did what could be Metz’s last time ever competing. It was pouring out. What a way to end. Come in underwhelmed and leave underwhelmed.

But that’s not the way the former GI Islander was going out. That’s not how he was raised. Metz’s mindset for his final event? Let’s have some fun.

Metz was sitting in fourth place. There would be no Nationals for him. With the rain pouring down; the entire stadium surrounded the jump pit. He took off for his final time in the Black and Gold.

A good takeoff.

A solid landing.

A fitting end.

Metz had just completed his athletic career.

But for some reason, he wasn’t all that upset.

He started never wanting to run track and now—8 years later, he places fourth in the NSIC.

He didn’t get to stand on the podium or take pictures with all of his teammates. The rain was coming down too hard and they went straight to the bus. Songs were sung, speeches were made, and final goodbyes were said.

Metz was now a regular guy.

He walked across the Willow Bowl in May of 2018, but had an internship to finish.

He had an internship working at Baxter Arena at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the summer. A fitting place for him. He worked there for a bit after his internship was over, but couldn’t see himself moving up. He’s now been at BuilderTrend for 2 months; working as a Business Development representative.

A kid from Grand Island, Nebraska.

A goal? Reached.

A dream? Realized.

A program? Revived.

Life after Track?

For Brady Metz, he might just have to bounce.