Frequent moves are a concrete part of military family life, and Davis Wehmeier knows all about that.
With his father having spent many years in the military, Wehmeier went through three relocations before the age of 15. He moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., from El Paso, Texas, a few years after he was born, and after a seven-year stint in Copperas Cove, Texas, the Wehmeier family ended up in Lawton.
As a result, he has experienced both the best and worst of these moves.
“I’ve had to move around a lot and adjust to different schools,” Wehmeier said. “It’s different building friendships and having to move away from them and start all over.”
Wehmeier has a reserved personality, which made the moving process even more difficult when he was younger.
“I’m shy, so I have to open up to people who don’t really know me,” Wehmeier said. “They don’t know I’m shy, so they think I’m some weird kid who doesn’t really talk. Now I’m fine with talking to anyone.”
Wehmeier stayed in Copperas Cove the longest the amount of time, allowing him to forge many friendships and bonds with his classmates.
So when his parents broke the news that they’d be moving to Lawton, Wehmeier was frustrated to say the least. He wasn’t quite ready to bid farewell to everyone he’d grown to love and appreciate.
Although that transition was difficult, the advent of social media softened the blow.
“I made a ton of friendships, so having to say goodbye to everyone was hard,” Wehmeier said. “I am able to stay in contact with them, whether that be by texting or on the Xbox. But at first, I was like, ‘Oh, are you kidding me?’ I’m just happy it was my freshman year and not junior or senior year. It wasn’t too bad other than going to a new high school and having to meet everyone.”
Wehmeier’s father recently retired from the military, but there doesn’t appear to be any more moves in the family’s future. His parents have grown to like Lawton and have decided to settle down in Southwest Oklahoma’s largest city.
“They’ve developed their own types of friendships,” Wehmeier said. “They like the area, and I think they might move to a different house with more property.”
Although maybe for different reasons, Wehmeier said he has similar feelings about Lawton.
“It’s probably my favorite because I’m older now and have more responsibilities and people actually look up to me,” Wehmeier said.
Despite that, Wehmeier has a serious decision to make about his own future in Lawton.
If he decides to go to college after graduating from Mac next May, he’ll likely find himself in a new environment again unless he attends Cameron, which is a possibility. The University of Oklahoma in Norman is another he’s considering.
Regardless, Wehmeier said he wants to stay close to home so he can routinely visit his parents.
“I want to go to college, but I’m kind of tired of school,” Wehmeier said. “It’d probably be better to go get an education while I’m already fresh on all this school stuff.”
In addition to the changes he’s been forced to make in life, Wehmeier has also had to adapt on the football field.
He started as the starting inside linebacker for the Highlanders, but after some injuries, the coaches moved him to outside linebacker.
“At inside, you have to stop the run,” Wehmeier said. “At outside, you have to stop the run and the pass. And you get to come off the edge, so it’s a lot of fun.”
Plenty of new reads and assignments came with the new position, but Mac coach Brett Manning said Wehmeier has handled it with great execution.
“He took to it well,” Manning said. “He’s had several really good games, and he had 10 tackles against Altus.”