In anticipation of the wrestling postseason, I have a memory from 2010 that I wanted to share. I feel like this story should be "dedicated" to the parents of wrestlers who may come to the board.
As a wrestling fan, I love the discussion on this board. But as a parent, I some cringe at the negativity directed towards wrestlers. Surely, no one comes to Iowa to wrestle and expects puppy dogs and rainbows and I get it, it's a stupid message board and wrestling is a hard sport. But still, if you think about it, at least 9 out of 10 wrestlers have received negative comments on the board this year- and that is just the starters.
So with that premise, I have a story of the adoration that Iowa fans have for their wrestlers.
In 2010, I attended the NCAA wrestling championships in which Iowa last won. My aunt, son and I had gone for the three-year run of championships and enjoyed each one. Realizing it was going to be difficult to 4-peat, I wanted to "soak" it all in. So, Saturday Night after McDonough, Metcalf, Borschel and Iowa won their titles and my companions went to bed, I decided to attend my first HAWK party since I was 10 years old. I was alone which allowed me to wander around and people watch.
The first thing that struck me was the number of people that showed up to celebrate the ballroom of the hotel. It was packed with people. I remember seeing Mark Perry and some wrestlers walk by me (Perry was an assistant at Cal Poly at the time). I remember thinking, "that's cool that he comes back to be at the Iowa celebration and brought some of his wrestlers with him. There are probably more people in this ballroom than at a Cal Poly home dual".
The highlights of the night was when each of the 10 wrestlers who wrestled at the NCAAs spoke to the crowd. The one speech that stuck with me most to me was Chad Beatty's speech. And perhaps it has less to do with what Chad Beatty said that night and more to do what Chad had done as a wrestler and with what the crowd did during his speech.
I'm sure other people know Chad's story better that I do (which I had to look up to get some of the facts) but he was an accomplished high school wrestler came to Iowa. The Bio on the website says: In High School he was a two-time state champion at 171 pounds, winning three individual conference titles... career record of 109-7 included two undefeated seasons and 45 pins.
Chad was beaten out at 174 pounds when Jay Borschel became eligible after transferring from VTU. During the 2007-2008-season year, he wrestled at 174, 184 and 197. I think it was ISU when he first went out and wrestled at 197. I recall Tom being interviewed after the first match and making a comment about how that was a really big gap btw 174 and 197 and apologized for putting Chad in that position (which is another reason Alex Meyer is awesome sauce).
Chad came back in 2008 and after bulking up to 197 and he look like a totally different person. That year Chad battled injuries and missed 2008 Midlands and 2008-09 duals against Bloomsburg, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Oklahoma State due to injury. One of Chad's most memorable matches occurred against Michigan that year. Michigan led 16-13 with 197 / HWT left. Iowa needed a win at 197 to have a shot at the team victory. Hawkeye sophomore, Beatty, who lost a 8-0 major decision to Wolverine freshman Anthony Biondo a month earlier, scored a takedown as time expired to beat Biondo, 2-1. He qualified for NCAAs after finishing 4th at B1G but did not AA.
Then in 2009-2010 he missed entire Big Ten dual season due to injury but finished 6th at B1G. At the B1Gs, after he lost to Sonny Yohn 7-6 TB-1, he injury default as he had qualified for the NCAAs. At the NCAAs that year, Chad did drew "Z" Gelogaev (OSU) and lost in the first round 4-2 TB-1. Then he won three one point matches before losing to Brandvold (WI). He went 3-2 at the NCAAs that year. He did not place.
Anyway when it was time for the wrestlers to speak, they got up on a raised platform in the center of the room and said a few words. Chad was called on first. Chad had not achieved his goals in his last season as an Iowa Wrestler. When he got up, he had his head down; barely able to speak he started with "I'm sorry, I let you guys down." And then he started to breakdown how he had lost matches he shouldn't have.
The fans refused to accept Chad's apology. Members of the crowd shouted things at him. I remember watching the process as a first timer, thinking, "I guess there is audience participation at these things" (spoiler alert- his was the only "speech" that involved audience participation). People were shouting out things like "you scored points for us", "you made the team better", "you made it to Nationals", "You moved up to 197 to help the team", "You stuck it out", "you beat Biondo" and "You wrestled hurt". It was a pretty descriptive list. I felt like everything that was yelled at Chad that night was sincere. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was men sharing emotions in front of a large crowd of people.
Let that sink in.
**Wendy/amyla/other females- here's a little clue; men do not like to share their emotions.**
Ever.
And certainly not men who are wrestling fans (well except maybe at 2 am and then it's all "I love you, man": 24/7). As I looked around the room I began to study the people who were yelling. I remember there was a young man (mid twenties) next to me, who had started the shouting. As I studied him I it was obvious that he was not just a wrestling fan but also a former wrestler. As I watched him this outpouring of male emotion, I realized what this young man and the rest of the men were saying to Chad was much more than a list of his accomplishments.
What they were says was "you got to wrestle my dream and you did a damn fine job".
Thanks to the young men and their families, (past, present, future) that commit to wrestle at Iowa and especially to this year's seniors who have one last ride.
Where are they now? Pretty nice endorsement-Gable
As a wrestling fan, I love the discussion on this board. But as a parent, I some cringe at the negativity directed towards wrestlers. Surely, no one comes to Iowa to wrestle and expects puppy dogs and rainbows and I get it, it's a stupid message board and wrestling is a hard sport. But still, if you think about it, at least 9 out of 10 wrestlers have received negative comments on the board this year- and that is just the starters.
So with that premise, I have a story of the adoration that Iowa fans have for their wrestlers.
In 2010, I attended the NCAA wrestling championships in which Iowa last won. My aunt, son and I had gone for the three-year run of championships and enjoyed each one. Realizing it was going to be difficult to 4-peat, I wanted to "soak" it all in. So, Saturday Night after McDonough, Metcalf, Borschel and Iowa won their titles and my companions went to bed, I decided to attend my first HAWK party since I was 10 years old. I was alone which allowed me to wander around and people watch.
The first thing that struck me was the number of people that showed up to celebrate the ballroom of the hotel. It was packed with people. I remember seeing Mark Perry and some wrestlers walk by me (Perry was an assistant at Cal Poly at the time). I remember thinking, "that's cool that he comes back to be at the Iowa celebration and brought some of his wrestlers with him. There are probably more people in this ballroom than at a Cal Poly home dual".
The highlights of the night was when each of the 10 wrestlers who wrestled at the NCAAs spoke to the crowd. The one speech that stuck with me most to me was Chad Beatty's speech. And perhaps it has less to do with what Chad Beatty said that night and more to do what Chad had done as a wrestler and with what the crowd did during his speech.
I'm sure other people know Chad's story better that I do (which I had to look up to get some of the facts) but he was an accomplished high school wrestler came to Iowa. The Bio on the website says: In High School he was a two-time state champion at 171 pounds, winning three individual conference titles... career record of 109-7 included two undefeated seasons and 45 pins.
Chad was beaten out at 174 pounds when Jay Borschel became eligible after transferring from VTU. During the 2007-2008-season year, he wrestled at 174, 184 and 197. I think it was ISU when he first went out and wrestled at 197. I recall Tom being interviewed after the first match and making a comment about how that was a really big gap btw 174 and 197 and apologized for putting Chad in that position (which is another reason Alex Meyer is awesome sauce).
Chad came back in 2008 and after bulking up to 197 and he look like a totally different person. That year Chad battled injuries and missed 2008 Midlands and 2008-09 duals against Bloomsburg, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Oklahoma State due to injury. One of Chad's most memorable matches occurred against Michigan that year. Michigan led 16-13 with 197 / HWT left. Iowa needed a win at 197 to have a shot at the team victory. Hawkeye sophomore, Beatty, who lost a 8-0 major decision to Wolverine freshman Anthony Biondo a month earlier, scored a takedown as time expired to beat Biondo, 2-1. He qualified for NCAAs after finishing 4th at B1G but did not AA.
Then in 2009-2010 he missed entire Big Ten dual season due to injury but finished 6th at B1G. At the B1Gs, after he lost to Sonny Yohn 7-6 TB-1, he injury default as he had qualified for the NCAAs. At the NCAAs that year, Chad did drew "Z" Gelogaev (OSU) and lost in the first round 4-2 TB-1. Then he won three one point matches before losing to Brandvold (WI). He went 3-2 at the NCAAs that year. He did not place.
Anyway when it was time for the wrestlers to speak, they got up on a raised platform in the center of the room and said a few words. Chad was called on first. Chad had not achieved his goals in his last season as an Iowa Wrestler. When he got up, he had his head down; barely able to speak he started with "I'm sorry, I let you guys down." And then he started to breakdown how he had lost matches he shouldn't have.
The fans refused to accept Chad's apology. Members of the crowd shouted things at him. I remember watching the process as a first timer, thinking, "I guess there is audience participation at these things" (spoiler alert- his was the only "speech" that involved audience participation). People were shouting out things like "you scored points for us", "you made the team better", "you made it to Nationals", "You moved up to 197 to help the team", "You stuck it out", "you beat Biondo" and "You wrestled hurt". It was a pretty descriptive list. I felt like everything that was yelled at Chad that night was sincere. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was men sharing emotions in front of a large crowd of people.
Let that sink in.
**Wendy/amyla/other females- here's a little clue; men do not like to share their emotions.**
Ever.
And certainly not men who are wrestling fans (well except maybe at 2 am and then it's all "I love you, man": 24/7). As I looked around the room I began to study the people who were yelling. I remember there was a young man (mid twenties) next to me, who had started the shouting. As I studied him I it was obvious that he was not just a wrestling fan but also a former wrestler. As I watched him this outpouring of male emotion, I realized what this young man and the rest of the men were saying to Chad was much more than a list of his accomplishments.
What they were says was "you got to wrestle my dream and you did a damn fine job".
Thanks to the young men and their families, (past, present, future) that commit to wrestle at Iowa and especially to this year's seniors who have one last ride.
Where are they now? Pretty nice endorsement-Gable
