What is everybody's wrestling experience?

[Old_wrestling_fan]

It was like 20-6 and it wasn't even that close. I swear I wore him out with him taking me from my feet to my back. If only there was a 4th period I would have taken him I'm sure because he was exhausted from planting me.

Lololol. I can imagine your coach trying to think of something positive to say while he watched that match unfold...and that's what he came up with. That is good stuff.

What we really need here is a thread from coaches...their funniest moments. That could be a riot.

 

[HawkeyeMass]

Hey, wait a minute, who is this? You've been lurking in the shadows.

Not sure I want to be so quick to give up my secret identity! Ironically, there was a guy in the room who had a name that started with Tarp but his name ended in Ley. I kid about the secret identity. This is Brian Massey 88-93. I enjoy reading this board and occasionally commenting.

 

[Nashville_Hawkeye]

I have absolutely zero wrestling experience. I grew up in poverty in Sioux City and never got involved in any sports during school. That said, during my HS years, Dan Gable was in the early stages of his run of national championships so I started paying attention to his teams...well as much as one could back in those days. After graduating from high school I spent 26 years in the Army touring the world and following wrestling when possible. Now that I'm settled in Nashville, I try to catch whatever meets and tourneys are broadcast online, and thanks to this forum, I've become much more interested in Iowa wrestling year around vice just during the season. Also, thanks to the folks on this forum I was able to watch my first Iowa dual in CHA against OSU this year...it was awesome!!

 

[TarpHawk]

Some of you know my story. State qualifier in high school in Colorado, wrestled my junior and senior years at NYU. Dabbled in freestyle, decided to wrestle one last tourney in '87 when I was 24--freestyle Nationals in Vegas. Got tech-falled twice, decided I was going to move to Iowa and place at that tourney. Wrestled with Davis, Penrith, Martin, Tom & Terry, Melchiore, Zaputil, (I'm sure Massey and Sugai a few times), struggled, got better, placed at freestyle Nationals in '90 and '91. Fun fact: I've scored takedowns on six Olympians (Terry, Tom, Cross, Chertow, Vanni, and Yordanov), but never on Davis.

I'm a lifelong Hawkeye fan, advocate, and occasional constructive critic.

 

[bphawkeye_Rivals]

What got me hooked was the good old AWA. Verne Gagne was my favorite, but Nick Bockwinkel was always the champion, and Rock and Roll Buck Zumhofe always got pinned. Also watching my favorite Randy Lewis on IPTV.
Coming from Catholic schools over to the Public School in 7th grade got me started. As I mentioned in a previous thread about a year ago:
Our own El Dub got me going, along with some others from 7th grade football.
I did wrestle varsity for a few years in HS. As a Soph I pinned some kid from Brookings in 10 seconds, and my JR year I did win way more than I lost.
I also played football as a RB / CB - so Senior year of football I was carrying the ball in the last game and I jammed my neck with C5/C7 problems (this was not correctly diagnosed for about 20 years) that never got corrected (it was about 10 years ago that I learned how to deal with it).
So I declined to wrestle my SR season and the coach and my mom were pissed. I could not see carrying around a 138 pound necklace for 4 months. Sorry mom
It also kept me from having a better SR season in Baseball - because I had to hit differently and my throw follow throughs were not good
But, I actually gave wrestling another try in college my SR year at a club - did not get hurt but it was always in my mind.

So - No state titles, and no College schollie. Still love the sport

 

[255]

wrestled from 9yo until 22yo. Injured so did not finish college.
tried my hand internationally for 3 yrs. Did ok.
coached from 22yo until.....this afternoon. (Middle, High, college and FS)
41 years for being a fan. First live dual was hawks v ISU 1978. Hooked ever since.

 

[Grip220]

I started wrestling around 5th grade around 1982 , my Pop was a Long Island champ back the old days with guys like Bob Bury. Im the youngest of 6 My two older brothers were both wrestlers along with other sports. By the time I got to HS I was pretty good and won the starting varsity spot in 9th grade maybe a .500 season. I was a 4 sport athlete wrestling,football,lacrosse and shot put. (although if I could go back I would have just concentrated on 2 sports or just wrestling). As it were by the time my 10th grade season started I was more mature and took 3rd in my sections . I also started on my varsity football team that year which probably keep me from putting more into wrestling, wrestling was by far my favorite sport. Heading into Jr year I lifted and trained hard with my brother who was a 4 year starter for a Dlll wrestling program. He was very good but mostly very tough. So jr year I was ready I was ranked 5th in the state going into the season after having a really good off season. Beginning of the FB season I blow out my shoulder I finished the FB season And went through most of Wrestling season till my shoulder would justfall out of the socket rolling out of bed so surgery needed and I could not finish the season, fast forward senior year feeling good 1 loss early right after FB undefeated the rest of the year ranked 3rd in the state till I dislocated my elbow before states and I’m out once again...that sucked. Wrestled a bunch of freestyle tournaments after I healed up , I did well I pinning the guy who took 2nd in Ny state that year in less than 1 minute and had some other really solid wins.
I was recruited by a few small D1 schools for football and wrestling but I wanted to go into the Coast Guard academy both coaches said I would get in but I did not get accepted I was bummed. After that I wrestled at local CC for a bit then dropped out and starting working I was done. I Did a bunch of youth and HS coaching for a while always following as much wrestling as I could.
My dream from when I was young was to wrestle for Iowa I remember we had a poster of Dan Gable when he won gold all I wanted were my ASICS Dan Gable’s and I was good. I knew I was not good enough to wrestle for Iowa but I should have followed my dream went there and walked on.
I have been Dan Gable and a Hawkeye fan since 1984 when he coached the Olympic team I believe there were 4 Hawkeyes on that team.. Ed Banach and Lou Banach were my Idols and also from Ny so there was the connection for me...

 

[Qued18]

Who was the really tall HWT from Wahlert that graduated in '82 or '83? It isn't Burbach, is it? That name isn't ringing the bell for me.

Yes that was Matt Burbach...he went to Northwestern and played football there..haven't seen him since

 

[butchinmi]

Small world I’m from from the area and I know who Fletcher is

I just asked my wife, "Do you know a comedian from Goldfield?" Yep, name matched and FB friends evidently. Small world.

 

[HawkHammer]

Never lost since the first day of practice at 8 y/o. Highlight, I was put in a wrong age and weight bracket by 20 pounds at 12 at the Dome with my granfather and uncle that loved wrestling. RIP. Won every match by pin with ease. As the touneys got bigger and I was still winning. I started to suffer from horrible anxiety and my mother let me quit. I still give her hell for that.

I went back out in 9th grade for 98, weighed about 90, and I was just a sparring and workout partner for a future 98lb state champ. And we never stopped working. My POS shit older friend that was a youth national champ at an upper weight got in my head and talked me into quitting with him. I was a cool kid that got sucked into partying with him and the seniors, dumb as hell. I'd still roll with friends that went on to Iowa and UNI and we would go back and forth. I went to Storm Lake for a thirty and over bracket at 36 maybe. I had two back and two shoulder surgeries before this and getting ready to go, I blew out my back again. Game over. Got to watch the OLD coach, like old as hell, from Emmetsburg handle dudes with just a Russian though.

My boys are all different. Oldest 5'11" 106 pounder, the technician. 1% BMI and struggles to put on on weight. Mom's fault.

Two junior high elite soccer goofs. One is a badass in wresting, had a state tourney where the official was scoring shit the wrong way, scoring table tried to agrue with no luck at all with this idiot. Another when we were in South Dakota where everthing was PD from leg rides to halfs, he quit for three years after that. Came back in jr high kicked ass and will be a badass in high school if he wants to be. The other one is strange and refuses to wrestle anything but greco, even in a folkstyle match. He's a brick shithouse for a little dude. He'll place at state someday though.

My youngest is one of the best in the country as a 9 y/o, but once he got a huge following and was on Team Iowa he suffered the same fate as me with anxiety. We don't let him wrestle tourneys now, he goes to a therapist once a week and just pounds kids 20lbs heavier than him at practice. No way in hell he doesn't win a state title if he can beat his OCD and decides to compete again. I did as I got older and the pressure faded. Not pressure from my parents or his, it's about not wanting to lose that can crush some kids.

He goes to clubs and after a half hour nobody will wrestle him. Two kids in the state can roll with him though.

I really enjoy how humble you are.

 

[Grip220]

Passing on experiences on and OFF the mat to the younger generation of wrestlers is very important.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Some of you know my story. State qualifier in high school in Colorado, wrestled my junior and senior years at NYU. Dabbled in freestyle, decided to wrestle one last tourney in '87 when I was 24--freestyle Nationals in Vegas. Got tech-falled twice, decided I was going to move to Iowa and place at that tourney. Wrestled with Davis, Penrith, Martin, Tom & Terry, Melchiore, Zaputil, (I'm sure Massey and Sugai a few times), struggled, got better, placed at freestyle Nationals in '90 and '91. Fun fact: I've scored takedowns on six Olympians (Terry, Tom, Cross, Chertow, Vanni, and Yordanov), but never on Davis.

I'm a lifelong Hawkeye fan, advocate, and occasional constructive critic.

Well then...we have something in common! I wrestled Barry Davis once as a young wrestler and I didn't record any takedowns either AND my escapes weren't working! Although he did push me away once for my lone point.

 

[Twoooooooo]

Started in 5th grade. Was lucky that my father before retiring was an engineer of hydraulic parts for Brand Hydraulics. The owner was Glen Brand '48 Olympic champ in freestyle. So at young age I was able to sit in the hall of fame section every year at nationals and go to all the functions involved. I was hooked from then on with the sport. Placed a couple times as kid in aau at state. Wrestled in highschool was varsity all 4 years with qualifying once as a junior. Was a natural athlete that helped me be somewhat successful just didn't have the work ethic as I was awarded 3 times in highschool with the "clock watcher of the year" award at the season ending banquet. Got involved after highschool with mma. BJJ and tai jitsu which I still do. I felt I left so much potential on the table as I didn't want to work hard enough or put in the extra time. Decided to step into the cage as an amateur and went 2-0. Before calling it quits competition wise. Coached highschool wrestling as a volunteer for 6 years and stopped when my 2nd daughter was mobile. (I didn't want to miss those times that just seem to fly by). Would love to get back into coaching but being over here in Ireland anytime I bring up wrestling people think I am talking about WWE haha. When I get back to the states though I think I might get back into coaching as I really enjoyed that time. And I have feeling my 3rd daughter who is now 3 wants to do it. Sorryfor the rambling, but when it comes to wrestling I talk and talk haha

 

[choosenuetral]

Wrestled 1 tourney in middle school and did some club wrestling in HS. Got into grappling and MMA 20 years ago and still do it in my wheel chair (kwood, I could use a sarcasm imogi here). I really respect and enjoy the impact wrestling has had on mma. 1 son wrestled in HS and D3.

 

[Grip220]

Started in 5th grade. Was lucky that my father before retiring was an engineer of hydraulic parts for Brand Hydraulics. The owner was Glen Brand '48 Olympic champ in freestyle. So at young age I was able to sit in the hall of fame section every year at nationals and go to all the functions involved. I was hooked from then on with the sport. Placed a couple times as kid in aau at state. Wrestled in highschool was varsity all 4 years with qualifying once as a junior. Was a natural athlete that helped me be somewhat successful just didn't have the work ethic as I was awarded 3 times in highschool with the "clock watcher of the year" award at the season ending banquet. Got involved after highschool with mma. BJJ and tai jitsu which I still do. I felt I left so much potential on the table as I didn't want to work hard enough or put in the extra time. Decided to step into the cage as an amateur and went 2-0. Before calling it quits competition wise. Coached highschool wrestling as a volunteer for 6 years and stopped when my 2nd daughter was mobile. (I didn't want to miss those times that just seem to fly by). Would love to get back into coaching but being over here in Ireland anytime I bring up wrestling people think I am talking about WWE haha. When I get back to the states though I think I might get back into coaching as I really enjoyed that time. And I have feeling my 3rd daughter who is now 3 wants to do it. Sorryfor the rambling, but when it comes to wrestling I talk and talk haha

Some of us rambled but I believe that was the premise of the thread

Started in 5th grade. Was lucky that my father before retiring was an engineer of hydraulic parts for Brand Hydraulics. The owner was Glen Brand '48 Olympic champ in freestyle. So at young age I was able to sit in the hall of fame section every year at nationals and go to all the functions involved. I was hooked from then on with the sport. Placed a couple times as kid in aau at state. Wrestled in highschool was varsity all 4 years with qualifying once as a junior. Was a natural athlete that helped me be somewhat successful just didn't have the work ethic as I was awarded 3 times in highschool with the "clock watcher of the year" award at the season ending banquet. Got involved after highschool with mma. BJJ and tai jitsu which I still do. I felt I left so much potential on the table as I didn't want to work hard enough or put in the extra time. Decided to step into the cage as an amateur and went 2-0. Before calling it quits competition wise. Coached highschool wrestling as a volunteer for 6 years and stopped when my 2nd daughter was mobile. (I didn't want to miss those times that just seem to fly by). Would love to get back into coaching but being over here in Ireland anytime I bring up wrestling people think I am talking about WWE haha. When I get back to the states though I think I might get back into coaching as I really enjoyed that time. And I have feeling my 3rd daughter who is now 3 wants to do it. Sorryfor the rambling, but when it comes to wrestling I talk and talk haha

Great story some of us rambled I know I did but I believe that was the premise of the thread.

 

[lookleft goright]

It is even worse when you are doubling as their coach, very difficult to keep the two things separate, and believe me, it is tough.

I can remember a night after a tough practice my youngest (then 8) told me to shut up, I wasn't his dad, I was his coach. Dang near died of shock, and had to rethink a lot off the way I was doing things. Worked out the well, but I was probably about 3 words away from losing him.

I understand that. I coached my kids all thru wrestling and I have definitely had to adjust. My older son's senior year, he asked me not to coach on the team. I obliged him. Wrestling made us close, but I had to step away for a bit. My youngest is given a ton of freedom by me. I don't spend a lot of time with him in practice. It seems to work, but I sit in the chair when he wrestles.
Coaching you r own kid can rip your guts out, but knowing that every knock and failure and success is making them better humans, seems to help.

 

[artradley]

I’ll say this as well, parents of wrestlers definitely deserve some recognition. Wrestling is just “different” than most sports. It’s both physically and mentally tough on our children. You certainly sharpen your parental skills as a parent of a child that wrestles. Also, where you have parents of basketball, football and most other sports that go to a game and get to go home after after a few hours, wrestling parents are often times stuck at a gym from early morning till sometimes late at night for many tournaments. You’re on the road a lot, forced to stay in hotels and eat crappy concession stand food. You sacrifice a lot so your boys can wrestle.

So kudos to all you parents out there giving up a lot of time, money and even your health (nerves) so your boys can do what they love.

There is nothing more emotionally draining than watching your child wrestle. I still get emotional when I catch myself thinking back about any of my son's big matches. The wins and the losses.

When I talk about the sport to the uninitiated I tell them, "You know the line from A League of Their Own about there's no crying in baseball? There's lots of crying in wrestling."

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

There is nothing more emotionally draining than watching your child wrestle. I still get emotional when I catch myself thinking back about any of my son's big matches. The wins and the losses.

When I talk about the sport to the uninitiated I tell them, "You know the line from A League of Their Own about there's no crying in baseball? There's lots of crying in wrestling."

Excellent comments. ^^ The emotions can be really wild for wrestlers AND their families. At the time my sons were wrestling I was at times concerned about the "damage" potential. ..it was later that I realized that this much of the beauty of wrestling.

It is as close to "real life" as it gets and then I liked wrestling even more.

 

[artradley]

Some of you know my story. State qualifier in high school in Colorado, wrestled my junior and senior years at NYU. Dabbled in freestyle, decided to wrestle one last tourney in '87 when I was 24--freestyle Nationals in Vegas. Got tech-falled twice, decided I was going to move to Iowa and place at that tourney. Wrestled with Davis, Penrith, Martin, Tom & Terry, Melchiore, Zaputil, (I'm sure Massey and Sugai a few times), struggled, got better, placed at freestyle Nationals in '90 and '91. Fun fact: I've scored takedowns on six Olympians (Terry, Tom, Cross, Chertow, Vanni, and Yordanov), but never on Davis.

I'm a lifelong Hawkeye fan, advocate, and occasional constructive critic.

If anybody hasn't read the journal that Tarp wrote during his experiences at Iowa City, you really need to do it. Besides the cool insight into the wrestling world and personalities at that time, and a personal view of what is required to reach the highest goals in sport, it's a compelling read about that in-between period life when you are no longer a child but have not yet taken on the responsibilities of being an adult. When you kind of know who you are, but have no idea who you are destined to be, and when you first start to realize that decisions you make now will be decisions you live with the rest of your life.

Although my experience at that age was 100% different than his, the thought processes, insecurities, and questioning about who he was hurtled me back decades to when I was going through the same turmoil. Definitely worth the read.

 

[artradley]

Excellent comments. ^^ The emotions can be really wild for wrestlers AND their families. At the time my sons were wrestling I was at times concerned about the "damage" potential. ..it was later that I realized that this much of the beauty of wrestling.

It is as close to "real life" as it gets and then I liked wrestling even more.

The great thing about wrestling is that it teaches you that your success is directly related to effort -- just as in life.

In other sports natural talent often trumps hard work. You can be a very lazy basketball player and still be terrific. But in wrestling hard work usually wins. In wrestling there are no lazy state champions.

 

[Grip220]

If anybody hasn't read the journal that Tarp wrote during his experiences at Iowa City, you really need to do it. Besides the cool insight into the wrestling world and personalities at that time, and a personal view of what is required to reach the highest goals in sport, it's a compelling read about that in-between period life when you are no longer a child but have not yet taken on the responsibilities of being an adult. When you kind of know who you are, but have no idea who you are destined to be, and when you first start to realize that decisions you make now will be decisions you live with the rest of your life.

Although my experience at that age was 100% different than his, the thought processes, insecurities, and questioning about who he was hurtled me back decades to when I was going through the same turmoil. Definitely worth the read.

Where can we find Tarp’s journal?

 

[artradley]

Where can we find Tarp’s journal?

http://wrestlingforgable.blogspot.com/

 

[Grip220]

http://wrestlingforgable.blogspot.com/

Thanks Art!

 

[Twoooooooo]

I know the quote "after wrestling everything in life is easy" has got me through so many tough times in life not only training in mma but also on the career side. I've also said since I became self employed carpenter "embrace the suck". Us wrestlers have such a different outlook on things in life. Funny story, right before my first fight I called up both of my former high school coaches and thanked them for what they did for me not only physical but also mental. It got me through so many sparring and grappling sessions to just keep pushing. What's funny is when I talked to coach Bleth he thought at first I was about ready to end my life (possibly reaching out to someone for help) after a long pause on the phone after realizing where he was going with it I started to laugh. Told him everything was great in my life. I felt the need to let them know how much of an impact they made on me mentally. I would see him from time to time when living in the states and we always get a good laugh out of that conversation.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

I had "NO" wrestling experience at all. I was 6'4" 200# . Lived on a farm and after school I would head home and help Dad. Always wanted to be a Army Ranger and after I graduated I became a Army Ranger for 9 years.

I want to lead a life of excitement and danger
I want to be an army ranger
My brother and I used to sing that to my cousin who became an army ranger during vietnam. Then he would beat the crap out of us. Didn't matter that we were wrestlers and he wasn't. He was bigger, older, and meaner. Your post just reminded me of that little ditty.

 

[kingslayer_85]

It is even worse when you are doubling as their coach, very difficult to keep the two things separate, and believe me, it is tough.

I can remember a night after a tough practice my youngest (then 8) told me to shut up, I wasn't his dad, I was his coach. Dang near died of shock, and had to rethink a lot off the way I was doing things. Worked out the well, but I was probably about 3 words away from losing him.

Yep , my 11 year old told me that last week.

Wrestled in Jr high, HS and couple of years Div II. Love the sport and get into it way too much. Coach rec for the last few years and love that. Often go to matches by myself and finally a couple of weeks ago got my wife to go with me when I went over to see Rider wrestle lock haven.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

My fondest wrestling memory was seeing the 1967 High School wrestling championships with my 9th-grade teammates at old McElroy Auditorium in Waterloo.

Isn't this the same building where the National Dairy Cattle Congress was held?

 

[Nashville_Hawkeye]

Some of you know my story. State qualifier in high school in Colorado, wrestled my junior and senior years at NYU. Dabbled in freestyle, decided to wrestle one last tourney in '87 when I was 24--freestyle Nationals in Vegas. Got tech-falled twice, decided I was going to move to Iowa and place at that tourney. Wrestled with Davis, Penrith, Martin, Tom & Terry, Melchiore, Zaputil, (I'm sure Massey and Sugai a few times), struggled, got better, placed at freestyle Nationals in '90 and '91. Fun fact: I've scored takedowns on six Olympians (Terry, Tom, Cross, Chertow, Vanni, and Yordanov), but never on Davis.

I'm a lifelong Hawkeye fan, advocate, and occasional constructive critic.

Impressive Tarp!

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

The doctor who delivered me was a former Iowa wrestler, albeit the 1920s. My 3 older brothers wrestled and the oldest once lost to Gary Kurdlemeier. I probably would have played basketball in 7th but for two reasons. I was only 4 foot tall and practices were after school(wrestling was the 1st period) and I had to go home to do chores. I wrestled jr high and high school and one year at an NAIA school. I have no great accomplishments other than a couple of 3rd place finishes at tourneys, 2nd place finishes at sectionals, a third place finish at districts, and a 2nd place finish in college at the conference tourney(thanks to 2 wrestlers being out due to influenza). I did get to wrestle in an NAIA regional tournament but that was rather short lived.

 

[IAChief32]

Hey, wait a minute, who is this? You've been lurking in the shadows.

Tarp...did you steal this guy’s story?

 

[IAChief32]

Wrestle from 7-18 years. Won more than I lost and I too was a victim of misplaced priorities...chasing girls and beer. Almost quit after freshman year. Moved to a huge school in Missouri and almost went out for basketball...thought I was good enough. Showed up the first day and the varsity guys were scrimmaging...shortest guy was 6’1 and they could all play. Think they got to the semis that year.

My basketball career was short lived when a geometry teacher (and assistant coach) saw my Iowa wrestling shirt, asked me if I wrestled and told him nah...middle of class, sends me to the head coach’s classroom who spent a half hour (outside of his class) convincing a kid he didn’t know and never saw wrestle to be on his team. They had 70 guys out and 5 in my wt class...he didn’t need me to fill a spot or anything. Was just that type of coach. My favorite coach to this day. I wrestled some varsity that year, even beat a ranked guy but the dude above me took third and was a beast. Ended up down in Az my jr and sr year where I did ok.

 

[CowboyUp61]

I too was a victim of misplaced priorities...chasing girls and beer. .

Chief, have to wonder about you and others who almost quit, or did quit, to chase girls. Don't you understand that right there, between tournament sessions, was the best time to meet girls (especially the cheerleaders)? And, those nights after the tournament in the hotels

 

[crossfacecradle]

Wrestled 7th through 12th grade. Lost big chunks of two high school seasons to injury/illness. Won more than I lost, but not by much, resulting in a nice collection of bronze and silver medals but no golds. Went to Iowa for two degrees and had the pleasure of seeing some of Gable's all time best teams and individuals. Kinda lost track during the Zalesky years due to life demands, but happy to find this site and get back in the family of Hawkeye wrestling.

 

[horraybeer]

Started in K and had early success. By 8th grade and with all the weight cutting I was done and quit. I missed it, and wrestled again starting 10th grade year. Won 90+ matches went to states 3x and placed. Got some money to go to a D1 school, so I did and spent my 1st year in the room improving beyond my belief, as my high school coach never wrestled. Starting my Soph. year I went to all our preseason runs, lifts, study halls ECT. the 1st day off official practice I just didn't go. My coach called me that night and said "you know practiced started today" my response was "So" hung up and never spoke to him again. I have coached at some youth clubs over the past 20 years and always preach that the #1 burn out is from over zealous parents wanting their kid to win at all costs.

 

[Mtown_Hawk]

Got my love of wrestling from my dad, who was a state qualifier for Marshalltown, coached by former Hawkeye Gene Luttrell (who was a ref for several of my high school matches). When I was little, Dad would tape the Iowa duals on IPTV and wake me up around midnight to watch with him after he got off work. I wrestled from 2nd-12th grade. Was ranked for most of my senior year, but alas, never made it to state. The two best wrestlers I ever competed against were Hawkeyes Paul Bradley and Trey Clark. Got pummeled by both of them, but never got pinned! In 3 years of law school in Iowa City, I never missed a home dual. Still try to catch a few home meets with my son every year.

 

[Inspiteofourselves]

My dad made me go out for wrestling in 7th grade as a punishment, otherwise I would have never wrestled. I won 3 state medals. Never was a finalist, although was ranked #1 junior and senior year. Took 2nd at fargo. Beat a lot of hammers through out my career. Wrestled JUCO then D2. Was ranked in college but never AA. Rd of 12 was the best I did. I was the typical waste of talent that was a national champ at partying. Very few days go by that I don't think, what if?

 

[TNTwrestle]

There is nothing more emotionally draining than watching your child wrestle. I still get emotional when I catch myself thinking back about any of my son's big matches. The wins and the losses.

When I talk about the sport to the uninitiated I tell them, "You know the line from A League of Their Own about there's no crying in baseball? There's lots of crying in wrestling."

Watching your kids wrestle is 100 times harder than doing it yourself, and coaching them is worse yet. I could tell a few stories about coaching my two boys (highs and lows and aggravation) but it would take up too much time and half a page.

Chief, have to wonder about you and others who almost quit, or did quit, to chase girls. Don't you understand that right there, between tournament sessions, was the best time to meet girls (especially the cheerleaders)? And, those nights after the tournament in the hotels

I didn't have this problem during season, but I wish I could go back and do my freestyle career over. At the big tourneys (Ft Madison, Fairfield, Cedar Falls, etc) I would always have a couple wins over big dogs on Friday night, then the chicks would be impressed and I'd stay out all night drinking, or chasing, or both, and by noon on Saturday, I'd be toast and lose one stupid match and be out on black marks, always one round away from the round robin. If I could go back, I'd get to bed early and alone so I could see what I really was capable of.

 

[Hicksy87]

Started wrestling in 4th grade with youth program in LaPorte City. Was a 4 year starter at LPC HS at Hwt, 2 x conference champ, three time district qualifier losing to state placers as Jr and Sr. Wrestled 4 years at Cornell College for Steve Devries. My Freshman teammate and Hwt at Cornell was the state champ from Dewitt.

After playing football as a freshman (played in all but one game) I beat him in wrestle offs twice, then I got beat by a returning Sophmore and he defeated the Sophmore. Ended up the backup Hwt after sophmore tore his knee up. My teammate ended dropping out of Cornell. Lost to ISU AA Hwt Darryl Peterson at University of Omaha Open 4-3 and counted lights against former ISU Hwt Wayne Cole as a sophmore. Lost 6-3 to Michigan AA Hwt Kirk Trost at Sunshine Open as Jr. I ended up winning conference 3x and qualifying for nationals three years. Won several college tournaments and knocked off a few DIII AAs. Went 1-1 as sophmore and 0-1 as Jr and Sr losing to eventual AA both years at nationals. Unfortunately no true wrestle back then if you lost in the first or second round the guy who you lost to had to get to the semis to advance to consolations.

Was fortunate to be able to compete against Ohio St, Michigan, Naval Academy and several DII schools winning my fair share of matches. Great opportunity to work out with guys like Joe Melchoire (before he could officially attend Iowa practices) and a few other DI and JC wrestlers who came to our room as we had DIII AAs at 118, 126, 134 and 142. Coach Devries always welcomed other wrestlers into the room.

After moving to Louisiana got the opportunity to volunteer coach at a local HS. Both wrestling coaches were football assistants who had never wrestled. They welcomed the chance for me to help. I was help coach a couple of guys to state championships one of whom went on the become a DII Champ for Univ. of Southern Colorado (Now Univ. of Colorado Pueblo). He is now the head coach at Pueblo.

Was influenced and helped by so many great coaches and wrestling people along the way My HS Coach Dick Ingvall, Coach Dan Mashek, Coach/Official Bob Siddens, Official Maury Adams, Historian Mike Chapman, Coach Dick Walker, Coach Steve Devries and like many others boyhood idol Dan Gable.

 

[Inspiteofourselves]

Watching your kids wrestle is 100 times harder than doing it yourself, and coaching them is worse yet. I could tell a few stories about coaching my two boys (highs and lows and aggravation) but it would take up too much time and half a page.



I didn't have this problem during season, but I wish I could go back and do my freestyle career over. At the big tourneys (Ft Madison, Fairfield, Cedar Falls, etc) I would always have a couple wins over big dogs on Friday night, then the chicks would be impressed and I'd stay out all night drinking, or chasing, or both, and by noon on Saturday, I'd be toast and lose one stupid match and be out on black marks, always one round away from the round robin. If I could go back, I'd get to bed early and alone so I could see what I really was capable of.

Ft. Madison was a tough tourney back in the day. I remember 1 year I had 6 state finalists in my bracket. I won it twice and runner up once.

 

[artradley]

Watching your kids wrestle is 100 times harder than doing it yourself, and coaching them is worse yet. I could tell a few stories about coaching my two boys (highs and lows and aggravation) but it would take up too much time and half a page.

I think I was unusual in that my son enjoyed having me coach him and we never had any issues. Although part of it was that I always said "I'll nudge him in the right direction, but I won't push him there." I basically discussed strategy and mindset, and drove him to clubs and tournaments. On the mat things are happening too quickly to offer any advice -- I mainly watched the score table to make sure they didn't make any mistakes, and shout out time remaining occasionally. I might have offered up a "know where you're at!" a few times.

If anything when he got to High School it was tough, because the coach there was kind of a bad guy. He had to do things the HS coach's way, which was often not smart -- the coach was not a wrestler on top of being not a good guy.

He wants to be a high school coach, and he has said he learned from me how to be a good coach and from his HS coach what to avoid in order to not be a bad coach.

But it was tough sitting in the bleachers biting my tongue for four years...