What is everybody's wrestling experience?

[NC_BlackGold]

1st Post- long time lurker:
Started wrestling in 8th grade because my sister knew coach and his wife. Convinced me to come to practice. Lost my first challenge match that day. Came back the next day and won the wrestle-off at 103. Went home that night and cut my mullet in preparation for my first match. Got pinned in 23 seconds the next night. Attempted to make the basketball team as a 4'6'' 100lb 9th-grader. High school wrestling career started the following week. Freshman year, in the match to go to the state tournament, I was getting hammered. With 30 seconds to go, caught the kid in a cradle and pinned him. Ended up being a 4x qualifier and 1x state champ. I did once beat a Olympic silver-medalist in high school...and to this day Sara McMann still has bigger arms than I do! I went on to compete in a small D-1 school. Different priorities and a 3x NCAA qualifier sent me in a different direction. I did get much better while in college, but I was never willing or understood what was needed to get to that level. I did participate in the SE Olympic Trials in New Orleans. I had the pleasure of drawing Terry Steiner in the 1st round. Hard club with my left, beautiful right handed high-crotch and I was DEEP on his leg. By the time I hit the mat, he had turned me 3x. It was that point in my life I realized that some people are just better, no matter what you do. I also became a devout Hawk fan after that a**-kicking. Quit my senior year of college because I felt I deserved scholarship money (I did not) and have regretted it every since. Assistant Coach for 10 year with decent success. Had former wrestlers go on to become Fargo AA's, DII National Champs and a DIII All-American. Wrestling gave me a pathway and purpose, and I will always be indebted.

 

[artradley]

1st Post- long time lurker:
Started wrestling in 8th grade because my sister knew coach and his wife. Convinced me to come to practice. Lost my first challenge match that day. Came back the next day and won the wrestle-off at 103. Went home that night and cut my mullet in preparation for my first match. Got pinned in 23 seconds the next night. Attempted to make the basketball team as a 4'6'' 100lb 9th-grader. High school wrestling career started the following week. Freshman year, in the match to go to the state tournament, I was getting hammered. With 30 seconds to go, caught the kid in a cradle and pinned him. Ended up being a 4x qualifier and 1x state champ. I did once beat a Olympic silver-medalist in high school...and to this day Sara McMann still has bigger arms than I do! I went on to compete in a small D-1 school. Different priorities and a 3x NCAA qualifier sent me in a different direction. I did get much better while in college, but I was never willing or understood what was needed to get to that level. I did participate in the SE Olympic Trials in New Orleans. I had the pleasure of drawing Terry Steiner in the 1st round. Hard club with my left, beautiful right handed high-crotch and I was DEEP on his leg. By the time I hit the mat, he had turned me 3x. It was that point in my life I realized that some people are just better, no matter what you do. I also became a devout Hawk fan after that a**-kicking. Quit my senior year of college because I felt I deserved scholarship money (I did not) and have regretted it every since. Assistant Coach for 10 year with decent success. Had former wrestlers go on to become Fargo AA's, DII National Champs and a DIII All-American. Wrestling gave me a pathway and purpose, and I will always be indebted.

The best part of this thread is it is somehow drawing out guys who usually don't post. I'm loving all the stories.

 

[Jackhawk87]

All state in Iowa HS. Didn’t wrestle in college but did get a 2nd and 1st at UI intramurals before leaving my shoes on the mat.

 

[IAChief32]

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 almost quit because I was burned out. But yea, a lot of really cool stories from wrestling trips. My assistant coach in Az, was an Iowa guy as well. Fun fact: He was one of Kerber’s 4 final wins. Little guy named Hannum. He let us get away with a lot of stuff. Good dude.

 

[SansSouci]

I really enjoy how humble you are.

We'll see. I said I flamed out and the rest is true. You can't have four boys that wrestled since they were five and practice all year suck too bad. If I had them wrestle 120+ matches a year like some parents, they'd be alot better. I'm not lying about anything and I thought I was in the parameters of this thread. My bad, brah.

 

[SansSouci]

Sans not to get all personal but what year did your boy go to Indiana and wrestle, think my son was on the 8u team with him in 2016

Could have been, I thought Feb 2015. That was the beginning of the end. I think he won Winter Nationals right before that and was fine. I don't know what switched in his brain in Indiana. He'll be back soon though, so he says.

 

[Coach Mac B]

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.

I loved that tournament. 75 kids in a bracket with top quality kids. Ive seen state champs go 0-2. Funny story...a couple moved in next to us and the wife was the high school girl of the host family we had in Fort Madison. A little akward for us to remember a night 20 years later.

 

[IroniaHorse]

Grew up (still live) in a wrestling town in NW Jersey,(not a wrestling town anymore)Started wrestling in 2-3rd grade,peaked in summer before hs. Wrestled thru soph yr in hs quit in jr yr. Horrible exp w/weight cutting. Years past got myself in trouble and wound up doing 1000 or so hrs of community service. Turns out I did most of them at my old HS. thru the wrestling coach there I got involved in the County Tourny,Clerking..My old hs didn't have a 103 lbers (had multiple state champs @103 yr past) I asked the coach what I could do to help and said 'Start a wrestling club' so I started a club in 2005 and we're still going very strong, We've had a few D1 AA's a few more D2 AA's and a few more D3 AA's We've been fortunate to have a Boatload of State Champs and more state placers. I dont coach ,i just run it and pay the bills. Very proud to say that our club has been free from Day 1,and we've never taken a penny from any kid. #rollhorse

 

[artradley]

Grew up (still live) in a wrestling town in NW Jersey,(not a wrestling town anymore)Started wrestling in 2-3rd grade,peaked in summer before hs. Wrestled thru soph yr in hs quit in jr yr. Horrible exp w/weight cutting. Years past got myself in trouble and wound up doing 1000 or so hrs of community service. Turns out I did most of them at my old HS. thru the wrestling coach there I got involved in the County Tourny,Clerking..My old hs didn't have a 103 lbers (had multiple state champs @103 yr past) I asked the coach what I could do to help and said 'Start a wrestling club' so I started a club in 2005 and we're still going very strong, We've had a few D1 AA's a few more D2 AA's and a few more D3 AA's We've been fortunate to have a Boatload of State Champs and more state placers. I dont coach ,i just run it and pay the bills. Very proud to say that our club has been free from Day 1,and we've never taken a penny from any kid. #rollhorse

I will tell everyone I know "IroniaHorse" quite well. My son went to this club in HS and, for free, had the chance to mix it up with some top guys. It's a helluva room and Ironia donates hours and hours of his time to providing a place for guys to get better.

 

[IroniaHorse]

I will tell everyone I know "IroniaHorse" quite well. My son went to this club in HS and, for free, had the chance to mix it up with some top guys. It's a helluva room and Ironia donates hours and hours of his time to providing a place for guys to get better.

took awhile but I finally figured out who artradley is! Thank you very much-I get as much as I give! Hope all is well down in Va.(fb pics says alls well!) Bringing our tourny back-5/6/18 BCNJ...#rollhorse

 

[artradley]

I will tell everyone I know "IroniaHorse" quite well. My son went to this club in HS and, for free, had the chance to mix it up with some top guys. It's a helluva room and Ironia donates hours and hours of his time to providing a place for guys to get better.

took awhile but I finally figured out who artradley is! Thank you very much-I get as much as I give! Hope all is well down in Va.(fb pics says alls well!) Bringing our tourny back-5/6/18 BCNJ...#rollhorse

Very cool about the tournament--hope you get some top dogs there.

We decided we moved too far south, so when our daughter grads this spring we're moving to DE. We will be closer to the action and to the son -- who plans to teach Special Ed and coach high school up in PA. I might see you at states next year!

#allaboutthe4

 

[TNTwrestle]

I loved that tournament. 75 kids in a bracket with top quality kids. Ive seen state champs go 0-2. Funny story...a couple moved in next to us and the wife was the high school girl of the host family we had in Fort Madison. A little akward for us to remember a night 20 years later.

I had over a hundred in my bracket there a couple times. My first freestyle match there my sophomore year I got Dan Glenn (reigning Junior National champion and future Hawkeye), he must have been taking it easy the first few rounds, because he only beat me 3-2. Won 4 or 5 matches, then ran into his brother Bob, who beat me 6-4 and took me out. Always loved going there though.

 

[TNTwrestle]

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...

I never really had issues with either of my kids coaching them, more with refs than anything. also sometimes second-guessed myself on in-match advice; taking top, bottom, neutral. Usually told to defer if they got first choice unless the match was going badly. Most matside issues were refs that didn't know the rules though, and whether to speak up, or live with their incompetence. In H.S. I sat in bleachers and shut up, even when coaches didn't have a clue. They both had some good and some not-so-good coaches in their four and six years respectively of wrestling. Most were pretty good guys, though.

 

[grapplefann]

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

Yes!

 

[SansSouci]

I never really had issues with either of my kids coaching them, more with refs than anything. also sometimes second-guessed myself on in-match advice; taking top, bottom, neutral. Usually told to defer if they got first choice unless the match was going badly. Most matside issues were refs that didn't know the rules though, and whether to speak up, or live with their incompetence. In H.S. I sat in bleachers and shut up, even when coaches didn't have a clue. They both had some good and some not-so-good coaches in their four and six years respectively of wrestling. Most were pretty good guys, though.

The refs in youth wrestling have ruined many tournaments for me. Fat old dudes that won't get down for backs or the points given to the wrong wrestler because they're just dumb or don't really care.

It sucks to have kids work their asses off and get refs that are lazy, power trippers, lack knowledge of current rules or won't call pins like they should for youngsters. I was happy to get away from that and just stopped going on the floor in big tournaments or just gave in to the BS. I have a list of guys that need to give it up, the guys fresh out of college are the best.

 

[Herkylian]

Ahh, my wrestling days. I wrestled at I believed 103 or it might have been 106 at JB Young in Davenport 6th and 7th grade. It's where I learned the banana split and ball and chain, the ankle pick was secondary. I finished around .500, moved to California for 8th grade and back to Iowa for high school where we didn't have wrestling when I went. Mediapolis and Columbus Junction were the big dogs in my area during high school.

 

[Ted_Gunderson]

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.

LOL

 

[Inspiteofourselves]

Ahh, my wrestling days. I wrestled at I believed 103 or it might have been 106 at JB Young in Davenport 6th and 7th grade. It's where I learned the banana split and ball and chain, the ankle pick was secondary. I finished around .500, moved to California for 8th grade and back to Iowa for high school where we didn't have wrestling when I went. Mediapolis and Columbus Junction were the big dogs in my area during high school.

That's the same area I'm from. Southeast Iowa Super Conference.

 

[SansSouci]

LOL

I think my original post to you might have been deleted.

What part do you think is untrue you weird bastard? Don't stalk me, ya goof. You're old as hell and should keep you're alligator mouth and hummingbird ass shut.

Did you just want to be a hotshot and call me out so you could get attacked by me. Go back to your sad life where attention to you doesn't exist. You can find me in Liscomb, IA if you want to take your best shot with no return, my guy. Lol. Just sad.

 

[CCAHawkeye]

I started wrestling in 7 th grade. Continued through my Junior year of high school. Did not wrestle senior year because I wanted to finish high school early and work on the farm. Won more than I lost, no post season success. I thought I didn't like practice back then. I know now it was at those long practices,putting yourself to the test, that I learned life lessons. Learned something about myself. Wrestling is a big reason that I have made it as far as I have in life.
My boys don't wrestle, it is not offered at our school. They play sports, I try to pass what I learned about dedication, determination and desire to them. Those wrestling life lessons.
I am a big fan of the Hawks and the Cesspool.

 

[crossfacecradle]

I just wanted to add that my high school (big 2A or small 3A depending on the year) had 40-50 kids out for wrestling every year. Making varsity was an accomplishment. We filled varsity,JV, sophomore, and even freshmen teams (excepting heavy weight). It probably happened, but I don't remember my team, or conference opponents, ever forfeiting matches. Now I see box scores from schools that used to be powers with multiple forfeits and even double forfeits. Fixable or just changing times?

 

[choosenuetral]

I just wanted to add that my high school (big 2A or small 3A depending on the year) had 40-50 kids out for wrestling every year. Making varsity was an accomplishment. We filled varsity,JV, sophomore, and even freshmen teams (excepting heavy weight). It probably happened, but I don't remember my team, or conference opponents, ever forfeiting matches. Now I see box scores from schools that used to be powers with multiple forfeits and even double forfeits. Fixable or just changing times?

Yes, the little bit that I participated in was full of kids. There was no recruiting and at the time the private schools were not the powerhouses. You’d get a handful of studs in one class and their team would be strong for 3-4 years then it would be another schools turn. Much more parity. Much better participation rates too.

 

[Grip220]

1st Post- long time lurker:
Started wrestling in 8th grade because my sister knew coach and his wife. Convinced me to come to practice. Lost my first challenge match that day. Came back the next day and won the wrestle-off at 103. Went home that night and cut my mullet in preparation for my first match. Got pinned in 23 seconds the next night. Attempted to make the basketball team as a 4'6'' 100lb 9th-grader. High school wrestling career started the following week. Freshman year, in the match to go to the state tournament, I was getting hammered. With 30 seconds to go, caught the kid in a cradle and pinned him. Ended up being a 4x qualifier and 1x state champ. I did once beat a Olympic silver-medalist in high school...and to this day Sara McMann still has bigger arms than I do! I went on to compete in a small D-1 school. Different priorities and a 3x NCAA qualifier sent me in a different direction. I did get much better while in college, but I was never willing or understood what was needed to get to that level. I did participate in the SE Olympic Trials in New Orleans. I had the pleasure of drawing Terry Steiner in the 1st round. Hard club with my left, beautiful right handed high-crotch and I was DEEP on his leg. By the time I hit the mat, he had turned me 3x. It was that point in my life I realized that some people are just better, no matter what you do. I also became a devout Hawk fan after that a**-kicking. Quit my senior year of college because I felt I deserved scholarship money (I did not) and have regretted it every since. Assistant Coach for 10 year with decent success. Had former wrestlers go on to become Fargo AA's, DII National Champs and a DIII All-American. Wrestling gave me a pathway and purpose, and I will always be indebted.

Great post NC and I love the comedy wrestlers can be very funny people....

 

[Notsure75]

Was wrestling a returning state champ and had him sprawled out on the mat with a minute to go leading him 7-3. Coach was trying to get my attention and when I looked up I noticed one of the girl cheer leaders sitting along the mat with her legs so spread apart you could drive a truck through them. I got reversed and taken down to my back. Lost but damn she was nice.

 

[vhsalum]

My best friend was a HUGE WWE fan. Posters on the wall, watched every (tape-delayed) episode that came on. I had done karate in Japan and Judo in the Netherlands (where I was currently living). He says, "they have a wrestling team! Let's go out"

I agreed. We show up. No ropes and squared circle. He hated it, I loved it. I told my mom I was joining the wrestling team, and she said, "Yeah right" That first year, I wrestled in tennis shoes, because my mom refused to buy me wrestling shoes. She was sure I would quit. In her defense, I had quit most everything else she didn't make me stay in. Freshman year, nothing to write home about, qualified for Europeans (Military base states). Sophomore year, I turned into a weight cutter. Went from 126 to 113. Obviously not the biggest of deals, but I procrastinated. Slept in a sauna suit in front of a furnace. My wife has always told me that my superpower is my ability to sleep. I can fall asleep, anywhere, anytime, and I'm pretty sure I can reach REM deep sleep in 13 minutes or less. Made weight. Beat the guy ranked 2nd in Europe at the time but finished the year 0-2 again at Europeans.

Junior year I move back stateside, to Georgia. Qualified for state as a junior and senior. Junior year I went 0-1 (only quarterfinalist losers wrestled in consis) and senior year a round away from placing. The one thing that never bothered me was weight cutting. My senior year, I went from 145 to 125, and, in hindsight, I probably did it a better way than most. I didn't diet (that was stupid), but I also never starved myself. I would wait until the night before, have practice and go to the gym and get a workout in. A couple times I did step aerobics with plastics and a two layers of sweats on. The instructor didn't know how to take it, but since I kept up, she never really said anything. I would head straight to the sauna after that and get a run in in the morning. I lived on Sour gummy worms for that 12 hours or so. A nutritionist once told me that wasn't a "bad idea" since the sugar is an immediate energy source. I never crashed, so I'm sure I was lucky that way.

My one regret was my coaches never told me about summer wrestling. We didn't wrestle year round, I didn't know what Fargo was, I didn't know there was summer wrestling AT ALL. We went to one camp in the summer and that was it. I had no idea how to become good at the sport. I call my coach to this day and blame him for me not wrestling in college. It's all I ever wanted to do, but I knew I wasn't good enough.

I coached my brother his junior and senior year in Florida, and I've been an assistant coach ever since. I'm at a small private school and we do well. The one thing I've always been is a Hawks fan. My coach was a Hawk fan, told us about how the Hawkeyes were the best, and I've been a fan ever since.

 

[HawCory]

Great thread @artradley !

For me, I only wrestled one year. 7th grade at 119 lbs. at FL Smart Jr High for coach Schreck. I won a lot more than I lost, but gave it up for basketball.

One of my fondest wrestling memories was our first early morning weigh in. It was my friend's mother's(no pic) turn to car pool that morning and we had her stop at McDonald's so we could get something to eat after we weighed in. Fast forward an hour and we're all sitting in the locker room eating cold ass Egg McMuffins. The funny part is that I'm positive we all could have just eaten them in the car on the way there and still made weight with our clothes on.

 

[Edgar Wade]

Started wrestling in elementary school since my older brother was giving the sport a try. Stuck with it and wrestled through college.

Two 3rd and one 2nd place state finish in high school, lots of freestyle along the way.

Made the final 8 in Cadet freestyle one year, but of course it was back when they awarded just 6 places! Fun to look through the old bracket book and see some big time names in there!

Wrestled at a D1 non-powerhouse school for two years, transferred to a D3 school and had a decent finish to my career but again came up just short of my goals at nationals.

Over the years I have come to realize I tended to focus on my weaknesses and what could trip me up rather than my strengths and how to best use them in each match. So, I was successful when I should have been and then struggled in the elite level matches. I often wish a coach or someone along the way would have had the insight to realize this at some point in my career. I remember later hearing that Jeff McGinness used a Sports Psychologist and thinking, “Wow, what a concept!”

Have worked to reverse this way of thinking as a life skill beyond my wrestling days in my work and family life. While some of those losses still sting to this day, I definitely learned a lot about myself through wrestling!

 

[NC_BlackGold]

Great post NC and I love the comedy wrestlers can be very funny people....

Thank you very much! Started typing and just kind of spilled out. Have never been into social media much, but I appreciate all the "likes".

 

[MepoDawg#]

Grew up in Morning Sun, IA and was introduced to wrestling in Kindergarten by my PE teacher, who happened to be the the high school wrestling coach. If you’re from Iowa you’ve probably heard of him, John Siegel. He had so much impact on a lot of lives.

I remember him getting kicked out of little kids state arguing a call during one of my matches. He was allowed back in after the ref realized who he was. I believe I probably won 80% of my matches through junior high then hit big growth spurt putting me into tougher weights. Still won more than I lost but wasn’t anything special.

My toughest weight cut came in 3rd grade when our teacher made me and another kid eat lunch when we were already slightly over weight. We had weigh-ins for youth state that night. Siegel pulled us out of class and made us practice, condition, and cut weight (won’t go into details). I made it before traveling, other kid didn’t. He had to wear plastics with heat cranked all the way to Indianola. Grew up around and going to tournaments with a lot of good wrestlers from Morning Sun, Wapello, Columbus Junction, and Wilton (Moscow Wrestling Club).

Attended a lot of Iowa meets growing up, loved their passion back then (Brands, Steiners, Big O etc). Some seem to be getting that back to Iowa.

 

[GG121AND2]

My first exposure to wrestling was when my cousin married a guy who had placed second at the Illinois state tournament in the early 60's. I went on to win the 8th grade intramural championship at Frank L Smart Junior High in Davenport, IA when I reversed my opponent to his back and pinned him. I was getting clobbered at the time.

My real love for wrestling started on a road trip to Ames. A friend of mine was wrestling at Augustana (IL) and wanted to go see Gable wrestle. He didn't want to drive there and back by himself and he asked me to go with him. I don't remember whether they were wrestling the Cowboys or the Sooners, but it was one of them. I was awestruck by the whole experience - especially Gable. Lately I have begun to wonder if this experience isn't a subconscious motivation for the WFL ticket program.

Anyway, I started following Gable's career, which introduced me to new levels of wrestling and then I found IPTV College Wrestling. I've been a fan of the sport ever since.

After being around a number of successful people who had wrestling in their biographies, I got the notion that there are values to the sport that are unique and that kids could benefit from those values.

 

[GG121AND2]

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.

Hicksy, Steve Goodall says, "Hi". We occasionally share an adult beverage at the same watering hole.

 

[Hicksy87]

Hicksy, Steve Goodall says, "Hi". We occasionally share an adult beverage at the same watering hole.

Goody was a great teammate. Despite our weight difference Goody and I had many battles in the Cornell practice room. He made me a much better Hwt. Tell him Hello for me.

 

[HawCory]

Hicksy, Steve Goodall says, "Hi". We occasionally share an adult beverage at the same watering hole.

You're the 4th or 5th former F.L. Smart Golden Eagle in this thread alone. Color me surprised.

btw, I was about 25 years behind you

 

[MN Hawk Fan]

Wrestled 1 year, my senior year at Denver after the coach talked me into going out. Was in the same weight bracket at every tournament with Tolly Thompson and Justin Greenlee - I know how many lights there are in most of NE IA gym ceilings. I did have Tolly on his back for a whole period once when he slipped. He proceeded to launch me onto the gym floor the next period to make sure I knew my place. I did wreck some returning placewinners year when I beat him in the first round of sections (he was seeded first and never got a true 2nd match). Always been a fan, my oldest son placed 4th and 1st in MN and now wrestles for an NAIA school, youngest son was actually a better wrestler but would rather sit in a tree hunting or on the ice fishing. Fell in love with Iowa wrestling watching the Brands brothers intensity.

 

[Nipigu]

I had a few girlfriends I wrestled with . . . it just took off from there.

If you’re the pablo I knew it should have stayed there.

 

[Mike Zierath]

Did you wrestle in high school? College? Do you have kids who wrestle? Have you done any coaching? How did you become a fan of the sport? My guess is most here wrestled at some level, which puts me at a disadvantage.

Personally, I enjoyed wrestling -- which was a part of PE class in MS & HS -- but Burlington didn't even have a team when I was there. But my son wrestled from the age of 7 through high school. I pretty quickly got roped-into coaching, and ended up running the rec program and even wound up doing a lot of the work running the rec league.

A few years ago I got licensed to officiate in NJ, which I loved; but we then moved to Virginia and I haven't gotten back into it.

So for a guy who has never wrestled I really love the sport and have a huge emotional investment. I'm curious about everybody else's background and how they got into the sport.

Was forced into "Trying it" in junior high and beginning of high school. Hated every second of it. Was in damn fine shape, not one ounce of fat anywhere. Decided I liked eating a lot more and I sucked at it anyway.......

Love it now!

Z

 

[Mike Zierath]

Mark Reiland’s mom was a teacher at my school in Goldfield, Iowa. He was in high school while I was in second grade. He came in to our gym class and taught us some wrestling moves. He and I were partnered up for some drills and then we all got to wrestle three matches. I went 2-1.

I started following Mark’s career at Iowa and loved watching the teams he was on. Became a huge fan of the Brands brothers. I was very excited to see Mark win a title!

Over the years I would follow Iowa wrestling, but it became more difficult when I moved to New Mexico. I didn’t wrestle in school at all, I was more in to playing basketball. I did have some friends on the wrestling teams though.

I’ve always followed Iowa wrestling and high school wrestling when my cousins made state, but hadn’t been a die hard fan since about 2 years ago. I’ve been a touring traveling comedian for a few years and I had the pleasure of working with Greg Warren, and the following week I worked with a buddy of mine, Tim Gaither, both of them are huge fans of wrestling. Because of them I started getting more into it, watching some old matches, following recruiting and everything. I wanted to know everything I could, so I found a bunch of wrestling websites and did my homework. Now I consider myself a big fan of the sport. When I go to HR, the wrestling board is always the first one I look at in the morning. I still don’t know some of the lingo during the matches, but I’m learning. Go Hawks!

Flute Man Greg........

Z

 

[LVCabChronicles]

I wrestled for 1 year of my life, my freshman year at BETT. A good friend was into wrestling and that was part of the reason I tried it. The other was to get better at FB and stay in shape. Coming out of FB season I convinced myself that I was in shape and learned real quick that was a bunch of bull lol. I had no shot at taking the Varsity starting guy but I did beat the #2 guy which made me the JV HWT instead of the freshman HWT. My first match I was losing on bottom and got a reversal and a pinfall, which was my career highlight. All the varsity guys were jacked because my win meant the JV squad won the meet and also I think because they knew why I was there and that I really had no idea what I was doing. I remember everyone congratulating me as I walked off the mat. I finished with an 18-12 record that year I think, made the podium at one weekender tournament. Which, in the great state of Iowa, I considered a big success considering I had no experience.

But more importantly, my one season in the room was enough to give me a deep appreciation for the sport and that has only grown over time. Gable says that once you've wrestled everything in life is easy, yeah that sounds about right.

 

[akaoni]

My dad said that he was a grad assistant for Gable when he was studying for his PHD at Iowa in the late 70s, however my siblings and I always questioned the veracity of this claim. I wrestled in Jr. High and High School. I was pretty mediocre in Iowa. Moved to Albuquerque in 8th grade and went undefeated and won a few tournaments. Moved back to Iowa and was mediocre again.

Also did some Sumo for a while while living in Japan.

 

[el dub]

I think I started wrestling in 6th grade. Lost an exhibition match to my pal Steve F. First match in 7th grade was in Sibley. I gave up a five point move early in the first period and counted lights for a loooong time. I remember teammate Mike S screaming at me from the bench not to get pinned. I looked at him and shook my head no. I came back in that one for a victory.

I never lost a match in junior high except for the finals in a couple of out of season tournaments. Ricky Dorn beat me twice in the championship matchs in Worthington. He pinned me in 7th grade and that was the only time in my career that I got stuck. (John Thorn and Joe Gibbons beat me a few times but never by pinfall.)

Never wrestled a varsity match in high school. As a soph, I cut weight every week to make 105 but the 112 lber never made weight and I was forced to wrestle at 112 every match after making 105 in the morning. Got my butt handed to me a few times that year.

The next season I went at 119 and got revenge for a couple of losses the previous year. TnT’s mom later told me her boys enjoyed watching my matches that year. (She hauled them to all duals, home and away.) Pulled off a 9 second pin against a kid from Sibley that season with a lateral drop. Threw myself to my back in the next match at Haywarden for a -5 pt move and eventually fought back to pin my opponent.

Went in for a pre season meeting with the coach before our senior year and was told I would never see varsity action but was invited to practice with the team if I wanted. That was unexpected and felt like someone punched me in the gut. And that was the end of my illustrious wrestling career.