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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
J.P. Barner added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

I wrestled one year, as a junior in HS when my school was starting a team, and counted more gym lights than I care to mention. Son wrestled in HS, which got me back into the sport. I follow it because I think it's the single best sport - a true match of wills - and takes great dedication to be good. I admire the young men that do it well and love to watch them.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

Not a bad start, but some of the veterans are being a bit coy...

Brady?
Hank (who are you -other than the bossman of the dot.net-)?
Campbell?
Pruesse (is your initial connect to the sport through Barger)?

Give us a human interest connect to go with our actual names.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

I have a long underachieving and incomplete wrestling history. I still fantasize about returning to the mat up to this moment because there are just too many loose ends and what ifs....

I started wrestling in 1976, when I was 6. I think I still have that miniature purple singlet tucked away somewhere. I wrestled in tournaments throughout my childhood. I went to camp each year and followed these 2 brothers from Graham everywhere I could. They were pretty special. They taught me a lot.

When I was in 7th grade I bugged coach Stout into starting the 1st Jr High wrestling program at Mechanicsburg. We fielded a full team and over the next 2 years I posted a 21-4 record.

In the 8th grade I started hanging out at this garage in West Liberty, Ohio. We had a pretty good crew of guys working-out there a few nights a week. I learned a lot and was pushed to my limits in that garage over the next several years. I placed 4th in the Ohio State freestyle tournament that year (losing to Scott Pegram in the semis and then Shawn Faulkner squeaked one out on me in the 3rd/4th finals. Pegram went on to lose to Mark Tinny in the finals. All of those 3 went on to be state champs :-/ ) That qualified me for the regional qualifier for the Junior Olympics, but I could not afford to go. The rest of the crew from the garage went. Jeff went on to win Junior Nationals that Summer. It was a cool and formative year.

I wrestled 98lbs as a freshman. My workout partner at the garage, Clark McDaniel, and I ruled the roost in our district. We both walked through districts and met in the finals. Clark rode me out in the 3rd and hung on for 6-4 victory. We were seeded 1 and 2 in the Regional the following week...and we both CHOKED :-( I was sucking too much weight and lost in the 1st round. Clark lost in the semis to the kid pinned in 1:30 in the semis at districts. Only the top 2 from our region qualified for the state tournament at that time. I finished my freshman campaign with a 20-6 record. I wrestled the state champ from my class that Summer and dropped a 4-3 heart breaker. Clark went on to win the 98lb class the following year. This was becoming a theme...

I wrestled a lot that Summer with the garage crew and was prepared and hungry coming into my sophomore season. I had outgrown the 98lb class and blasted on past 105 as well. The guys at 112lbs seemed a little strong, but my skills were developing nicely. I ripped off a 10-0 record heading into the Jonathan Alder Tournament that season. I had won the tournament as a freshman, but was seeded 4th coming into it this year. What? Yea, that's because David Grant was there. Don Brown dropped down from 119. And Terry Herndon remained at 112 (he had won the tournament at 112 the previous year). I met up with my good friend Don in the semifinals. He ended up beating me 10-6. I was deflated. Terry ripped me a new one in the 3rd/4th finals and Don when on to knock off David in the Finals. Don also went on to be the state champ in my class that year, tech falling Kyle Kern in the 2nd freakin' period in the state finals. I watched from the stands and it pains me to this day. The week after the Jonathan Alder tournament I fell very ill. I had mono and was not able to complete the season. Don and I remain good friends. The theme was continuing...

The Summer after my sophomore year, after much soul searching and for reasons beyond the topic of this forum, I moved to my father's to live. He lived in Canal Winchester. At that time, they had no team and were not willing to start one. There was none of this open enrollment at that time and my family could not afford to pay for me to go neighboring Bloom Carroll. So, while I wrestled as many Spring and Summer tournaments as I could over the next couple of years, my HS career was all but over and none of my goals were achieved, but I have no regrets because I trained with the best and competed with the best.

When I graduated from HS, I went to seminary at Kentucky Christian College...no wrestling team there. After finishing up in Kentucky I wanted to study biology and go to medical school, so I moved back to Columbus. After 6 years of not wrestling much, I went to Capital and walked on to the wrestling team...simply because I could. I worked-out for the better part of a year prior to going to Capital try to get prepared. And, my skills were still good. I was able to wrestle varsity, but my timing was off and even at the division 3 level, these kids were good. I had the right attitude, but everything else was just wrong. I was already married at the time. 3/4 of the way through the season, my father-in-law fell sick and my wife and I had to make plans to move back to her hometown, Huntington, WV to care for him.

Well, my college wrestling career ended far too abruptly and I was nowhere near achieving the goals I had set. But there was still some good yet to come. At the same time I moved to Huntington, a certain former Olympian (who just happened to be from Huntington) moved back to town as well. He made Huntington his home base for clinics and camps for the next couple of years. He still had aspirations to compete internationally and needed workout partners (and clinicians for camps). There were not a lot a folks in Huntington with any collegiate experience so, I stepped up and took the beatings :-) Some of this training was far more intense than when I was at Capital and I learned so much (that I would ultimately not get to do anything with). It was a cool couple of years because he had the best collegiate wrestlers in the nation in to work his camps (Kolat, etc). I had the good fortune of getting killed by all of them.

So, I accomplished nothing when it was all said and done. But I was privileged to train with some of the best wrestlers on this planet and I feel more fortunate than you can imagine for the wrestling experience I had. And though I could not follow through with my goals, I'm not sure I would trade the experience I had for anything.

How's that Mr. Hayes?



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Mark Niemann added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

Quote from Patrick Campbell's post:

"I have a long underachieving and incomplete wrestling history. I still fantasize about returning to the mat up to this moment because there are just too many loose ends and what ifs....

I started wrestling in 1976, when I was 6. I think I still have that miniature purple singlet tucked away somewhere. I wrestled in tournaments throughout my childhood. I went to camp each year and followed these 2 brothers from Graham everywhere I could. They were pretty special. They taught me a lot.

When I was in 7th grade I bugged coach Stout into starting the 1st Jr High wrestling program at Mechanicsburg. We fielded a full team and over the next 2 years I posted a 21-4 record.

In the 8th grade I started hanging out at this garage in West Liberty, Ohio. We had a pretty good crew of guys working-out there a few nights a week. I learned a lot and was pushed to my limits in that garage over the next several years. I placed 4th in the Ohio State freestyle tournament that year (losing to Scott Pegram in the semis and then Shawn Faulkner squeaked one out on me in the 3rd/4th finals. Pegram went on to lose to Mark Tinny in the finals. All of those 3 went on to be state champs :-/ ) That qualified me for the regional qualifier for the Junior Olympics, but I could not afford to go. The rest of the crew from the garage went. Jeff went on to win Junior Nationals that Summer. It was a cool and formative year.

I wrestled 98lbs as a freshman. My workout partner at the garage, Clark McDaniel, and I ruled the roost in our district. We both walked through districts and met in the finals. Clark rode me out in the 3rd and hung on for 6-4 victory. We were seeded 1 and 2 in the Regional the following week...and we both CHOKED :-( I was sucking too much weight and lost in the 1st round. Clark lost in the semis to the kid pinned in 1:30 in the semis at districts. Only the top 2 from our region qualified for the state tournament at that time. I finished my freshman campaign with a 20-6 record. I wrestled the state champ from my class that Summer and dropped a 4-3 heart breaker. Clark went on to win the 98lb class the following year. This was becoming a theme...

I wrestled a lot that Summer with the garage crew and was prepared and hungry coming into my sophomore season. I had outgrown the 98lb class and blasted on past 105 as well. The guys at 112lbs seemed a little strong, but my skills were developing nicely. I ripped off a 10-0 record heading into the Jonathan Alder Tournament that season. I had won the tournament as a freshman, but was seeded 4th coming into it this year. What? Yea, that's because David Grant was there. Don Brown dropped down from 119. And Terry Herndon remained at 112 (he had won the tournament at 112 the previous year). I met up with my good friend Don in the semifinals. He ended up beating me 10-6. I was deflated. Terry ripped me a new one in the 3rd/4th finals and Don when on to knock off David in the Finals. Don also went on to be the state champ in my class that year, tech falling Kyle Kern in the 2nd freakin' period in the state finals. I watched from the stands and it pains me to this day. The week after the Jonathan Alder tournament I fell very ill. I had mono and was not able to complete the season. Don and I remain good friends. The theme was continuing...

The Summer after my sophomore year, after much soul searching and for reasons beyond the topic of this forum, I moved to my father's to live. He lived in Canal Winchester. At that time, they had no team and were not willing to start one. There was none of this open enrollment at that time and my family could not afford to pay for me to go neighboring Bloom Carroll. So, while I wrestled as many Spring and Summer tournaments as I could over the next couple of years, my HS career was all but over and none of my goals were achieved, but I have no regrets because I trained with the best and competed with the best.

When I graduated from HS, I went to seminary at Kentucky Christian College...no wrestling team there. After finishing up in Kentucky I wanted to study biology and go to medical school, so I moved back to Columbus. After 6 years of not wrestling much, I went to Capital and walked on to the wrestling team...simply because I could. I worked-out for the better part of a year prior to going to Capital try to get prepared. And, my skills were still good. I was able to wrestle varsity, but my timing was off and even at the division 3 level, these kids were good. I had the right attitude, but everything else was just wrong. I was already married at the time. 3/4 of the way through the season, my father-in-law fell sick and my wife and I had to make plans to move back to her hometown, Huntington, WV to care for him.

Well, my college wrestling career ended far too abruptly and I was nowhere near achieving the goals I had set. But there was still some good yet to come. At the same time I moved to Huntington, a certain former Olympian (who just happened to be from Huntington) moved back to town as well. He made Huntington his home base for clinics and camps for the next couple of years. He still had aspirations to compete internationally and needed workout partners (and clinicians for camps). There were not a lot a folks in Huntington with any collegiate experience so, I stepped up and took the beatings :-) Some of this training was far more intense than when I was at Capital and I learned so much (that I would ultimately not get to do anything with). It was a cool couple of years because he had the best collegiate wrestlers in the nation in to work his camps (Kolat, etc). I had the good fortune of getting killed by all of them.

So, I accomplished nothing when it was all said and done. But I was privileged to train with some of the best wrestlers on this planet and I feel more fortunate than you can imagine for the wrestling experience I had. And though I could not follow through with my goals, I'm not sure I would trade the experience I had for anything.

How's that Mr. Hayes?"



tl;dr



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

I have no idea what that means Mark :-)



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

Quote from Patrick Campbell's post:

"How's that Mr. Hayes?"



Epic; thank you.

(Any technique I know I learned from Steve, who inexplicably ended up at DC for a few years as Head Coach, followed by Tim -who ran camps for us-, followed by JJ, who I took my guys to his camp each year. Nice connect.)



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

Quote from Patrick Campbell's post:

"How's that Mr. Hayes?"



Epic; thank you.

(Any technique I know I learned from Steve, who inexplicably ended up at DC for a few years as Head Coach, followed by Tim -who ran camps for us-, followed by JJ, who I took my guys to his camp each year. Nice connect.)



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

I was so far removed from the scene by then, I had no idea Steve was HC at DC. I always joke that wrestling Steve was like wrestling a brick wall. He was a good friend growing up.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on January 17, 2015

Nondescript high school wrestling career unless you consider the fact I never lost a JV match to be impressive. In hindsight, I lacked the discipline necessary to excel. Didn't get enough sleep, dieted poorly, etc.... I was also a "head case." If I thought I would win, I did. If I had doubts, I didn't. Poor mental approach will doom you every time.

Walked on at the University. of Michigan in the fall of 1981 without having given much thought to the enormity of the undertaking. I was lifting and running and feeling pretty good during the conditioning part of our training. Then, in mid October, the live wrestling started. I was better than some of the other walk-ons and did OK for the first few days. Then, on a Wed. afternoon, I was placed in a group of four with two starters and a guy who wanted to beat one of them out. You know that old saying about how if you're not sure who the mark is at a poker game, it's you? Well, if you're not sure who the scrub is in a group of four, well...you're the scrub. I spent an hour getting the hell beaten out of me. I didn't score once in spite of really trying hard. After this practice, I stood in the shower a long time and thought about what had happened. More importantly, I had to ask myself a tough question--was I prepared to work as hard as necessary just to reach a point where one day I might be able to compete with the guys in the room? I realized that this needed to be my life--otherwise I was wasting everyone's time. While I liked the idea of being a wrestler, I knew the answer--I wasn't committed heart and soul. I told the coaches and walked away.

That fall I was runnerup in Intramurals. I lost in the finals to a 2x state placer in a very tight match. It was the best I ever wrestled in my life. And I knew that's who I was as a competitor.

Returned to Cleveland in the fall of 1985 after graduation and a few months traveling through Europe. Started coaching at Shaker after a mutual friend introduced me to Dave Sedmak. I was the JV coach from 1986 to 1992. I was head coach from 1992 to 2000. My 1996 squad had two state champs, a 5th placer and a qualifier. The team took 4th in D1 and I was fortunate enough to win a couple different coach of the year honors in NE Ohio.

I began helping with Shaker's youth program this winter. It's the first coaching I've done since stepping down in 2000 and I'm enjoying it.

Otherwise, I just like to run my mouth on the internet.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Justin Hayes added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

Quote from Patrick Campbell's post:

"I was so far removed from the scene by then, I had no idea Steve was HC at DC. I always joke that wrestling Steve was like wrestling a brick wall. He was a good friend growing up."



Yeah, he taught and coached there for two (?) years.

I've mentioned it before, but he once used me to show one of the guys how to post and snap from an inside tie.

No exaggeration, when he simply snapped while instructing (not even looking at me), I started to see "stars".

He was very kind and gracious to me, introducing me to his family and opening doors for me to learn enough technique to serve that particular school (small, private D3 program with little support that wrestled on old mats in the cafeteria) down the road in a way that was satisfying (3 State Qualifiers and 1 Placer).



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Sam Delio added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

This is my first post, although I have wanted to post on a few occasions this season. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this fourm since I stumbled across it at the end of last season.

I wrestled my Jr High and Freshman year of High School in the greater Cleveland area till my family move to New Jersey.

I was a 3 time NJ state qualifier from Middletown South High School and graduated in 1992.

- Sophmore year 125 lbs: 1st at Districts, 3rd at Regionals and won my first round of states. Placed in the final 16 of the State tournament. 24 qualify for the state tournament.
- Junior year 135 lbs: 1st at Districts, 1st Regionals and placed in the final 8 of the State tournament. They don't wrestle a 7th/8th place match.
- Senior year 130 lbs (I cut a lot of weight): State runner up.

I wrestled 134lbs in college at a D2 school, Southern Connecticut State University. I wrestled varsity my Freshman and Sophmore year and lost more than I won. It was a humbling experience. After 2 seasons of college wrestling I called it quits. I transferred to Ohio State where I had a great social and academic experience. I haven't stepped on a mat since.

I live in the Columbus area and I follow Ohio State wrestling and Ohio High School wrestling. I choose to attend the big 10 wrestling championships over the Ohio HS states each year.

I have a 12 year old who is a hockey player. It kills me that he has no interest in wrestling. I think he would be fantastic at it given his athletic ability and aggression he shows in hockey. I am going to try to have him agree to an open tournament in the coming months. Wish me luck.

I look forward to the rest of the season.

Go BUCKS!!!



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
John Robert Dula added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

I wrestled for Maple Heights under Coach Mike Milkovich. (1956 thru 1959) I was a freshman scrub in 1956 on Maple's first State Championship team and was a conference and district champ in 1959. After graduation I joined the Navy and was a Direct Control Operator for jet target drones at the Missile Test Center at Point Mugu.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Doug Brandt added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

I never wrestled competitively. One guy from the wrestling team, having seen me wrestle in a gym class, suggested that I try out for the team. I was skinny and somewhat timid, and I didn't think I had the build for wrestling. I didn't know that all shapes and sizes accommodate that sport, from string beans to fire plugs.

In 1969 I was a 17 year old freshman at Ohio University, living in James Hall. Living in the room next to me were two freshman wrestlers: Barry Reighard and Bob Tscholl. Both went on to be two-time MAC champions, and both became NCAA All-Americans. Barry finished 3rd in 1972, losing to Emil Deliere of Princeton in the semis, 3-2. Many years later, Emil would be a medical resident at the Ohio State University Medical Center- where I worked- and he would become a friend of mine. By the way, Emil lost to Ben Peterson in the finals by injury default.

I guess my first exposure to the sport was watching Barry and Bob wrestle their freshman year. I left OU after that first year, and I ended up in the Army.

In 1972 I was stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany. We were told we could go to the Olympics if we had one ticket. A buddy and I each got a 5 mark (circa $3) ticket to prelim weight-lifting, and we were on our way.

Unfortunately, to my regret, we never pursued wrestling tickets, and so I was deprived of my opportunity to see Gable wrestle. Life went on...

In the early 1990's I redeveloped an interest in the sport. Ohio State had some strong teams, and, rather spontaneously, I decided to go to the 1992 NCAA's at Oklahoma City. There I watched Kevin Randleman win his first title, along with Rex Holman finish 3rd. Lots of great wrestling that year, with the Brands brothers, Pat Smith and Kurt Angle all winning titles, too.

From that point forward, I started going to Nationals every year, and I sometimes added Big Tens and National Duals. Really loved the sport.

These days I primarily go to Big Tens (a rather easy chore this year.) I make the OSU duals when I am up to the task, too. Sciatica has been beating on my right side for the past 21 months, and I have gone from an ultra runner (longest distance 62 miles in 2009) to a struggling walker. Such is life, and I have few regrets.

By the way, this is a great thread that further supports the idea that when you put your name and life in front of the group, you tend to behave.



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Patrick Campbell added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

I would suggest people willing to put their name on their words, probably have little desire to truly misbehave to begin with. I do appreciate that most folks are pretty tolerant of other's thoughts and even their style in sharing them. We don't always have to agree to get along. Maybe that says more about the group than anything. Keep up the good work folks!



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Discussion Topic: Wrestling Anonymous: Introductions Are In Order!
Pat Altvater added to this discussion on January 18, 2015

I had a very minimal high school wrestling experience, but it gave me a great appreciation for the skill, dedication, training, and mental preparedness that is required to excel in this sport.

I did not start wrestling until my senior year, was never in proper wrestling condition, and wrestled mostly a reserve varsity role on the Upper Sandusky Rams in 1976. My one varsity start was as 'the sacrificial lamb' against a stud from Shelby who was the all-league middle linebacker. I don't know if it still exists, but at the time he set their school record for fastest pin on me. - That was the culmination of my varsity wrestling career.

During the summer before my senior year, it was well known that our wrestling team had two big holes in the lineup and they were looking for volunteers to come out and wrestle to fill in the squad. I was 6'2", 195 pounds at the time, and the two spots open were 167 and 285. About that time, a farm boy who was 6'3", 245 pounds and all muscle decided to join the team, so acknowledging that I didn't want to get beat up by giants all year, I opted to lose 30 pounds in 60 days. (Can you say 'starvation diet'?) In the meantime, my best friend also came out for the team, and eventually beat me out for 167, after I did successfully get down to weight. For the most part, I was the tackling dummy for the studs at 174, 185 and 285 to beat up on and learn new moves. - The 174 laid a 'guillotine' on me that pulled a rib muscle that I missed practice for two weeks.

Through all of that, I still love and respect the sport of wrestling. If I could live my life over, I would have probably started wrestling at 7 instead of 17. But, that was my fate!

I am a passionate Ohio state fan. I enjoy following the long-term planning of the squads, and the recruiting. I also enjoy watching the various rankings and listings, and speculating just how well our guys can finish this year.I am a fan, I wish the guys the best every time out, and I feel their pain in the losses.



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