Anybody here wrestle in High school?

[twinboysdad]

Or college? Anyone who wrestled branch out and do Greco or Freestyle? I have a seventh grader who is in year two of fairly serious competition and training in Folkstyle. There was no wrestling in my part of the state as a youngster but I absolutely love this sport. My son has grown so much in so many ways, and is just scratching the surface of his ability. Curious what those here will say

[MacLaren]

Its a great sport and will really get a person in shape.
One of my best friends wrestled in high school. He loved it and actually won the State Championship in his weight division.
Good luck to yall!

[Naperville]

I was in other sports year round, but wrestling is a very good sport. Keep at it and maybe we will see him at Iowa State University one day!!!

[Doc Dan]

I wrestled in high school. It is a great and very useful sport. It is like Judo and Jiu Jitsu done on your knees, if that makes sense. For this style of wrestling a person needs to be in extreme physical condition. We used to make the football players cry because it was so hard. Real wrestling, not the fake TV stuff, is the hardest, most intense 2 minutes out there.

[MacLaren]

I wrestled in high school. It is a great and very useful sport. It is like Judo and Jiu Jitsu done on your knees, if that makes sense. For this style of wrestling a person needs to be in extreme physical condition. We used to make the football players cry because it was so hard. Real wrestling, not the fake TV stuff, is the hardest, most intense 2 minutes out there.

Most football players wrestle too.
My buddy that won the State Championship was into football more than wrestling and while wrestling is tough, no doubt, football can be just as tough. As a matter of fact, there's been wrestlers that couldn't play football because they couldn't deal with the violent hits. I reckon its just depends on where your from.

[Doc Dan]

I wrestled in high school. It is a great and very useful sport. It is like Judo and Jiu Jitsu done on your knees, if that makes sense. For this style of wrestling a person needs to be in extreme physical condition. We used to make the football players cry because it was so hard. Real wrestling, not the fake TV stuff, is the hardest, most intense 2 minutes out there.

Most football players wrestle too.
My buddy that won the State Championship was into football more than wrestling and while wrestling is tough, no doubt, football can be just as tough. As a matter of fact, there's been wrestlers that couldn't play football because they couldn't deal with the violent hits. I reckon its just depends on where your from.

The toughest football players are also wrestlers, at least that is the way it was when I was growing up. My coach was really, really tough and he put us through the wringer. It was so bad that when I went to Airborne School, I had already been there and done that, so to speak.

[MacLaren]

I wrestled in high school. It is a great and very useful sport. It is like Judo and Jiu Jitsu done on your knees, if that makes sense. For this style of wrestling a person needs to be in extreme physical condition. We used to make the football players cry because it was so hard. Real wrestling, not the fake TV stuff, is the hardest, most intense 2 minutes out there.

Most football players wrestle too.
My buddy that won the State Championship was into football more than wrestling and while wrestling is tough, no doubt, football can be just as tough. As a matter of fact, there's been wrestlers that couldn't play football because they couldn't deal with the violent hits. I reckon its just depends on where your from.

The toughest football players are also wrestlers, at least that is the way it was when I was growing up. My coach was really, really tough and he put us through the wringer. It was so bad that when I went to Airborne School, I had already been there and done that, so to speak.

Your right, they are. I wish my high school would've offered wrestling Dan.
But, my buddies that went to the 101st said, both football and wrestling sure did help :)

[ChrisinHove]

I could never believe how short Judo bouts were, compared to how they felt!

There’s no hiding place on that mat - it’s just you and your opponent.

[MacLaren]

Lol, this thread has me thinking of the movie "Vision Quest"
Very cool movie

[Dr. Snubnose]

I wrestled in high school 3/4’s of one season. As a seasoned Martial Artist by the time I reached high school I went to watch our school team wrestle out of curiosity and fascination. Two days before our first match the student who wrestled the 99lb-101lb weight class died in a car accident, and as the team didn’t have anyone to replace him they had to forfeit each match in that weight class... as stated before because of my Martial Arts background I figured I could join the team and wrestle, I’m a hundred pounds, how hard can it be? plus I get to be a hero and save the team...WRONG!!! Wrestling is not like most sports, and with no training under my belt, I really really sucked at it! I had one lesson where I learned a sit out and a fireman’s Drag.The next day we went to the Bronx NY for a match... I was up first, the kid I was wrestling when we tied up kept forcefully pressing grinding my head with his head, and it hurt, so after saying cut it out a few times I stepped back and slapped my opponent across his face with my open palm and knocked him to the ground... he could not continue the match... I was disqualified . (I didn’t know grinding heads was legal) Week after week I lost my match, worse part is my father came to every match to watch me lose, over and over. Last match of the season I decided I didn’t want to be embarrassed one more time so I didn’t want to wrestle...my thinking was if I ate a lot of crap and didn’t make weight, I wouldn’t have to wrestle and it wasn’t really hurting the team as we were not up for any state championships. So off to the vending machines to eat Twinkies, Ring Dings, corn chips potato chips and microwaveable sandwiches by the droves till my stomach hurt...went to match , waved at Dad, and I didn’t make weight, over by a pound, I remember my PanAmerican champion Coach say “Miller!... sit down!”.... I thought to myself whew!!!! Guess what?, the kid in the 108-110lb weight class didn’t make weight either. I can remember it like it was yesterday....”Miller!!! Get up and wrestle!!!” I freaked out, went out onto the mat and grabbed and threw my opponent on the ground, jumped on top of him and held on tight as my opponent flapped around like fish, till I pinned the guy, ( he was last year’s state champ I found out later.. took all of 12 seconds. I won my only seasonal win out of pure frustration... lol... needless to say I didn’t return for another season....

[VooDooChild]

I hate that I did not wrestle in highschool.

I got into mma and jiu jitsu about 2 years after I graduated and loved ground fighting.

I will say this. The absolute best "fighters" I ever met all had wrestling and boxing backgrounds.

I really wish I could have learned boxing around the age of 17 or so. It would be cool if highschools had a boxing program, but I see why they dont.

After spending about five years in my 20s learning jiu jitsu along with martial arts and self defense... I realised I was already behind the curve since I didnt wrestle from an early age.

[Doc Dan]

I wrestled in high school 3/4’s of one season. As a seasoned Martial Artist by the time I reached high school I went to watch our school team wrestle out of curiosity and fascination. Two days before our first match the student who wrestled the 99lb-101lb weight class died in a car accident, and as the team didn’t have anyone to replace him they had to forfeit each match in that weight class... as stated before because of my Martial Arts background I figured I could join the team and wrestle, I’m a hundred pounds, how hard can it be? plus I get to be a hero and save the team...WRONG!!! Wrestling is not like most sports, and with no training under my belt, I really really sucked at it! I had one lesson where I learned a sit out and a fireman’s Drag.The next day we went to the Bronx NY for a match... I was up first, the kid I was wrestling when we tied up kept forcefully pressing grinding my head with his head, and it hurt, so after saying cut it out a few times I stepped back and slapped my opponent across his face with my open palm and knocked him to the ground... he could not continue the match... I was disqualified . (I didn’t know grinding heads was legal) Week after week I lost my match, worse part is my father came to every match to watch me lose, over and over. Last match of the season I decided I didn’t want to be embarrassed one more time so I didn’t want to wrestle...my thinking was if I ate a lot of crap and didn’t make weight, I wouldn’t have to wrestle and it wasn’t really hurting the team as we were not up for any state championships. So off to the vending machines to eat Twinkies, Ring Dings, corn chips potato chips and microwaveable sandwiches by the droves till my stomach hurt...went to match , waved at Dad, and I didn’t make weight, over by a pound, I remember my PanAmerican champion Coach say “Miller!... sit down!”.... I thought to myself whew!!!! Guess what?, the kid in the 108-110lb weight class didn’t make weight either. I can remember it like it was yesterday....”Miller!!! Get up and wrestle!!!” I freaked out, went out onto the mat and grabbed and threw my opponent on the ground, jumped on top of him and held on tight as my opponent flapped around like fish, till I pinned the guy, ( he was last year’s state champ I found out later.. took all of 12 seconds. I won my only seasonal win out of pure frustration... lol... needless to say I didn’t return for another season....

Hey! You're back! You've been missed.

Yeah, my first season went about like the one you described. Hahaha! It was pure **** for sure. It is a lot more difficult than people can imagine. I played baseball, basketball, and football. I dabbled in martial arts. Nothing was as hard as wrestling! I remember we would not wash our clothes so the opponent would have to smell us. We also would not shave so we could rake and grind our stubble into some soft spot on him. Anything we could do to get an edge we would do...and yes, grinding our heads into him, too.

[Bloke]

I dabbled in martial arts.

[Doc Dan]

I dabbled in martial arts.

Hahaha! Where did you find that picture of me in action?

[yablanowitz]

I started wrestling in 5th grade. I got pretty good in junior high before switching over to gymnastics in high school. The football players would tease us about our sissy sport until we would put them on the still rings just to shut them up. Either that or challenge them to a pull-up contest. Most of them could just manage 25, while our guys could mostly crack off a hundred without breaking a sweat.

[Mike Slayer]

I wasn't able to wrestle in High School or at least that is what I was told. They said they didn't have anybody in my weight class. I was a solid 285lbs and 6'1" in my Freshman year. My main concern when it came to sports was Football. I went to try outs for Jr Varsity and with in the first 2 hours I was told to come back later for Varsity tryouts. Let's just say I made the team. I was disappointed that I couldn't wrestle since I had always wanted to try it. Lucky for me the wrestling coach asked me if I would me interested in just training with the other guys since it would benefit use both. After training with the wrestling team and training in football as well my overall strength was amazing. Also I worked on a farm that raised, horses, mules, cattle and we bailed a lot of hay. I worked after school or practice and on the weekends if I didn't have practice then as well. The wrestling really took my core strength to another level which in turn tied my lower and upper body strength together. That is what I am trying to do now is get back to that weight, level of fitness and balanced strength.

[Ankerson]

I did for one year in HS. :)

I believe I still hold the record for fastest pin in a match, 30 seconds.

I was 132, but had to go up a few weight classes to 145.