Hey guys!
So I have some bittersweet news for you…my collegiate wrestling career has come to a close this past Saturday. I ended up only taking 4th at the NCAA Midwest Regional, which wasn’t good enough to advance to the National Tournament. I ended my career at 134 wins, 3 Conference Championships, and wound up a 3x Academic All-American, so I was very fortunate during my time wrestling here at the Mount. But it stinks that I never made it to “the Big Show”. That would have been the icing on the cake! On the bright side, my drill partner of eight years, Bryan Massong , took second at the Regional Tournament and received a wild-card vote to advance to the National Tournament! Congrats to Massong! I couldn’t imagine a better wrestler that would deserve the trip to Nationals more than him.
Some people ask me what it takes to be a collegiate wrestler or what the difference is between high school wrestling and college. Massong is the embodiment of what I tell people. To be a successful wrestler in college, not just Division III, but across all Divisions, you have to be totally and whole heartedly committed to the sport. PERIOD. Everything else branches from that. The physicality, the mentality, the skill, EVERYTHING comes from that whole hearted commitment. For example, Massong literally lived in the wrestling room last summer. He quit his job and worked out for hours everyday, focusing on his strength building and his technique. Those countless hours that he committed to fine tuning his body and mind paid off this past Saturday and he is making the trip that he has dreamed of for the past four years. And he still has work to do. His ultimate goal is to be a National Champion, which nobody expects. But Massong is on a roll and it’s that time of year when Cinderella stories are made. I wish Massong the best of luck in his final week and a half of training before doing work at Nationals. I’ll keep all of you informed on the outcome!
See ya!
>Eric M.