Had I been a blue chipper

Truth of the matter is, I was mediocre at best.   With a career record of 65-70 and no State tournament appearances in all honesty I have no business even thinking about such things.   Nevertheless I do.   

Even though I was a complete theatre/creative writing nerd that had little to no business on the mat, I couldn't help then and I can't help but sometimes now dream of what it would have been like to have been a great wrestler.   What it would have been like to have placed at the Iowa State tournament multiple times and won a state title or two.    What it would have been like to have been recruited by major colleges wanting me to wrestle for them.   What it would have been like to have actually been good enough to have wrestled Division I.    It is something I dreamed about since third grade and even find myself sometimes daydreaming about to this day.

Had I been good enough where would I have wanted to go?   My weight class most likely would have been 149, 157 or 165 considering that I wrestled at 145 in high school.   My years would have been 2005-2009, which includes a redshirt. 


Here, in chronological order at the schools I would have wanted to have attended and the reasons why.

 

 

 

 

 



7.  The University of Minnesota

I have always been a big fan of the University of Minnesota and of head Coach J Robinson.   My competition for a varsity spot would have been extraordinarily fierce as I would have had to have contended with C.P. Schlatter, Dustin Schlatter, Matt Nagel, Gabriel Dretsch and Tyler Safratowich.  I would have had to have been extremely good in order to crack the Golden Gopher lineup.   Nevertheless I find Minneapolis to be a beautiful city, I like the coaching philosophy and perspective of Coach Robinson and considering that almost all Minnesota wrestlers leave built like miniature Arnold Schwarzenegger's after they graduate, I'd have liked looking like a million bucks too.

 

 

 

 

6.  University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Wrestling is not very big in the south here in the United States.  It is primarily popular in the Midwest, has a fairly big following in the east and is semi-popular on the West Coast.   While wrestling is growing in the south, it is still not very popular.  I would have liked to have been a part of the Chattanooga wrestling program and helped to have promoted wrestling in the south.   To have made All American status for the Mocs and helped to grow the program would have been very rewarding to me.   I'm not exactly sure who my coach would have been during my 5 years there.  Chris Bono would have been there my redshirt, freshman and sophomore years but I'm not sure who took over in 2008 and 2009 which would have been my junior/senior years.    Competition for a varsity spot would not have been as fierce as it would have been at other schools, but it still would have been tough.  I'd have had to contend with a few All Americans and a ton of NCAA qualifiers including Jon Sioredas, Aaron Martin, Jake Yost, Andy Sayers, Lloyd Rogers, Will Garvin, Joey Knox and Daniel Waddell.

 

 

 

 

5.  The University of Iowa





What young man doesn't dream of wrestling for Iowa?  I even know of guys that played basketball in high school that dreamed of wrestling for Iowa.   Hell, I even know GIRLS who dreamed of wrestling for Iowa.   Iowa IS the premier wrestling school in the nation.  When people think wrestling, they think Iowa.   My redshirt year I would have been under the tutelage of Jim Zalesky and then under Tom Brands for the remainder of my career.    The reason why Iowa isn't higher on my list is because I don't know if my mentality would have matched that of the program's.   I am an extremely hard worker,  I love wrestling and the motivation and intensity of Tom Brands I would have absolutely loved.   However, I do not, have not and will not have a mentality of "first or nothing".   To me second place, does not suck.   If I entered a tournament and wrestled as well as I could and say I placed 5th, I wouldn't act like it was the end of the world.   Going 0-2, sucks.  It is the end of the world, but wrestling competitively and placing 5th to me would be an honor.    That type of mentality doesn't really fit the Iowa mentality and therefore even though I love the Hawkeyes and think the world of Tom Brands, I have to conclude that Iowa would not have been my first choice.   Not to mention beating out Ty Eustice, Joe Johnston, Mark Perry, Ryan Morningstar, Eric Luedke, Brent Metcalf or Mark Perry for a spot on the team would have been next to impossible.   I like to imagine having been good, but that's something that not even my wild imagination can fathom.

4. Northern Iowa

My time at Northern Iowa would have been under head coach Brad Penrith.  I'm not sure how I would have gotten along with him.  I've heard some very good things about him and I've heard some not so favorable things about him.   How he and I would have gotten along, I have no idea.   What draws me to Northern Iowa is the atmosphere of the school and the fact that they have a good theatre program.  Not many wrestlers have ever had much interest in theatre, but a few have been able to juggle both a wrestling career and a career in the theatre while in college.  Purdue's Tim Derlan and Maryland's Hudson Taylor both come to mind.  I'm sure that there is more.    I just think wrestling for Northern Iowa would have been a fun time, making varsity or not.   The competition at 149, 157 or 165 regardless of where I would have been slated would have been pretty tough.   Jeff Harrison, Nick Baima, Eric Hauan, Moza Fay, Ryan Osgood, Chris Bitettoe, Tyson Reiner, Nick Pickerell and Trevor Kittleson would have all most likely kept me about as far off the varsity squad as is Los Angeles to New York City.  

 

 

 

 

3. The University of Nebraska

If I had been a really good high school wrestler and I wanted to succeed as both a wrestler and a student, I would have had to have asked myself what all I would have needed to have had both of those things happen.   Knowing myself the way I do, I would have wanted a wrestling environment that was a like a family, with a coach that was like a father.   I would have wanted to have wrestled for a coach that cared as much about how I turned out as a person and as a student as I did a wrestler, and I think I would have found that in Mark Manning at Nebraska.    Competition for a varsity spot would have been Travis Shufelt, Jacob Klein, Marc Harwood, Robert Sanders, Chris Oliver, Jordan Burroughs and Stephen Dwyer.   Anything but an easy task, even if I had been a killer on the mat.

 

 

 

 



2. Stanford University

I love Iowa and I love wrestling season, but do you know what I hate?  It's so gosh darned cold!!! Dear lord does it get FREEZING here in the state of Iowa.   The idea of being able to wrestle in an environment where the winters are like are warm fall days is very appealing to me.   Secondly, I absolutely love Stanford.  It is probably my favorite school in the country for a multitude of reasons.  My redshirt, freshman and sophomore years I would have wrestled for Kerry McCoy which I think would have been alright.  My junior and senior years I would have wrestled under Jason Borelli, who is currently my favorite Division I coach.    Stanford is a college I would love to see win the PAC-12's and place in the top 4 at the NCAA's.   I would have liked to have been a part of helping Stanford to do that.   Matt Gentry, Imad Kharbrush, Ray Blake, Josh Zupancic, Brian Perry, Luke Fiest, Lucas Espericueta and Nick Amuchastegui would have been my competition for a varsity spot.   Again, a make like Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible.

 

 

 

1. The University of Oklahoma

If I could have wrestled anywhere that I wanted to have, I would have picked the University of Oklahoma.  I would have been a sooner.  First and foremost,  my all time favorite wrestling coach (next to Dan Gable) is Jack Spates.   I know from the multiple opportunities I have had speaking with Coach Spates, that I would have really enjoyed wrestling for him.   I react best when I'm in positive, supportive and inspiring environments.  I think I would have received that wrestling at Oklahoma.  secondly I have always really liked the state of Oklahoma.  It has a great wrestling presence, great weather and very friendly people.   Competition for a varsity spot would have been Matt Storniolo, Will Rowe, Wes Roberts, Josh Weitzel and the Terry brothers Chad and Kyle.