I am blown away by wrestlers that get to 150 wins in high school. Here is the obvious: 1) They were/are very talented wrestlers - the cream of the crop; 2) They were able to stay away from the injury bug; 3) They wrestled a boat load of matches or their winning percentage was extremely high; and 4) They likely placed in the top 4 or top 3 all four years at State.

All that being said, I would like to know if any of them were not year around wrestlers (I don't mean that they wrestled a couple of camps and maybe attended a few clinics during the summer). I would be interested to know whether a wrestler made it to 150 but didn't compete year around (Greco, Freestyle, etc.). I suspect that this might be a short thread but what the heck.

my son Clay Wilcox did not. He played football and baseball. However, he was a 3A 285#er but that probably does not count. Clay was a 2X kids state champ and placed another time before he was 11. Took a break after his 10 year old state title. Wrestled as an 8th grader because our school started Jr. High wrestling and won the kids state that year (14U) also. Placed 4 years in high school champion as a senior. Did not want to wrestle as a JR or SR but did because he thought he was kinda good at it and dad was coach. Conciders the HS State Championship as his greatest accompishment. He was also a 4X Regional Champ, had 118 falls (2nd all time) and placed in every tournament wrestled in HS. Has no desire to ever wrestle again.
Short answer: Foundation through the youth wrestling made him good.
PS: Put up hay in the summer the old way alongside a trailer no elevator in barn.

I never wrestled in the summer and I won 151 matches during high school. I was on a good baseball team during the summer and considered that my best sport. I was also never a state champ and only a 3x placer in 5A. But I never missed a match.

Tyler Dryden

Thanks guys. Those are two incredible accomplishments and some good history of how he/you both got there. Thanks again for the feedback and congratulations on two fantastic high school careers.

I have to back up Mr. Wilcox. I happen to have a son that still has one more high school tournament to go, but up till now has had a somewhat successfull career. His high school summer wrestling can be summed up with a trip to Southern Plains camp, and 4 matches his freshman year at Smokey Valleys summer league. Fargo???? Heck, the kid has never been north of I-80.

Nick was 152 lbs as a freshman so you should know it was a battle from the start, but he had 400 plus kid matches of experience before he ever stepped foot on a high school mat. That foundation helped him survive the first couple years.

The rest of the story: Nick didn't spend all summer in a sweaty gym, but he wasn't on the couch eating donuts either. Almost every day for the last 6 years he has been cross training, doing something. Some say sucking weight in a hot gym pummeling with another kid, that doesn't want to be there either, is the only way to go. I say get out, practice some pass routes and be Russell Wilson for a day.

The other part of the equation: I look back at when Nick made his biggest gains as a wrestler. In the JH years he got exposed to people like Eric Akin. Even though it was just a few hours here and there, it made a HUUUUGE impact on his wrestling style. He was also fortunate to run across Nick Nothern his junior year. He had very few sessions with this guy but the impact....well you can judge for yourself. After Nothern I now look at film from Nick's freshman and sophmore years and can't believe how bad he used to be.

My point: No you arn't screwed if you don't go to Fargo. Get the experience early, work hard (stuff other than wrestling counts too), and don't be scared to expose yourself to smart people outside of the HS practice room.

D. Wuthnow