Two of our top wrestlers in our high school, Chapman, both started wrestling for the first time in junior high. One started in kids federation when he was a 6th grader and lost every match that year. This year, he is a junior and was in the top 8 at state. Our other wrestler had never wrestled a match until 7th grade with junior high wrestling. He fell in love with it and is still going strong today. I think stories like this can serve as an inspiration to other's who start wrestling later in life. You probably won't have as much success early on as others who have "been around". But if you stick to it and work hard, one day you will be the one standing on top of the podiums.

btw: one of the most inspirational wrestling stories I ever heard happened at Phillipsburg a long time ago. They had a wrestler who was a four time champion from McPherson speak to the crowd. (sorry, I can't remember his name). He was originally from Phillipsburg and so was back for their tournament. What he said was this.(I am paraphrasing)..."I started wrestling when I was very young just like all of you wrestlers today. But unlike some of you, I didn't win very many matches. In fact, I never made it to state in all of the years I wrestled in kids. But I stuck to it and I continued to work hard. And now, I am standing in front of you as a 4-time state champion. Keep working hard and maybe you will see the top too".