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Why I wrestled and why your child should too

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Unabashedly copied by Marty Bartram from 'The Forum' 

With all the talk about the Olympic wrestling decision from a couple months ago and the upcoming decisions on wrestling’s future in the Olympics in May and September I have read a lot of information. Some I already knew, some I didn’t. I’ve read/listened to a lot of people talk about how wrestling affected their lives and it motivated me write one of my own.
Wrestling made me who I am today. I was never a bad kid. I was wild and got into the typical trouble a kid would get into. Talking in class, mouthing off etc… I was the poster child for being the hyperactive wild kid. But I always had good grades and loved sports. I played everything, football, soccer, baseball, basketball all of the typical sports a kid would play. I started wrestling in the 7th grade and was terrible. I didn’t win a match the whole year. It was the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced. I told myself that I’ll wrestle in the 8th grade to appease my dad and when I get to High school I won’t do it. Then something clicked. In my second year I started winning matches. It was addicting. It motivated me to run more, wrestle more and start lifting weights. I went from not winning a match to 2nd in the AAU State tournament. After experiencing what hard work could do for you I was hooked. I started wrestling Freestyle that summer and never looked back.
Wrestling taught me that if you work hard at something you will experience success. Understanding the value of hard work has pays off in so many different aspects of my life. It helped me get my masters degree, it helped me get and keep a job and it helps me in my marriage. All of those things involve hard work. One of my coaches told me “anything worth having in life isn’t easy” and that quote sticks with me in everything I do. If you’ve ever been through graduate school you know it’s not easy. Getting up at 5 o’clock every morning to go to work isn’t easy, and being married isn’t always easy either. But every last one of those things is worth every ounce of the work.
Wrestling has taught me discipline. It takes discipline to go to practice every day and work your tail off. It takes discipline to not eat that extra piece of pie after a big meal. It takes discipline to make the right choices in life. Wrestling has motivated me to become a better person in all aspects of my life. It has helped me and countless others to not be scared to make the hard choice. It’s easy to go to that party, it’s easy to not eat healthy, and it’s easy to be a follower. It’s not easy to set the right example and wrestling has given me the confidence and toughness to lead the young men I coach today down the right path.
I have also learned the value of sacrifice. To be the best at anything you have to be willing to make a sacrifice. To win my state championship I sacrificed going to those parties. I sacrificed a lot of extra pieces of Pie. I did what I had to do, to be the best. For me all the late night runs were worth it. All the early morning workouts were worth it. Every weight I picked up was worth it. Because I have already done these things I am not afraid to sacrifice things in my everyday life, and I’m perfectly happy with that. If you are married sometimes you have to sacrifice something you want to do, in order to do something for your wife. One day if I’m a father I know I will have to sacrifice something (actually it will be a lot of things) for my child. I know that as a coach I have to make sacrifices to help my athletes reach their goals.
Wrestling has also taught me the value of being healthy. Eating right, working right, and just making good health conscious decisions are extremely important to everyone, not just competitive athletes. Wrestling is catches a bad rap for things that have happened in the past. On my team I encourage a proper diet, and a healthy amount of exercise both in and out of season. This is something that will stick with my athletes throughout their lives and hopefully they remain healthy as they become adults. While some of the more extreme things may still go on in places they are fewer and farther between than you think, and they don’t happen on my team. Wrestling has taught me these things and let’s be honest health issues scare all of us.
The bottom line is I love wrestling with all of my heart. I can only hope to give wrestling back half of what it has given me. I hope to help today’s young people to learn the lessons the sport has taught me. While many have preconceived notions about the sport, it has been around as long as it has for a reason. It’s as natural an activity as running. You can see little kids wrestling in their yards. It’s just what people do. And besides the sacrifice, discipline, healthy habits, and value of hard work it teaches you, it also teaches you mental toughness. Above anything else that will serve each and every one of us in everything that we do. The decision to cut Wrestling from the Olympics is an abomination. We wrestle the Olympic styles in the post season at the Husky Wrestling club because I believe, if you want to be the best you need to have an understanding of these styles. The bottom line is that wrestling is the Olympics. It defines the event. It brings the world together. Where else do you see the U.S.A., Iran, and Russia on the same side? Two men step on the line the whistle blows and they go at it. What is better than that? This is why I wrestled, and why your child should too. Wrestling at its core is simple and pure, and at the end of the day what else could you ask for?

Tripp Rogers

2013 Greco Roman & Freestyle State Championship Results

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NCUSA State Greco Championships Results for Copperheads
Cadet 106 - Daniel Hull's place is 4th and has scored 3.00 team points.
Round 1 - Jackson Sisk (Greenville Wrestling Club) won by pin over Daniel Hull (Copperheads) (Pin 8-1,0:00)
Round 2 - Jacob McMonagle (unattached) won by pin over Daniel Hull (Copperheads) (Pin 7-0,0:00)
Round 3 - Xavier Williamson (Hurricanes) won by pin over Daniel Hull (Copperheads) (Pin 0:00)

Cadet 120 - Dylan Barber's place is 5th and has scored 0.00 team points.
Round 1 - Wilson Smith (Backyard Wrestling Club (BWC)) won by pin over Dylan Barber (Copperheads) (Pin 0:00)
Round 3 - Dylan Barber (Copperheads) won by injury default over Logan Haas (RoCo wrestling) (Inj. 8-0,0:00)
Round 4 - Steve Bullard (Purnell Swett High School Wres) won by decision over Dylan Barber (Copperheads) (Dec 0-1,3-0,2-0)
Round 5 - Brandon Lang (William A Hough High School Wr) won by decision over Dylan Barber (Copperheads) (Dec 7-0,2-0)

Cadet 126 - Mackinnon Allen's place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) won by decision over Samuel Littauer (strong and courageous) (Dec 5-0,6-0)
Semifinal - Martin Markee (Onlow County Wrestling Club) won by decision over Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) (Dec 3-3,0-6,5-2)
Cons. Semi - Tyler Pressley (Powerhouse Wrestling Club) won by pin over Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) (Pin 1:40)

Junior 120 - Mike Fedowitz's place is 2nd and has scored 7.00 team points.
Round 1 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by decision over Trey Cornish (ADHS Jaguars WC) (Dec 4-4,6-4)
Round 3 - Zovek Chapa (Backyard Wrestling Club (BWC)) won by decision over Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) (Dec 5-2,2-3,4-1)
Round 4 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by decision over Kyler Hoilman (WCW) (Dec 5-2,5-1)
Round 5 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by pin over Lane Bonds (Excalibur Wrestling Club) (Pin 0:59)

Junior 145 - Samuel Bartram's place is 3rd and has scored 5.00 team points.
Round 1 - D`Andre Hunter-Cathey (East Gaston High School Wrestl) won by decision over Samuel Bartram (Copperheads) (Dec 5-2,7-4)
Round 2 - Samuel Bartram (Copperheads) won by forfeit over Wyatt Blume (RoCo wrestling) (FF)
Round 3 - Samuel Bartram (Copperheads) won by forfeit over Ryan Oxford (Punisher Wrestling) (FF)
Round 4 - Jevon Morris (Hardcore Westling) won by pin over Samuel Bartram (Copperheads) (Pin 1:00)

Junior 152 - Connor VanCleave's place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Thomas Singley (Hardcore Westling) won by decision over Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) (Dec 4-1,0-7,8-1)
Cons. Semi - Justin Todd (Sparta) won by pin over Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) (Pin 0:48)

NCUSA Freestyle State Championships Results for Copperheads
Novice 75 - Andrew Barber's place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Bradford Griffith (Dogtown Wrestling Club) won by tech fall over Andrew Barber (Copperheads) (TF 8-0,7-0)
Cons. Round 1 - Andrew Barber (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Semi - Tyler Morgan (strong and courageous) won by pin over Andrew Barber (Copperheads) (Pin 8-1,0:00)

Cadet 106 - Daniel Hull's place is unknown and has scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Daniel Hull (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Austin Neal (R-S Central High School Wrestl) won by pin over Daniel Hull (Copperheads) (Pin 3-7,0:55)
Cons. Round 2 - Daniel Hull (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Daniel Hull (Copperheads) won by decision over Xavier Williamson (Hurricanes) (Dec 5-4,9-3)
Cons. Semi - Parker Walton (Arrichion Wrestling Club) won by decision over Daniel Hull (Copperheads) (Dec 2-0,5-0)

Cadet 120 - Dylan Barber's place is 4th and has scored 8.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Dylan Barber (Copperheads) won by decision over Caleb Bowie (R-S Central High School Wrestl) (Dec 3-0,5-0)
Quarterfinal - Ayden Arroyo (strong and courageous) won by pin over Dylan Barber (Copperheads) (Pin 1:51)
Cons. Round 2 - Dylan Barber (Copperheads) won by pin over Brandon Lang (William A Hough High School Wr) (Pin 1:30)
Cons. Round 3 - Dylan Barber (Copperheads) won by pin over Leo Ramirez (strong and courageous) (Pin 0:47)
Cons. Semi - Dylan Barber (Copperheads) won by decision over Tucker Key (Mooresville High School Wrestl) (Dec 2-2,0-8,8-1)
3rd Place Match - Ayden Arroyo (strong and courageous) won by decision over Dylan Barber (Copperheads) (Dec 4-0,4-2)

Cadet 126 - Mackinnon Allen's place is unknown and has scored 2.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) won by decision over Samuel Littauer (strong and courageous) (Dec 5-0,5-0)
Quarterfinal - David Cline (Jay M Robinson) won by decision over Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) (Dec 6-0,6-5)
Cons. Round 2 - Thaddeus Poore (Port city pirates) won by decision over Mackinnon Allen (Copperheads) (Dec 0-3,5-3,5-1)

Junior 120 - Mike Fedowitz's place is 2nd and has scored 7.00 team points.
Round 2 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by decision over Zovek Chapa (Backyard Wrestling Club (BWC)) (Dec 4-0,5-3)
Round 3 - Trey Cornish (ADHS Jaguars WC) won by pin over Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) (Pin 0:00)
Round 4 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by pin over Lucas Fryar (Arrichion Wrestling Club) (Pin 1:30)
Round 5 - Mike Fedowitz (Copperheads) won by forfeit over Lane Bonds (Excalibur Wrestling Club) (FF)

Junior 152 - Connor VanCleave's place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Dalton Clark (Easter Randolph Destroyers) won by pin over Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) (Pin 6-1,0:41)
Cons. Round 2 - Thomas Singley (Hardcore Westling) won by forfeit over Connor VanCleave (Copperheads) (FF)