Long-Term Project: Davis, Jordan have built a bond

cross-face · January 14, 2016, 11:03:48 AM

http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2016/1/13/WREST_0113165621.aspx

Nice article

imnofish · January 14, 2016, 01:08:21 PM

Very interesting. Must be a connection between Legos and wrestling. I still like playing with them, when the grandchildren come over. Their dad was a wrestler and he still plays with them, too. Must be the innate problem solver in wrestlers.

Harris · January 14, 2016, 04:14:13 PM

Great article

cross-face · January 14, 2016, 06:12:58 PM

Quote from: imnofish on January 14, 2016, 01:08:21 PM
Very interesting. Must be a connection between Legos and wrestling. I still like playing with them, when the grandchildren come over. Their dad was a wrestler and he still plays with them, too. Must be the innate problem solver in wrestlers.

The methodical mind of the wrestler. Fascinating.

hammen · January 14, 2016, 08:11:55 PM

Love it - great to read that stuff.

leg turk · January 14, 2016, 08:19:33 PM

Quote from: hammen on January 14, 2016, 08:11:55 PM
Love it - great to read that stuff.

Hammen....
Could you share how you were recruited? I mean, did Barry come to your house, or maybe an assistant coach? Did you want to be a Badger your whole young wrestling career?

hammen · January 14, 2016, 09:39:06 PM

I was not recruited. Based on my size and high school accolades, I was definitely not a D1 caliber recruit. The only person who recruited me from D1 was Coach Flynn at Edinboro, and I was offered a small scholarship. But I wanted to be a Badger and compete at the highest level in collegiate wrestling - in the Big Ten. "Go big or go home" were the words of a good friend to help me make my decision. Kevin Black helped in getting me in touch with the staff and basically making it possible for me to be set up to walk on my first year. I put in the work, effort and was in the room as much as possible to get bigger and better. Barry and Donny saw that and I was eventually given some scholarship money. Barry spent extra time with me ever since my true freshman year, and worked around my schedule and his to get these workouts in. We had a great relationship, and he understood my limitations in my athletic ability compared to the competition, and really helped coach me to many of my wins, even over some very high quality guys. He also helped coach me to some close losses against guys like Escobedo or Sanders. He understood me, how I thought on and off the mat, and is a great mentor and friend to me because of the time we shared. I definitely wouldn't trade that experience over those 5 years for anything, even though I did not achieve the goals I set for myself. It built character and made me who I am today. While I'm sure most guys who competed at the collegiate level, many of your peers in the real world are a step behind us wrestlers, mentally (maybe a step above physically after all of the beating on the body).

Funny note - Barry actually came to my school for a camp during my first year wrestling when I was in 6th grade. I have a group picture with him and he is standing directly behind me in the photo. I sent it to him during the Holidays a while back and he gave a laugh and said he was recruiting me ever since then.

leg turk · January 14, 2016, 09:48:01 PM

Great story, thanks!

imnofish · January 14, 2016, 10:26:48 PM

Drew, thanks for sharing that. Most people never get to see that side of coaches, unless they were coached by them. The article and your experiences just gave me a whole new perspective on Coach Davis.

Barou · January 15, 2016, 09:25:37 AM

Great article.

stp · January 15, 2016, 09:30:17 AM

Quote from: hammen on January 14, 2016, 09:39:06 PM
I was not recruited. Based on my size and high school accolades, I was definitely not a D1 caliber recruit. The only person who recruited me from D1 was Coach Flynn at Edinboro, and I was offered a small scholarship. But I wanted to be a Badger and compete at the highest level in collegiate wrestling - in the Big Ten. "Go big or go home" were the words of a good friend to help me make my decision. Kevin Black helped in getting me in touch with the staff and basically making it possible for me to be set up to walk on my first year. I put in the work, effort and was in the room as much as possible to get bigger and better. Barry and Donny saw that and I was eventually given some scholarship money. Barry spent extra time with me ever since my true freshman year, and worked around my schedule and his to get these workouts in. We had a great relationship, and he understood my limitations in my athletic ability compared to the competition, and really helped coach me to many of my wins, even over some very high quality guys. He also helped coach me to some close losses against guys like Escobedo or Sanders. He understood me, how I thought on and off the mat, and is a great mentor and friend to me because of the time we shared. I definitely wouldn't trade that experience over those 5 years for anything, even though I did not achieve the goals I set for myself. It built character and made me who I am today. While I'm sure most guys who competed at the collegiate level, many of your peers in the real world are a step behind us wrestlers, mentally (maybe a step above physically after all of the beating on the body).

Funny note - Barry actually came to my school for a camp during my first year wrestling when I was in 6th grade. I have a group picture with him and he is standing directly behind me in the photo. I sent it to him during the Holidays a while back and he gave a laugh and said he was recruiting me ever since then.

two thumbs up