A couple of fond memories I have from my wrestling at Ricks are; first I remember struggling that freshman year. I had a record of about 10-10 going into the middle of January. This was hard on my confidence because I had only lost 7 matches during my high school career. I remember going two and out that year at the Beehive wrestling tournament. That didn’t seem all that bad because we were the only junior college wrestling team in the tournament with the other teams being division 1 teams. Then in the middle of January we had gone to a tournament at Montana. I went two and out again. At this tournament I ended up being the only one on the team that did go two and out. I came to a turning point after this tournament. I either needed to get serious about wrestling or I needed to quit. I think that made me come to a day of decision. I think up until that time I was just happy to be on the varsity team. I determined that I was going to step up to the plate. My whole attitude changed from that time. I went on and finished the year and felt good about what I accomplished. I won the conference tournament, placed 3rd at the regional which qualified me for JC nationals. We qualified all 10 of our wrestlers for nationals. I remembering heading off with the team on a charter bus from the college. I didn’t know what to expect. Kent Sweat, Jay Jenks, and some of the others had had a much better season than I had. If was funny that before we left I don’t think too many people gave me much of a chance of placing at nationals. Mom and dad even thought that I wouldn’t do that well either. They said to give them a call when I finished. Well the tournament progressed and I made it to the semis without suffering a loss. They announced it on the evening news back home that Jim McCready and I were still alive and both would place. Mom and dad were just floored to think that I was going to place and they weren’t there. Well, I lost in the semis and I had to wrestle in the wrestle backs. I wanted to make sure that I won that match so that I could wrestle for third or fourth. It was funny as the tournament progressed that some of the others on the team with better records lost out quickly and I kept winning matches by 1 point or in overtime. As I got into the medal round some of their thoughts or comments were (that the reason I was winning was because my weight was weak). I just laughed at them and wanted to keep winning and show them. I ended up wrestling for 3rd and 4th and lost to Donny Owen from Northern Idaho. It was great accomplishing something that I knew I could do but surprising the others on the team. Just because I had lost so many matches during the earlier part of the season no one thought that I could win but I knew that I could. Jim McCready went on to win 1st place. I think that our team finished 8th that year.
The second memory I had was my sophomore year at Ricks. I did much better right from the beginning of the season. I went to the Boise tournament and won it. What turned out to be interesting was that my first match of the tournament was against a kid by the name of Jeff Hardy from Brigham City who was wrestling for the University of Utah. I just barely beat him. Later when I applied for the Box Elder wrestling job, Jeff was instrumental in helping me get the job. We ended up becoming very good friends. Jeff was one of my many friends that I developed a good friendship with because of my wrestling. Well I went on to win the tournament. After that we went to the Beehive. I won the Beehive. I had to wrestle a Marty Bench from Utah State in the championship. Because I beat Marty BYU beat USU for the team title. Carlson the coach was ticked off because I was a Jr. College wrestler and won the Beehive. During the match Marty got the early lead. Tracey and mom wouldn’t come down to the bottom row. They went all the way up to the top of the USU spectrum and they either yelled at me or cheered me on, I’m not sure because I was busy wrestling. Then I came back in the match to tie it up 8-8 and send the match into overtime and by then Tracey was back down on the front row screaming at me to get my butt in gear. Well I completely controlled the overtime and won the championship. JL Coon our heavyweight finished second. Everyone got a kick out of Tracey and mom running up the stairs all the way to the top of the Spectrum when I fell behind. But they made it down to the bottom when I got the match back close. That year I went on to win another conference title, placed 2nd at the regional but tore my cartilage on my rib case and qualified for nationals. However, this time I lost my first match and it ended putting me out of the tournament because it was a follow the winner if he made it through to the semis. He lost and so that put me out. Tracey rode with dad and mom to come and watch me. I was actually hurt before regional but I made it through the regional by placing 2nd. The regional was held at Ricks so Tracey was there watching me and the local news channel caught her watching and cheering me on up in the stands. She would get so excited and Tracey, mom, and dad were always so good to support us kids while we participated in some activity.
As I was finishing up my mission in Korea my mission president, President Han, asked me if I would reconsider not heading to BYU but return to Ricks college for my education. He said that he felt impressed to suggest that I go there instead of BYU. With his recommendation I decided to return to Ricks after the completion of my mission. Just before I left Korea the Teton Dam collapsed and it flooded Teton City, St. Anthony, Rexburg, and Sugar City. I thought that here I have decided to go back to Ricks and now Rexburg and Ricks are probably wiped out. As we received more news I found out that Ricks had not been harmed. So I was excited to return to Ricks and try my hand at wrestling again. Upon my returning home I remember getting together with my friend Jerry Eddginton and working out. He kicked my butt. Upon graduating from Teton high, before my mission, I had wrestled 129 lbs. and was recruited as a 126 lbs. college wrestler. Now I weighed 165 lbs. and decided to try to get down 150 lbs. to wrestle for Ricks College. Upon working out with Jerry I discovered that my timing was not there and wrestling 150 lbs. would require me to change my style of wrestling. Wrestling 150 lbs. and in college was totally different than wrestling 129 lbs. in high school. I remember thinking that I ought to be able to perform this move but the body didn’t quite move when I wanted it to. What turned out to be of interest to me as the summer progressed was that I ended up beating Jerry out for the 150 lbs weight class for Ricks College. School started in the first of September. Shortly after school started I started wrestling practice and we started working out so as to prepare ourselves for the upcoming wrestle offs. I remember finding out later from a girl that I met, that there was a Joe Piper who wrestled for Ricks and was trying to also win the 150 lbs weight class. This girl asked me if I knew a “Joe Piper”? I wasn’t sure if I knew him because there were so many kids that were trying out. Her first thought was that if I didn’t know who Joe Piper was I must not be very good. It turned out kind of funny because the girl turned out to be Tracey. We laugh about it now. She didn’t realize that I really didn’t like to brag. This happened just after I had met Tracey. Tracey and I dated for the next two years while we both attended Ricks and graduated and then got married in May just after we finished school. After graduation from Ricks I went to Weber State to wrestle. I went there with the intention of establishing Utah residency so I could apply to get into Physical Therapy at the University of Utah. However, as things progressed at Weber State I decided that I really didn’t want to do therapy but would pursue education so that I could coach.
A couple of fond memories I have from my wrestling at Ricks are; first I remember struggling that freshman year. I had a record of about 10-10 going into the middle of January. This was hard on my confidence because I had only lost 7 matches during my high school career. I remember going two and out that year at the Beehive wrestling tournament. That didn’t seem all that bad because we were the only junior college wrestling team in the tournament with the other teams being division 1 teams. Then in the middle of January we had gone to a tournament at Montana. I went two and out again. At this tournament I ended up being the only one on the team that did go two and out. I came to a turning point after this tournament. I either needed to get serious about wrestling or I needed to quit. I think that made me come to a day of decision. I think up until that time I was just happy to be on the varsity team. I determined that I was going to step up to the plate. My whole attitude changed from that time. I went on and finished the year and felt good about what I accomplished. I won the conference tournament, placed 3rd at the regional which qualified me for JC nationals. We qualified all 10 of our wrestlers for nationals. I remembering heading off with the team on a charter bus from the college. I didn’t know what to expect. Kent Sweat, Jay Jenks, and some of the others had had a much better season than I had. If was funny that before we left I don’t think too many people gave me much of a chance of placing at nationals. Mom and dad even thought that I wouldn’t do that well either. They said to give them a call when I finished. Well the tournament progressed and I made it to the semis without suffering a loss. They announced it on the evening news back home that Jim McCready and I were still alive and both would place. Mom and dad were just floored to think that I was going to place and they weren’t there. Well, I lost in the semis and I had to wrestle in the wrestle backs. I wanted to make sure that I won that match so that I could wrestle for third or fourth. It was funny as the tournament progressed that some of the others on the team with better records lost out quickly and I kept winning matches by 1 point or in overtime. As I got into the medal round some of their thoughts or comments were (that the reason I was winning was because my weight was weak). I just laughed at them and wanted to keep winning and show them. I ended up wrestling for 3rd and 4th and lost to Donny Owen from Northern Idaho. It was great accomplishing something that I knew I could do but surprising the others on the team. Just because I had lost so many matches during the earlier part of the season no one thought that I could win but I knew that I could. Jim McCready went on to win 1st place. I think that our team finished 8th that year.
ReplyDeleteThe second memory I had was my sophomore year at Ricks. I did much better right from the beginning of the season. I went to the Boise tournament and won it. What turned out to be interesting was that my first match of the tournament was against a kid by the name of Jeff Hardy from Brigham City who was wrestling for the University of Utah. I just barely beat him. Later when I applied for the Box Elder wrestling job, Jeff was instrumental in helping me get the job. We ended up becoming very good friends. Jeff was one of my many friends that I developed a good friendship with because of my wrestling. Well I went on to win the tournament. After that we went to the Beehive. I won the Beehive. I had to wrestle a Marty Bench from Utah State in the championship. Because I beat Marty BYU beat USU for the team title. Carlson the coach was ticked off because I was a Jr. College wrestler and won the Beehive. During the match Marty got the early lead. Tracey and mom wouldn’t come down to the bottom row. They went all the way up to the top of the USU spectrum and they either yelled at me or cheered me on, I’m not sure because I was busy wrestling. Then I came back in the match to tie it up 8-8 and send the match into overtime and by then Tracey was back down on the front row screaming at me to get my butt in gear. Well I completely controlled the overtime and won the championship. JL Coon our heavyweight finished second. Everyone got a kick out of Tracey and mom running up the stairs all the way to the top of the Spectrum when I fell behind. But they made it down to the bottom when I got the match back close. That year I went on to win another conference title, placed 2nd at the regional but tore my cartilage on my rib case and qualified for nationals. However, this time I lost my first match and it ended putting me out of the tournament because it was a follow the winner if he made it through to the semis. He lost and so that put me out. Tracey rode with dad and mom to come and watch me. I was actually hurt before regional but I made it through the regional by placing 2nd. The regional was held at Ricks so Tracey was there watching me and the local news channel caught her watching and cheering me on up in the stands. She would get so excited and Tracey, mom, and dad were always so good to support us kids while we participated in some activity.
ReplyDeleteAs I was finishing up my mission in Korea my mission president, President Han, asked me if I would reconsider not heading to BYU but return to Ricks college for my education. He said that he felt impressed to suggest that I go there instead of BYU. With his recommendation I decided to return to Ricks after the completion of my mission. Just before I left Korea the Teton Dam collapsed and it flooded Teton City, St. Anthony, Rexburg, and Sugar City. I thought that here I have decided to go back to Ricks and now Rexburg and Ricks are probably wiped out. As we received more news I found out that Ricks had not been harmed. So I was excited to return to Ricks and try my hand at wrestling again.
ReplyDeleteUpon my returning home I remember getting together with my friend Jerry Eddginton and working out. He kicked my butt. Upon graduating from Teton high, before my mission, I had wrestled 129 lbs. and was recruited as a 126 lbs. college wrestler. Now I weighed 165 lbs. and decided to try to get down 150 lbs. to wrestle for Ricks College. Upon working out with Jerry I discovered that my timing was not there and wrestling 150 lbs. would require me to change my style of wrestling. Wrestling 150 lbs. and in college was totally different than wrestling 129 lbs. in high school. I remember thinking that I ought to be able to perform this move but the body didn’t quite move when I wanted it to. What turned out to be of interest to me as the summer progressed was that I ended up beating Jerry out for the 150 lbs weight class for Ricks College.
School started in the first of September. Shortly after school started I started wrestling practice and we started working out so as to prepare ourselves for the upcoming wrestle offs. I remember finding out later from a girl that I met, that there was a Joe Piper who wrestled for Ricks and was trying to also win the 150 lbs weight class. This girl asked me if I knew a “Joe Piper”? I wasn’t sure if I knew him because there were so many kids that were trying out. Her first thought was that if I didn’t know who Joe Piper was I must not be very good. It turned out kind of funny because the girl turned out to be Tracey. We laugh about it now. She didn’t realize that I really didn’t like to brag. This happened just after I had met Tracey. Tracey and I dated for the next two years while we both attended Ricks and graduated and then got married in May just after we finished school.
After graduation from Ricks I went to Weber State to wrestle. I went there with the intention of establishing Utah residency so I could apply to get into Physical Therapy at the University of Utah. However, as things progressed at Weber State I decided that I really didn’t want to do therapy but would pursue education so that I could coach.