I’m sitting on the back porch of my Mom’s house here in Ann Arbor Michigan. Funny to think that 10 years ago, I was also here in Ann Arbor, having just wrestled in the Eastern Michigan University Open. I took an unconventional path to get there, but after having wrestled my last competitive Folkstyle match in the spring of 2003, and having not been in a wrestling room at all in over a year, I decided that November 2010 was when I needed to compete. This is the story of that Saturday morning.

I guess I had something to prove to myself. Sorry, I’m jumping ahead. That first sentence was the answer to the inevitable question, “why in the hell would you just up and wrestle in a college open like that?” So yea, I had something to prove. I had tried to walk on at CMU in 03-04, not really knowing how good that program was, and probably believing too much in my ability to fight through anything, than I should have. I had decided that I wanted to compete in the EMU open that year unattached, but ended up sleeping in and missing it. I guess I really wasn’t committed at that point, and wasn’t being honest with myself about what I wanted to do. Weird to think that an 18 year old kid wouldn’t know what the hell they were doing at that point in life, but I guess that’s where I was. I had decided that wrestling was likely done for me, outside of some coaching maybe at some point.

Fast forward to 2008, when I graduated college and went back to Ann Arbor. I got a job as a Private Investigator for an Insurance company, where I would sit in the trunk of my tinted out Subaru Outback with a video camera, and follow people around who were faking medical leave. I would get out of work around 2:30, so I was able to go back and volunteer coach in Ann Arbor. I loved it, and it was so much fun getting back into wrestling. I had only watched NCAAs, and paid attention to CMU, mostly through college, but to be back on a mat and going live, and all the fun that goes with it, was really something I had missed. I did that when I could for the next two seasons, before eventually moving to Grand Rapids in July 2010.

I don’t know why it happened, or what gave me the idea to try to compete in the EMU Open, but at some point I became convinced that it was going to happen. I was going to get down to 149 (for perspective, I usually hovered around 170 in college, and got down into the 155-160 range while coaching in Ann Arbor), and I was going to get into great shape, and see how I did. I didn’t have anywhere to wrestle, and the only place I had to workout was Snap Fitness. So, that’s what I did. I was working two jobs at the time (driving for an athletic apparel company in Grand Rapids, and working at a home for behaviorally challenged adults at night) and working out doing cardio by shadow wrestling by myself, and going to Snap Fitness in between jobs. I did this for the five months leading up from July to November, and felt absolutely ready to go. Spoiler alert, I was not. One of the last things I did to get down to weight was to load up on sweats, and head to a local YMCA to play racquetball with my Dad (who was 72 at the time. Dude was an animal) for about an hour and a half. I ended up being about 147.something, so I made it. Now I just needed to TCOB - Take Care of Business.

I knew that I hadn’t wrestled in a long time, and that technically I had freshman eligibility, but I wasn’t about to sign up for the Freshman division. I was 25, and had graduated college three years ago, so that was out of the question. So now I’m in the Open division, along with the following wrestlers - Kellen Russell (he won the EMU Open, and 141 pound NCAA Title that season), Bryce Saddoris (09 All American, and 100+ wins for Navy), Mike McClure (NCAA All American for MSU at Heavyweight), and several others greats. Long story short, it’s a tough tournament in general, and this year was no exception. So first round I ended up with Collin Dozier, wrestling Unattached for MSU. *Disclaimer - I am sharing my recollection of these matches in as transparent and clear detail as I can remember. I don’t believe there’s any footage, otherwise I’d share that as well. I just told you that I had a job where I sat in the trunk of a car and video taped people, so I have no reason to lie about this.

I decided to set the tone right away. I punched in an underhook with my left hand, and clubbed the head with the right. I started pushing towards the edge of the mat, and felt like I should drive him out and set back up in the center, having shown my intensity and aggressive approach. That sequence ended with me being lateral dropped out of bounds. We go back to the center. The remainder of that 7 minutes are a bit of a blur. I remember getting to start on top once, and thinking that this would be where I could re-establish control (I was likely down by 8-10 points at this juncture in the match). Collin stood up, I threw legs and jumped on his back, anticipating the stalemate call. Collin had other plans, as he quickly threw me from his back, getting an escape and takedown, or maybe just a reversal. Either way, I ended up being tech’d 15-0, but the way I remember it was being a 14-0 lead, with riding time getting him the 15th point. I don’t know if that makes it better, but I watched a lot of people get pinned that day, and I did not.

Okay. The first match didn’t go my way, but I was ready for my second match. My buddies Chiego and Grimston were my coaches for match #1 (close friends and dudes I wrestled in High School with), but they had to leave. I had another buddy there to coach me in this next match, Isaac. He didn’t wrestle, and generally had no idea what he was watching, so he was mostly trying to yell encouraging stuff as I wrestled Navy’s Eric Filipowicz. This match I don’t remember as much about. I remember being in an underhook at one point, and knowing that he was waiting for me to clear it, because it seemed like it was too easy to clear. I did it anyway, which resulted in being taken down somehow. I did score two points in this match though. I was let up twice, which was generous of Eric. This was also a tech fall in the third period, 18-2. I went to my corner, where I was greeted by my coach/cheerleader Isaac, who told me I did a good job. Weirdly I felt that I had also.

I don’t know what I thought was going to happen. I don’t know what made me decide to do it. I don’t have any video or pictures to watch or commemorate any of this actually taking place. I just have the brackets, which I finally unearthed just a couple weeks back. What I do have is the knowledge that Eric and Collin ended up wrestling for 3rd and 4th place in that tournament. I’m pretty sure that I was probably the 5th best 149 pound wrestler there, but I guess we’ll never know for sure. In the end, I remember being at Max & Erma’s near Briarwood mall, eating some food and drinking a beer, being humbled and proud. I set a goal to wrestle in the EMU Open, and I accomplished it. Sometimes commitment to a goal is all you need in life. My career was finished at that point, and I was fairly sure I was done with wrestling. After about a week or two, I decided to look into some coaching opportunities in Grand Rapids, and found a phone number for East Grand Rapids coach, Tommy Baranoski. I called him, learned that he needed an assistant, and that practice starts Monday. Life is funny like that sometimes. Rock On.

EMU Open Brackets 2010