Among
the many changes that I personally experienced during my time in Alaska Idaho
The first day of tryouts was unbelievable. There were about forty-something guys that
were there on that first day. In fact
there were more guys wanting to wrestle than were on the football team. That
was surprising to me because I never saw wrestling as much of a big deal back
in Idaho. I mean there were some very good wrestlers but there weren't a lot of
parents and classmates that were excited about going to wrestling matches. In
Homer, all of the classes were represented from freshmen to seniors. I didn't know very many of them but I was
glad to see that there were guys of all sizes including a couple near my own
miniature status.
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| Coach Darrel White |
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| Coach Steven Wolfe |
Right off the bat our coaches, Steven Wolfe and Darrel White, had us running laps around the school going from 1st floor to
the 2nd floor as much as possible. I had never run so much in my
life. After what seemed like an hour of running we did some other exercises and
then sat around on a big gym mat and listened to the coach explain to us what
we had to look forward to over the next few months. I have to admit I was more than a little
apprehensive knowing the regimen that I would be expected to complete every
single day.
I committed to myself that I would
give it my all and that I wouldn't quit no matter what. This made me feel proud when I saw a few of
the team quit after the first day.
Everyday we did drills, exercises
and weightlifting for 3 hours after school.
I slowly began to get stronger and my stamina continued to
increase. I would go home and practice moves
with my Dad and he would give me some additional pointers as well. By the time we had the first wrestle-offs to
see who would be the varsity, JV and 3rd string teams I was holding
my own with some of the veterans who had trained and wrestled for years.
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| My T-Shirt from the 1986 Homer Winter Carnival |
Now being a small guy as a junior had
a slight advantage over others in my weight class. Wrestling at 98 pounds were usually freshmen,
and once in a while you would see a sophomore.
But you never saw a junior like me.
I felt this helped me as I could intimidate opponents being the older
kid. I made the varsity team for the
first meet at the 98 pound weight class.
The first tournament was scheduled in Homer for the Winter
Carnival. This was one of the biggest
tournaments in Alaska
I was extremely nervous for my first
match. Partially because I hadn't wrested competitively in many years, and
partially because the 98-pounders went first.
My first match was against a kid from Seward who had placed 6th
at the state tournament the previous year.
He was a sophomore and was forecasted to be one of the finalists at the 1986 state tournament.
We shook hands in the middle of the
mat and then the whistle blew. Before I
knew it my opponent had shot in and got a hold of my ankle. He quickly took me down with a single leg and
I fell to the mat, flat on my back, with the other wrestler directly on top of
me. I had been trained so well that with
out thinking about it, I used my momentum from falling and instantly rolled in an attempt to get off of my
back. When I did, my opponent rolled
with me and before I knew what had happened I had him on his back. I quickly
spun around so that his face was pressed into my stomach and both of his arms
were locked under my armpits. I didn't
know what to do so I looked up and saw my coach. He was yelling something but I couldn't hear
him. All I could hear was my dad from
the other side of the mat.
"Spread your legs,
Horace!" He hollered.
I spread my legs and realized that
now my opponent could not reverse the move and roll me back over.
"Put your chin in his chest and
lock his arms tight" Dad continued to bark out instructions. It was so clear. I know the entire gym was
noisy with all the people cheering, especially the hometown fans who were now
watching one of their Homer Mariners.
But I could hear nothing except the voice of my Dad as though he were
the only other person in the room besides me and the wrestler from
Seward struggling beneath me.
My chin went down and I pressed it
hard into his chest. My arms locked
tight to his and I knew he couldn't move.
"Just hold him, just hold him!" I could hear the excitement in my Dad's
voice.
All of a sudden I felt someone
tapping my shoulder. I didn't want to
let go and then I felt the tapping again.
I glanced up and saw the referee.
He was grabbing me to get off of the other wrestler. Apparently he had blown the whistle some time
ago after slapping the mat signaling that my opponent had been pinned. I was shocked. I looked up and saw my Dad cheering as well as
the rest of my team who were on the side of the mat. They were jumping up and down and pumping
their fists. The referee raised my arm
in victory and I shook my opponent's hand.
I could see the dejection in his face but I was too excited to
care. I ran to the side and quickly
hi-fived the team and got a bear hug from Coach Wolfe and Coach White. Then my Dad clapped me on the back and said “perfect”. He didn't have much time to congratulate me
however as the Mat Maids had made their way over to me. The Mat Maids were the cheerleaders of the
wrestling team. I received a hug from
each of them and then the last one took a giant gold diaper pin and pinned it
to my singlet. She said "congratulations,
you will receive a pin for every pin you make this year!" It was awesome and my smile didn't leave
until my next match.
I ended up winning 2 of my next 3
matches and placed 4th in the tournament. It was much more than I had expected of
myself. I also received two special
awards from the team. One was for having
the 1st pin of the year for Homer High School
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| Ian Pitzman and I in Homer, AK October 2012 |
Wrestling also gave me the opportunity to
see much of Alaska Valdez Anchorage
But you should have seen Ian on that little airplane.
The pilot decided to mess around with us and he put the plane into a stall and
went into a nose dive. Ian and I were scared out of our minds. We may have even
cried though neither of us would admit it. Ian finally looked at the pilot and
with a little panic in his voice told him to correct the plane and just take us
to our destination. I think he probably scared the pilot because he didn't even
hesitate. He just steadied the plane and took us to Seldovia. After we landed I
wondered if Ian would go after him but he just gave the pilot a dirty look and
got off of the plane.
On another trip I was supposed to
meet the team bus in Anchor Point on its way up to 
I was happy to have cut some of my
bus time out because there were a lot of disgusting things that wrestlers do on
a bus. They spend the entire drive trying to ensure that they can get to the
qualified weight requirements to wrestle. A 112 pound wrestler could not weigh
more than 114 pounds at the time of weigh-ins. Though this was never a problem
for me, many of my teammates were always needing to shed some pounds before
each meet. One of the most common practices was to take a bag of starbursts and
put one in your mouth. But instead of swallowing the saliva juices that were
created by the starburst, you would spit it into a large cup. A large bag of
Starburst would last quite a while if a guy did it properly. The negative
result was a bus full of wrestler spit! 
There were other practices that were
used on the bus as well but that was the most common. Guys were pretty
dedicated too because you didn't want the wrath of Coach Wolfe if you didn't
make your required weight.
Since the drive was so long we would stop at schools on
the way and would sleep in their gyms or in classrooms. Some guys didn’t get a
lot of sleep because they were still trying to lose weight. Some of them would
put all of their sweats on and then wear giant black trash bags over their
clothes. They would then go into the shower area of the locker rooms and turn
the showers to full blast hot. They would close all the doors so that the room
became like a sauna. They would find a dry spot in the room and they would do
jumping jacks and squat thrusts, also known as burpees, until they couldn't bear
it any longer. The sweat would just poor out of them. A guy could really lose
some quick weight this way. Coach Wolfe was the one who showed us this
technique. I heard that a few years later this activity was banned later because
some wrestlers were dehydrated and collapsing before matches. I know that if I
had the choice I would have done the Starburst spit technique instead.
Our wrestling team was really good. We had a few returning state finalists and
one that was ranked 1st in the state. That was Ian Pitzman. One of our best wrestlers, Brad Baxter, at
112 pounds got hurt and so they asked if I would move up a couple of weights
because we had another good 98 pounder named George Wynn. George was tough and he and I had some good
battles in practice. We also had one of
the top 105-pounders in Lance Bailey.
Lance was tall and lanky but he could tie people up in knots that were
impossible to get out of. I learned this
first hand myself.
112 pounds was definitely a challenge. There were more kids my age that I would have
to face and I would also be a little underweight. The other guys didn't feel bad for me though
because I could eat whatever I wanted and never had to worry about not making
weight. I did ok at 112 pounds winning more than half of my matches. I always
performed best when Dad was there cheering me on.
Once we had an exhibition match at
our practice room at Homer High. There
was a team from the Russian town, Nikolaevsk, which was upriver from Anchor
Point. They came and we worked out together and then a few of us wrestled. They had a 126 pound wrestler that did not
have anyone to scrimmage with so my coach asked if I would give it a try. I
said sure and to make a long story short I lasted for a period and a half
before the Russian was declared the winner by technical fall. Technical fall
meant that he had scored 15 points more than his opponent. I had tried my best
but felt like I couldn't move the bigger Russian.
Two weeks later we wrestled the team
from Ninilchik which is up the highway from Anchor Point. The same Russian team
from Nikolaevsk was invited to participate as well in three-way meet. Once
again, I was asked to wrestle the 126 pound Russian because neither of us had
an opponent. I agreed to do it again and
hoped that I would not be embarrassed in front of Dad and Becky.
We took our stances on the mat and
the whistle blew. I don't remember too many of the moves I made but I will tell
you that it was a battle for the ages. I took the bigger Russian down and even
exposed his back to the mat for extra points. I was unable to hold him down and
he escaped. After the first period I was up by a point. The second period was
just as tight and he scored one more than I did to enter the third period all
tied at 7 each. During the short intermission before the third period I tried
to remember all of the training I had received during practice. I was the
better conditioned athlete and I began to jump up and down and show that I
still had energy to wrestle. Many times
this would discourage our opponents because they were so worn out by that time
that they lost heart and were easily beaten in the last period. I could tell
that my Russian opponent was tired but he knew that I was tired too. He also knew that he had whipped me once and
could do it again. He was bigger and he would try to use it to his advantage.
The parents, coaches and teammates
were going crazy. Most of them were now
rooting for the little guy. My coaches and teammates were the most excited as
they had witnessed our first meeting and I had already exceeded their
expectations. I saw my Dad in the stands and he smiled at me and nodded his
head. I was glad that he was here and it was reassuring that he thought I could
do it.
The referee called us over and I
took the down position to begin. The whistle blew and I tried to explode from
my hands and knees to a standing position. As I stood up, the Russian swept his
leg in front of mine and tripped me back to the mat. He put his whole force on
me and then grabbed my right wrist and pulled it away from my body. He then
quickly placed his arm up under my armpit and placed his hand over the back of
my neck. I felt the whole match getting away from me as he tightened his
"half-nelson" and began to push it forward to roll me to my back. I
held out as long as I could but the weight of the Russian was too much and I
was rolled to my back. I immediately kicked my legs and rolled the other way
and ripped myself free of his grip. I
stood up before he could get another hold of me and we were again facing each
other on our feet. The referee had given him 2 points for exposing my back in a
"near fall" and awarded me 1 point for the escape. Before my opponent
had a chance to gather himself I shot in and caught his left ankle with my
right hand and pulled it tight to my chest while driving forward. As I came
within reach of his other leg I grabbed it with my left hand and continued to
drive my body forward into his. The motion was too fast for him and my momentum
threw him off balance and he fell to bottom and quickly rolled to his
stomach. I climbed on him and saw the
referee award me 2 points for the take down. I looked at the timer and it
showed 40 seconds left. I was up by one point and just needed to hold on for
the win. The Russian was doing everything possible to get away from me. I locked myself onto his back and tried to
control his legs with mine. He tried to roll but I wouldn't budge.
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| Nikolaevsk, AK |
I was so tired and knew I couldn't hold him
down much longer. I could hear my Dad and my coaches screaming for me to hold
on. I took another glance at the clock and watched as the second hand dragged
on. 30 seconds. 20 seconds. 15 seconds. 10, 9, 8… I squeezed
my opponent as he became almost violent in his quest to escape. 7, 6, 5.. I was
beginning to lose control. 4, 3… At 2 seconds my grip failed me and the Russian
sprang away and to his feet. The buzzer
sounded and I laid down on the mat totally spent. My opponent had scored the
final point to tie the match. I wanted to cry but didn't have the energy.
Slowly I heard the crowd's cheering and then felt someone pick me up from the
mat. I looked up to see the Russian with tears in his eyes smiling down at
me. He took my wrist and raised it high
in the air and then gave me a big bear hug. He said "moy brat" to me and then went to his bench. At that moment I was mauled back to the mat by my
entire team. I had only tied but in their eyes I was the champion that day. My
Dad came over and gave me a big hug and told me how proud he was of me. Becky
smiled at me and kissed me on the forehead. When things finally calmed down and
I had caught my breath again, I saw the Russian boy out of the corner of my
eye. I walked over to him and shook his
hand again. I asked him what he had meant by "moy brat" and he said in English, "My
brother". I smiled and gave him
another hug and said good bye. I would
never see him again but I will always remember my Russian brother.
Later in the wrestling season we met
with Kenai High School
My stomach did a couple of turns and
the butterflies set in. I tried to calm myself down listening to some music and
loosening up but I was so nervous that I had to run into the locker room to
throw up. I decided I would just do my best and my goal was to last more than
one round and at the same time I would not allow myself to get pinned at
anytime in the match.
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| Homer Mariner Wresting |
Our match time finally came and I
stepped up to my spot and got into the start position. My opponent did the same and we sized each
other up. He was definitely bigger than
me and more muscular. He had that "wrestler" look, with the big
shoulders and almost no neck. I could picture him without his headgear on and
imagined the cauliflower ears. We shook hands and waited for the whistle to
begin. When it finally came, we both leaned in to lock up each others heads
with our hands. I leaned into nothing but air as he disappeared to the mat.
Before I knew what was happening I was flat on my back. He had taken both my
legs right out from under me. My instincts were quick and I flipped off of my
back to my stomach instantly. I managed to block his attempts of turning me
over and he finally let me go. I was now down 2-1 and no sooner had the referee
awarded my 1st point and I was on my back again. This guy was so
fast and I had no defense. I continued to work to my stomach and basically use stall
tactics to prevent him from getting me back on my back. Then he let go of me
again. I got up and received another point for an escape. I adjusted my head
gear and found myself on the floor again. This time he just let me go and then
took me down once more. 8-3 and there was still time on the clock. He let me go
once more and again took me down like I was some little kid he was toying
around with. This time he didn't let me go and the clock ran out with the score
10-4. I was surprised I was still in the
match at this point. I was still determined to not let him pin me so that was
my only resolve. I selected the down position at the start of the 2nd
period and when the referee blew the whistle something strange happened. It was something that should have never
happened.
One of the first moves I learned at
wrestling practice was called the "5 on 2". There isn't a pretty way
to describe it, so to be as delicate as possible, it means to take your 5
fingers of one of your hands and reach between your opponents legs from behind
and gently grab the 2… you know what. The rule when using this maneuver is that
you are not allowed to squeeze the 2 during the grab. This will upset your
opponent and may even disqualify you from the match if the referee sees it. Squeezing
is not needed much as most males react instinctively when the slightest feel of
someone's hand grabbing at their jewels causes them to jerk their hips forward out of
harms way. When they do this they are throwing themselves straight to the mat.
Well the first thing my opponent
from Kenai did at the start of the second period was the old "5 on
2". But he broke the squeezing rule causing me to yelp out in pain as I
went flat to the mat. I couldn't believe it. I lost my train of thought and for
a split second did not think about the "champion" my opponent
supposed to be. I used my anger filled adrenaline to get back to my hands and
knees. At that time my opponent stuck his leg under my stomach and put his foot
and ankle through my legs. This is called a leg ride. I quickly lifted my hips
straight into the air so I was now on my hands and feet with my opponent still
attached to my back with his leg still wrapped around and through my legs. I
lifted my head up and looked right at my coach who had a smile on his face. In
that moment I could see his understanding of what I was going to attempt next.
I had just learned the move the previous couple of weeks and had practiced it
daily. I ducked my head and rolled onto my shoulder and into a somersault. At
the same time I reached my arm around my opponents head and pulled him through
the somersault with me. I ended up on my backside with the head of my opponent
in one hand and one of his legs in the other. I pulled them together with all
the strength I could muster and eventually pulled both of my hands together and
clasped my fingers in a vice like grip. Now that I had a good hold I pushed my
feet to the floor and lifted my hips causing my opponent to roll onto his back.
I continued to squeeze his head as hard as I could and with my teeth gritted
and my eyes closed tight I wrenched his whole body. In fact I had squeezed so
hard that after the referee had blown the whistle he needed to assist me in
letting go. My fingers couldn’t move even when I tried. I was so caught up in
my moment that I had failed to realize that I had won the match by pinning the
guy. I just thought that he had been injured or that the time had run out on
the period. But I had actually pinned him. It was even a bigger upset than his championships
match the year before. There was no attempted hand shake after the match as he
was furious and stomped away off of the mat. I was once again in the middle of
a team frenzy and it was great. There was no doubt who the better wrestler was,
but that guy got a little too aggressive with his "5 on 2" and wound
up losing.
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| My T-Shirt from the 1986 Region III Championships |
So those are some of my most
memorable matches. At least the good ones. I had some great moments for a guy
who had very little wrestling experience. But there were some bad ones too.
Like after I qualified for the Regiona III tournament. Those who placed 1st
or 2nd at Regionals got to go to the State Championships. I made it
to the 112 pound semifinals along with Brad Baxter who was in another bracket.
My opponent in the semifinals was a kid from Eielson High School
I went on to place 4th in
that tourney after losing a close match in the consolation bracket. Brad Baxter
took second after lasting nearly 2 periods with the Eielson brute. Our team
took first at the tournament and sent 7 wrestlers from different weight classes
to the State Championships. At the State Championships, 4 of our guys won the
tournament including George Winn at 98, Lance Bailey at 105, Vince Littrell at 177, and Ian Pitzman at 191. Another 2 Homer wrestlers were runner ups. We
took first place as a team and as of 2016 is still considered one of the best teams in Alaska
State High School Wrestling history. Ian Pitzman was voted most outstanding
wrestler after finishing yet another undefeated year at 191 pounds.
I was very excited about wrestling
again as a senior. I had gained so many good friends. I had learned so much and had done so well in my first year. My confidence in myself was 180 degrees from before. I knew that I could compete at the State Championships the next year. I would
begin working towards that goal right away.
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