My younger years were spent growing up in the farm State of Iowa. I lived around corn, soybeans and hay… Ahhh, hay; not the best substance for a child diagnosed with hay fever. But I managed.
In Junior High School, I excelled in sports. Track and Field was tops where I lettered in the 220 yard dash and the high jump, until Mike Mosley joined the team and my high jumping record was shattered.
But when fall hit and Track was done, I needed another sport and why not the sport of Iowans?
Wrestling!
Iowa is a State where wrestlers are born and bred… In between the towns my family is well known in, Fort Dodge and Humboldt, Iowa was a State Park named after one of the famous wrestlers from the State of Iowa, Frank Gotch. Frank was the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion from 1908 to 1913 and was from Humboldt, Iowa. And the fact that my Mother’s side, the Tilton family was prominent in Humboldt (my Grandma was County Treasurer at one time and my family owns acres and acres of farmland in Humboldt County), Frank Gotch was our hero.
It was only right that I enter the school wrestling program. And that year, the great Iowa wrestler from Iowa State University, coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Gold Medal winner in the Olympics visited our program to inspire us. Dan Gable made me envision another Title for the Fort Dodge Dodgers.
I went to State where I lost my final match to a kid from Des Moines, Iowa who became a recognized wrestler at Florida State University.
But enough of my wrestling story, let’s look at Army wrestling… Here are some neat facts.
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2015 ARMED FORCES WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP Results
Army 1st – 172 points
Marine Corps 2nd – 121 points
Air Force 3rd – 80 points
Navy 4th – 70 points
Army consistently wins these Championships.
2017 – 2018 Senior Wrestlers
The Seniors on this year’s schedule are:
- 125 Pounds – Sean Badua
- 149 Pounds – Matt Kelly
- 157 Pounds – Jack Lucie
- 165 Pounds – Andrew Mendel
- 197 Pounds – Parker Meytrott
- 184 Pounds – Jack Wedholm
2017 – 2018 Coaches
The Head Coach of the Army Wrestling team is Kevin Ward.
Assistant Coaches are:
- Chris Chionuma
- Joe DeAngelo
- and Braden Atwood
2017 – 2018 Record
Slowly but surely, Coach Ward is bringing Army wrestling up. This year’s record was 3-6 overall, 2-3 conference.
Army MWR Wrestling
Army MWR also supports and manages a wrestling program that has many great coaches. You can see more about it by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
The Patriot League does not support wrestling so Army is in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA).
Army wrestling has a lot of room to grow and with the coaching staff they now have, I believe they will.
What are your thoughts?
Just leave all comments and questions below.
Thank you.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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