What sports do you play? How have you done in each of them to this point?
I play football, wrestle, and run track. Up to this point I’ve done pretty well with breaking the school career tackle record with 366 tackles and placing 4th last year at 195 for wrestling. Also running at state the past four years at track.
So you committed to South Dakota recently to play football. Was this a difficult decision? Will it be easy to leave wrestling behind after your Senior year?
Committing to USD was hard because I knew I’d be leaving all my other sports behind, especially wrestling. It’ll be very hard for me when I won’t be able to roll around on the mat anymore.
Who were some athletes that you looked up to growing up?
I looked up to Ray Lewis a lot. He was a beast football player that could lay the hammer and he wrestled in high school and won a state championship. He put his full heart into everything he did.
Say there is an athlete who is good at 3 sports, but wants to quit 2 of them because they think it will benefit them if they play just one sport. What advice would you give this kid?
I would say to the kid that every sports feeds into itself and you’d better yourself more in your “main sport” if you do the other ones. Like for me wrestling gives me good body control and a mental edge that helps in every other sport and puts me that much further ahead than the people I compete against that only do 1 sport.
How has your skills you picked up wrestling helped your football game? Had football helped your wrestling game?
Wrestling gave me lots of skills for my football game. Learning to hand fight and use angles helps get off lineman in football a lot easier. A football tackle is just like a double leg so football also fed right into my wrestling abilities too.
How often do you dream of playing in the NFL?
I’ve dreamed about being in the NFL since I was a kid, it’s pretty much every football players goal.
What are some of your favorite memories of every sport you play?
My favorite memory for football definitely has to be running into the dome this year for the semi final game. My favorite memory for wrestling was wrestling at the state tournament last year and running to the mats when they call your name. My favorite memory for track is when we won conference for the 3rd year in a row, despite every news outlet saying we couldn’t do it.
What accolades are you most proud of from every sport.
For football I’m most proud of my tackle record I set at the school and for wrestling I’m proud of placing 4th last year. For track I’m most proud of going to state and Drake every year so far.
Would you like to give a shout out to any coaches or mentors that helped you reach the point of being such an accomplished athlete?
I’d like to shoutout my football coach, Coach White. He would constantly push me to strive for something better and he is also a strong advocate for football players that do other sports. I’d also like to shoutout my dad. He made me the athlete I am today and I how everything to him.
Is your entire family athletic?
I come from a family of athletes. Everyone in my family either played in college or plans to play in college.
How good are you feeling about the upcoming wrestling season?
I’m feeling pretty good about this football season. I’m nursing my shoulder back up to health for a bit but plan to leave it all on the mat for one final year.
