I don’t know Stacey personally and I’m getting to the point where a lot more of these will be on people I don’t know personally. I am pm’ing a lot of people I have never met before, which baffles me, for when I was a little kid, I was painfully shy. Not sure when I got over that, but I did! Which is nice because now we aren’t limited to doing these articles on JUST people that I know personally.
I posted Stacey’s state finals highlight and saw that there were a lot of people sharing/commenting on his clip, so I randomly decided to ask him to do one of these, in which lucky for all of us, he agreed to! It’s nice to be able to write one of these for someone from that era (80’s) as well as that geographic region (NW), which is the exact opposite of where I am from, which makes things more difficult for me to come by since I don’t know as many people from that area… But expect more, both from NW Iowa and the 80’s era!
It is insane just how close this Stacey and Kent Streicher were to being 4X state champions…
EDIT: After formatting his questionnaire, I noticed that his sons, Payton and Chance were both wrestlers who I am very familiar with, most notably, Chance. Chance was in my youngest brother, Brennan’s bracket at state when they were Seniors and he was one of the kids that we scouted the most, for his stats were so impressive. He didn’t have the tournament that he presumably would have liked to that week, but he was just a missed flurry or two away from winning both the matches he lost. I know that bracket like the back of my hand… Chance Rice was one of the best kids in that bracket. I had no idea who his dad was! Cool stuff…
Who or what encouraged you to give wrestling a try?
My dad was a state champion wrestler in MN and cultivated my love for wrestling.
Do you have any family who wrestled or wrestles currently? Parents, children, brothers, etc.? How did they do?
Dad (Steve)
1st, 2nd & 4th HS state In Minnesota
Brother (Skyler)
4th, 3rd, 3rd & 3rd HS state in IA
Son (Payton)
6th, 2nd, 5th & 3rd HS state IA
Son (Chance)
2x state qualifier IA
Son (Kyper)
8 yrs old and does wrestle
What were your youth results? Any rivals there?
USA (freestyle)
5x state champ
3x regional national champ
3rd international team trials
AAU (freestyle)
3x state champ
3x grand National champ
Rivals that come to mind:
Dave Malecek from Osage
Jamey Cummings, Mediapolis
Tim Anderson, West DesMoines
What was your record in HS?
118-2
How did you place at state every year?
1st at 126 1986
5th at 132 1987
1st at 132 1988
1st at 135 1989
What were some of the most notable adverse challenges or moments you experienced in wrestling and how did it turn out?
Losing my 10th grade year was probably a good thing….It made me sit down and re-evaluate my goals and what I needed to do to be successful.
How would you describe your wrestling style?
Aggressive and attacking…
How many guys in high school did you go back and forth with or exchange wins with?
My 2 losses…..I didn’t have a chance at revenge since they were both seniors and happened as a 10th grader.
Who was your most influential coach?
Easily my dad, but loved wrestling for Coach Keven Besch and Rick Dawson
Was your team competitive in HS/college?
Storm Lake hadn’t won a dual in 5 yrs until my 9th grade year. It was awesome being a part of the turn around for Storm Lake wrestling….by my 11th & 12th grade years we placed 3rd at state as a team both years.
Who was your most influential wrestler that you looked up to growing up?
I loved watching Nate Carr and Kenny Monday
Who would you consider the GOAT Iowa HS wrestler?
Not sure I could narrow that down to 1 wrestler…a lot of great wrestlers have come through Iowa.
Who are your favorite current wrestlers?
Avila from Lisbon is very talented and fun to watch wrestle.
What music would you listen to back in the wrestling days?
AC/DC
What was the most upset you ever felt after a loss?
My 1st HS loss was pretty upsetting and honestly led to my 2nd loss. But both loses probably helped me correct issues with my nutrition/diet.
If you could go back and change one thing about your wrestling career, what would it be?
Shoulder injury my senior year of HS and re-injury my freshman year of college. Basically ended my career.
What was your best wrestling memory or accomplishment?
Winning State as a freshman at 126lbs
Did you wrestle all year or was it seasonal for you?
I wrestled all year.
How would the guys from your day stack up against the guys today?
I do believe guys from my day would stack up well with today’s generation.
Did you wrestle after high school?
Yes, but multiple shoulder injuries/surgeries ended my career. Surgeries started my senior year of HS.
What other sports did you play?
Football
What are your favorite sports teams?
Vikings-pro football
Hawkeyes- college wrestling
What are your favorite hobbies other then wrestling?
Family
Did wrestling help you with your football game?
Absolutely
How good does it make you feel to give back to the sport?
Wrestling has been a huge part of my life…competitively and as a coach. Nothing better then helping young men reach their goals.
How has wrestling shaped you as a person to this day?
Goal setting, drive to achieve and the mental toughness to overcome adversity
What do you do now?
Special education teacher and coach
Are you still involved with wrestling?
Yes…still coaching
Any advice for upcoming wrestlers?
Set your goals high and be willing to commit 100% at making your dreams a reality. I’ve always lived by what you can Conceive in your mind, Believe in your heart, you can achieve!
Any chance we see you wrestle again at an Old Timer’s tournament?
Nope
Would you like to give a shout out to anyone you wrestled with, against, coached, etc.?
All the places/wrestlers that have been such a huge part of my wrestling life…Storm Lake, Alta, Sioux Central, Manson-Northwest Webster, Saydel, Colfax-Mingo and most recently the West-Bend-Mallard Wolverines!
