Derek Liddle '20 Recruiting Profile

A lot of people do not “get” wrestling unless they have done it or know someone who is wrestling.   I often get the “why would you put yourself through that?” question from my peers.  The simple answer is that I love it, and it grounds me.  I started wrestling in middle school and absolutely dominated my district in that first year.  Then along came high school and all the challenges of being at the bottom of the pile.  As you can imagine, the varsity wrestler in my weight class was not too happy with a freshman challenging for the starting spot.  I went in with little technical training and a lot of determination.  After enduring four weeks of challenges, bruises, bloody noses, and quite a bit of locker room bullying I gained the starting spot on the varsity team.  I earned it the hard way and have kept it by continuously training, controlling my diet, and putting in the extra work in every aspect of my life.

I participate in a lot of sports year-round.   I’ve seen a lot of success in most of them but, I find myself using my time on other teams as a training session for wrestling.  I pushed myself in cross country, track, and football to build endurance and leg strengthening.  My time in karate to work on flexibility, and my mental game.  And my time in shooting sports to strengthen my arms, core, and focus.  I spend my summers in intense strength training camps and technique training.  I cannot attend all the tournaments and clinics that I would like to because, as my parents like to say, “money does not grow on trees”.  So, I do what I can locally, pay for what I can out of my own earnings, and make sacrifices. But it is worth it to me because all roads lead to wrestling.

I learned very early to control my diet.  When I started wrestling in the 8^th grade I was 5’10” and a fluffy 197 lbs.  I am now a senior at 6’2” and weigh 195 lbs.  I control my diet off season as much as I do in season. I learned the hard way that I cannot cut all week and expect to be at top performance for a tournament.  I’ve lost more than one match from running out of fuel.  I came up with a personal diet program that will carry me through training and insure I am not going to run out of fuel on the mat.   I haven’t stressed “making weight” in over two years.

Wrestling has had an influence on every aspect of my life.  It has taught me self-discipline, work ethic, teamwork, time management, and a strong appreciation for all the opportunities I have been blessed with.  While I spend a lot of time working towards wrestling season,  I also have a job, take AP and honors classes, I am a member of the 4-H, FFA, Izaak Walton League and most importantly a big brother to a sister who is 8 years younger than I am and watching everything I do.  I am not the top of my class, but I maintain a healthy GPA and have gained invitations into two honor societies.  I work hard at my job and believe in giving back to my community.  I mentor youth and help in coaching younger athletes in wrestling, karate, and shooting sports.

The life skills and values I have gained from wrestling has helped to prepare me for my future endeavors.  I am determined to continue my education and reach my goal of becoming a Sports Medicine PA.  Wrestling has provided me with the drive, dedication and focus to allow me to juggle multiple pressures at one time and I am certain I will reach that goal.