My Favorite Sport - Wrestling
General Stricker Wrestling Club
One day while at football practice, one of my teammates came late to practice and so I asked, "George, why are you always late to practice lately?" He told me that he was coming from wrestling and suggested that I should come out for the team. I talked to my parents and the rest was history. Thank you George Rossmark!
Over the next thirty years, I wrestled for General Stricker Wrestling Club, Archbishop Curley High School, the Maryland All-Stars, the University of Maryland Terrapins, the Maryland Wrestling Club, the Amateur Athletic Union, and the United States of America. All toll, I have wrestled nearly 1000 matches in those 30 years and have been very blessed to be on the winning end of the overwhelming majority of those bouts.
While wrestling for Archbishop Curley High School, I finished my career as only Curley's 2nd MSA Champion since the schools founding in 1960. The first wrestling champion for Curley was alumni Andy Amasia in 1964. In 1979, I was selected by Scholatic Wrestling News as a High School All-American Wrestler along with Bruce Malinowski of Kenwood HS from the state of Maryland. Since my graduation, Curley has produced nearly a dozen more champions in the new MIAA Division. I had some great coaches from the very start in Mr. Gerald McGrath & Mr. Bo Eibner (Junior League), Mr. Ray Haney & Mr. Al Udris (High School), and Mr. John McHugh, Mr. Curt Callahan, and Mr. Kevin Kearns (College). As a result of my wrestling success in high school, I was recruited by dozens of colleges across the country. I eventually signed a letter of intent to Maryland and was awarded a full ride. I left Maryland after my sophomore year to join the police department in 1981 and have been employed as such ever since.
Over the next thirty years, I wrestled for General Stricker Wrestling Club, Archbishop Curley High School, the Maryland All-Stars, the University of Maryland Terrapins, the Maryland Wrestling Club, the Amateur Athletic Union, and the United States of America. All toll, I have wrestled nearly 1000 matches in those 30 years and have been very blessed to be on the winning end of the overwhelming majority of those bouts.
While wrestling for Archbishop Curley High School, I finished my career as only Curley's 2nd MSA Champion since the schools founding in 1960. The first wrestling champion for Curley was alumni Andy Amasia in 1964. In 1979, I was selected by Scholatic Wrestling News as a High School All-American Wrestler along with Bruce Malinowski of Kenwood HS from the state of Maryland. Since my graduation, Curley has produced nearly a dozen more champions in the new MIAA Division. I had some great coaches from the very start in Mr. Gerald McGrath & Mr. Bo Eibner (Junior League), Mr. Ray Haney & Mr. Al Udris (High School), and Mr. John McHugh, Mr. Curt Callahan, and Mr. Kevin Kearns (College). As a result of my wrestling success in high school, I was recruited by dozens of colleges across the country. I eventually signed a letter of intent to Maryland and was awarded a full ride. I left Maryland after my sophomore year to join the police department in 1981 and have been employed as such ever since.
As I improved in my wrestling skills throughout my career, I was attracted to the Olympic styles of Freestyle and Greco-Roman and began to drill hard in both styles. My hard work and efforts paid off as I began to win various prestigious tournaments at the local, state, regional, and national levels. By my junior year in high school, I was ranked nationally in the top 10 of the country for Greco-Roman at my weight.
In my senior year, I traveled to Hofstra University in New York and competed in the United States Wrestling Federation Eastern Nationals. I entered both styles at 154 pounds and wrestled my way to the finals of both styles. I won 7 bouts to win the Greco-Roman championship at 154 pounds and was named the tournaments "Outstanding Wrestler" for Greco-Roman (photo below). In the finals of Freestyle, I lost to Nate Carr of Erie, Pennsylvania, 10-6. Carr went on to wrestle at Iowa State and won three NCAA titles for the Cyclones. Carr also went on to wrestle in the 1988 Seoul Olympics for the United States and won the Bronze medal, losing a very close and controversial bout with the Korean wrestler in the semi-finals.
I was ultimately selected by voting members of the Wrestling Divisions of the US Olympic Committee and the Amateur Athletic Union to the prestigious "Olympic 200 Project" which was comprised of the 200 best wrestlers in the country in the Olympic styles. I was ranked fourth by the members for Greco-Roman and was one of only three wrestlers to represent the state of Maryland. Bruce Malinowski ( Kenwood) and Greg Peery (Mt St Joe) were the other two that were also selected for the Freestyle venue along with me for Greco-Roman. We were sent for nearly two months to train at the US Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley, California. During that camp, our ranks were trimmed down to the top four wrestlers for each weight and style. I finished 2nd at my weight after the ladder trials and the top four were then sent to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We continued to train there and prepared to compete in the 1979 US Olympic Sports Festival that was being held at the US Air Force Academy later that month. I eventually competed at the Olympic Sports Festival in Greco-Roman Wrestling for the East Team (we all wore blue uniforms) and finished with the Silver medal at 154 pounds, losing a nailbiter to Murray Crews, 11-10. Crews went on to wrestle at Iowa State and lost the starting spot to Nate Carr. From there many of us traveled to the University of Nebraska to compete in the National Multisport Championships of the Amateur Athletic Union. I went on to win both Freestyle and Greco-Roman at 154 pounds and was one of two wrestlers to do so. A photo of the champions from that tournament are pictured below. Don't mind the cowboy hat, I thought it was cool!
In my senior year, I traveled to Hofstra University in New York and competed in the United States Wrestling Federation Eastern Nationals. I entered both styles at 154 pounds and wrestled my way to the finals of both styles. I won 7 bouts to win the Greco-Roman championship at 154 pounds and was named the tournaments "Outstanding Wrestler" for Greco-Roman (photo below). In the finals of Freestyle, I lost to Nate Carr of Erie, Pennsylvania, 10-6. Carr went on to wrestle at Iowa State and won three NCAA titles for the Cyclones. Carr also went on to wrestle in the 1988 Seoul Olympics for the United States and won the Bronze medal, losing a very close and controversial bout with the Korean wrestler in the semi-finals.
I was ultimately selected by voting members of the Wrestling Divisions of the US Olympic Committee and the Amateur Athletic Union to the prestigious "Olympic 200 Project" which was comprised of the 200 best wrestlers in the country in the Olympic styles. I was ranked fourth by the members for Greco-Roman and was one of only three wrestlers to represent the state of Maryland. Bruce Malinowski ( Kenwood) and Greg Peery (Mt St Joe) were the other two that were also selected for the Freestyle venue along with me for Greco-Roman. We were sent for nearly two months to train at the US Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley, California. During that camp, our ranks were trimmed down to the top four wrestlers for each weight and style. I finished 2nd at my weight after the ladder trials and the top four were then sent to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We continued to train there and prepared to compete in the 1979 US Olympic Sports Festival that was being held at the US Air Force Academy later that month. I eventually competed at the Olympic Sports Festival in Greco-Roman Wrestling for the East Team (we all wore blue uniforms) and finished with the Silver medal at 154 pounds, losing a nailbiter to Murray Crews, 11-10. Crews went on to wrestle at Iowa State and lost the starting spot to Nate Carr. From there many of us traveled to the University of Nebraska to compete in the National Multisport Championships of the Amateur Athletic Union. I went on to win both Freestyle and Greco-Roman at 154 pounds and was one of two wrestlers to do so. A photo of the champions from that tournament are pictured below. Don't mind the cowboy hat, I thought it was cool!
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