Dave's Personal Wrestling Page
I did a little wrestling in Jr. high school and enjoyed it.
I had to quit due to the real world (a.k.a getting a job!) and
not having enough time to practice. Just last year I ran into some
information on the net about a recreational wrestling club and decided now that a had
a little spare time on my hands I could check it out. So I did and I
have met and wrestled some great wrestlers! I am still a beginner, but
I am learning more moves and having fun too! I
really do enjoy real amateur wrestling and I like to meet other guys
who like to wrestle as well.
6'2" 200lbs 27yrs
The pictures above are not of me wrestling competively at the club or gym,
but just me and a friend from one of the clubs wrestling at a hotel room.
Someone asked if I had any action shots of me wrestling and I realized that
since I was wrestling I never could take any pics. So, with my opponents
permission, I videotaped our informal match at the hotel and there are some
frames from it. Ofcoarse I got to pick the frames where I was in control :)
If I ever find anyone to take pics of when I wrestle on the real mat, I will
post them up.
Click
here to drop me some email!
Dave's Favorite Wrestling Sites
The Iowa Hawkeyes
are GODS to me! :)
Hawk Morgan's
Wrestling Page
Ruthless
Wrestling Page
Andrew's
Wrestling Page
Wisconsin Wrestling
Homepage
Wrestling-Amateur/College
This page is always under construction! If you know of any cool wrestling
links email me!
My outlook on wrestling
After a year of recreational wrestling, here's how it's been..
Back in April of '96, I joined a club. I joined for basically two
reasons. One was that I was looking for a sport that was fun and yet a
really good source for exercise. Just like a lot of people, you need good
motivation to exercise and wrestling is motivational for me for a lot of
reasons. Mostly because it is "forced motivation" which works well for me.
When you are on the mat and it's just you and your opponent, you really
have no choice but to be aggresive and use what you got or else you get
pinned quick!
The second reason I started wrestling last year was because I grew up with a
lot of stereotypes of what certain types of people can and can't do (ie:
sexual minorities). I didn't play as many sports in school as I would of
like to due the fact I was basically brainwashed into thinking that if you
are "gay" you can't play "real" sports. The Club is a "Gay
Operated" wrestling club. This doesn't mean that everyone in the club is
gay, it just means that they don't reject your participation in the sport if
you are. This gave me a comfort zone while learning wrestling and because
of that I was able to enjoy participating instead of thinking "I'm gay..I
shouldn't be doing this sport..wrestling is for straight people." I found
out that even in "homophobic" contact sports like wrestling, football,
etc...there are just normal guys who are into the sport that just happen to
be gay. This increased my self-confidence in my ability to compete, and
gave me a different outlook on what was basically a false
stereotype.
I also got the chance to join and wrestle with other clubs as well. Metro
and The Knights wrestling clubs in NYC was a great experience. It was fun
yet intense practicing with them. I learned a lot...(Yea I got my ass
kicked, lost 5 out of 6 matches that weekend :) ) But met a great bunch of
wrestlers and the attitude was VERY positive. Very different compared to
wrestling in school. If I was only closer to NYC I'd wrestle with them all
the time!
Ofcoarse, not just the "gay" wrestling clubs are cool. I wrestled with a
club called "Ridgefield Wrestling Club". I had fun and the guys there were
cool. I will say that it was good that my self-confidence was given a
"kick" before wrestling with them. Now that I know that that there really
is no such thing as "gay" or "straight" sports.
The reason why I am posting this on my web page is because I have gotten
some great email from people who have visted my web page saying that it has
motivated them in some form to go out and try wrestling. I have also gotten
email from other wrestlers who loved the sport but it mentally
conflicted with their sexuality. I just want to say, no matter who you are,
you can do anything you want to do. Oh, and don't fool yourself that there
isn't sexual minorities in all sports...because the fact is...there is. So
don't let that stop you.
-Dave
P.S. Keep sending me email. It really does make my day to hear from other
people!!
Click here to email me!
7/27/97
OUCH!
This weekend was the Hillside Wrestling Camp weekend in Pennsylvania. 120
wrestlers from all over the USA and the world showed up for wrestling and I
was lucky enough to get the chance to be one of them! I had a great time,
except for one small thing. The first day I was there I was doing
"situation" wrestling drills with a cool wrestler named Mark from Staten
Island, NY. and I made the big mistake of locking my leg while my opponent
was trying to throw me. All the room heard was this "POP" coming from my
leg and then I was down. My first real injury wrestling..not counting the
time I got my toe stepped on a year ago by a wrestler named Ken in RI. My
left knee popped out of joint but luckily popped right back in and besides
some major discomfort (aka PAIN!!) and being known as the limping wrestler
for the rest of weekend, everything else was ok. (No, I didn't wrestle
anymore during the rest of weekend, needless to say!) I still limped around
the camp and watched some great wrestling by some great wrestlers and met
some great people who I hope will keep in contact with me! By the way, the
leg is much better now and I hope not to have to wait long before I can hit
the mat again.
So there is two words that sums up my wrestling weekend at
Hillside:
SHIT
HAPPENS!
8/4/97
Double OUCH
First of all, thanks for all the support via email and phone! Even my
opponent from camp came down and massaged my injured leg for me..now that is
true sportsmanship! (Even though I think he just wants me to get
better so he can kick my ass on the mat again!)
The doctor gave me the news today that I did do some minor cartelege damage
in my knee and I will have to take it easy on the knee for atleast a month
and then have to go back in to see if it's better. So my wrestling will be
on hold for a bit...like I said...SHIT HAPPENS...but I will be back at it
ASAP. I better cuz I'll forget all the moves I learned at camp! :)
Thanks to Kevin for photographing my embarrassment and pain! :)
7/19/98
Wow! An Actual Update!
Sorry it's been WAY too long since I updated my page. A lot of stuff
has happened since the last update so for those who are curious about
where I've been hiding and if I am still breathing this should answer that! :)
First I have escaped Hartford, CT and moved to Boston, MA. Unfortunatly,
real life has got in the way of what I like to do recreationally, and
wrestling was one thing I had to put to the side for awhile while my
injury was healing from last year and the work load was heavy. But there
is some good news in all of this. The "opponent" I mentioned above that
was wrestling me at the time of injury has now been my "partner" in more
than just wrestling now for almost a year. Go figure the guy who kicks
my ass in a tournament in NYC last year ends up moving in with me? Maybe
I just let him so I could study his style and kick his ass on the mat back!
hehehe. Our work schedules pending, we have wrestled at the local gym where
Monday nights all these great wrestlers from the area come to hit the mat.
If you ever come to Boston email me and you can join everyone there for
practice..great mats to wrestle on! Here in Beantown we just had the Bay State Games
which had some GREAT wrestling! Next year I hope to compeat in it! Oh yea, my leg
is MUCH better now..I have been doing some light wrestling and working out the
leg alot so I can get ready for hillside again this year. I don't think I'm
gonna be able to do any heavy competitive wrestling at Hillside this year
but I got my knee brace and hopefully that will get me some mat time.
Anyways, I'm still at wrsldude@aol.com so drop
me a line!
Happy Wrestling!
-Dave
7/30/98
Oh Shit :(
I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news. I got a new job today.
Now the bad news. I can't get time off to go to Hillside this year! :(
So for you wrestlers who are going up there, have a great time and get some
mat time in for me!! Maybe next year I'll see you all!
Life sucks!
-Dave
4/11/99
Wow...My job has got the best of me right now and I havn't wrestled for over a year :( As soon as my career leaves me some free time that will be great. Maybe I'll make enough money and buy my own space and mats :)
I still may go to Hillside this year but I'm planning on moving so we'll see! Wrestling is on the back burner for now...oh well...a man has got ta pay da billz! (Wouldn't it be cool if you get paid wrestling?? heheh)
-Dave
FOUNDER
of the POD |
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since 11/20/97
