Dec. 9, 2005: Deseret Morning News

Davis Wrestler Going for 3rd State Title
by Michael Black

Davis wrestler Sean Porter lives by the saying, "A champion gets up one more time than he falls down."

Of course, with the way he wrestles, he rarely needs to pick himself up off the mat to follow his mantra.

Porter is a two-time state champion and looking for a third consecutive title as a junior. He comes from a distinguished wrestling family and is trying to carry on the legacy. His father, Alan, is the coach at Davis, and his brother, Neal, is an assistant with the Darts.

"Sometimes it's easier. You can go home and talk all about wrestling and what you need to work on," Sean said of having family members as coaches. "Sometimes it is a lot harder. You have a lot more pressure to perform."

Besides just the pressure put on him to do well because of his namesake, there is also the problem of overcoming a little sibling rivalry.

"At first I had a little bit of a hard time listening to him (Neal) tell me what to do just because he is my older brother, and it is always hard to listen to an older brother," he said.

"But sometimes it is nice to have him helping me. Besides being a very good coach, it is good to have someone tell you things that can relate to what you are doing, what you are going through. He already went through this and knows how it feels and the things you need to do to have success."

Success has not been a problem for Sean. He already won the two state titles, and he is ranked as high as No. 16 in the nation according to some publications. One thing he will need to adjust is the fact that he has grown, and instead of wrestling at 130 pounds as he has done in the past years, he is now in the 140-pound classification.

"He has gotten bigger from all his lifting and playing football," said Alan. "But Sean is about the same, only bigger."

What Alan means by the same is that Sean is still a technically sound and quick wrestler. He has been stronger and quicker, with all the same great fundamentals, than nearly every opponent he has faced while wrestling in Utah. But time will tell if the move up in weight will have an impact on his superior strength over other wrestlers.

Another obstacle for Sean is the injuries that occur. He tore ligaments in his right thumb that required surgery at the end of last year. It was something that made him miss some of the national tournaments and valuable practice time.

While his right thumb has healed, a similar injury to his left thumb is hampering him this year. The injury is not quite as extensive and will not require surgery, but it still needs rest, and that means time away from the mats.

When Sean is not wrestling, he enjoys football and anything that is active. His favorite classes are medical anatomy and physiology and said that plans in the medical field may be in his future, but make no mistake, he has a pure passion for wrestling.

"I love it," he said. "You work so hard, and when you win it is all worth it. When you lose, you get back to work and do a little more to try to fix whatever it was that went wrong. It is so rewarding that way."