Dec. 23, 2005: Deseret Morning News

118-Pounder's Work Ethic Sets Him Apart
by Michael Black

Not every athlete is 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. Not every sport requires a 40-inch vertical leap and a 4.4 second time in the 40-yard run. For one sport in particular, it works out just fine to be 5-foot-7 and 118 pounds.

Wrestling has been a perfect fit for Bingham's Mitch Moss.

"I've always been kind of small for my age, so wrestling has been a sport I could do well at compared to football or basketball," said Moss.

Excelling at wrestling is something Moss has been doing for six years. He was a state champion at the 103-pound classification last season and has placed at tournaments throughout the West, including a high finish at the Western Regionals in Greco-Freestyle — the type of wrestling that is used at the Olympics.

Moss started wrestling because of his father, Mike Moss. Mike wrestled in high school and liked the sport enough to get Mitch started on a club level. Mitch's younger brother Kade has now joined into the family tradition, and Mitch said that he is happy that it has become such a big part of their lives.

"It is just a really fun sport," he said. "I like the social aspect of it. It is fun to hang out with my family and friends during meets or practices, and it really helps you with your discipline and work ethic."

Bingham's coach Russ Paulsen said that it is Moss' work ethic that has helped set him apart both on the mats and off.

"He works really hard to be the best that he can," Paulsen noted. "He's invested a lot of time into wrestling, and it shows, but he is just a great kid. He's the whole package. He is a good student and a good example to everyone on the team. Everyone would want to have a Mitch Moss on their team."

Moss has moved up in weight to 119 pounds for this season, but that has not stopped his success. He has reached the finals of two of the more prestigious early-season tournaments at Layton and Viewmont — unfortunately he has run into the same wrestler at both events, 4A's top-ranked wrestler at that weight Matt Brown of Cyprus, whom Moss said he has never beaten and struggles against his style. Moss said that he has a goal of making the finals at the state meet, and just trying to reach his own personal goal of wrestling his best in every match.

When Moss is not on the mats, which by his own admission is not very often, he enjoys snowboarding and paintballing, and of course just "hanging out" with friends.

He enjoys school and said that history is his favorite class.

Moss expects next year to be an even bigger challenge as wrestling will adopt a new policy about not being able to "cut" weight. He thinks he will probably be around the 130-pound classification after another year of growth. With the field leveled with the new weight policy, Moss hopes to maintain his level of success and hopes he can turn it into a wrestling future as well.

"I would like to wrestle in college," he said. "I would go about anywhere that I could get a scholarship and keep wrestling, but if it doesn't happen, I will still go to college, and I know wrestling will stay a part of my life."