Dec. 27, 2003: The Salt Lake Tribune, Prep Wrestling: Size of the Fight in the Dog,
Small Stature Doesn't Diminish Grapplers' Contribution
by Peter Richins

With his eye swollen and blackened, Spanish Fork wrestler Jason Warner talked about how a 103-pound wrestler can be just as tough as a heavyweight.

"It's just as hard to take a state championship at 103 as it would be at 189," Warner said during the recent Viewmont Invitational tournament. "You do the same stuff."

For athletes of Warner's size, wrestling can be an important equalizer. Taller or heavier high school athletes have greater opportunities to excel in sports such as football, basketball and baseball.

Warner is the only wrestler in his family. His father got him involved when he was 6 years old, mostly because the sport is such a big part of the Spanish Fork community. For Warner, now a 16-year-old junior, wrestling always was an option while his peers grew heavier and taller.

Warner never really considered basketball because of his 5-foot-5 height, and he was too small for football. Baseball was an option when he was younger, but not in high school.

"You can still play [baseball], but you probably won't be as competitive," said Warner, who sustained his black eye during a dual meet against Millard. "You'd probably be on the bench a lot."

Layton 103-pounder Caleb Isom felt the same way when he considered playing high school football. Isom was quick, but he knew that would not be sufficient.

"When we were going to be in pads, I knew I would get demolished because I'm so small," Isom said. Isom, a 17-year-old junior, is the youngest in a family of wrestlers. His father was Layton's first wrestling state champion, and each of his older brothers placed in the top six at state tournaments.

An athlete's size, however, does not reflect his competitive spirit. For Isom and Warner, wrestling is a way to gain respect. Tyler Rackham, Box Elder's 103-pounder, certainly agrees.

"Everybody on the team is an equal opponent," Rackham said. A 16-year-old sophomore, Rackham played football and baseball before high school, then decided to concentrate on wrestling before his freshman year.

"Everybody respects each other [on the team]," Rackham said. "It's not all individual; you depend a lot on how the team does."

Lightweight wrestlers contribute equally to their teams' success.

"It can't just be the biggest guy who wins all the matches," Warner said. "The tallest guy on the basketball team might be the star, but you need everyone on a wrestling team for your team to win."

Victories in the lower weights were important at last year's state tournaments. Spanish Fork won the 4-A team title while taking first and second place at 103.  Millard won the 2-A title while earning individual titles in five weight classes, three of which were under 125 pounds.

Rackham said wrestling requires a different kind of strength than the pure, brute kind.

"You need to be in shape and have good technique, but a lot of it is mental," Rackham said. "You've got to have your mindset in it, and you've always got to be ready."

Smaller athletes have options other than wrestling. Cross country, swimming or soccer may provide a wrestler with chances for success. But those sports are not for everybody, and certainly cross country is not for Isom. For him, running is more of a punishment. Swimming is not really an option, either, because the season overlaps with his family's sport.

Wrestling is "there for everybody," Isom said. "No matter what, you're going against your own size. It's never going to be unfair." .