Wrestlers are a different breed.
They constantly count calories to maintain weight and spend hours each day training, more often than not rolling around on a mat soaked with years of sweat. There's nowhere to hide in competition, no teammates to play off or coaching schemes to gain an advantage. It's a one-on-one showdown where the victor must physically dominate a competitor.
In both his years with @UB_Wrestling, @JacksWrestling's @Troy_Keller111 earned a MAC title and made the NCAA tourney.
— Mike Meiler (@mikemeiler) April 27, 2020
Now, @NW_Wrestling1's McDougald brothers and GI's Adam Daghestani are eager to follow in his footsteps:https://t.co/J8j35NUrSq
And the best of them have been doing this most of their lives. These are people who wear cauliflower ear as a point of pride.
"If, say, you've been doing this from childhood to college, you're not normal," said Grand Island senior Adam Daghestani. "Cutting weight and all this, you're not a normal person. I think most wrestlers at the college level are not normal people. And I like that. Be different."
These are tough, competitive people. They seek out the same. And right now, local stars are finding just that at the University at Buffalo.
Daghestani and Niagara Wheatfield senior Justin McDougald will join McDougald's older brother, Warren, on the Bulls next season under head coach John Stutzman, who helped former North Tonawanda star Troy Keller make his second NCAA tournament this winter before the coronavirus outbreak forced a halt to competition.