Chesterton senior wrestler Greyson Strickland soaks in his first Al Smith Classic experience and places seventh at 165 pounds

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton senior Greyson Strickland has a way of packing a lot of wrestling into a shorter amount of time than most, so it’s not surprising that in his first Al Smith Classic, he wrestled six matches and was one of three Trojans to make it to Saturday, the second day of the tournament.
“This was my first time coming,” Strickland said of the tournament that plays out in The Cave, the name of the Mishawaka High School gymnasium. “I had never even watched it before. Everyone told me it was so much fun. I didn’t really believe them because I knew it was a hard tournament, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Nearby streets in every direction were lined with cars because the parking lot was full, and the stands were packed as The Cave took on the feel of gladiators, except the combatants fought to win by the rules, not to kill or be killed.
And unlike last year, when he wasn’t feeling healthy enough to attend, Al Smith himself was there. Smith coached Mishawaka wrestling from 1966-1999. Helped to his feet from his wheelchair by son Byron and another man, Smith sang along with the national anthem and watched the matches from his chair.
Strickland took the entire two-day experience in and looked around the gym, noticing that it was built in 1924.
“It’s older than sliced bread,” Strickland said. “We looked it up.”
What prompted that?
“I knew that sliced bread was invented later than most people think,” he said. “I knew it was right around then, so I looked it up. Sliced bread was 1928 and this was built in 1924.”
Strickland started wrestling later than most would guess watching him. He didn’t take up the sport until freshman year in high school and this is his first season that he has had a permanent spot in the lineup. Last season, he won some wrestle offs and lost some for a spot in the regular season lineup and won a wrestle off to make it onto the postseason roster, wrestling up all the way to 190 pounds.
A regular in Chesterton’s wrestling room the past two offseasons, he steadily has improved and has climbed all the way to No. 17 in the Indianamat.com state rankings at 165 pounds. The top four wrestlers in each semi-state tournament advance to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
At the moment, Strickland is ranked No. 6 in the East Chicago semi-state and Ben Rivera from Lowell is No. 7. Strickland beat him 13-5 Friday.
The coaches praise Strickland’s consistent dedication to improvement and he repays the compliments.
“Coach (Nicholas) Chavez, Coach (Anthony) Hawkins, the new coach,” Strickland said. “The whole coaching staff. They’re all willing to stay after and help out and they give the best advice.”
A sponge of a wrestling student, Strickland stays after regularly and it shows.