U-M's Kellen Russell (College) & Taylor Massa (H.S.) MI Athletes of the Year
The Detroit Athletic Club named two-time NCAA wrestling champion Kellen Russell its Michigan Collegiate Men's Athlete of the Year. Given the competition of Denard Robinson, Draymond Green (I feel dirty writing that, but give the devil his due), Trey Burke, etc., it is quite an honor. And well-deserved: 4-time B1G champion, 33-1 this season, and .918 overall win percentage. He's only the second Wolverine to achieve the [ed. men's] honor in the 16 year history of the award (swimmer Davis Tarwater won in 2006) [ed. which was expanded to include collegiate athletes in 2006 - see HopeInHoke's comment below for a nice table, etc.].
In the H.S. division, rising freshman wrestler Taylor Massa won the award. Taylor's from St. Johns, MI and attends St. Johns H.S.. This rising Wolverine will bring a 231-0 H.S. record with him, along with various other awards - the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award among them. This young man is legit, and we look forward to seeing him represent U-M over the next four years.
Congratulations to Kellen and Taylor, and Go Blue! Links below.
Kellen Russell Taylor Massa
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/051612aaa.html
...likely gave Russell a (single) leg up on his competition.
Massa sure looks like one to watch in the coming years.
Great honor; totally deserved.
"...it probably takes way more hard work and determination than football or basketball"?
How do you figure? I think that the level of "hard work and determination" is more variable by individual than it is by sport. In every sport, there is a spectrum of both talent and effort. The extraordinary participants possess both, regardless of sport. I would find it hard to believe that wrestlers are inherently more dedicated to their sport, thereby possessing more determination, and putting in more effort, than do participants of other sports. I've heard many arguments for which sport is the best, but "we try harder than you" is a new one for me.
There are so many different elements that go into being successful in any sport, and so many different types of skill that are important, even across different positions within the same sport. To say that wrestlers are the most dedicated and the hardest workers is silly. Have you compared time spent studying film? Does that count toward "dedication and hard work?" Division 1 athletics is hard work. To say that one sport's athletes' efforts are "unmatched" is nonsense, and is likely to be rooted in bias toward a specific sport, or a specific type of effort. Wrestlers are likely, on average, in better shape than athletes in football, due to specialization, but that doesn't mean they are more dedicated or harder workers necessarily.
Well, evidently I hit a nerve. I apologize; I have a very healthy respect for wrestling being from the state of Iowa.
Let me rephrase my statement: to wrestle at the championship level, the individual athlete must make more sacrifices (e.g. put up with more pain/physical endurance) than an individual athlete who plays football on a championship team.
You are all correct in saying "hard work" and "dedication" is somewhat subjective and very individualized. However, I stand by my above statement saying wrestlers must endure more physical hardship to win a championship than football players.
I doubt many of the posters who responded have been close to wrestling. It is a truly grueling sport.
I don't know who makes more sacrifices or suffers more hardship - that seems really tough to quantify, especially when you take into account relative time in the weight room, practice sessions, etc. I think athletes in both sports get pushed to their limits. Both require discipline, dedication, talent, and smarts. And I suppose there's a reason a lot of athletes excel at both sports, since the personal qualities it takes to succeed in each sport overlap quite a bit. (Consider Reilly Reiff a prime example of this. Stud wrestler and stud lineman.) I don't know that one sport requires "more sacrifice" or "more hardship" than the other. They are both tough sports in which to excel. It might be best to leave it at that.
But I agree with jcorqian 100% that wrestling is much more grueling than most people realize. Training sessions are absolutely exhausting (physically and mentally). Making weight can be brutal (and at times unhealthy). And the matches are wonderfully intense.
The thing I love about wrestling is that it is a no b.s. environment. If you win it's because you won, and if you lose it's because you got beaten. There's no teammate to share the blame. And results almost always reflect actual performance, rather than an official's error.
As far as it being a "team" sport, there are elements of teamwork that non-wrestlers don't always appreciate - a good wrestler helps his teammates in practice, helps spot tendencies in opponents, and does other things to contribute to the team's success. That stated, the team aspect of wrestling is nowhere near the team ethos that football, basketball, hockey, and soccer. Again, making these two sports difficult to compare with respect to who works the hardest to excel.
who has done pretty much all these sports and some point in time, none of them are as tough as wrestling. Not even close.
I'll just leave it at this:
An objective person who has played or been around both sports would say that a college football practice is nowhere near as physically demanding as a wrestling practice.
Again, I'm only talking about it from a physical/exhaustion perspective, which is what I see as toughness. Of course there is time spent in the film room and memorizing plays, but that doesn't really take "toughness." It's not like wrestlers don't study either.
I'm a ridiculous Michigan football fan first and foremost, but I really like to see the wrestlers get their due. It always seems those kids are working their asses off and they rarely get the recognition for it.
Madison Ristovski, incoming women's basketball freshman, was one of the six female finalists for the high school award.
| Year | Name | School | Sport |
| 2006 | Davis Tarwater | Michigan | Swimming |
| Lisa Winkle | Calvin College | Track and Field | |
| 2007 | Drew Stanton | Michigan State | Football |
| Becky Weima | Calvin College | Swimming | |
| 2008 | Jeff Lerg | Michigan State | Hockey |
| Tiffany Ofili | Michigan | Track and Field | |
| 2009 | Tim Hiller | Western Michigan | Football |
| Katie Cezat | Hillsdale College | Basketball | |
| 2010 | Dan LeFevour | Central Michigan | Football |
| Alyssa DeHaan | Michigan State | Basketball | |
| 2011 | Brandon Eckerle | Michigan State | Baseball |
| Lexi Zimmerman | Michigan | Volleyball | |
| 2012 | Kellen Russell | Michigan | Wrestling |
| Catherine Leix | Wayne State | Swimming | |
| School | Number of Winners | ||
| Michigan | 4 (2 men, 2 women) | ||
| Michigan State | 4 (3 men, 1 women) | ||
| Calvin College | 2 (2 women) | ||
| Western | 1 (1 man) | ||
| Hillsdale | 1 (1 woman) | ||
| Central | 1 (1 man) | ||
| Wayne | 1 (1 woman) |
Taylor is from my hometown. Kid is a tireless worker and an extremely technical wrestler. He will be a great Wolverine.
is the most difficult sport in my opinion. As opposed to basketball and football, you can NEVER take off a play and let your teamates do a little more work because you're the only one in there. Also, it takes every ounce of energy in your body to pin someone on their back. It's hard to know unless you've played the sport.