W.O.W.
W.O.W. At the 2009 Powerade Championships in Washington, PA, I saw Cody wrestle for the first time. At first, I was not floored by his wrestling, nor did I think he would win Powerade, let alone a state championship. From what I observed, Cody was not a flashy wrestler, but he never put himself in a bad position and always capitalized on scoring opportunities. I also noticed that he never stopped. For a whole six minutes this kid actual wrestled. He just seemed to be very determined on winning, whether it was a tech-fall or a decision. At the conclusion of the 2009 Powerade Tournament I was surprised that Cody Wierioch won the Outstanding Wrestler Award over only the second ever four-time Powerade Champion, Marshall Peppelman of Central Dauphin. I thought, “He won a weak weight, he had nothing to lose as a freshman, and he most likely won’t win four Powerade Championships.” I was wrong, way wrong. Cody Weierioch is the real-deal and certainly has the chance to accomplish great feats in PA wrestling history. Freshmen occasionally qualify for the State Championships at 145 lbs and up, in fact in AA and AAA combined this year only 4 wrestlers including Weirioch qualified for the State Tournament at those weights, but on very rare occasions does a freshman win a state title at one of these weights. I did some digging and found that the only wrestler to ever win a state title as a freshman above 145 lbs. was Terry Williams of Bald Eagle-Nittany in 1977 at 155 lbs. Williams went on to win two more state championships at 155 lbs. I was also impressed with Cody’s reaction after winning the title at 152 lbs. He acted as though it was just another day on the job, almost an attitude of one down, three more to go. I wish nothing but the best for this young man and hope he will be respected and supported by the wrestling community for years to come. Congratulations Cody.
Wrestler Of the Week
I know I only do AAA Rankings but I follow AA as well and was shocked at a young man’s performance this year. His name is Cody Wierioch of District 7’s Charleroi, he is a 14 year-old freshmen, he has a career record of 38-1, and he already has one Powerade Championship and one State Championship. I don’t care if he won in AA, I don’t care if 152 lbs. was not the toughest of weight classes this year, I don’t care that he is from a school that never had a state champion before this year, what this young man accomplished is astonishing. Think about where and what you were doing at the age of 14 and a freshmen in high school. I sure as hell was not anywhere near winning a state championship; even if it was in class single A in a weak wrestling state. I was a .500 wrestler at 122 lbs. on a freshmen team, wrestling kids my age or younger, not kids between the ages of 14-18.
Content copyright . Jeffrey Upson. All rights reserved.