Ryan Camp '16 Recruiting Profile

For me, wrestling all began when I was in 6th grade. When I stepped on the mat for the first time, I knew that I wanted wrestling to be a part of my future for the rest of my life. That included competing competitively at the college level and from there making it on the world team, and that dream still lives on today. From that point on, wrestling has played a major role in my life on and off the mat.

 As far as my high school career goes, I was named first team all-county my freshman year and second team all-county my sophomore year. As a freshman I was region runner up and earned a state qualification. My sophomore year I was wrestling 113 and was undefeated when I suffered from a concussion halfway through the season. After doctor diagnosis and advice, they had me stop dropping weight classes and wrestle 126. What started off as the season I thought would be my year at the state title, turned into a struggle to compete on the elite level.  But if there is one thing that wrestling has taught me, it is that true champions fight through adversity. With that being said, I managed to win my wrestle off and claim my spot on the varsity team and qualify for state for the second year in a row.

This year, my junior year, has been what many would call my break out year. With a total record of 33-8, I have been in three finals matches, including the region finals where I came out with runner up in what has been named the toughest region in the state of Georgia, regardless of the classification. The following week I qualified for state for the third year by placing third in the west sectionals. With state coming up this week, hopes are high as I am not only a contender for placing top four, but being in the state finals as well. One of the aspects my coach has taught me throughout my career is the saying “fix your face.” You never want your opponent to know that you are tired, even if you are. Nothing breaks your opponent more than when he is tired and you are jogging back to the center of the mat. That is exactly what I do. Whether I am winning or losing, I do everything I can to mentally break my opponent.

But it is not my genetics that have gotten me this far. If there is one thing about me that stands out it is that I am one of the hardest workers in the room (the other being whoever I am drilling with). I know what it takes to compete at the elite level and I am willing to put in all the work and make the sacrifices that are necessary to get to that level. The difference between a wrestler and an elite wrestler is their attitude towards practice. A wrestler will see practice as a number: they have to lose a certain number of pounds a practice and that is all it is to them, but an elite wrestler see is differently. An elite wrester sees practice as a chance to work harder than their competition, a chance to work harder than anyone in the state, or even the nation. I am an elite wrestler. You will never find me in the practice room just going through the motions, if I am in there I will be getting better. Many coaches will say practice makes perfect, but that is not necessarily true. It is perfect practice makes perfect and that is what I try to live by every day at practice.

Like I said, wrestling has taught me more than how to be a great wrestler; it has also taught me how to be successful in the classroom. With an unweighted GPA of 3.9 I stand at number 26 out of a class of 380 students. My courses consist of AP classes, four this year, and an occasional honors class. Amongst these, I am also involved in extracurricular activities such as the C.A.R.E.S. program where we read to 1st and 2nd graders in the morning. So whether it is being the hardest worker in the practice room, winning the close matches on the mat, or striving for success in the classroom, I put everything I have on the line to do my best, and I know the results will follow.