Kaden Campbell '14 Recruiting Profile

I love wrestling and have been around the sport my whole life.  When I was only two years old my father took me with him as he helped coach the local high school team.  I started to wrestle competitively when I was five years old.  When we moved to Utah I wrestled in the local Tiger League were I went undefeated all three years.  In Junior High I won the 1A-3A state titles my 7th and 8th grade years.  By seventh grade my father decided that he and the local coaches had taken me about as far as they could and begin to send me all over to camps throughout the summer every summer.  I had the chance to travel to Austria to wrestle in a world competition where gold medalist Rulon Gardner was my coach.  I loved the experience and was humbled by our tours of the world war II Nazi concentration camps.  I have won several USA wrestling state titles in folkstyle, greco, and freestyle.  My freshman year I lost in the state quarterfinals and wrestled all the way back to take third beating several seniors (including one that had beaten me earlier in the year).  My sophomore year I was ranked #2 in the state with a record of 30-2 at 145 pounds when I was illegally thrown on to my neck were I was carried off on a stretcher.  I couldn't wrestle or exercise for three weeks.  I was able to come back the week before regions, but at 160 pounds and out of shape.  This lead to a disappointing sixth place finish.  My junior year I was ranked #1 and had a great year.  I breezed through to the finals and was winning by one point.  I made an error in looking to see how much time was left instead of focusing on the match and was taken down and lost the match.  Although I was extremely disappointed in losing I learned an important life lesson.  Sometimes learning to lose is as important as learning to win.

One challenge I have had since attending high school is that every year the coaching staff has changed.  It has made if difficult for me because there are not summer work outs or camps with my team.  Most of my summer wrestling is camps that I attend and tournaments that my mom takes me to without a coach in my corner.  I know because of this disadvantage I still have a lot of potential that I have not tapped and look forward in doing so in college!  

When I was fourteen years old I earned my Eagle Scout Award.  It was hard work, but I found it very rewarding.  I am involved in my local church where I often have the opportunity to serve others in need.  This helps keep me grounded.  After my Sophomore year I decided I wanted to pursue wrestling in college and decided I needed to focus more on my grades.  Since doing this I have really made strides with my GPA and have learned the importance of a good education.