Greyson Strickland finds heavier path to wrestling in postseason at 190

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

​As far as friends were concerned, Greyson Strickland had plenty as he walked the halls of Chesterton for the first time. He had made friends from Valparaiso and Morgan Park, even from Colorado. He just didn’t have any at his new school.
Strickland moved to Chesterton for the first time as a freshman, so he wanted to make some new friends. During physical education class, he heard Caden Mahaffey talk about joining the wrestling team, so he followed him into the room at the start of the preseason.
“I hung out with Mahaffey and met new people,” Strickland said.
Making new friends in the room took no time at all, plus he found himself a new passion: wrestling, a difficult sport to learn from scratch in high school.
The best best path to eventually earning a spot in the varsity lineup involves taking up the sport in early elementary school years. Strickland was determined to make himself an exception to that rule and he succeeded.
“Doing the reps, not goofing around, going to practice all offseason,” Strickland said of how made up for lost time. “I only missed a couple of practices over the summer. I don’t miss any during the season. I made it my life from Day 1. I walked in the room and I was committed to it, and ever since then it’s been a sprint.”
Typically, the longer athletes have been wrestling, the better they are are as technicians. Yet, teammates and coaches alike consider that to be a strength of Strickland’s.
In talking about his top prospects before the season, head coach Andrew Trevino said to keep an eye on on Strickland. But it wasn’t going to be easy for him to crack the varsity lineup because the 165-pound division was a particularly deep spot for the Trojans. Senior Drew Shaffer had made it to the semi-state round the previous year and fell just one win and three points shy of making it to the state tournament.
Strickland was going to have defeat Shaffer in wrestle offs to get in the final. All four matches were extremely close and a fifth match well into the season would determine who claimed the weight for the postseason. Shaffer won in it in overtime.
“It didn’t come out as I wanted, and as soon as they raised his his hand I said, ‘All right, give me Mochen,’” Strickland said.
The 175 division was locked down by Lucas Anderson, which never was an option for Patrick Mochen or anyone else. Mochen moved to 190 and held that position until Strickland was given a shot to face him in a wrestle off. If Strickland defeated Mochen, Strickland was told that Mochen would get another shot because he had been wrestling there all season. Strickland won the first wrestle off 6-2, and won the the second on a major decision to become the Trojans’ 190 wrestler for the postseason.
At the LaPorte sectional, Strickland won in the first round with a pin in 2:46 vs. Hayden Smith of Knox, and lost to Valparaiso’s Ben Fedorchak on a techical fall, 17-1, in four minutes in the second semifinal. Strickland then won a match by forfeit and a third-place match vs. Bair of LaPorte in 1:36 to finish third.
Most wrestlers moving up two weight classes would ditch his partner and find a heavier one. But thanks to his regular partner having the strength of a heavier wrestler, Strickland didn’t need to do that. Lucas Anderson, the Trojans’ 175-pound standout, is an ideal person to get him ready.
“The coaches couldn’t find anyone better, and I couldn’t find anyone better,” Strickland said. “Sometimes, where I’m technically sound and in completely better position, he can just muscle out, or roll through, or do something funky to muscle his way on top. He’s strong.”
Strickland asked Mochen for advice on how to wrestle opponents who can weigh as much as 25 pounds heavier.
“He likes to wrestle outside, so that’s what I’ve been trying to replicate, outside, lots of fakes, moving them without having to touch them,” Strickland said. “Patrick and I are pretty much the same weight, about a one or two pound difference. That advice helps because they’re not just grabbing me and holding me. If they can’t touch me, they can’t hold me.”
Strickland (8-5) is one of 11 Trojans who advanced to the Crown Point regional on Saturday. He faces Lowell’s Lincoln Schneider (17-11) in the first round.

Other matches Saturday at the Crown Point regional, with the Chesterton wrestler listed first:
113: Gavin Ciszewski (17-18) vs. Colin Strayer (Crown Point, 21-8).
120: Emeric Ritter (10-4) vs. Noah Sinnot (Hanover Central, 16-17).
126: Max Quiroz (39-6) vs. David Antunez (Illiana Christian, 32-5).
132: Damien Santiago (10-25) vs. LT Hawkins (Crown Point, 20-7).
150: Caden Mahaffey (24-16) vs. Carter Hall (Hanover Central, 31-9).
157: Charlie Shaffer (31-10) vs. Aiden See (Hanover Central, 12-12).
165: Andrew Shaffer 24-10 vs. Joseph Bijak (North Newton, 21-10).
175: Lucas Anderson 33-8 vs. Calvin Stewart (Crown Point, 20-9).
190: Greyson Strickland (8-5) vs. Lincoln Schneider (Lowell, 17-11).
215: Keegan Gibbons 18-13 vs. (Mitch Krolikowski (Wheeler, 15-2).
285: Tyler Nevious (28-11) vs. Hunter Crabtree (North Newton, 31-4).