1 ON 1 CONVERSATION: CBA junior wrestler Joshua Wallace

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 8, 2016 1:48 PM

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Q: Last year at the state tournament, you walk off the mat and it's your last match of the season. What did you think about?

A: As soon as I walked off the mat that last time, I was like 'that can't happen again. I've got to get better.' I should have won both of those matches. Went out there with the mindset that I don't feel like working back (through the consolation rounds) after losing to the guy who won (the state title). (Editor's note: Wallace lost to the eventual state champion and to the wrestler who placed 4th).

Q: How did that loss motivate you?

A: I knew I had to do more offseason stuff and that's why I started working with George (Bancroft). I needed to go to big tournaments and wrestle better guys. I went to the Virginia Beach Nationals with the Rocky Mount Wrestling Club and Corinth-Holders had a club, and I went to work with them. Cam Smith, I wrestled him last season and I was 'like this guy is good, so I need to wrestle him to help me.'

Q: What did you workout-wise?

A: I didn't worry about my weight at all during the summer, got up to about 180 (pounds). I was lifting throughout the week, every week with dad (Terry) every morning at the gym. I wasn't the one keeping the alarm clock on. I was laying in bed waiting for him to come wake me up. No cardio. I was just trying to get bigger and stronger. When it got closer to the season, I started kicking in with a mile, two miles a day (running).

Q: Was the bigger-stronger aspect one of the things you learned from the state tournament last year?

A: Yeah. I should have been 45 last year, in my opinion. I waited too long to do that ... wasn't a big 52 at all. Right now, I'm a decent-sized 60.

Q: (CBA alum) Randy Meisenhelder has been working with you. What are some of things he's been teaching you?

A: I'll stay after practice for about 10 extra minutes and get some (leg) shots in or whatever he wants me to work on that week. Stuff I can do at home, I will do at home. He gets me to do extra. He'll stick a coach on me (in practice) instead of a wrestler on me so I can do double. He has improved my technique a lot. I would think I'm doing something perfectly right, but he would just pick it apart. Now that I'm doing it better, I feel better about it.

Q: What does it mean to work out with someone like Randy, who has been part of a respected and well-known program like this?

A: It's definitely good, gives me motivation to meet up to Coach Randy's standards so when I walk off the mat he can say 'good job,' because that's always what you want to hear. Or sometimes, he'll drag me off to the corner tell me what I did wrong, but will say 'good job, you won. But I need to tell you what you did wrong.'

Q: Where have you grown the most as a wrestler since your freshman season?

A: My freshman year, all I knew was about 5 moves that I could and that was it. Now, I feel like my technique has grown dramatically since my freshman year.

Q: What do you have to do to keep yourself focused on goals that you've set for yourself this season?

A: I just have to take it a match at a time. Some matches I look past them and instead of going out there and scoring a lot of points, getting a pin for my team, I go out there and do something that I shouldn't. I just need to stay on my game. Editor's note: Wallace accomplished one goal when he joined the program's Century Club (100 career wins). He'd like to see the team win the conference title and said "it would be cool" to win the conference wrestler-of-the-year award.