One of the big stories for team Iowa coming out of Fargo was the emergence of Tyrell Gordon of Waterloo East. Gordon has made steady improvements over the last few years and now has put himself on the national map with a fifth place finish in freestyle. I recently had a chance to catch up with Gordon to discuss the experience and his future plans.
IAwrestle: You are one of the fastest rising wrestlers in the state of Iowa right now. After not qualifying for state your first two years of high school what was it like to break through and make the podium (fourth place) in Des Moines last season?
Gordon: After taking fourth, I was unhappy with the way that I wrestled. Especially since I lost a close match for third place.
IAwrestle: While people in Iowa certainly started to notice you this season you still weren’t a big name nationally. However, with becoming a Freestyle All-American out in Fargo more people have now seen what you can do. Have you started hearing from some college coaches since Fargo?
Gordon: Yes, I have been hearing from a couple of Division III and NAIA schools and one Division I college.
IAwrestle: You also had some high flying videos featured on pages like IAwrestle, Flowrestling, and the USA wrestling pages that had a ton of people watching all over the country. What was it like to see yourself featured on such prominent media outlets?
Gordon: Seeing myself on IAwrestle and Flo wrestling was pretty cool, especially reading the comments and seeing what other people thought about them.
IAwrestle: Who are your favorite wrestlers to watch or wrestlers that you look up to?
Gordon: My favorite wrestler to watch is Kyven Gadson. This is an easy question for me because he’s a great wrestler and an even better role model.
IAwrestle: What are your goals for wrestling in your last year of high school?
Gordon: My Goals for this year are to be a pre-and-post season national champion, to reach 100 wins and be a state champion. I also hope to end the year with a Fargo title.
IAwrestle: I believe that you also play some other sports at Waterloo East. Have you thought about if you would like to wrestle in college or is that still up in the air?
Gordon: I also play football at Waterloo East but I am sure that I want to wrestle in college. It might be up in the air depending on the offer but I’d like to wrestle in college.
IAwrestle: Is there a list of colleges that have expressed interest in you or that you are interested in at this point?
Gordon: Some of the schools interested in me at this point are UNI, Loras, Grand View, and Simpson along with a couple more.