"Wrestling is certainly an art - no longer does brute strength predominate in wrestling. It is science and condition that carry the wrestler successfully through his encounters. The idea of roughness and brutality is no longer synonymous with wrestling, because science has replaced those aspects with more beneficial retributions.
Wrestling, like football, trains the individual to think and act while in action and under pain. Scientific wrestling helps to construct a sound body and an alert mind, two precious aids of any individual in the struggle of the survival of the fittest.
I believe that wrestling as adopted and practiced in prep schools and universities, under trained coaches, is one of the best constructive sports that an individual can take part in and should be encouraged in prep schools, universities, and other institutions whose aim is to develop young men."
Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach
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"I would have all of my Offensive Lineman wrestle if I could."
- John Madden, Hall of Fame Football Coach.
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"Well-respected by coaches and teammates for his tough, aggressive nature (comes from his prep wrestling background)"
- NFL Draft Scout on Alex Stepanovich
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"One of the messages Denney hopes to relay to the Valley high school coaches and athletes is that wrestling is the perfect complement to football. While football is in its off-season, wrestling provides the perfect opportunity for the athletes to remain active, while working on their agility and conditioning, Denney said.
Shawhan can attest to Denney’s theory, also having an extensive gridiron background. Along with playing semi-pro football, Shawhan also has years of being an assistant football coach throughout the Rio Grande Valley (Mission High, Harlingen High, PSJA High, McAllen Memorial and McHi).
"In Texas, everyone knows that high school football is king," Denney said. "I’m telling you, though, Texas is catching up in wrestling. And a lot of the football coaches are realizing how much wrestling can help their football team. And believe me, that’s the truth. I know it firsthand. You have to remember when I started out I was a football coach in high school, and I would go to the wrestling team and get everyone that could to sign up for my football team."
- By Wade Baker, The McAllen Monitor MCAllen, Texas.
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"My football coach told me, 'You better get in wrestling or I'll beat you up,'"
-- Tim Lee, Texas High School All-American
Lee said that wrestling helps him on the football field because he knows he has to stay low.
"In wrestling, you've got to have self-discipline and self-motivation. As a lineman, it's the same thing ... me vs. you. He brings that mentality to the football field."
- Lee's High School Football Coach, Tim Howard
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"Some of Matt Roth’s intensity can also be attributed to his successful run as a state-champion wrestler in high school. Many coaches, scouts and wrestlers-turned-football-players will laud wrestling for the leverage and quick hands it provides for football. Roth credits wrestling for the never-say-die attitude it gave him.
"It’s the attitude. (Wrestling) helps you with your hips, your hands and your balance, but more than anything it helps you with your attitude," he said. "A lot of these kids that are basketball players, we eat those kids up. It’s just our mentality - you’re going to get the job done and you’re going to punish them."
Roth said his dream partner on the wrestling mat would be Ravens LB Ray Lewis, himself an accomplished high school wrestler."
-- By Chris Neubauer, Pro Football Weekly
