Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Joey Griffin, Oswego, wrestling, sophomore

Name: Joey Griffin

School: Oswego

Sport: Wrestling, sophomore

Why he was selected: Griffin won the championship of the 152-pound weight class as Oswego placed fifth at the Conant Invitational.

Griffin was voted by readers as the Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week. Here is his interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Welge: How did you feel about your performance, and the team’s?

Griffin: The team overall did really good. It was a great way to start the season. The first tournament in a couple years, and I think we did really well. We had multiple guys place, several of the other guys placed besides me.

Welge: Yes, how good did it feel to actually compete in a tournament after last season when it was basically just duals?

Griffin: I personally enjoy tournaments much more than duals. Duals are fun, too. That is the team aspect of the sport. It’s nice to have a couple individual tournaments to show your wrestling style and the way you wrestle.

Welge: What happened in the championship match?

Griffin: Definitely started off interesting. I almost lost it in the first 15 seconds, got thrown, that was not fun. I recovered from that, stuck with what I knew. I took him down and rode him out the rest of the match. The only points he scored was a hip toss, my life flashed before my eyes. It was a pretty wild match, especially the beginning part.

Welge: Were you familiar with any of the guys you wrestled?

Griffin: I had no clue who any of them were. I’m wrestling a little heavier this year. Coming down 15-20 pounds from last year I no idea who any of those guys were.

Welge: So what did you wrestle at last year?

Griffin: I wrestled varsity at 170, then came down to 160. This year I’m at 152. Cutting the weight is no fun, but I wanted to secure a spot on varsity. I would rather be the one cutting down 170 to 153 and having that added strength than wrestling guys who were at 195 and came down to 170.

Welge: How did you get into wrestling and when did you start?

Griffin: I’ve been doing this since second grade so this is like my ninth or 10th year. I got into the sport because I had a couple older cousins, who are off at college now, wrestling in high school while I was in the second grade. I started doing it and stuck with it.

Welge: How do you feel about this year’s team?

Griffin: I think we have a pretty strong team. We have a couple guys who have been around for a while, a couple seniors who know what they are doing, a couple kids with potential.