FORGET FARGO
Trip to Junior finals tranformed Falck into star
It’s safe to say Apple Valley (Minn.) High standout Charlie Falck has had a love-hate relationship with the ASICS Cadet and Junior Nationals over the years.
That’s hard to believe, considering he’s lost just two matches — both in the finals — in three trips to the fabled Fargodome.
In his first appearance in 2000, Falck breezed to the Cadet National freestyle title at 88 pounds. The next year, up a weight at 94.5, he was dethroned by the defending champion, Bryan Nunziato of Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic High, in the finals.
In 2002, Falck, by his own choice, watched the 24-mat Junior National freestyle extravaganza from the stands. His absence from the event prompted predictable reactions. Even though he went on to finish 44-2 a season ago — a season that included a victory over five-time state champion Eric Sanders in the Minnesota State Christmas Tournament — and win his third Minnesota Class AAA championship at 119 pounds, the talk continued:
“Sure, he’s pretty tough within the friendly confines of Minnesota. But what about on the big stage?”
You
don’t hear that talk much any more.After blowing through a loaded pool in last summer’s Juniors, capped with an 8-1 romp over Greco-Roman champion Mark McKnight of Pennsylvania, now a University of Buffalo freshman, Falck found himself in the finals once again. He didn’t last long, getting pinned quickly by University of Missouri recruit Tim Kephart. But that was no different from the results anyone else got when paired up against Kephart in the tournament.
With a sparkling record of 135-5 in his three state championship years at Apple Valley, Falck last month became part of the University of Iowa’s No. 1-ranked fall recruiting class. Falck, fellow three-time state champion Alex Tsirtsis of Griffith (Ind.) High and two-time Iowa heavyweight champion Matt Fields of Stanwood North Cedar High made Jim Zalesky the only coach in the nation to convince three No. 1 recruits to sign on the bottom line in November.
The migration south actually will be a homecoming of sorts for Falck, who grew up in Strawberry Point, Iowa, about 85 miles north of Iowa City. Recently, we had a chance to speak frankly with the nation’s top-ranked 119-pounder.
WIN: Talk a little bit about the recruiting process. When did you take your visit (to Iowa) and what did you like the most about your visit there?
Falck: I’ve been down there a lot. I’ve known about the Iowa program. I didn’t really grow up with it, but I lived in Iowa and I watched them a lot. They were my favorite college team and it was like home there. I knew a lot of the guys, and everything just clicked when I went down there. I felt like that was the place where I needed to be.
WIN: How long did you live in Iowa?
Falck: I lived (in Strawberry Point) my whole younger life. I moved up to Apple Valley when I was in the eighth grade.
WIN: What made you decide to move to Apple Valley?
Falck: I actually had my thumb cut off, but I was going to transfer schools either way because I wanted to excel a little more in wrestling and I didn’t think I could really excel in the school where I was. It was a real small school, and I was going to transfer anyway. With my thumb getting cut off, I missed a lot of school and whatnot. My dad was real good friends with (Apple Valley head coach Jim Jackson), and I just kind of ended up there.
WIN: You lost your whole thumb?
Falck: Yeah. It got severed off in eighth grade.
WIN: How did that affect your wrestling?
Falck: It doesn’t affect it any now. I really don’t notice it at all. (After it happened), I had to get my strength back. But once I got my strength back, it was pretty normal.
WIN: You had to make some adjustments, didn’t you? Grip’s pretty important in wrestling.
Falck: Yeah. But it’s totally strong now. It’s not any different than my other hand. I think it’s stronger than my other hand, actually.
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