LET'S GET FUNKY
Former Junior Hodge winner Perry adds unique style
Anyone attending the 2004 Midlands Championships couldn’t help but notice there are a few new faces in the Iowa arsenal. With five freshmen in the line-up, it’s easy for all those faces to blend into one. But at this year’s Midlands tournament, one face stuck out from the pack.
Redshirt freshman Mark Perry distinguished himself from the rest of the newcomers by taking the crown at the 165-pound weight class by defeating Iowa State’s Travis Paulson, 6-4.
“He’s a competitor and that’s the most important thing,” Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “He wants to win.”
Coming to Iowa last year, this native of Stillwater, Okla., with strong Oklahoma State ties, had earned plenty of national honors before putting on an Iowa singlet. That included a 39-0 record as a senior at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., where he also earned the 2003 Junior Dan Hodge Trophy.
He was so heralded as a prep that many Hawkeye fans wondered whether or not Zalesky would throw the prep All-American into the college fires right away or use his redshirt year. Zalesky chose the latter, which seemed to be a good decision. Wrestling unattached last year, Perry continued his winning ways recor
ding an overall record of 14-0 and winning titles at the Northern Iowa Open, Upper Iowa Open and the Cal-Davis Open.Perry’s initial decision to go to Iowa was big news in the wrestling world. Oklahoma State coach John Smith is Perry’s uncle and Perry’s father, also named Mark, was an All-American and former assistant at OSU. But the younger Perry chose Iowa and is off to a solid start this year.
Every wrestler has their own little quirks that make them stand out from other wrestler. Some are attackers and are always shooting, while others are more counter wrestlers and wait for their opponent to make a mistake. Many people say Perry wrestles with a lot of “funk”. It’s not uncommon to see him in a position where it seems as if there is no possible way he could get out without losing any points. But somehow he often manages to get the points off scrambles.
“I really got it from my high school teammates,” Perry said. “They wrestled that goofy style and I kind of picked it up. I’ve always been really flexible so my leverage makes it work better than some others.”
That “goofy” style of wrestling could be seen throughout the tournament with 15 of Perry’s former high school teammates in the tournament and four in the 165-pound bracket.
This style showed through in his semifinal win against No. 2 Jared Frayer, the former Oklahoma All-American.
The match was scoreless going into the third period until Perry locked up a “suicide cradle” which put Frayer on his back for the deciding near fall points.
“I had tried it about five or six different times the last time I wrestled Paulson in the Iowa vs. Iowa State match but I couldn’t finish,” Perry said. “We’ve been working on a way to finish it so I just went for it and got it. It’s actually really risky but that’s the type of wrestler I am.”
Although these are the matches that are the biggest crowd pleasers, not everyone enjoys watching Perry try risky moves.
“My dad hates it,” Perry said. “He loves to watch me wrestle but I don’t think he enjoys watching that because he never knows what’s going to happen and that makes him nervous.”
In every athlete, there is a bit of a perfectionist. This was evident following his Midlands victory over Paulson, Perry’s in-state rival. While most athletes would be excited to win a title, Perry’s jubilation didn’t seem as obvious when he threw his head gear against a wall in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“I just didn’t feel the flow,” Perry said. “I usually ride everyone and then cut them loose. I’m trying to think right now what I was thinking, I never cut anybody loose. But I guess a win’s a win.”
Some are already penciling the former national prep champ in for high honors at the NCAAs. Perry seems to have a more realistic outlook on how he wants to finish the year.
“My goal of course is not to lose but I’m only a freshman and if it happens I can’t let it get me down,” Perry said. “For me, I feel like I’m there with everybody. I just have to learn how to dominate like the old Iowa guys did and I think I’ll have a good shot at Nationals to win it.”