Mat-titude
Published: 8/24/2006 7:36 PM
Last Modified: 8/24/2006 7:36 PM
The tales were fascinating.
Hearing Corey Hilliard and Steve Denning tell of their workouts with Steve Mocco for the story that appeared in Thursday's paper were forthright, descriptive and brutally honest. Mocco whipped up on those big offensive linemen in the wrestling room last winter to help prepare him for matches.
Seeing Mocco in the first week of practice bullying through an offensive lineman in pass rush drills showed me that the former OSU standout wrestler is not out on the football field this fall simply for show.
He honestly wants to help this team.
The fact that OSU football coach Mike Gundy and wrestling coach John Smith cooperated with each other last winter is not surprising. The two grew up near each other as youths (Gundy in Midwest City and Smith in Del City) and competed for the same youth wrestling club.
I don't know if it's urban legend or just simply Mid-Del legend, but there apparently were some highly competitive youth grappling matches between Gundy and Smith 25-30 years ago. Gundy stated he was a little bigger than Smith despite being two years younger. But Gundy would not divulge to me who got the better of whom in those matchups. Smith simply stated "there is probably some truth to that," with a wry smile, about those competitive battles.
Smith's competitive drive is legendary throughout the world of wrestling and OSU's athletic lore. I'm sure that rubbed off on Mocco the past two years working under Smith. Now, Gundy's program could benefit from Smith's drive and fire.
--- Matt Doyle
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
