Mike Thorn (Photo/The Guillotine)"I guess it's like anything, it's a learning experience," said Thorn, his voice begins to shake as the memories creep back into his mind. "I thought about what happened at that NCAA tournament, believe me, for a long time. I guess that ... I just ... (Thorn pauses) It's hard to talk about. Um ... I don't really know what to tell you about the NCAA tournament."
Thorn won't come out and say it directly because he has never been one to make excuses, but the truth is ... He was an undersized 141-pounder last season who was merely out-horsed, not necessarily out-wrestled, in his losses.
"When you're competing on the mat at nationals and things don't go right, it's awfully personal," said Mike's father, John Thorn, a former Iowa State wrestler who earned All-American honors in 1983. "He took it that way. All I told him was, 'You make sure that when you get there again that you're the biggest, strongest kid on the mat and good things will happen.'"
To say the disappointment of last season has fueled Thorn would be an understatement.
"It gave me so much motivation," said Thorn. "I got back in the weight room over the summer and lifted harder than you can even imagine. I pretty much lived in the weight room all summer long. Just making sure that when I grab a hold of guys, they're going to feel how strong I am."
Thorn's opponents this season have certainly felt it. The 141-pounder will head to the Big Ten Championships on March 6-7 in Ann Arbor, Michigan with a 21-5 season record. This season he has been ranked as high as fourth in the InterMat rankings and has never dropped below eighth. Thorn is one of the most improved wrestlers on a Gopher team that is expected to be in the hunt for a team trophy at the NCAA Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mike Thorn (Photo/The Guillotine)Against Dake (in the finals of the Southern Scuffle), Thorn held a 4-2 lead in the third period before getting reversed and ridden out to lose 5-4.
"I have to be a little more aware of match strategy," said Thorn. "When you're winning 4-2 in the third period, the only thing you don't do is get reversed ... and I got reversed. So it's just simple match strategy. I kind of feel like I handed the match to him. Next time I don't plan on doing that."
The early days
Mike Thorn's wrestling career began when he was in kindergarten. His father, John, served as a coach for the HiFlyers Wrestling Club, which is where Thorn got his start.
The HiFlyers Wrestling Club has been one of the most prominent wrestling clubs in Minnesota for many years. When Thorn began wrestling freestyle in the club in the mid-90s, Marty Morgan, a former NCAA champion and longtime head assistant coach for the Gophers, served as the head coach of the HiFlyers. John Thorn worked with the younger kids in the club, while Morgan worked with the older kids. In addition, the HiFlyers brought in Gopher wrestlers every season to serve as coaches ... like Brandon Paulson, Zac Taylor, Brandon Eggum, and Chad Erikson, among others.
John Thorn"Mike took to it right away," said John Thorn, an investment advisor who also serves as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at St. Michael-Albertville High School. "It was obvious early on that he was pretty good at it. As he got into the HiFlyers, we had an awfully good crew of younger kids at that time. He made a lot of friends through the club."
Thorn went 1-1 in kindergarten and 8-7 in first grade. But the more he tasted success, the more he enjoyed the sport. It wasn't long before he was racking up trophies and medals at state and national events.
The Thorn family attended virtually every Gopher home meet to cheer on the HiFlyer coaches.
Making his mark in high school
In the summer of 2002, Thorn, who was going into ninth grade at the time, went out to the prestigious Cadet Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota and reached the finals in Greco-Roman and placed fifth in freestyle while competing at 84 pounds.
It was around that time that Thorn knew that wrestling was something he wanted to pursue beyond high school.
Mike Thorn was a Cadet Nationals double All-American at 84 pounds in his first trip to Fargo in 2002 (Photo/The Guillotine)As a freshman at St. Michael-Albertville High School, Thorn reached the state finals in Class AA at 103 pounds before losing to a bigger, stronger wrestler in Travis Elg of Windom Area.
"I think the whole run up to the state finals was probably more important than whether he won or lost in the finals," said Mike's father. "He was pretty small that year. He wrestled 98 all the next summer. He probably weighed 100, 101 dripping wet ... so just the fact that he was able to be that competitive with kids that were obviously physically bigger than him gave him the faith that he was headed in the right direction."
Despite the disappointing loss, Thorn grew from the experience.
"I learned a pretty big lesson from losing that match in the state finals," said Thorn. "When I got to the finals, I was pretty excited. I think I had a little bit of a feeling of being content with being in the finals."
The next season, as a sophomore, Thorn was dominant all season long, going 49-0 and capturing the state title at 112 pounds, dominating a very tough, previously-unbeaten Seth Flodeen of Cannon Falls in the finals. (Flodeen would go on to win an NCAA title in Division III for Augsburg College.) Not only was it Thorn's first state high school title, but it was also marked the first state title for the Thorn family. John Thorn was a two-time state runner-up for Algona High School in Iowa, but was never able to get over the hump and get to the top of the podium.
After Thorn's hand was raised, John Thorn turned to his wife, Brenda, gave her a big hug and said, "It took two generations, but Mike finally got it done."
"I don't know if Mike quite knows how big of an achievement it was for the Thorn family because of my history of taking second a couple times," said John Thorn.
"You could tell in the mental aspect of it he was seeing the bigger picture, seeing the difference between a good high school wrestler and good national-level wrestler."
The sport of wrestling had consumed Thorn at that point. He loved it. After his high school seasons were over, he competed in all the major spring and summer events in Minnesota and throughout the country. He developed friendships with other Minnesota standout wrestlers like Zach Sanders and Jayson Ness.
Zach Sanders, Jayson Ness, and Mike Thorn have been friends since they were young. The three now make up the first three weight classes in the Minnesota lineup (Photo/The Guillotine)According to John Thorn, the three young wrestlers became known as "the three amigos."
At the time, Ness was bigger than Thorn. As a junior, Thorn moved up a weight class from 119 pounds to 125 pounds to face Ness, who was a senior, during a regular season tournament. Ness won that match 6-0. Despite losing to Ness, who competed in Class AAA, Thorn captured his second Class AA state title. This time his state title came at 119 pounds.
As Thorn prepared for his senior year, the college recruiting season was in full swing. He took visits to Minnesota, Northern Illinois, and North Dakota State. Michigan also recruited him. He was planning on taking a visit to Ann Arbor, but cancelled his visit after Michigan signed a wrestler to fill his weight class and could no longer offer him a scholarship.
At the time, Thorn was projected as a 133-pounder in college. The Gophers had signed several top recruits who were lightweights in previous years ... wrestlers like Jayson Ness, Mack Reiter, and Manny Rivera, so when the time came for Thorn to be recruited, the scholarship offer from the Gophers could not match the offers Thorn was getting from other out-of-state schools.
However, despite that, Thorn chose to stay home and signed with Gophers.
"It was pretty obvious where Mike's heart was," said John Thorn. "It was to be with Gophers."
As a senior, Thorn was head and shoulders above his competition. He capped off an undefeated senior season (49-0) with his third state title. At the state tournament, he won by technical fall in his first match before pinning his next three opponents, which included a pin in the first period of his state finals match. His team, St. Michael-Albertville, also captured its third state title. And if that wasn't enough, his younger brother, David, a freshman at the time, won the state title at 103 pounds.
"It was a lot of fun when we both won state titles," said Thorn. "It was rewarding for me to win, but at the same time it was really exciting to watch him win his first state title."
For David Thorn, who would go on to win four state titles and a Junior Nationals title, that experience of sharing a state title with his older brother still ranks at the top of his wrestling accolades.
"It was awesome," said David Thorn, who defeated Cole VonOhlen of Jackson Country Central to win the state title at 103 pounds. "That is probably the highlight of my wrestling career so far. It was a pretty emotional moment. It's definitely what we were hoping for. It all came together."
Mike Thorn placed third at Junior Nationals in freestyle after his senior year of high school, losing only to Kellen Russell (Photo/The Guillotine)It was then time to turn the page on his high school career and begin a new chapter of his life at the University of Minnesota.
Wrestling for the Gophers
It is common practice for Division I college wrestling coaches to redshirt incoming freshmen, especially at the University of Minnesota. There are very few exceptions in which Minnesota coach J Robinson chooses to let a wrestler compete for a spot in the lineup as a true freshman. (Dustin Schlatter won an NCAA title for Minnesota as a true freshman in 2006.) The plan was for Thorn to redshirt his first year at Minnesota. Thorn came to the Gophers with great wrestling skills, but it was obvious that he needed to get stronger and mature physically before he was ready to be competitive in the Big Ten Conference.
That plan to redshirt Thorn his first year was thrown out the window when Mack Reiter, a Big Ten champion and All-American, tore his ACL in practice. The Gophers suddenly needed a 133-pounder and Thorn was the next best option after Reiter.
Recalled Thorn, "I came up to J (Robinson) and said, 'I don't know what you're thinking, but I would like to wrestle.' And he said, 'Yeah, we were considering it.'"
Reiter was a junior at the time, so Thorn was not expected to wrestle in the lineup more than three seasons. However, after Reiter's injury, Thorn was put in the lineup until Reiter returned later that season. By wrestling as a true freshman until Reiter returned, it allowed Thorn to redshirt the following season while Reiter competed in the lineup as a senior. So essentially Thorn was getting an opportunity to wrestle four seasons in the lineup when originally it looked like only three.
Thorn had been one of the pleasant surprises for the Gopher coaching staff during preseason practices. He was further along in his development than most anticipated, which is one of the reasons why he was given that opportunity to start. Physically, though, he was not ready to compete with the nation's top Division I wrestlers.
Mike Thorn went 14-15 as a true freshman for Minnesota at 133 pounds (Photo/The Guillotine)"It was really tough," said Thorn of wrestling in the lineup as a true freshman. "When you lose more than you win, even though it was pretty close, it's tough mentally. I was pretty happy when Mack came back. But at the same time, it motivated me over the next couple years to make sure the next time I get a chance to wrestle I was ready to go."
Thorn redshirted the next season and went 19-1 in open tournament competition. The Gophers brought in Zach Sanders that season. Jayson Ness, who competed 125 pounds for his first two seasons in the lineup, made the decision to move up to 133 pounds the next season, which would allow Sanders to start as a freshman at 125 pounds. It also meant that if Thorn wanted a spot in lineup, he needed to move up to 141 pounds.
"When the coaches told me that Jayson was moving up 133, I really had no other choice," said Thorn. "It was either move up to 141 or I could go somewhere else and wrestle, I suppose. I took it ... and I worked really hard in the weight room. I got myself into a 141-pound body."
Mike Thorn lost in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Championships to Trenton Washington of Northern Iowa (Photo/The Guillotine)"He just wasn't quite physically ready," said John Thorn. "We talked about it a lot. He lost a lot of close matches last year and the majority of them were basically because he didn't have the horsepower to finish some positions. That's what happened at nationals. He ran into the UNI boy (Trenton Washington) ... and he was just too strong for Mike. I think getting to 141 and being ready to make a run at being an All-American or national champ has been a two-year process."
Thorn spent endless hours in the weight room last offseason to get ready for his junior season. This season he has reunited with his younger brother, David, who joined the Gopher program after a stellar prep career.
"Dave has been a great partner for me this season," said Thorn. "We do a lot of drilling together. We work on technique a lot together. A lot of times the day of the match I will do a lot of drilling with him to get to ready for the match, sharpen up."
David Thorn was a four-time Minnesota state champion and Junior Nationals freestyle champion (Photo/Dave Jedlicka/jedicheetah.com)"It was nice having Mike to kind of pave the way," said David Thorn, who is redshirting this season and expected to replace Ness in the lineup next season at 133 pounds. "I just look at some of the mistakes he made ... and I just try not to make the same mistakes. He was a good role model for me."
Off the mat, Mike and David are similar. Both are easy-going college kids who like to laugh and have a good time. One the mat, however, their styles are not very similar. Mike wrestles left-handed, while David wrestles right-handed. Mike is a ground and pound, punishing-type wrestler, while David is as slick and technically sound as they come. Mike has always been a pinner, while David would just as soon rack up takedowns and win his matches by technical fall.
The two brothers complement each other well, each helping the other in areas of deficiency.
"Mike has helped David on the mental stuff," said John Thorn. "David is very much a perfectionist. Perfectionists can make great wrestlers, but they can also beat themselves up to where mistakes are super tough on them mentally and losses are super tough on them mentally. Again, that makes you a great wrestler because you don't want to lose, but you also have to deal with it and be willing to challenge yourself and not be afraid to go for it. I think David very much feeds off Mike's free spirit and that fire in his belly to compete. I think they help each other a lot. They have turned into very good teammates and friends."
Interestingly, Thorn's aggressive, wide-open wrestling style is nothing like his father's wrestling style either.
John Thorn during his college days at Iowa StateBut if you ask one of John Thorn's college teammates at Iowa State, Joe Gibbons, who now serves as a wrestling broadcaster for the Big Ten Network (along with brother Jim), father and son look like spitting images of each other as college wrestlers.
"If anybody wanted to know what John Thorn looked like, just look at Mike," commented Gibbons during the Minnesota-Illinois broadcast on the Big Ten Network earlier this season. "Thirty years ago, looks just like him."
The Postseason chase
Expectations are high for Mike Thorn heading into the postseason. These are expectations he brought on himself after a very impressive regular season. He knows that his season will be defined by what he accomplishes in March.
Mike Thorn (Photo/The Guillotine)Mike's father knows what the postseason chase is all about. He was a four-year starter for Iowa State and qualified for the NCAA Championships all four seasons. He finished fourth at the 1983 NCAA Championships at 118 pounds and was a Big 8 champion at 126 pounds in 1985. His senior season (1985), he was seeded fourth at the NCAA Championships and broke his ankle in the quarterfinals and had to default out of the tournament.
So what advice does he have for his son heading into the postseason?
"Just have fun, enjoy the chase," said John Thorn. "Sometimes goals can get pretty heavy. It gets to be so important that it gets hard to get there. Just relax, enjoy your teammates, enjoy the chase. You're only this age for a very short period of your life, so just enjoy it."
This story also appears in the February 26 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on how to subscribe, click HERE.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now