If you have spent any amount of time in or around wrestling you know what kind of a grind it is on a wrestler's body. People in and around wrestling know it also takes an enormous toll on a wrestler mentally. Even when things go well, the struggle to get in shape, make weight, grind through practices and perform on the mat, even when the body is 100 percent is too much for most people. Wrestlers are not most people. 2008 All-American Joe Baker from the United States Naval Academy is not most wrestlers. As Baker prepares for his final run toward the NCAA Championships, he will have done so by the shear will and determination he has inside.
Joe Baker"I didn't really want to wrestle," said Baker. "I was little. I weighed maybe 60 pounds. He kind of forced me into it."
Even as Baker's wrestling career was starting, even if he didn't know it, he was displaying the mental toughness he would need as his career in wrestling would continue.
"I didn't win a single match the first two years, but by eighth grade it took off."
Baker didn't really know why he stuck with wrestling though the two winless seasons. He kept going mostly because all his friends were doing it. Baker attended high school in Poway, California … and his high school had one of the most successful wrestling programs in the state. Baker remembers going into the high school wrestling room and seeing the Wall of Fame. It was filled with all the past champions from the conference level up to the state level. After looking up at that wall Baker said, "I remember thinking I didn't care where, but I wished I had my name somewhere up there."
After two years of struggling to get even one win, Baker made up for lost time. He wrestled on the junior varsity his freshman year and went undefeated. By the end of his sophomore season he was wrestling in the California State High School Wrestling Tournament. It was at that point that Baker "realized I could be good."
As a junior he placed fourth at state and as a senior he solidified his spot on the wall by winning a state championship. To go from no wins just a few years earlier to a state champion didn't happen overnight. Baker didn't have an ahh ha moment. "It was just little steps. (Improvement) slowly came about."
One man that took notice of Baker was the head coach at the Naval Academy, Bruce Burnett. After seeing Baker on tape, and knowing what it took to win that title at the end of his senior year, Burnett knew he might have found a gem.
Joe Baker defeated Ohio State's Reece Humphrey at the 2008 NWCA All-Star Classic in Columbus, Ohio (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)Turns out, it was a perfect match. Burnett wanted him, but more importantly Baker wanted to come to Navy. Baker's father is a career Navy man. Currently he serves as the chief engineer on one of the Navy's aircraft carriers. Even so, young Joe "just always wanted to go to the Naval Academy. It is the only college I applied to." He had offers to wrestle other places, but he said, "I've always wanted to fly planes."
Young athletes who decide to compete at the Division I level at one of the military institutions are already not like most athletes. Baker, the RevWrestling.com's eighth-ranked wrestler at 133 said, "You don't go to Navy to just wrestle. You have a job. You are in the military and you are going to go serve your country. A lot of guys are a year or two away from combat, so it is a different mindset."
With that known up front, Baker and all other military athletes have to be ready for a different athletic experience.
"This institution is here to get you ready to serve," said the 12-0 Baker, "not necessarily to wrestle. It's a struggle to find time to get your workouts in and do what you have to do to compete at a DI level, but still do what the Academy needs you to do. It's rewarding, though. I don't regret anything."
Moving all the way across county, Baker brought to the Midshipmen an aggressive offensive wrestler who is a good rider, but an exceptional takedown machine.
"I feel I can take down anyone," said Baker. "Whenever I have wrestled, I've been able to do that. Even when I've lost I've taken people down."
Bruce BurnettThe only problem with those tightly coiled muscles is that they have often popped -- the wrong way. In just his four years in college, Baker has had to overcome a M.A.S.H. list of injuries. He has had surgery on his ankle, on both shoulders, on his knee, and he has had a broken pelvis.
Baker has refused to let the injuries keep him down.
"It happens," said Baker. "Twelve years of wrestling will break your body down. It's just learning how to get up and doing what you can to prevent it or make the recovery time shorter. When I am out I do everything I can to speed up the recovery time and when you do get back to prevent hitting the brick wall -- the shocking change getting your body back in wrestling shape. Wrestling is a lot different than running."
Baker said one of the biggest challenges is repeatedly having to "build momentum and getting your body into shape. Your body kind of stalls out so you have to get your body back and your timing down."
The number of comebacks Baker has had to make has challenged him more than any opponent ever could.
"It's extremely frustrating", said Baker. "I can't tell you how many times I've been on the verge of freaking out. Why does this keep happening? Things happen for a reason, I can't complain. You just can't let it bother you. You just have to get up and do it again. You can't feel sorry for yourself. It's not going to get any better if you don't get up and do something about it."
Even after all the injuries, including an October knee surgery and an injured quad shortly after that, Baker keeps coming back.
"I'm a competitive person," said Baker. "I like seeing where I am at. I like winning and the competition. I am proud to say I am a wrestler."
Joe Baker is ranked No. 8 in the country at 133 pounds by RevWrestling.com (Photo/Navy Sports Information)"Joe is hitting his stride," said Burnett. "That's important because he has been hurt and it's been a process for him to get back. But I saw it when he had his match with Steven Bell from Maryland. Truly he shouldn't have been wrestling a guy of that caliber at that time. He wasn't ready, but he made it work. He just willed himself to win and kept wrestling. The only points Bell scored were off of Joe's shots."
"I think I am better than I was last year at this time," said Baker. "I know I can be Eastern champ again. I know I can do much better than I did last year at Nationals. I'm in good shape and have been wrestling well. I've worked as hard as I could, so what happens happens."
Whatever happens in the next couple of weeks for Baker will not change what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future. After overcoming everything he has on the mat, he will be going to Pensacola, Florida to start flight school. After two or three years of flight training, Baker will become an active part of a squadron.
The military is not for most people. It takes a level of commitment most people are not willing to reach. Joe Baker is not most people. He has displayed that kind of commitment and determination that is perfect for our county. Baker has shown what it takes to overcome and become an All-American wrestler. With all he has overcome, there is no doubt as he moves into the next phase of his life that he knows what it takes to protect and serve all Americans.
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