“I got letters from a lot of different schools and when you are a junior some of them are serious and some of them are just sent to get their foot in the door,” offered Walters when speaking of making an early decision. “When it came to Ohio University I knew that they wanted me from the start and that means a lot when you are making the decision.”
Walters selected the Bobcats from a list that included Cleveland State and Kent State in Ohio and out-of-state schools Duke, Cornell, North Carolina, Boise State, Purdue, and Appalachian State.
“I feel that Ohio wrestlers should go to Ohio colleges and for me there was not a better school than Ohio University,” stated Walters when asked about staying in-state for college. “I realize that not every great Ohio wrestler is going to school at an Ohio college but it means something to have some state pride and it had a lot to do with my decision. If the best wrestlers in Ohio every year went to an Ohio college, the top ten at the NCAA Tournament would look a lot different.”
When asked what pushed the Ohio University to the top of his list Walters was quick to respond.
“Academically, Ohio is a great school and they have a great reputation for what I want to major in. At the same time I think you can say that Athens, Ohio is a pretty unique place to go to school between the campus, the city, and the country,” said Walters when speaking of the school.
“When it comes to their wrestling program they are improving every year as a team, the individual wrestlers are getting better, and the coaching staff really cares about their wrestlers. They are building a winning tradition and that is something I want to be a part of. I think having Darren Boing there, a former teammate, really helped because you get to know what the program is all about from someone you know and trust that is on the inside.”
Walters has a lot of goals and a potential move up to 160 pounds for his senior year. He wants to improve his 3.4 GPA, will play football in the fall, and is expected to sign his National Letter of Intent to wrestle at Ohio University in November. Cody plans on wrestling at Senior Nationals next spring and will move to Athens late next summer to prepare for school in the fall of 2011. He is expected to redshirt his first year on campus at OU and projects as a 157 or 165 for the Bobcats.
“It was a big decision to make where you are going to spend the next five years of your life so I have to thank my parents and sister for helping me make the choice. We have a close family and I don’t know what I would do without them. My high school head coach Graham Coghill and Anthony Ralph have meant as much to my wrestling as they have to my life off the mat. Coach Greenlee has been great and I think I made a good decision, I am excited to be headed to Ohio,” concluded Walters.
Wrestling with Cody Walters
For Cody a scholarship at Ohio University was a welcome reward for twelve years of hard work and an up-and-down ending to the 2009-2010 season. After placing seventh at state as a freshman and third as a sophomore, he was not allowed to wrestle at the 2010 Ohio State Tournament because the doctor present at weigh-ins misdiagnosed a skin condition.
“I don’t think not being able to wrestle at state affected the way that college coaches viewed me but it hurt a lot personally and it hurt our team,” said Walters when speaking of how a doctor’s decision affected him. “This year we had ten state qualifiers and we were in a good position to have one of our best years ever.”
Aware of a potential issue at state he was cleared by multiple doctors and tests at the Cleveland Clinic prior to traveling to Columbus. Follow up tests after the tournament confirmed the original doctors’ diagnosis that he should have been allowed to compete.
“Being told you can’t wrestle was like getting punched in the gut. When it comes to state you dream about it, you put in the time, your teammates are working just as hard, and then when you don’t get a chance to make it happen… what can you say? I felt like I let my team down and there was nothing I could do about it. I can’t go back now but I can make sure that I am ready to wrestle for the title next year.”
Walters did not sit around feeling sorry about a lost opportunity at the state tournament. Instead he went back to work and placed second at the 2010 NHSCA Junior Nationals three weeks later.
“Wrestling at Junior Nationals helped to refocus me. Placing second motivated me to work even harder this summer. When you get to the national finals and finish second you want to come back and work on the things that will make you number one.”
Walters has shown steady improvement each year in high school while taking time off to play football in the fall. Wrestling at 152 all three years he was 36-14 as a freshman, 48-6 as a sophomore, and was 41-2 as a junior. Last summer he went 11-0 at the Disney Duals and he went 2-2 in Fargo losing to the eventual champion and eighth place finisher his last two matches.
“Wrestling in the summer is important but I think it is good to change things up too. At our school a lot of people play two or three sports so I wrestle and play fullback and middle linebacker. A lot of the wrestlers do both and I love being part of the team ,” offered Walters. “It means a lot to be a part of the tradition here at Chanel whether it is in wrestling or in football.”
When if anything changed by making an early verbal commitment Walters reported it was business as usual.
“I don’t think much has changed for me by making an early decision. I have a lot of things to work on and improve on before I get to college. Picking a school doesn’t change that so the goals next year aren’t really any different than they were this year. The only thing new is I want to pass all my skin checks, but I still want to win a state title, win a team title, and then win (Senior) Nationals.”
InterMat was granted permission to republish this article from BuckeyeWrestling.com.
http://www.buckeyewrestling.com/?q=node/37565
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