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    Well-traveled Stroker has high goals

    It is not uncommon to hear stories of top high school wrestlers crossing city and state boundaries for better opportunities. Transferring has become a part of the high school wrestling landscape. Every spring and summer, wrestling fans speculate where the nation's top "free agents" will land.

    Fredy Stroker at the Pennsylvania junior state qualifier
    Fredy Stroker, one of the nation's top junior high wrestlers, will be crossing state boundaries this fall to start his high school career at Bettendorf High School in Iowa, which is over 800 miles away from where he has spent the last five years in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

    It is rare for a wrestler as accomplished as Stroker, who is ranked as the No. 13 junior high wrestler in the country by InterMat, to leave wrestling-rich Pennsylvania shortly before his high school career begins. But Stroker's move, unlike many other top wrestlers who transfer, is not all about wrestling. It is only a piece of the puzzle.

    From Panama to Pennsylvania

    Fredy Stroker was born in Panama on Aug. 29, 1996, while his father, Fred, a Pennsylvania native, was serving in the military in Panama. His mother, Anabel, was born and raised in Panama.

    Six months later, the family moved to Charleston, S.C. because of Stroker's father's military work. In 2000, the family moved again, to Fort Leavenworth, Kans. A year later, the Strokers moved to Virginia Beach, Va. For Stroker, who was 4 years old at the time, it was the life of an Army brat.

    It is in Virginia Beach where Stroker was first introduced to wrestling while in kindergarten.

    Fredy Stroker with his very first medal in 2003
    "My dad put me in a real fun wrestling room right when I started," said Stroker, who also participated in soccer, gymnastics, and taekwondo. "We played dodgeball at practice, so right from the beginning I liked it a lot. It was real fun."

    Stroker's taekwondo training, a sport in which he earned a black belt, helped with the transition to wrestling.

    "There was some overlap between taekwondo and wrestling," said Stroker's father, Fred. "As all kids are, Fredy was very active. The taekwondo really taught him focus."

    Stroker won a medal in the very first wrestling tournament he entered in Virginia Beach, finishing third out of four wrestlers. From that point on, he was hooked on the sport.

    After his first grade year, Stroker began spending his summers in Western Pennsylvania, staying with his grandparents, and attending wrestling camps, like Rob Waller's All-American Wrestling Camp in Latrobe. Stroker was rolling around with some of the most accomplished youth wrestlers in Pennsylvania ... like Jimmy Gulibon, Solomon Chishko, Jason Nolf, Michael Kemerer, and Sammy Krivus. While in Virginia, he was wrestling in a club called Pin2Win with Brandon Jeske and Joey Dance. At the Cox Wrestling Club, Stroker remembers practicing alongside a future NCAA Division I champion.

    "I remember always doing sprints right next to Bubba Jenkins when he was only in ninth and tenth grade," said Stroker. "He was like the superstar."

    Fredy Stroker wins his second Virginia state title
    Wrestling was becoming a bigger part of his life. Wrestling camps, practices, and tournaments filled Stroker's calendar, which left little time for other sports.

    "He was a good soccer player," said his father. "He gave up soccer because wrestling was going into March, April, and May. That's the prime time for traveling soccer in Virginia."

    The summer training in Pennsylvania was paying off in competition. Stroker won Virginia elementary state titles in both in 2005 and 2006. He was named Outstanding Wrestler both years.

    Making his mark in the Keystone State

    Pennsylvania has long been king of the wrestling world. The numbers don't lie. In the final InterMat high school rankings of the 2010-11 season, Pennsylvania had 39 nationally-ranked wrestlers, which was 13 more than any other state. At this year's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Pennsylvania produced 10 All-Americans, which was four more than any other state. At this year's Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, a team comprised of Pennsylvania All-Stars defeated a team comprised of USA All-Stars. This year's NCAA Division I team champion, Penn State, also came from the Keystone State.

    Fredy Stroker with his father, Fred
    "Pennsylvania is just so deep," said Stroker's father, Fred, who wrestled at Hempfield High School, a District 7 school in Western Pennsylvania. "That's what I tell everyone from traveling around in the military. Pennsylvania has eight studs and another eight that no one even knows about that on any given day can take out top guys all over the place."

    In 2006, Stroker's father had military orders to go to the Middle East (Kuwait), so he moved the family to the Western Pennsylvania town of Greensburg, a city that sits on the Allegheny Plateau in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and only a few miles from where Stroker had been spending his summers with his grandparents.

    Stroker wrestled in his first Pennsylvania junior (PJW) state tournament in 2007, finishing runner-up in the 10-and-under, 75-pound division.

    After spending a year in the Middle East, Stroker's father returned to the U.S. and accepted a position at the U.S. Army War College in South Central Pennsylvania, and the family settled in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

    "I never imagined that I would get stationed in Pennsylvania," said Stroker's father. "I knew I wanted to be there for wrestling, but I just never imagined there would be a career opportunity for me in Pennsylvania."

    Fredy Stroker with Rob Waller
    In 2008, Stroker began winning national wrestling events like Northeast Nationals and MAWA Eastern Nationals. He finished third at the PJW state tournament, losing to Solomon Chishko in the semifinals. Not only was he traveling out of state for wrestling tournaments, but also for wrestling training camps and practices. He started attending practices at Cary Kolat's wrestling club in Maryland, which helped him improve his technique and conditioning. Stroker also continued going to Rob Waller's All-American Wrestling Camp.

    Waller, who is now in his 60s, is one of the most respected wrestling minds not only in Pennsylvania, but across the country. He speaks his mind and coaches with his heart. Waller is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame, and National Wrestling Hall of Fame. His son, Robbie, was an NCAA Division I champion at Oklahoma in 2003 and is currently the head wrestling coach at Lock Haven.

    "He's a great teacher and technician," Stroker said of Rob Waller Sr. "He's one of my favorite coaches. He goes over stuff a lot. He doesn't let you go on to the next move until you have mastered it. He goes over all the basics."

    Fredy Stroker at the MAWA Eastern Nationals
    Waller believes that fundamentals need to be ingrained early on in a wrestler's career.

    "When you're young, it's crucial that you learn your fundamentals right because it will adversely affect you," said Waller, an Olympic Team Trials finalist in 1972 and 1976. "It's like the first three or four years of school ... If you don't get that stuff down right, you suffer forever. It's no different in wrestling. Your fundamentals are crucial in any sport ... I don't care if it's pingpong. I believe champions do the common things uncommonly well."

    In 2009, Stroker reached the PJW finals before losing to a wrestler he had beaten in the area finals. He also earned the American Crown Award, which is given to a wrestler who wins three America Crown national tournaments in the same season.

    In 2010, Stroker finally captured a PJW state title, a title that had eluded him the previous three years.

    Fredy Stroker wins a PJW state title in 2010
    "That had been my biggest goal, so I was real excited to win it," said Stroker of his PJW state championship. "In the finals, I had a three-time returning state champ who is pretty tough named Jason Nolf. He is a buddy of mine. We used to go to Waller's all the time, but he was always a weight below me."

    Stroker finished third at this year's PJW state tournament, losing only to Sammy Krivus, another nationally-ranked junior high wrestler, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. He also competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman for the first time in his career this spring.

    "It's a little bit of a change," Stroker said of wrestling the international styles. "You have to know where you are at all times. You have to keep good position so you don't expose your back."

    Despite his limited experience in freestyle and Greco-Roman, Stroker became a double champion at the PAWF Freestyle and Greco-Roman State Championships, which took place May 20-22.

    Moving to Iowa and starting his high school career

    Last November, Stroker's father, a lieutenant colonel, logistics officer in the Army with 21 years of active service, was notified of an open position at the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois.

    Fredy Stroker working from the top position
    "We literally took the kids out of school and drove out to see the area," said Stroker's father, who also has two daughters, Damaris, 12, and Cecelia, 10. "I wanted the whole family to say, 'We could live here.' We liked it. It's a lot like Pennsylvania."

    So the Strokers made the decision to leave Pennsylvania and move to the Quad Cities, an area that straddles the Mississippi River on the Iowa-Illinois boundary. Stroker will begin his high school career this fall at Bettendorf High School, which is six miles from the Rock Island Arsenal where Stroker's father will be working. Bettendorf is a high school wrestling power that finished this past season ranked 12th in the InterMat Fab 50.

    "We'll have a pretty good lineup," said Stroker, who will likely compete at 106 pounds as a freshman barring a growth spurt. "I think I'm going to fit in well. We have a good coach (Dan Knight) who went to Iowa State. He was a four-time state champion in the state of Iowa and went undefeated."

    Stroker will compete for Team Pennsylvania at Cadet Nationals (Fargo) in late July before moving to Iowa at the end of the summer.

    So how does Stroker feel about all the moving?

    Fredy Stroker wins OW at the 2011 Wilson JH Classic
    "I have kind of gotten used to the moving," said Stroker, who has lived in two countries, four states (soon to be five), and attended wrestling training camps in eight states. "I know that wherever I go I'll fit in well."

    Stroker's father says that he would have loved to keep the family in Pennsylvania, but has held tight to advice Waller gave him a long time ago.

    "Waller said, 'Look, there are good people everywhere. Just make sure he's around the best wherever you go.' That was something I preached to Fredy."

    Waller clarified what he meant by that statement.

    "I meant that two ways," said Waller. "Number one, good people as in good human beings, character people. Number two, if you can get that, and they know how to wrestle, then you have a great combination. I think where he's going it's like that ... good character people and they know how to wrestle. They'll add to Fred's style. When Fred's 18, he'll probably do what I taught him when he was 10. He's just going to do it better."

    So who is Fredy Stroker?

    Fredy Stroker is a typical teenage kid who enjoys playing Xbox, watching movies, and hanging out with friends. Wrestling, though, is his passion.

    Fredy Stroker is presented with the American Crown Award
    "I love wrestling and I love what I do," said Stroker. "It's basically a full-time sport. There are no real long breaks. I get a break sometimes, maybe two or three weeks in the summer. Besides that, I'm usually going all year-round."

    But according to his father, you would never know it if you were in school with him.

    "His teachers tell me they wouldn't even know he wrestled," said Stroker's father. "That's just his personality. His sister wears more of his wrestling t-shirts than he does."

    Waller lights up when describing Fredy Stroker.

    "Fred's a great kid, a little mischievous," said Waller. "He's got that little smile about him. I tease him all the time. I love the kid. He's a great kid."

    Stroker not only enjoys competing, but also enjoys watching the best wrestlers compete. He has attended the PIAA State Wrestling Championships since he was a little boy. He attended the sold-out Iowa vs. Penn State dual meet this past season in Happy Valley. Stroker also attended the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, where he got to see one of the wrestlers he admires win an NCAA title.

    Fredy Stroker at the 2011 NCAAs in Philadelphia
    "I look up to Jordan Oliver," said Stroker. "I think my style is kind of like his. I like Oklahoma State and he's from Pennsylvania too. He's real fast and real good."

    So how does Stroker describe his own wrestling style?

    "I always attack on my feet," said Stroker. "I'm always shooting. I like to clear ties and go. I'm real fast. On top, I'm real brutal with the crossface cradle. I can usually turn almost anyone with it."

    As for his wrestling goals, Stroker has short-term and long-term wrestling goals.

    "My short term goal right now is to be a state champion in Iowa," said Stroker. "My long-term goal is to be an NCAA champion."

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