

Personnel photograph / R. Michael Semple
Chalker’s Landen Duncan receives a send-off by learners and college at Chalker Significant Faculty on Thursday afternoon. Duncan will wrestle in the state fulfill this weekend.

Early mornings, late evenings, loads of exercises and a great deal of driving.
Chalker’s Landen Duncan doesn’t expertise the common working day-to-day everyday living of a scholar-athlete. But, for the school’s only wrestler, the really hard work may possibly quickly pay out off, as Duncan and wrestlers from all-around Ohio are in Columbus right now by means of Sunday competing for a point out championship.
This will mark his second consecutive excursion to the point out tournament, as he positioned fourth in the 120-pound pounds class a calendar year ago. The junior stands at 32-5 this time and is returning in the 120-pound class.
“My objective is to be the very first a person ever (in Chalker history) to earn a condition title,” Duncan reported. “It would be pleasant to convey it back again residence.”
Although the point out title could relaxation back again house in Southington, most of Duncan’s methods in preparing for the celebration have taken position absent from Chalker. Considering the fact that Duncan, 16, does not have teammates, his father, Bobby, drives him about an hour just about every way for practices, normally held at South Vary Significant School in Beaver Township. He also occasionally heads to Western Reserve Academy in Hudson.
He’s been welcomed at equally spots, he says, and his father, who is Chalker’s mentor, sits back again and makes it possible for the coaches at people colleges to work right with Landen.
“I enable the coaches mentor,” Bobby said. “I’ve hardly ever wrestled in advance of, so I discover rather a lot. … When we go in the rooms, we enable the coaches go ahead and coach him. That is their room, so we enable them do their issue.”
Landen extra, “At 1st, it’s usually uncomfortable just to go in there. You under no circumstances know if they are likely to be pleasant, be signify or if they’re likely to assist you.”
Duncan suggests currently, techniques have centered on procedure and trying to keep his human body in point out-amount ailment.
“We haven’t been heading also challenging, since we really do not want to get injured,” Duncan mentioned. “And then just get some excess weight down, way too. Go hard, but not way too tough to injure on your own or get worn out.”
A regular day for Duncan starts at about 6:40, when he wakes up to get a swift 10-15 moment exercise routine in. Soon after likely to university, he heads to exercise. He comes household close to 6 p.m. and then will get his homework performed and has dinner right before having in a swift night exercise around 8:30.
It can be a large amount, Duncan admits.
“It’s very difficult,” he mentioned. “You have to have very good time skills to time almost everything out ideal and retain up on your grades and studying. It’s fairly hard.”
Duncan commenced his wrestling occupation at 7 many years previous, in massive section simply because of its individuality.
“In all the other sporting activities, you want to develop measurement,” he stated. “In wrestling, you can go in a sure weight class and do perfectly and wrestle (equally sized) children.”
He hopes to go on his athletic occupation at the collegiate degree, and thinks this weekend could be a step towards those people endeavours. First, even though, he wants to make historical past. His quest begins this afternoon in a 3 p.m. matchup.
“It would indicate a lot for me and the community,” he mentioned. “Just being the only wrestler and doing work tricky each individual day, I imagine it just usually means a great deal to me and my loved ones.”