Among the sounds of bodies being slammed onto mats and whistles being blown, spectators of the Perrysburg District wrestling tournament could hear the ecstatic screams and cheers of one GlenOak wrestler, his teammates and his family.
Junior Ethan Leu had just beaten a top-seeded player and he was on his way to the State Wrestling Tournament.
Leu, referred to as ‘The Dragon’ by his coaches and fellow wrestlers, has been wrestling since the age of three, even before that he was involved in jiu jitsu, karate and taekwondo. He was inspired to start wrestling by two of his closest family members, his mother and his brother-in-law.
“Before we became related through marriage, my now brother-in-law was my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were born, and we grew up together. When we were three, he started wrestling and asked me to do it with him,” Leu said. “And then all of my earliest memories of my mom are watching her in the octagon doing MMA fighting, and she has always been one of my biggest inspirations in so many aspects of my life.”
Leu had a difficult time finding ways to fit in when he was growing up. He changed schools five times before ending up in Plain Local, and other factors at home made his life feel especially difficult.
“Despite moving so many times I continued wrestling because it was the only consistency I had in my life,” Leu said.
Halfway through his 7th grade year, Leu transferred to Plain Local. He wrestled for about two weeks before he realized that his body and his mind needed a break.
“My knees were extremely damaged, and if I had kept wrestling that year I would have needed major surgery and I would never have been able to wrestle again,” Leu said. “I was also burnt out from the previous season and needed a break. I was wrestling 365 days a year with virtually no breaks.”
Leu began wrestling again the summer before his freshman year, on his terms. He missed the sport and wanted to put in the time and effort. He quickly adapted to the team’s environment. To this day, Leu still uses wrestling as an escape and an outlet.
“I never really wrestle just to win. I use it as a way to get my emotions out in a physical way, and as a way to connect with other people,” Leu said.
Since his freshman year, Leu has been on the high school varsity wrestling team, but he has never quite made it to states. He knew that he had it in him to compete with the best of the best, so he pushed himself year after year to improve and finally made his goals a reality.
As Leu stepped into the Districts tournament at Perrysburg High School, he knew that one of his matches would potentially determine whether or not he would qualify for states. As the second day of the tournament was nearing a close, that moment finally came.
“I told myself that this was it, that if I lost this match it was the end of my season. It was my last chance to prove to myself that I can make it to the next level and put myself out there in these difficult matches and have a chance to win,” Leu said.
Leu, who was ranked 23rd in the state at the time, was up against Zisimos Giatis from Medina Highland, 8th in the state of Ohio. The first period of the match was tense, with little action and no points scored by either wrestler.
During the second period, Giatis earned himself one point with an escape from underneath Leu, but it was still very unclear as to how the match would end.
Just around two minutes into the match, Leu baited Giatis into a takedown, which resulted in a tense 10 seconds before the referee finally called the pin, signaling Leu’s victory over the match.
“It was a huge adrenaline dump as soon as I heard the whistle blow. It felt like I fell in love with the sport all over again,” Leu said.
It is a completely different experience for Leu to train for the state tournament. Instead of practicing with his entire team, Leu is only practicing with one other teammate, and the occasional assistant coach.
Additionally, instead of drilling routine strategies and moves, Leu is preparing for each individual match based on who he is scheduled to wrestle against.
Leu will travel to the Schottenstein Center in Columbus to compete in the state tournament March 8-10, where he will wrestle against the top wrestlers in the state of Ohio.
“My favorite thing about wrestling is wrestling people that are better than me, people that can challenge me. I’m excited to prove myself even more.” Leu said.
After training his entire wrestling career for this moment, Leu feels ready to step onto the mat and take on the challenge of whoever is placed before him.
