Derek's Photo Blog » Wrestling

Badges of Honor

DRock — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:59:56 +0000

At its most basic level, cauliflower ear is the result of blows to the ear damaging the cartilage and allowing fluid to collect. The cartilage separates from the skin and dies, the ear becomes permanently swollen and deformed and resembles a cauliflower. However, for those in sports such as wrestling, cauliflower ear is almost like a badger of honor. Like a reporter or photographer with a media credential that identifies them as a member of the press, cauliflower ear often means you are a member of a special community.

The injury is not common outside sports like wrestling, MMA or rugby. While downtown in Omaha at last weekend’s NCAA wrestling championships, you could immediately tell who had wrestling in their blood by checking out their ears. When I’m people watching, I typically don’t make a point of glancing at someone’s ears, but it’s hard not too at tournaments like these. Not because the ears are so gnarly, but because you get a sense of who people are in the crowd or anywhere by looking at their ear. The old guy with cauliflower ear down the row from you with the Arizona State sweater on might not just be an old curmudgeon, but was probably a pretty good wrestler too.

The great thing about cauliflower ear is that while the condition of the ear itself sends a united message about each person, each ear is particularly unique. Some have just a little deformation, while others are completely filled in, some have bumps and valleys, some look like you could pop them with a needle, some people have piercings in their ears while others have just enough room to insert an earbud.

I took photos throughout the championships of different cauliflower ears and posted a variety below. It might be gross to some of you out there, but anyone who is familiar with the sport of wrestling shouldn’t have a problem. It’s all in the ear of the beholder…

Three days in Omaha

DRock — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:27:28 +0000

I spent this last weekend photographing some of the best wrestlers in the country at the NCAA division one wrestling championships in Omaha, NE. My dad had been going to this tournament for ages and this was the first time things came together so that I could go.

Most of the wrestlers at this tournament have been living on mats for almost 20 years and their ears showed it. Anyone familiar with the sport of wrestling knows about cauliflower ear. It’s one thing that you don’t see too often on a person who hasn’t spent a good portion of their life on the mat. Cauliflower ear was everywhere here and so were great matches. From the quarterfinals on, you couldn’t turn your head without seeing a great match. And Iowa fans made their presence known. They could make a preliminary round victory by one of their wrestlers sound like they had just won a national title. If an Iowa wrestler lost in dramatic fashion or in the last second, almost every other fan there cheered. Iowa has been so dominant in this sport with 23 NCAA team titles since 1975 that they are a team that people love to hate.

One of the best stories of the tournament was Anthony Robles of Arizona State. Robles was an All-American last year and again this year. This isn’t what makes his story unique. The fact that he was born with only one leg is what makes his story special. There are so many things you can’t do with only one leg as a wrestler. Through the first two matches, Robles had outscored his opponents 31-0 and scored two quick tech fall victories using a variety of tilts to garner back points. With only one leg, Robles is much stronger in his upper body than his opponents and probably has the arms of a 157-pounder, which makes life for opponents pretty complicated. Being a former wrestler, it amazes me that he is able to compete at such a high level without one of his legs. He has been one of the most inspirational figures in the sport’s history and he will be looking to make it to the top of the podium next year in Philadelphia. To read more about Robles’ life story, check out this story here.

You’ll see some pictures of Robles below mixed in with other action from three days in Omaha.

WIAA State Wrestling :: Madison, WI

DRock — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:12:23 +0000

Wrestling is a sport of dedication. A basketball player can leave the gym and not have to worry about their sport at dinnertime. Wrestlers must be aware of their bodies and their actions and what impact it will have on them every second of the day during the wrestling season. If you eat too much spaghetti at dinner, you’re going to have to work harder in the wrestling room the next day or put in some more running to get rid of that weight. Not every wrestler has to deal with this all the time, but for many, being the best often means cutting to the lowest allowable weight so you can be at the top of your game.

I think that’s part of the reason why emotions run so deep at the state tournament. The guys celebrating state championship victories are realizing the fruits of a dedication that affected them every moment of their lives for the preceding four months and often for much of the year. The fans of wrestling are just as dedicated. With the advent of Trackwrestling, everyone from the most avid of fans to those just getting to know the sport can find out all the details on their favorite wrestlers and biggest rivals. For those of you unfamiliar with Trackwrestling, it is a program designed by former wrestler Justin Tritz that provides live updates of matches as they happen and then stores those results so one can access them years later. It started in Wisconsin and has spread across the country. There is no doubt it has done legions to promote the sport in Wisconsin and around the country by educating the fanbase on who the competition is, which just ups the excitement surrounding the sport.

This past weekend, I photographed the state tournament in Wisconsin for the Eau Claire Leader Telegram, the Duluth News Tribune and the Monroe County Publishers. It was a great trip back to the Kohl Center where I had spent numerous hours in college covering Badger basketball and hockey games and it was awesome seeing some of the guys who helped teach me what it meant to be a photojournalist in Joe Koshollek and Andy Manis. What made the tournament particularly fun was seeing Matt Tourdot from my hometown Spartans cap off a 50-0 season with a 7-0 victory in the finals over Lodi’s Cody Endres. I run a wrestling blog during the season at Spartanwrestling.com that covers the Spartans and it was nice to end the year on a high note.

The photos below are a mix of the three days’ action. Below are links to a few larger photo galleries from the state tournament, but after the links are my favorite images from three days in Madison.

State Wrestling Day One | State Wrestling Day Two | Finals: Matt Tourdot vs. Cody Endres | Day Three: The Finals