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Failure motivates for KSU wrestler

Jermail Porter bristles knowing he lost match, All-American status

By Jonas Fortune
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Friday, Jan 30, 2009

KENT: During the college wrestling season countless hours are spent practicing. Five months are spent competing.

Five seconds of that time isn't much at all.

Unless you are Kent State senior heavyweight Jermail Porter, a Firestone High School graduate.

In those brief seconds, Porter found himself on the verge of earning All-American status last season, something no KSU wrestler has done since 1986.

All he had to do was hold Central Michigan's David Zabriskie down for five more seconds last season at the NCAA Tournament. Porter could not. Zabriskie escaped with a 3-2 victory.

''It was kind of a jab to the heart a little bit,'' Porter said. ''It kind of hurt, but I am on a mission this year, so I think I will be fine.''

Like any true competitor, Porter has used the loss as a stepping stone to what he can become and a painful reminder of what he has to do to get back there.

Porter has begun the season with a team-best 20-1 record. He is ranked fourth in the nation by USAToday/InterMat and W.I.N. Magazine. USA Today/InterMat ranks the KSU team No. 24 in the nation. W.I.N. ranks them at No. 22.

''He was real, real close,''
Kent State wrestling coach Jim Andrassy said. ''I think for Jermail, he never really believed that he was good enough to be an All-American. He is young to the sport; doesn't truly understand it. I think that last year just showed him how close he was.''

Porter was first introduced to the sport of wrestling as a freshman at Firestone.

At that time, Porter knew very little about actual wrestling moves and relied on ''heavy weight moves that work at the high school level,'' Andrassy said.

Now, in his ninth year of competition, the sport is finally starting to come together for the still relative newcomer. A scary statement as Porter's 108-41 career record is fifth best in KSU history.

This season, Porter now enters his matches with more of a plan and direction. He knows what he wants to do before stepping onto the mat.

''It is almost like I found myself a little bit; my wrestling style, my plan of attack, what works well for me,'' Porter said.

And what works well for Porter is being on the attack. When he does that he is as good as anyone, Andrassy said.

''He'll beat 85 percent of the country being a technical wrestler because most guys aren't as big, aren't as strong as him,'' Andrassy said. ''The last 15 percent is when he just has to sometimes get in there and get nasty and get physical with guys.''

So far, everything has added up to a dominant season for Porter, but will it matter come March at the NCAA championships? Porter will need to be wrestling his best at that time. He will need to be healthy and he might just need a little bit of luck as well.

''I think I should have been up there last year, but this year for sure,'' Porter said. ''It is a goal of mine.''

Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com.

KENT: During the college wrestling season countless hours are spent practicing. Five months are spent competing.

Get the full article here.


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