Takedown Report

Corey’s Stories: The walk-on who joined a college team with no wrestling experience

Mark Tiernan walked-on the wrestling team 25 years ago at Mount Saint Joseph University.  We were students on summer break. Tiernan played football. We’d joked with each other for months about him wrestling the upcoming season if I played football.  I was six years removed from high school JV football. Tiernan had never wrestled. Of course it was a joke.

Tiernan threw down the gauntlet early that summer.  “Seriously,” he said, “if you come out for football, I’ll wrestle.”  Tiernan was a psychology major. Perhaps he was conducting an experiment. Maybe attempting observational hours on insanity.  “If you’re promising you’ll wrestle,” I replied, “I’ll do it.” I don’t remember if we sealed the pact with a handshake. I don’t recall much except that we were at Maloney’s Pub and I never once made a good decision at Maloney’s. 

I’d lost hearing in my right ear the summer after my sophomore year in high school after colliding with a teammate in a baseball game. There was surgery and doctor’s orders I sit out football the upcoming year. I never went back — until I fulfilled my end of the deal that fall.  I played football. Mostly, I watched football. After finishing the season with some special teams penalties — and roughly nine total minutes of actual playing time — my Division III college football career was in the books. It was Tiernan’s turn to pay up. And he did.  Tiernan is married now with three kids, living in Cary, N.C. I called him recently to catch up. Rest of the story at
https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?postId=1673211132&mc_cid=a8740c076f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

July 29, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized