Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Nygaard | Stevan Smith, a senior at Kent Island High School, won his second state wrestling...... read more read more
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KENT ISLAND, Md. – If silence is a virtue, then Stevan Smith is beyond reproach. The wiry 17-year-old does not talk much, and when he does, it is usually only three to five words. When asked about going undefeated in his final year of high school wrestling, he simply said, “It’s great.”
Smith lets his performance on the wrestling mat speak for itself. The senior at Kent Island High School won his second state wrestling title on March 9 at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House.
Smith describes his victory with an awkward grin on his face, “It was pretty exciting.”
Exciting is a bit of an understatement. Smith beat his opponent 1-0 by escaping his grip with only 38 seconds left in the match.
Smith has been wrestling most of his life. His father, Michael, grew up wrestling and introduced the sport to Stevan and his brother when they were both toddlers. Smith began competing when he was four years old.
“When I saw my brother wrestling, that made me want to start,” said Smith.
Since then, Smith has competed in countless wrestling duals and tournaments. When he entered high school, his training regimen kicked up a few notches. Smith was training almost every day of the week – three days of practice and four days of weight lifting while running close to 10 miles every day. Naturally, this rigorous schedule took its toll on his body, producing numerous sprains and aches in his elbows and knees.
“You get used to it … working through the pain,” said Smith. “It really doesn’t bother you anymore. If you take a day off, your competition is going to get better. You really just got to work through it.”
Despite being approached by several colleges with scholarship offers, Smith followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and enlisted in the Marine Corps. He will begin training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, this summer.
Smith’s Marine recruiter, Staff Sgt. James Wessel, says he is the ideal recruit, always participating in physical training sessions and motivating others who struggle during the exercises.
“He’s an outstanding young man, very smart individual,” said Wessel. “He’s the guy who finishes the run and goes back to motivate the guys who haven’t finished yet. He’ll go back and bring up guys who are falling behind.”
Smith chose infantry for his military occupation and explains the choice with his distinctive brevity: “I like guns.”
He hopes to one day become a scout sniper, a specialty job in which Marines are hand-selected to become long-range marksmen in support of combat operations. Smith knows the qualifications for this job are high and the training is not easy, but he is ready to take on the challenge.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2015 19:18 |
| Story ID: | 159706 |
| Location: | KENT NARROWS, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 307 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, The Quiet Warrior: Future Marine wins second state wrestling title, by CWO2 Bryan Nygaard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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