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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Family Matters
Eastern Oklahoma, OK
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By: Jeff Harrison
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Photo(s) By: Brett Rojo
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For Stillwater wrestling champion Chris Perry, wrestling is what it’s all about, but he’s pretty good at football, too.
If ever someone was born to compete in a particular sport it was Chris Perry.
And that sport is wrestling.
The Stillwater senior was born into two of the state's most prominent wrestling families, the Smith's and Perry's, who have produced a number of champions at every level.
His father and three uncles enjoyed successful careers at Oklahoma State, while his older brother Mark Jr. was a two-time national champion at the University of Iowa and is now an assistant coach at Penn State. But the most famous family member is his uncle John Smith, the OSU head coach and two-time Olympic champion.
Despite that type of pedigree, you won't find the three-time state champion in the wrestling room 365 days a year. Instead, Chris splits his time between the mat and the gridiron, where he is a star running back for the Pioneers.
"When I was little, I always loved it, and I wanted to play college football," said Perry, who rushed for 771 yards and eight touchdowns in 2007. "I love to play physical sports, it's a way to bang heads for a couple hours."
While most outstanding athletes focus on one sport, Chris has no problem balancing the two, and has seen the benefits from the heavy workload.
"It's not tough to balance, I wrestle all through the summer, and once I get to football it's a break for me," Perry said.
Stillwater football coach Rusty Atkins agrees, and loves the great work ethic Chris brings to the team.
"He does a great job of handling the two sports," Atkins said. "Wrestling helps him know when to get hit, how to fall, and even with weight issues. He knows how to control it, and we work real hard with wrestling coaches to get him back in the right weight capacity."
And when the football season winds down, it will be back to the wrestling room for Chris as he focuses on joining the elite group of four-time state champions, which includes only one other Stillwater graduate. Pioneers' head coach Doug Chesbro's brother Todd conquered that feat in 1987.
"I got to witness that when my brother won it, and that's just a neat deal," Chesbro said. "The families have a lot of history and I hope my brother will be there to watch, it's a neat thing."
The Smith-Perry family heritage is not only something Chris takes pride in, but it also serves as motivation.
"It's good to have a family like ours, it's almost like a goal, we always want to do better than each other," Chris said. "In our family, we have so many good wrestlers to live up to them would be phenomenal."
Perry admits a fourth state wrestling title would be an incredible accomplishment, but he may have eclipsed his biggest peak as a high school wrestler this summer at the Junior Freestyle National Championships in Fargo, N.D. After several fourth-place finishes, Perry took home the national title this year, something none of his family members had accomplished before.
"It was probably the best thing that's happened to me, no one in my family has ever won it," Perry said. "I was fourth every time I was there before and I wrestled a lot of nationally ranked guys and I beat them all. It was a life experience and something I'll never forget."
"That really put him on the map as one of the top couple of recruits," Chesbro said. "That's a tournament where you win that and you're the best. It's not a fluke."
Not surprisingly, Chris picked up the sport at a young age. He began wrestling at the age of five, while his brother Mark started at age seven.
"I didn't want them to start that young, but it was something they wanted to do," Chris' father Mark Perry Sr. said. "He started when he was five and then that's what he did."
Chris quickly took to the sport and soon followed in his family's footsteps. But unlike his relatives, Chris developed at a much younger age, and was wrestling at 160 pounds as a freshman. He gradually moved up in weight classes, wrestling at 171 as a sophomore and 189 last year. This season, Chesbro expects him to compete at 189 or 215.
"That's his natural weight, he's never had to cut much weight," Chesbro said. "He's not overweight, just in very good shape."
With a sparkling wrestling resume, Perry has had college coaches banging down his door, in an attempt to land the prized recruit. While the hometown Cowboys are an attractive option, Chris said his short list includes Ohio State, the University of Minnesota and Penn State.
"He'll have the opportunity to go anywhere," Chesbro said. "I'm not sure where he fits in the best. It's hard to leave Stillwater, but I know that he wants to get out there and see the world."
Chris' father said he's glad to see him excel in football, and believes it gives him a nice break from the rigors of wrestling. But when the time comes, he'll be ready.
"Even though he's playing football, he knows wrestling is coming around the corner," Perry said. "In a few weeks he'll be preparing for it, but right now his total focus is on football."
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