Nick Brunner
Staff Reporter
An action packed day at the Gill Center, home to the 2009 Centennial Conference wrestling championships, was coming to a close. However, as the final match of the long day grew nearer the energy and anxious anticipation within the arena seemed to be growing stronger. The heavyweight bout was looming ever closer and with it McDaniel’s chance at a conference champion. In what had been a great year for the McDaniel wrestling team, the Green Terror still had one chance, one hope for a conference champion.
Brock Glotfelty had been the anchor of the Green Terror squad all year. He had dominated opponents all year long and the first two rounds of the conference championships were no different. Pinning his first opponents, Fernando Jones of Ursinus in the first three minutes and then John Christopher of Washington and Lee within the first two, Brock was showing why he was ranked in the top eight of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Brute-Adidas Rankings as of February 10.
With the final match only moments away, Brock, who had been a spectator for the last hour or so, began to get “in the zone.” With a few stretches and a series of brisk jogs, Brock began to visualize the upcoming match. No music was playing in his ears; a stern look of intense concentration now came over his face. He puts on his helmet, does a few fist pounds and practice moves, the match is finally here. After taking a final swig of Gatorade, he began to pace back and forth like the heavyweight champion he was about to become.
The two fighters put on their respective ankle scoring bracelets and take their positions. The match begins, both wrestlers slow playing and getting a feel for each other for the first minute. A little after a minute into the first round, Brock attacks and slams his opponent to the mat; he maintains in control for the rest of the first round, holding his opponent seemingly lifeless on the mat. The whistle blows and the second round begins.
Both men square up and circle around like two powerful lions waiting for the right time to pounce. In third and final round Brock looked in control throughout until unexpectedly with less then ten seconds to go he his taken down, seeming to tie the match and the crowd goes silent for a second. However, Brock had amassed more that one minute of advantage time so he had done it, he was the Centennial Conference Champion. Brock’s victory cemented McDaniel into third place, capping a great season for the entire squad. But for Brock, the incredible season was far from over. By winning the conference championship, he had qualified for the National Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
What Brock has been accomplishing throughout the year may come as a surprise to the casual fan, but Head Wrestling Coach Davey Blake, it was the hard work of a special student-athlete being rewarded with success on the mat. Coach Blake explained, “He is a heavyweight, but he eats healthy, lifts weights hard, and pushes his cardio to his max. He tries to improve his wrestling on a daily basis and never wastes a second in the practice room.” Brock’s hard work has definitely been evident throughout the year as he amassed over thirty wins, majority of which have been pins, to only one loss.
Brock is obviously a very special performer on the mat, however when I asked Coach Blake about Brock he couldn’t say enough about how special of a person Brock was off the mat. The asked about Brock, the first thing Coach Blake had to say went far beyond his accomplishments in the ring. His first line was, “Brock is one of those guys who does everything the right way. He is a great competitor, but also posts a GPA of over 3.5.”
After sitting down for just a few minutes with Brock, it was easy to see what Coach Blake was talking about. When I asked Brock if there was anything in particular he wanted to say about the great season he was having, without hesitation he began to talk to me about how he has the best coaches and the best practice partners anyone could ask for. Brock told me how one teammate in particular, junior Will Yeo, is the guy who pushes him the hardest everyday in practice. With a smile on his face, Brock let me in on how Will has been trying to take him down in practice all year long. His smile got bigger as he explained how the one time that Will did take him down, was on a “questionable call.”
Brock began wrestling when he was in second grade. When he was young his parents used to take him to high school wrestling matches in Garrett County. Brock played sports his entire life, including baseball, football and of course wrestling in high school. He says his proudest moment as a wrestler came his senior year in high school when, after reaching the finals and losing his first three years, he finally won the state championship. Brock’s favorite athlete is Cael Sanderson. Cael is an Olympic gold medalist and the only four time, undefeated NCAA champion. Brock believes that the astonishing 159-0 record is the greatest feat in sports.
When Brock is not wrestling he is pursuing a major in Exercise Science with a minor in elementary education. Brock intends on becoming an elementary school teacher after his days at McDaniel are through. Brock is in a teaching practicum and was amazed how well the little kids could pronounce his last name (probably better than most of the announcers who butcher it during the wrestling matches).
Just for fun, expecting to hear a list of expensive cars, houses, or vacation destinations, I asked Brock what he would do if won $10 million. But instead, he gave me probably the best answer I have ever heard to that question. He said first of all he would continue his education here at McDaniel and graduate, but also he would start a youth wrestling program in an area where they did not have one in order to help young kids. This selfless and humble response pretty well summed up my entire conversation with this true giant on and off the mat.
At a time when its hard to turn on ESPN or flip through the sports section of a newspaper without seeing something about a star athlete who is using steroids, getting in trouble with the law, or bad mouthing his coaches or teammates, it is nice to know that there is at least one superstar right here at McDaniel College who does it the right way.
In case you were wondering, the one blemish on Brock’s record came at the hands of Delaware Valley College senior Kyle Bilquist, who as of February 10 was the top rated heavyweight in Division III. It was a close match with Bilquist taking the 6-3 decision. You better believe that Brock will have a little extra motivation if he gets the chance for a rematch, as both heavyweight champions will be among the finalists waiting to do battle in U.S. Cellular Center for the 2009 National Wrestling Championships March 6th and 7th. On behalf of the entire Free Press staff I’d like to wish Brock the best of luck at the Championships. We’d be hard pressed to find a better person to represent McDaniel College.