Get To Know Garrett Thompson

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ATHENS, Ohio — Redshirt Sophomore Garrett Thompson has had a successful start to the 2023-24 season. His 17-4 record includes a first-place finish at the Southeast Open, a third-place finish at the Navy Classic, and a fifth-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, in which he defeated four ranked opponents to earn. Thompson has also won Mid-American Conference wrestler of the week twice this season. Thompson and the Bobcats are set to return to the mat against Gardner-Webb today (Dec. 21) at 5:00 p.m.

How was your trip to Las Vegas?

Thompson: Going there, I was just trying to have a positive mindset especially because it's supposed to be one of the hardest in-season tournaments of the year. I knew there was going to be a lot of hard competition. I just tried to focus on myself and not get caught up with like, all like the crowd and like the seeds and rankings and stuff and just wrestle the way I like to.

How do you stay mellow during a big meet?

Thompson: I just go out there and basically tell myself seven minutes. If you wrestle hard for seven minutes, you've got nothing to lose, really. That's what I mainly think to myself before I go out.

Your team has been on the road a lot this season, do you ever miss wrestling at home?

Thompson: Not too much. I kind of like the traveling aspect. You get close with your teammates and spend a lot of time with them. So I think it's pretty fun.

Why did you start wrestling?

Thompson: I have a brother who's seven years older than me. So he's started wrestling and then I kind of just started going to practice and like, just to watch him and my first coach ever had like a son my age, so like me and him would just like kind of roll around in the corner, and just like mess around, and then I just picked it up from there.

At what point did you realize you wanted to wrestle at the next level?

Thompson: From a pretty young age I mean, ever probably say like, from middle school. I really started to take it seriously and then that's when I knew I wanted to go to college and wrestle in college.

Was your high school big in wrestling?

Thompson: Actually it was a few years before I got into high school, the team won two back to back state titles. It was a pretty big wrestling school.

Now that you're here, what motivates you to continue wrestling?

Thompson: I'd say seeing how well the team's doing and how well I'm doing just kind of keeps helping me push forward and work hard throughout the rest of the season.

Last year you got thrown into a couple of matches, what's it like going from then to now?

Thompson: Last year I had to pop up a weight class and go up to 174-pounds and wrestle, but I was just kind of excited for the opportunity. So this year it's nice being down back 165-pounds to wrestle kids more my size but yeah, I mean, I had fun up there, it was nice, but I'm happy to lose weight for once (laughs).

What do you like to do to refresh after a long day of practice?

Thompson: Normally, I just go home, do whatever I need to do for school, sit on the couch, relax and watch TV. Practices are usually pretty hard, so I just relax.

Do you have any go-to TV shows?

Thompson: My favorite TV show ever is probably Breaking Bad, but I just started Sons of Anarchy recently. I've been getting into that and it's pretty good so far in the first season.

You mentioned school, what are you studying?

Thompson: Finance.

Do you know what you want to do with that yet?

Thompson: I'm not 100% sure. I'm trying to find an internship right now so hopefully that can help me figure it out after I do that.

#OUOhyeah

Get To Know Garrett Thompson

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Garrett Thompson

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