It was the Iowa boys wrestling class 3A state semifinals and Southeast Polk’s Carter Pearson and Norwalk’s Tyler Harper were set to square off.
Pearson was undoubtedly the heavy favorite, sitting as the No. 1 seed, 40-1 on the season and one of the hottest names in recruiting circles in his sophomore year.
Across from him, however, was Harper, who earned the No. 4 seed in his first appearance in the boys state tournament. Despite this being his first time, he was undeterred in his pursuit to make a run in the tournament.
It showed in the match, as Harper engaged in some hand fighting and dumped Pearson down for a pin in just 18 seconds to advance to the 106-pound final.
“I knew if I was on the bottom half of the bracket, I would make it to the finals,” Harper said after beating Pearson. “I made it either way, but it was just a tougher opponent to go through (on the top half of the bracket).”
Pearson went on to finish in third place at 106 pounds and Harper finished second behind Iowa City West’s Alexander Pierce. After the loss, Pearson was admittedly devastated. He saw a chance to win his first state title slip from his fingers.
“It was really unexpected,” Pearson said. “It really sucked, but I had to start working hard so stuff like that doesn’t happen again.”
His wrestling skills and technique weren’t the issue. The majority of his offseason work didn’t have to be done there. For Pearson, it was the mental aspect of the sport that he needed to work on. Particularly his confidence.
So what did Pearson do to work on that? He turned to his other passion: golf.
“You’ve got to be mentally strong”
Anyone who plays golf regularly knows how frustrating it can be. That drive off the tee into the woods, the putt that didn’t have enough juice to make the hole or a shot into the pond are all enough to make a person channel their inner “Happy Gilmore.” So, it might be a bit confusing why Pearson turned to golf to help improve his mental game.
In reality, it makes a ton of sense when you consider the comparables between golf and wrestling. Five hours on the course isn’t all that different from an all-day tournament and whether you are out on the green or on the wrestling mat, you’re on your own. You don’t have a teammate who can clean up your mistake, it’s you vs. the world.
“It helps a lot,” Pearson said. “You gotta be mentally strong and can’t let things get to you.”
Carter Pearson hits his tee shot on…
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