Meet the Wolverine Newcomers -- Hunter Collins
11/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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On why he chose Michigan ...
"I looked at all my options, and I based it off a triangle. What they could offer, their wrestling program and their academics. Of all the places I looked, Michigan had everything. As soon as I was out here, saw the football game, the whole spirit and energy of the school -- after seeing that and the academics -- I was sold. I know I made the right choice. I knew that coming out to any school, I was going to have to make adjustments -- just because it wasnt going to be California anymore. I prepared myself for the worst, so when I got here, it was way better than what I expected and what I wanted. I did consider staying in California, but I guess Ive always felt I did better off on my own. That's how most of my summers were. I knew that coming out here would help me more than staying close to home."
On his start in wrestling ...
"I started wrestling when I was six. My dad just asked me one day if I wanted to try wrestling. I had tried a lot of other things like dancing, karate and boxing. I wasnt very good at wrestling when I first started. It took a while. After about the fourth year, I started to win pretty consistently. I just kind of kept on from there. Then I started traveling all over the country and to different countries to wrestle. It became a big part of my life, and it got me where I am."
On the wrestling climate in California ... "Wrestling is bigger out east. More schools focus on it. Being a California wrestler, I think a little more is expected of you. You're expected to be good. Californians are known for having a different style then the rest of the country. While other guys are more basic, we are a lot more scrambling and a little bit more funk. It works for us every once in a while. We are the biggest state, and we only have one state tournament. Thats what we are famous for. If you can do well in that state, then you are a pretty good wrestler."
On his own wrestling style ... "I've never been stronger than most of my opponents. Thats a big thing that Im learning right now in college C- that I have to get stronger. Jesse [Miller] does a great job training us, and I can already feel myself getting stronger. At these early tournaments, I've seen a number of guys that I wrestled in high school, and they've told me that I look a lot bigger than I did in high school. Im a very offensive wrestler. I've never really had a great defense, so my best defense was my offense. Once I get in on a leg, my goal was to finish. Im able to scramble well enough to where, at worst, I get stuck in a stalemate. I might have to change a little bit. Im going to keep everything I have, but Im obviously going to need to develop a solid defense."
On dropping down to 171 for the 2008 California state tournament ... "My senior year, I already signed to Michigan, and I was just wrestling to wrestle. I wanted to win a state title. I was wrestling 189, but I was only weighing about 181-182 at tournaments. These guys were a lot bigger than me, but they got tired faster so I was able to fare pretty well. All I wanted to do was beat one guy who had beaten me every year from my freshman year all the way to senior year -- Louis Bland. He is a very good wrestler -- very basic and very explosive. So, my only goal was to beat him. Since my freshman year I had done nothing but train to beat him. My senior year, before the last tournament where I could drop down a weight class, the coach wanted me to go down a weight class to 171, because if I could win a state title there, we would have a better chance as a team to win it. I didnt want to go down at all, but I left it up to a team vote and they all voted me down. So, I went to state and I pinned everybody. We were half a point away from winning a state title. I had never been in an overtime match before the state finals, and it was the first time I had been ridden out in high school. I dont even know what really happen in overtime. I remember knee picking him to his back and laying on top of him. He was too tired to fight, and I was too tired to get off of him -- and the ref called it a pin."
On the transition between high school and college ... "Based on my last tournament that I wrestled here it is a lot different. In high school you would have to wrestle maybe two matches hard at a tournament, and the rest of the guys might be decent, but there is no way they are going to beat you. In college you have to wrestle everybody hard -- every single match. That is what I was trying to keep myself aware of at the tournament. The overall intensity -- you can't wait; you have to bring the intensity to the match. It is a lot more mental. Everybody knows how to wrestle, so it comes down to strength and who wants it more. That is where wrestling is unique. In a lot of sports talent comes into play; you can be a very talented football or basketball player and just get away with that. But in wrestling, it is just about who works the hardest."
On his 'Welcome to DI wrestling moment' ... "I was just happy I won my first match [at the Eastern Michigan Open]. I didn't know how I was going to start and then I pinned my kid in the first round. So, I thought, 'Alright that's not too bad.' I was okay with that. It's definitely at the level I was expecting it to be -- where guys are challenging me every match. If I was at a place where my hardest match wasn't in the room, then I wouldn't be in the right place. That is another reason I chose Michigan, because I have like Steve Luke and Tyrel [Todd] and even [Kirk] Trost. I wrestled with Trost for one go the other day, and he was just throwing me around. They are all so strong and hard on me, but they're all helping me. It is only going to make me better. My goal for wrestling this year is to be able to take down Steve Luke. If I can take down Steve, then I can take down anybody in the country."
On his interest in field hockey ... "My freshman year of high school, my first serious girlfriend ever was a field hockey player. After that I fell in love with the sport. My girlfriend sophomore year was a field hockey player, then junior year she was a field hockey player. Eventually I was just playing field hockey with the girls. I'd set up pick-up games and stuff on the weekends. I just got dragged into it. When I was out here on my official visit last year, I saw them play Indiana for the Big Ten title. It was awesome. I went to every single game this year, so do most of my teammates. I think we make it the hardest place to play. We yell out things that dont even make sense, but the girls love us."
Players Mentioned
