NC standout Derek Brown returns
In wrestling, as in most athletic endeavors, confidence is everything, and the way North Central’s Derek Brown finished last season taught him a wonderful lesson about the importance of believing in himself on the mat.
Brown, wrestling at 171 pounds, lost his first match at the state tournament last winter, then won six straight by pin or by technical fall to finish in third place. And therein lies the lesson.
“Going into state,” he said, “I had no idea how I’d do, wrestling a bunch of unfamiliar guys. In my first match, I was timid and tentative and didn’t know what to expect.
“After I lost that one, I knew I didn’t want to go two and out. I knew I should have beat that first guy and that I was as good as everyone there.”
That’s the change that both Brown and his coach, Mike Ranieri, have noticed in his approach early this season.
“When he’s on the mat,” says Ranieri, “he thinks he’s going to win. His goal this season is to go undefeated. He thinks and I think that he can do it. I think that with the attitude he has now, when he gets into a tough situation he’ll stay composed.”
Brown echoes that view.
“I expect to win every time I wrestle,” he said. “I’ve always expected to do well, but I never had the total confidence I have now.
“Doing well at state last year makes me know that at any time you can win a match. I could be behind 12-0, but I could turn it around in two seconds and win by pin. The important thing is to wrestle hard for six minutes every match.”
That’s an approach that Ranieri preaches to all his wrestlers, and one which Brown and the other NC seniors try to model to younger wrestlers. Brown considers himself a guy who leads by example, showing his teammates that success is a product of the hard work.
He’s a four-year varsity wrestler, and earned three letters in football, where he was recently named a first-team all-Greater Spokane League running back. He played at about 200 during football season, and is wrestling this season at 189.
Right now he’s fighting a recurring ankle injury, suffered during his sophomore football season and hurt again during early-season wrestling drills.
“The only way it’s going to get better is with ice and rest,” said Ranieri, “and I don’t think Derek’s very happy with that. But conditioning is so important in wrestling, and although we’re pretty good we’re not very deep, so we need to get him healthy.”
Brown has a rosier diagnosis.
“The injury’s not really a factor in my conditioning. I’m in pretty good shape already, and it doesn’t bother me running, but there’s so much turning in wrestling that it keeps acting up.”
For his part, Ranieri believes in Brown as much as Brown believes in himself.
“Derek is such a great athlete,” he said. “For his size, he’s quick, strong and aggressive, and he’s not scared to get after anybody. He’s pretty quiet and self-controlled, but the confidence and maturity he brings into the room make a big difference.”
Brown returns the kind words: “I wouldn’t be where I am without coach Ranieri. He makes me know how good I can be and how to motivate myself. He does whatever he can to make me successful.”
Finally, facing his final season on the mat before – hopefully – he heads to Eastern Washington University to play football, Brown says this: “I’m never gonna get to do this again, so I need to go 100 percent all the time while I have the opportunity.”