Cool kid: Tyler Clark motivated to beat dad

Tyler Clark is dedicated to what he does.

“Work hard and you’ll get better,” he said. “You can’t sit around and expect to be good. You need to practice, and when practice is over, you still need to practice.”

Clark, 14, has an 8-foot-square wrestling mat in his bedroom and a weight bench in a room down the hall where awards cover the walls. He practices and works out steadily.

He watches what he eats and drinks, going so far as to designate about two days a month as “fat days” where he allows himself to fill up on junk food and lounge around all day in front of the television or computer screen.

“Playing video games does not count as exercise,” he joked.

Clark has much to show for his hard work including several records and numerous awards in wrestling and track, and a successful football season with 70 points scored. An eighth-grader at North Pines Middle School, he also holds the school’s pull-up record.

“He’s a stellar athlete,” said his grandfather, Robert Clark. “He runs Bloomsday in under an hour and the first time he picked up a pole vault, he went over eight feet.”

Tyler Clark’s dad, Joe Clark, was an all-star wrestler at Central Valley and University high schools.

“I try to beat my dad at everything,” said Clark. “He was in the newspaper when he was in the 10th grade, and I’m making it in the paper in the eighth grade.”

He credits his success to being self-motivated and to the support of his family: “My parents attend all my meets and matches. It’s important for parents to encourage their kids.”

Clark also plays the bass clarinet and the keyboard. He enjoys music, hanging out with his friends, riding his bike, working out, paintball, disc golf and playing catch with his dad who said, “no limitations.”

He takes that to heart and is looking forward to high school.