| On the road with Lehigh bound Justin Allen |
|
|
| Written by Ronnie Sigmon -- Top Prospects Editor | |
| Tuesday, 01 August 2006 | |
 Justin Allen graduated from Raleigh Millbrook High School last spring. He was a state champion in 2005 and placed third at the state tournament last February. Allen was upset in the state semifinals losing his first match since the state tournament in 2004. Allen was a two-sport star in football and wrestling while at Millbrook. This created a dilemma for Allen where he had to decide which sport he would choose to continue in college. After much deliberation, Allen chose wrestling and accepted a scholarship from powerhouse Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Allen has a lot of potential as a college wrestler. He learns quickly and is very athletic. Standing 6'4" and weighing 248lbs, Allen has tons of potential for a college heavy weight. After his upset in the state tournament, he made another decision. Allen decided to try Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and compete in the national tournament in Fargo, North Dakota. I had a chance to talk with Justin while traveling through Minnesota on the bus ride back from Fargo. Q - RS: How long have you been wrestling? A - JA: I started my freshman year in high school. Q - RS: Who would you give credit to for helping you become the wrestler you are today? A - JA: My high school coach, Phil Davanzo. He always pushed me past what I thought were my limits. He always believed in me when I sometimes didn't. Q - RS: When did you start wrestling and why? A - JA: I started wrestling my freshman year. I wanted to stay in shape for football and my older brother did it, so I thought I would give it a try. Q - RS: What do you like about the sport of wrestling? A -J A: I grew to like it because it is a one on one type sport where it is just you and your opponent out there. Unlike team sports like football, you either succeed or fail by your own actions. Q - RS: How did you do in your high school career? A - JA: My overall record was 131-19. My freshman season, I was only 16-9 and went 1-2 at regionals. At that time it did not matter to me that much because I was all about football, and for me wrestling was just something to keep me in shape during the winter. In my sophomore year, I almost quit wrestling because I wanted to play football in college. My football coaches wanted me to be in the weight room and get bigger. I did wrestle though and did better than the year before. I finished the season 37-9 and placed 5th in the state tournament. I still had doubts about wrestling my junior season, but I still went out for the team. During my junior year, I started liking wrestling more and more. I went undefeated and won a State Championship that year. I also had a really good football season, too. There was a lot of pressure from college coaches of both sports, so I had a big decision as to which sport I would choose to do in college. During the next summer, I went to a two-week intensive J Robinson wrestling camp in Pennsylvania and that was the deciding factor as to what I wanted to do in college. It opened my eyes to what college wrestling would be like. My senior year I still played football and wrestled. I was 51-1 for the season losing in the state semifinals. I went on to place third. Q - RS: What position did you play in football? A - JA: Offensive and defensive line. Q - RS: What kind of honors did you have in football? A - JA: Two-Time All-Conference, two-time team captain, and I was asked to play in the East/West All-Star game in Greensboro this summer. I turned this down though because I was going to Fargo to wrestle, and I had my wrestling scholarship to Lehigh. Q - RS: I know you received a lot of letters from many different colleges for both sports. Who were some of the schools that actually called you at home recruiting you for both football and wrestling? A - JA: Football schools were NC State, Wake Forest, ECU, Catawba, Lenoir Rhyne, Elon, Averett, Guilford, Brevard, and Carson-Newman. I told them that I had pretty much made up my mind to wrestle in college. I spoke with wrestling coaches from UNC Greensboro, NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Pembroke, Old Dominion, Lock Haven, Binghamton, Carson-Newman, Campbell, and Lehigh. I chose Lock Haven, Binghamton and Lehigh for my final three choices and took official visits to those three schools. Q - RS: Why did you choose Lehigh? A - JA: I really liked the coaches and all of the guys on the team. They also have a good engineering program. The Lehigh wrestling program is a national power, and I thought they can really help me develop into a better wrestler. Q - RS: What is your best experience in wrestling? A - JA: Winning my state championship was really nice, but my most memorable experience was losing in the state semi-finals last February. It gave me motivation to try and take my wrestling to another level. Q - RS: Is that why you went to Fargo this summer? A - JA: Yes, my goals were to repeat as a state champion and to become an All-American at senior nationals. By not achieving those goals, Fargo gave me another chance. It also provided me the opportunity to compete with guys that I will see later on in college. Q - RS: You only started wrestling Freestyle and Greco this spring. After going to Fargo, do you wish you would have started wrestling these styles earlier? A - JA: Most definitely. If I would have started wrestling these styles a few years ago it could have helped me reach my goals of becoming an All-American. I was really impressed with the level of competition at Fargo. Q - RS: What was your most memorable match at Fargo? A - JA: There is a couple. I scored a "5" from a reverse gut throw on a wrestler from Pennsylvania in my first match in Greco. The other was when I lost in the last second of the match against a wrestler from Illinois. I was winning buy one point, but I gave up a two point gut wrench just as time ran out. I was pretty mad at my self for that. Q - RS: You finished 2-2 in Greco and 2-2 in freestyle. That is really good for a wrestler that only started wrestling these two styles since March. A - JA: I guess, but I think I should have done better. Q - RS: Do you recommend other wrestlers to compete in Freestyle and participate at Fargo? A - JA: Yes. It was a good experience. At Fargo, I was able to compete with and watch the best wrestlers in the country. I also got to see and talk with my future college coach Greg Stroble and future team mates Mike Gray and Alex Caruso. Q - RS: Many people consider Lehigh as having the top recruiting class in the nation this year. I guess you are very excided to be a part of this. A - JA: Yes, I do. I feel much honored that they gave me a wrestling scholarship. I am just going to try and get better and contribute to the team's success in the future. RS - Thanks Justin for sharing your wrestling experiences with North Carolina's Scouting Report. Good luck this fall at Lehigh. JS - You're welcome and thanks a lot for helping me at Fargo. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
