Editor’s Note: Twenty-eight-year-old Brent Metcalf from Iowa City, Iowa, is ranked number one in the nation in freestyle wrestling, the type that takes place in the Olympic Games and in the World Games. Metcalf is eyeing a third national title with hopes of competing on the USA Olympic Team in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Metcalf, who’s passionate about wrestling, hunting and the outdoors, is a member of the Mossy Oak Pro Staff and has been wrestling during and since elementary school. According to Metcalf, “I want to try and harvest as many different species of animals as I can with my bow and arrow. Specifically I dream of one day having the opportunity to harvest a moose and a grizzly bear with a bow and arrow. I am so passionate about archery because that’s mostly all I know. My father introduced me to archery a long time before I ever sat in a tree stand – at age 8. I would spend my summer and fall shooting targets in my backyard. I would set up different challenge shots such as through trees, to make the sport more fun. So, naturally when I had the first opportunity to hunt at age 16, I started with my bow and arrow. I have challenged myself since to try and continue to use archery equipment on almost all species I hunt.”
When I was about in the fifth grade, I was involved in many different sports including football, baseball, soccer and gymnastics. I was eaten-up with sports. As I was walking out of my elementary school one day, I found a flyer on the ground with a picture of a Martian – our mascot at the elementary school - wearing a singlet (wrestling suit). I thought that drawing looked really cool. So, I took the flyer home and told my parents. “I don’t know what this is, but can I try it?” So, my dad signed me up for a wrestling class.
At that time, my brother, Chase Metcalf, was playing basketball. But all the people in our family are short, and he pretty much realized that basketball probably wasn’t going to be his game. I started wrestling, and about 2 weeks later, my brother started wrestling. Chase and I both fell in love with wrestling. We started dropping out of the other sports and concentrating just on wrestling. By the time I was 10-years old, Chase and I were traveling all over the country competing in wrestling matches. Wrestling became a huge part of our family.
After elementary school, I went to Davison High School in Davison, Michigan, where I lived at that time, and I was on the wrestling team. I wrestled in what is commonly called folk style wrestling, which is collegiate wrestling. In high school, I was a four-time State Champion with a record of 228/0. One advantage I had was that my big brother Chase was ahead of me in school and in wrestling. So, I was able to watch him wrestle and learn from him. He went to the state tournament before I did, and I got to go to the state tournament and watch him wrestle. I knew what to expect when it was my time to compete. I’d been training so hard that I expected to win the first state tournament I attended.
My brother was a two-time Michigan State Champion. In high school, I wrestled in the 130-weight class, moved up to the 140-weight class and my senior year wrestled at 145 pounds. Chase wrestled in the 125-pound class, then in the 135-class and finally in the 145-pound class. Chase got a college scholarship and went to wrestle at the University of Michigan. In college, Chase got involved in some things he shouldn’t have and ended up only wrestling 2 years at the University of Michigan. He came home and helped coach the high school team but then in 2005, he was involved in a fatal car accident.
To keep up with Brent Metcalf and his quest for a World Championship and an Olympic gold medal, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bhmetcalf and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/bhmetcalf, where he shares his hunting adventures and wrestling exploits.
Day 2: My Hunting and My Connection with Mossy Oak and Olympic Wresting with Brent Metcalf
Tomorrow: Two National Championships for Mossy Oak Pro Brent Metcalf’s College Wrestling Career
