Competing at the Highest Level
The wrestling season had come to an end. Sam Crousore was as light as ever after being forced to lose as much weight as he can to meet his weight maximum for wrestling. He could not wait to eat a full plate of food and drink a jug of water before he would hit the golf course to play nine holes. He has made this physically demanding transition 3 times now in his high school career.
Crousore is one of the most unique athletes we have at Hamilton Southeastern. He is a dual-sport varsity athlete playing both golf and wrestling. What makes him unique is his ability to shift from a very physical sport to a mental one, and compete at the highest level in both. It is also worth mentioning that Crousore does all of this while maintaining the highest GPA on both of these teams.
“As important as athletics are what’s even more important is being a student and your effort in the classroom”, Crousore said. “I think I’ve shown my ability to be both an athlete and a student as I am both the golf and wrestling team GPA leader from last year.”
It is hard enough to balance one varsity sport with school. But Crousore has been able to do it with two sports while being one of the highest achieving athletes at our school. He faces this challenge head on as he does the challenge of competing in two sports at the highest level. How does he do this? Hard work.
“Sam’s work ethic impresses me most about him”, said teammate John Cherry. “Very few people are willing to put in the time and effort to be successful at two sports.”
Crousore embraces the hard work that is required of him on the playing field and in the classroom. He also embraces the transition between wrestling season to golf season and the differences the sports present from each other.
“When transitioning from wrestling to golf it is more of an attitude shift”, Crousore said. “In wrestling you are allowed to let all your emotions out against your opponent. However in golf the opponent is yourself so you have to keep your emotions in and stay calm.”
The unique thing about Crousore is he is able to make this transition so well. He goes from a physically demanding sport from cutting weight and staying in the best shape possible, to golf which is more about precision and mental toughness. Through 3 years, Crousore has been a great example of what it means to be a Royal, and we can all benefit from the example he sets. Story by Sam Smith.
