| Hello, my name is Melvin Whitehead, and I am honored to be recognized once again as athlete of the month. Since I last wrote, I have accomplished a great deal. During my sophomore year I was a part of the varsity football team that won the Mountain Division and had made it to the Regional Championship against Bishop Gorman, where we came up short. I took a lot away from that loss; it fueled the fire I had going into wrestling season. |
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That wrestling season I had to learn how to deal with adversity. I took on a harder wrestling schedule, traveling to Utah, Reno, and California, twice. I won the Desert Storm Classic in Utah and the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno while earning Outstanding Wrestler in both. I then took on the challenge of the Doc Buchanan Invitational in California.This is one of the toughest tournaments in the country, and I was ready to take on the challenge. I was the second seed in the 64 man 198 pound bracket, and I won my first couple of matches handily. In the Quarter Finals, I lost within the final seconds of the match. I then went on to take eighth place. Most would have been glad to just place at this tournament, but I wasn’t satisfied with that. I wanted more and I knew I should’ve done better. |
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| My next tournament was the Temecula Valley Battle For the Belt. I did well in this tournament making it to the Semi Finals. However, an apparent injury didn’t allow me to finish the tournament earning me Sixth Place. These tournaments showed me that I had a long way to go to get where I needed to be. I went on a tear for the rest of the season and won my Second Regional and State Titles. Next up for me was the Virginia Beach Nationals, once again. I did extremely well, taking Fourth in the 128 man 220 pound bracket. Good finish, but still wasn’t satisfied. |
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Next was the U17 World Team Trials. I had a good run, Placing Sixth and was on the World Team ladder. I was grateful because I placed substantially better than I had the previous year. My next challenge was Fargo. I went into the tournament with high expectations since I had double All American’d the previous year I expected to do it again. However, I had suffered an injury early in the tournament. This was such a disappointment, and it made me reevaluate if I was truly doing everything I could in my training and my mentality. Some great things came out of that year though. |
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| I had made the A/B Honor Roll in my Academics. I was also selected as Channel 13’s CCSD (Clark County School District) Academic Athlete of the Month. I had also begun to get recruited by some outstanding wrestling programs such as Michigan, Oklahoma State, Northern Colorado and more. I had a lot to look forward to in my junior year. Next up was junior football season. I played both ways as a tight end and outside linebacker. I helped my team reach the State Championship game where we fell short once again. I was heartbroken, knowing that we had come so far. But this gave me more to fight with during wrestling season. |
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| I started off by winning all the first few tournaments and claiming Outstanding Wrestler at both the Green Valley Invitational and Desert Storm Classic. I then went back to Doc Buchanan and finished Sixth in a 64 man 218 pound bracket. Placed better than I had the previous year, but it wasn’t my best performance in the slightest. I needed to do better. Next was my return to Temecula. I was determined to do better than I had done the previous year. I made it back to the Semi-Finals and this time I won in an overtime thriller. I was going into that Finals match with all time confidence. |
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| However, I was quickly humbled and lost a tough match. I sat and thought about why I couldn’t get over the hump and win those high profile tournaments. I realized that I was not putting enough into my training. I then won my Third Regional and State titles. I was so excited because this put me one step closer to my goal of Four State Titles. Also during the season I reached over 150 career wins. I secured straight A Honor Roll as well. I was also inducted into the prestigious society, National Society of High School Scholars(NSHSS). |
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| I then went to the PNL Freestyle and Greco tournament. I took Fifth in Freestyle and Third in Greco, and although I hadn’t had much practice, I was beginning to notice a pattern in my mentality in those tough matches. I knew this had to be corrected if I wanted to start winning those matches. After this was the U20 US Open. I wrestled nothing but college wrestlers and although I wrestled tough, I was shown where I was at and how much I still had to learn. During the summer I again registered for Fargo. I wasn’t getting into wrestling practices because of my schedule for football. To compensate, I stepped up my training like I never had before. I did a lot of mental training as well. I had to clean up my mentality if I wanted to take that next step. |
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| Me doing all of this paid off because I wrestled the best I ever had and took Fourth, reclaiming my All American Status. This gave me much more confidence than I ever had before. Also during the summer, I began talking to Coach Zeke Jones and the rest of the Arizona State staff. I didn’t know what to expect with them but I was excited. Through a lot of conversations and my visit, my parents and I decided that ASU was the perfect place to continue my Academic and Athletic Journey for the next level. Now I am in my senior year, and I am ready for what the future holds for me. I want to thank my parents, Coach Pami, Coach Gaitanos, and Coach Kenny for getting me this far. I would also like to thank Coach Zeke and the ASU staff for welcoming me into their family and I look forward to a great year. |
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Here is the link to Melvin’s First Athlete of the Month for NVSportsLocal
Melvin Whitehead Bio Part 1 |
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