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Older, wiser Sharp ranked No. 1 again
West Branch heavyweight vows to learn from last season
By Brian Dzenis
Who could blame Ian Sharp for thinking he was invincible?
In his junior season at West Branch, Sharp suffered a knee injury during the Top Gun tournament. No big deal, Sharp — the No. 1 heavyweight in Ohio at the time — still won.
He learned afterward that knee injury was a torn ACL. After some thought and consultation with his doctor — who decided he could still wrestle — Sharp continued to compete while his team kept the injury a secret.
“It was terrible, but at the same time, I wanted to win so bad that I would just ignore the pain,” Sharp said. “It was bad. When it was all over, I didn’t just tear one ligament. I tore all three.”
His performance didn’t drop off. A wrestling match is six minutes long. In districts, he pinned all three of his opponents on a bum knee — including the No. 2 wrestler in the state at the time— in less time.
“I was kind of arrogant when I went in [the state tournament] last year,” Sharp said.
Here’s what Sharp told The Vindicator after winning that district title in 2016:
“Pretty much all season I’ve been working on my top game, so I can pin pretty much anyone I want to. It sounds arrogant, but I kind of have pinned everyone.”
There isn’t that kind of talk from Sharp now. In 2017, Sharp is a much more humble wrestler after he failed to place in the state tournament last year.
“You’re always going to be eating your own words,” Sharp said. “Everything is always going to come back and bite you.”
His unexpected exit last year was one of the biggest shocks of the entire tournament, but he’s not letting himself off the hook because of his knee injury. Neither is his father and corner man, Roger Sharp.
“I understand he was injured, but we have to build off that,” Roger said. “Just because you have an excuse, you can’t use that. You have to work through that.”
Not that Ian could avoid remembering the upset defeat if he wanted to. Roger is a state placer. Ian’s uncle Nathan made the state finals three times, winning twice. Ian has three brothers who have placed in Columbus.
“He certainly would like to have those bragging rights at the dinner table and be able to silence the crowd by saying ‘I won a state title,’” West Branch coach Jason Brown said. “That’s in his mind and he’s put himself in a position to go do that.”
After an offseason of recovering from injury, Sharp started 10 games on the offensive line for the West Branch football team and earned a football scholarship at Wayne State. On the wrestling mat, Ian has a 35-1 record and once again travels to Columbus ranked No. 1 in his weight class.
Every three days, Roger will text Ian a photo of last year’s quarterfinal loss to New Lexington’s Matt Adams so he doesn’t lose sight of the ultimate prize.
“I have vowed from then on, I was going to win it next year,” Sharp said. “I don’t take any of this for granted. Anyone can beat me if they wrestle their match.”