Before the age of 6, Griffin Vantichelt (12) was placed in both wrestling and football by his dad. What started as a way to burn energy continued to create a lasting impact on his life, later granting him a scholarship to a school he considers home.
Although both sports have created major impacts on his life, Vantichelt has found that playing in two sports has brought its challenges.
“I think the biggest challenge is trying to balance them out,” Vantichelt said. “For example, during summer, I’d be going down to Purdue to wrestle. I would have to wake up really early, and then I’d have to go to football after. So I feel like just balancing them out is the biggest challenge.”
Vantichelt found that while it can be hard to balance both sports, staying in good condition can help balance them.
“I balance them both out by staying in good condition and staying in the gym. That goes hand and hand for both sports. Then, during football season, I still get wrestling practices in on weekends,” Vantichelt said.
Even though Vantichelt faced challenges, he did not allow those challenges to get in the way of making memories.
“My favorite memory from football was probably winning Semi-State at home,” Vantichelt said. “The last play in overtime. I ran to the middle, turned around, hugged Landen Delich, looked back, and the whole field was just stormed by everyone. I mean, that was probably one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever had.”
Just like football, Vantichelt has made long-lasting memories in wrestling.
“I feel like the bus rides to each tournament were a core memory for wrestling,” Vantichelt said. “Having everyone there, all those people I’ve grown up with, I’ve wrestled with since I was a really little kid, so I mean, that was probably the best part.”
Although after high school, Vantichelt does not plan on continuing football, he has gotten a scholarship for wrestling and will be continuing it at Purdue.
“So, going into the postseason or after wrestling season, there are different styles. I was in what we call freestyle, it’s like the Olympic version style, and I was wrestling one of the Purdue kids.” Vantichelt said. “I ended up doing really good at state for freestyle. I won it, and then Purdue texted me and like, hey, we’ll have you out for a visit. And it was great. I mean, everyone there was awesome. All the team, the coaches, I just knew that was home.”
While at Purdue, Vantichelt plans on studying business, feeling drawn to it after growing up with his dad working in the field of business.
“I’m going to major in Business. Specifically, IB, which is integrated business engineering,” Vantichelt said. “I like numbers and talking, so I feel like that will be my career. My dad’s in that field, so I’ve grown up around it. I’ve also grown up listening to business calls and stuff like that. So it’s just always been a part of me.”
In summary, Vantichelt has grown up playing both wrestling and football, making many memories in both sports. Although he has faced challenges that come with being involved in two sports, he has overcome them and will be continuing wrestling in college, along with studying business.
