Junior Sam Mouser: I’m Sam.

Junior Ryder Williams: I’m Ryder, and this is Athletes of West.

Mouser: Today, we had a chance to talk to sophomore Braiden McGrath about his wrestling journey and where it’s gotten him to today. Who are we here with today?

Sophomore Braiden McGrath: Braiden McGrath. 

Mouser: What first got you into wrestling?

McGrath: When I was seven years old, my grandpa forced me to go to a wrestling practice at Parkway South, and I hated it. I despised it, but he told me to keep going. And when I got to high school, I fell in love with it, and I fell in love with the grind.

Williams: So, over your time of learning wrestling, how has it developed you mentally and physically?

McGrath: I would say it developed my mental game more than anything because wrestling is such an individual sport — and you have to depend on yourself a lot more. And just learning the mental state and how to believe in yourself and have confidence and know your abilities is such an important thing; that, I think, helped me in the long run.

Williams: So, also being a baseball player, do you believe that your confidence, or your mental state from wrestling, has helped your baseball as well?

McGrath: Yeah, I would definitely say that. I would say when I’m in wrestling and about to go into baseball, I just think about how much success I had in wrestling and my mental state there, and I just convert it to baseball and try to do the same.

Mouser: Other than the mindset, what would you say is the hardest part of practices or matches?

McGrath: The hardest part, probably, is the condition that you put your body in. Like every day, you’re beating up on yourself a little bit. If you’re not icing yourself or getting to trainers, your body can get overwhelmed very easily. And after that, that’s why it’s so hard at the end of the season because everyone’s body is banged up. So that’s when it really shows who wants it more.

Williams: Did you always take it seriously? Like, was wrestling always taken seriously, or did it come over time that you progressed into actually understanding it? 

McGrath: Yeah, absolutely not. When I was first in elementary school, I just did not care at all. I mean, obviously, when I went out, I wanted to win. But in practice, I would always goof around, and I just really didn’t really care. And going back on it, I really wish I took it more seriously because starting that early is like a gift, and if I would have taken it more serious, I could have progressed even more now.

Mouser: So, obviously, you stated that you want to win. Every time you step out there, you want to win. But how did you handle losing?

McGrath: Yeah, it’s actually really hard. Losing in wrestling is very hard because, like I said, it’s not a team sport. So when you lose, you know it’s on you. There’s no one else to put it on. It’s just yourself. So I think the best mentality to have is just “next one” and just moving on, and there’s nothing you can do about the past match. I think losing actually helps me more in practice to keep pushing myself. Because every time I’m in practice, I want to take it easy a little bit, I remember the feeling I had when I lost. And that losing — it sucks, especially in wrestling.

Williams: Getting into work ethic and training, what does a normal training week look like during the season for a high schooler?

McGrath: You probably have about two to three meets a week, and the rest are practices. Let’s say Monday, you have practice after school till about six, then you have a meet which is against another opponent. And then Wednesday, another practice. And then Thursday, you have another meet against another team. And then you have practice on Friday. And on Saturday, you probably have a tournament that lasts around eight hours, which is basically all day. Like I said, if you don’t take care of your body, it can get to be a lot really quickly.

Williams: During those practices where it gets tough, how do you stay motivated?

McGrath: That’s a good one. I would actually say this one is my role model on the team, [senior] Eugene Wu. He’s never phased by anything, and I really strive to be like that. And every single time I’m like, “Okay, I should take a break on this one.” I remind myself that he would never take a break on these. And because he’s so good, I want to get to that level at one point in my career. So I just think he would never take a rep off like that.

Mouser: So obviously, you play baseball as well, but do you train for wrestling in the offseason, and what does that look like?

McGrath: Honestly, I haven’t trained that much before high school, like at all, in the offseason. I was just always in a season to get it done and get it over with. Last season, I started to do a little bit of offseason. I did this camp with the [Southern Illinois University Edwardsville] (SIUE) head coach, [Jeremy Spates], for wrestling, and I really liked it. And I thought it helped me out a lot. This season, in the offseason, I’m definitely going to do a lot of offseason training and maybe do a couple of tournaments. 

Williams: Going into mindset more, before a meet starts, how do you mentally prepare yourself? Do you have a specific ritual you do or anything religious or anything such as that?

McGrath: About an hour before my first match, I do a prayer with my fellow captain, Eugene Wu. His dad’s a pastor, so his dad knows a lot about that. So we do our prayer. Then I put my headphones on and listen to some music about 30 minutes before. About 15 minutes before, I get up and moving and keep my body warm and ready to go, just thinking of all my practice I’ve put into this, knowing I deserve to be in this spot. And from there, it’s like keeping my body warm, getting ready to go, before I step on the mat.

Williams: Yeah, so typically, who’s your go-to listen to for music?

McGrath: I would have to go with country. I really like country music — I really like Jason Aldean. I like his music. I can get down with some Drake sometimes. I just listen to a lot of music. I don’t have a specific artist I listen to. I just put it on my playlist and just let it roll.

Mouser: What’s one moment this season you’ve been really proud of yourself for?

McGrath: Before winter break, we had a tournament at Chaminade [Preparatory College]. I went into the tournament as the one seed. I was projected to win the tournament. But there was this kid in my bracket that I’ve never faced before from North County. And I faced him in the finals. And for the first two periods, he really destroyed me. He had me beat, and I was almost about to give up a little bit. And then in the third period, I don’t know, I flipped my switch, and I decided I didn’t want to lose that match — whatever it took. I stepped into another gear, almost, and came back to beat him to get first. And that was like the best moment of the season.

Williams: Going back to the beginning of the season, what goals did you set for yourself?

McGrath: My long-term goal was to set the all-time Parkway West win record for wins, but my season goal was to make it to state.

Williams: I like that. How do you balance school, wrestling and overall life with baseball? Because baseball is starting up again, as you know, we’ve been practicing.

McGrath: I would say it’s really hard. I mean, I have to prioritize school — obviously first. When I get home from practice, I’m just completely destroyed. It’s just really hard to get my motivation to do schoolwork. But my mom really pushes me to keep up with my homework and make sure I have any missing assignments.

Mouser: If you could talk to your younger self, starting wrestling, what would you say?

McGrath: I would just say to care more. I would say to put in more work because, in the long run, it will help a lot more, and it will help me become a better person. Not just even with wrestling to become a better wrestler, but wrestling just makes you a better person in general, and really made me who I am today, honestly.

Williams: Closing it out, when you hear people chant your name at a wrestling meet, what do you want them to think about you?

McGrath: I want them to think of me as a captain. I want them to think of me as a leader that goes out to the circle with the one job of getting it done for my team and knowing that they can count on me and that I’m the one they can lean on.

Mouser: Thank you.

Williams: Thank you for tuning into this episode of Athletes of West.

Mouser: Be sure to check out Braiden McGrath on the varsity Parkway West wrestling team.

Music credit – Jetsonmade – Rock that boat (full beat)