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Logan Brown shakes hands with Purdue Coach, Scott Hinkle.
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DECEMBER 30, 2008 - CHICAGO
In 1999 Logan Brown started a journey he didn't even know he was on at the time. As a first-year wrestler in the Covington youth program as a sixth grader, Brown found a sport he would ultimately fall in love with.
Nearly a decade later and an undefeated 52-0 senior season in high school behind him, Brown is now competing with the premier collegiate wrestlers in the country as a redshirt sophomore at Purdue University.
The 2006 Covington graduate is ranked tenth in the nation at 197 pounds and continues to climb the ladder with an impressive third place finish in the Midlands Championships at Northwestern University on Tuesday.
It's the second high finish in a big tournament this season as Brown took fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational just three weeks ago.
"The experience I'm getting is pretty sweet," Brown said after his big weekend at Midlands. "I'm wrestling better against some of the guys I lost to before and I'm beating some nationally ranked guys. This (the experience) is only making me better."
Brown, who entered the Midlands seeded sixth, started the tournament on Saturday by earning a fall in 4:11 over Oregon State's Chad Hanke, scoring three takedowns in the process.
He followed with a 7-2 decision over Brodie Ambrose of Iowa. Logan pulled away late in the match with a second period takedown and two more takedowns in the final frame.
This set up a match in the championship quarterfinal against Wisconsin's Dallas Herbst, the third seed and fifth ranked wrestler in the nation.
Brown scored an early takedown to take a 2-0 lead, but Herbst rallied with 10 unanswered points to send Logan into the consolation bracket with a 10-2 defeat. Herbst would go on to win the tournament championship.
"I got a nice takedown early in the match, but I made some mistakes that he capitalized on," Brown said. "He beat me before, but I felt I wrestled better this time."
The former Buccaneer and 2006 Ohio State Champion at 189 pounds had a monster second day, winning four straight matches and knocking off a pair of nationally rankled wrestlers in the process.
He secured a spot on the podium with a 3-1 victory over fifth-seeded and 11th ranked Andrew Anderson of Northern Iowa, taking down his opponent in the waning seconds to advance. It was a rematch of Brown's 6-3 victory in the opening round of the 2008 National Championships.
Logan then defeated Iowa State's Kyle Simonson via a 2:53 pin to advanced to the consolation semifinals, where he received a medical forfeit from Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold.
Brown's biggest victory came in the consolation final for third place against Missouri's Max Askren, who came in seeded second and ranked fourth in the nation. Askren is a two-time Big 12 Champion and a returning All-American at 197 pounds.
The Purdue sophomore scored on a takedown seconds into the match and surrendered an escape to Askren to make the score 2-1 in Brown's favor at the end of the first period.
"I wanted to start fast, so I shot in pretty quickly off the whistle and got a takedown," Brown explained of his strategy.
But Askren quickly took a 3-2 lead in the opening seconds of the second period as he scored on a reversal and steadily built riding time throughout the remainder of the frame.
The narrow Askren lead remained until the final minute of the match as Brown misfired on another takedown attempt.
Needing a takedown with the clock ticking away and knowing Askren had already secured an extra point due to riding time, Brown went on the attack with under 20 seconds to go. He shot in for a double leg and immediately turned Askren to his back for a pin with 9 seconds left in the match.
"At the end I shot a double and he wrapped his arms around my waist," described Brown. "I walked toward his head and drove his shoulders to the mat. I was looking for back points, but I could hear my coaches yelling "Look for it. Look for it.", so I just kept walking toward his head until his shoulders were flat on the mat."
It was a sweet ending for Brown, who has been looking to climb higher in the national rankings. With his record now at 17-4, Brown feels he is closing the gap on the top wrestlers in the nation and hopes it leads to his ultimate goals - being an All American and a National Champion.
"I feel like I'm getting close (to the upper tier wrestlers)," Brown said. "This was a big confidence builder as was Vegas. I feel I'm right there and if I can continue to improve on the mistakes I've been making I'll be even better. All I have to do is stay focused and keep working."
Which has been Brown's recipe for success since he started wrestling as a sixth grader in the Covington youth program.
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