From wrestling, to football, to throwing in track, athlete Sam Wood’s athletic ability covers a wide variety of sports. He’s been wrestling for two years, playing football for five years and throwing for two years.

“I play football, wrestle and throw for Marquette and before that I played football for a feeder team,” Wood said. “It’d be really cool to play sports in college, but I’m not sure if I’m going to.”

Of course a great team needs a great leader, so a coach can be one of the most important factors in the creation of a winning team.

“A good coach needs to have a passion for the game,” Wood said. “There are so many great coaches here at Marquette that I don’t think I could pick a favorite.”

In fifth grade, Sam was the quarterback of his football team and he says that it was one of the highlights of his career. He also turned a triple play in baseball in third grade and he says he’s still living up to that moment.

“I remember the games from freshman year in football, they were all pretty fun,” Wood said. “I also remember this year’s football and wrestling and they were really exciting as well.”

Unfortunately, injuries are synonymous with sporting activities and can sometimes end an athlete’s season. This year, Wood tore the tendons in his ankle and last year he dislocated his knee as well.

Along with sports, student athletes also need to be able to balance their schoolwork on top of their extracurricular activities.

“It can be difficult to juggle everything at times, but at the end of the day, it’s all worth it,” Wood said. “I wake up every week day and go to school, then I go to practice, I get home about six o’clock at night to eat dinner, then I do homework and go to bed.”

Every great athlete needs a support system to have their back whenever they need help, and for Sam, it’s his family.
“My mom’s on the booster club and she’s kind of crazy about all of that,” Wood said. “She was the head of the booster club for wrestling and she helps out at every single game for football. I’m really glad she’s here to help.”