Physical, mental transformation paying off for Kennett wrestler

Kennett wrestler Justin Brooks has had a new coaching staff for three straight seasons.

Each coach had their own impact on the senior.

"Coach [Andrew] Webster helped me find that this is my sport," Brooks said. "Coach [Jacob] Widdle helped me think of the mental part of it. Coach [Jim Tidd] and I have had a great relationship for the past four years and me and him were a duo. He has been my strength coach. So between the three of them, they have hit all three key pieces of me becoming the wrestler I am now."

Brooks entered his senior season looking bigger and stronger than ever before, all while staying within the 175-pound weight class. Over the offseason, Brooks dove into his strength training that would put more credibility and validity to his wrestling moves.

"I can notice I am way faster and way stronger than I used to be," Brooks said. "I'm doing weights way more than I used to be able to. Powerlifting training has helped me way more. I just watched videos about it and it said lift like a powerlifter and do your fast twitch responses and explosive work."

Brooks' physical transformation is proving to pay off. He finished his junior year with a 11-13 record but is starting his senior season 8-0. The improvement goes beyond simply mounting muscle on top or more muscle. His confidence is now concrete.

"I've improved a lot, and I think my coaches and the older guys that I just wrestled with, they really pushed me to the point where I'm at now," Brooks said. "I'm not even scared to walk up to the mat anymore. I used to be a nervous little wreck and now I'm going in confident. And I think it's just because of the years I've put on it."

Wrestling as a sport, a training regimen, and as a community, has played a chief role in shaping Brooks' mind, body, and heart.

"This sport has made me into the person I am now," Brooks said. "It's really given me an outlook on people and how to treat human beings with respect. I have nothing against any of the guys I've wrestled. I have no beef with any of them. I'm just out here to wrestle and have fun. And this year, I feel confident to go somewhere with it and try and make it up to districts, and maybe we can get state."

Kennett wrestler Justin Brooks pins his opponent during a meet against Dexter on Dec. 5, in New Madrid, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

It is a good mindset to have when being counted on as one of the team's senior leaders.

"I feel like a dad all the time having to get on these guys, but I love it," Brooks said. "I'm glad they look up to me, and they can come to me about things that they need."

Brooks said he plans to begin a career in mixed martial arts once his wrestling career is over. He and his father grew up loving combat sports and it's the intangible properties that draw him into it.

"I've seen it just brings people together," Brooks said. "It's not always about the violence and beating up people. It's also about sportsmanship and working hard and just giving it your all. It pushes me to a new place every day because it pushes you past mental things, physical things, injuries, depression, and stuff like that. It just pushes you past those points because you ain't got time to have those. You have time to wrestle. You got to wrestle."