Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
For many high school students, summer’s a time to kick back and relax. For Piedmont’s Josh Heindselman, it’s another chance to hone his wrestling skills.
Heindselman, the defending 5A state wrestling champion at 220 pounds, has visited Nebraska, Ohio and Tulsa this month and has a trip to Junior National Duals in North Dakota planned next month.
There’s no other way he’d wish to spend his summer.
“Going to all these different places to wrestle and getting to be around your friends and competing with some of the best wrestlers from around the country is lot of fun,” he said.
For Heindselman, it’s all part of the larger goal of securing a Division I scholarship.
“You have to do all this to go to the next level,” he said.
Recruiting is on hold for now as he focuses on summer wrestling, but he’s been in contact with Cornell, Penn, Oklahoma and Arizona State, among others, but hasn’t narrowed down his choices much yet. Academics will play a big role in his ultimate decision.
“It doesn’t get better than the Ivy League for that,” he said. “I would like to stay close to home, but I’m realizing that might not be the best option for me.”
Heindselman isn’t likely to wrestle in-state. Oklahoma State has already signed the top wrestler in the world at his weight, and OU has signed two at the 197-pound weight class that Heindselman plans to wrestle at in college.
“I wanted to go to OU, but that’s not the best option for me,” he said.
His summer tour started in Akron at Cadet World Team Trials, where Heindselman narrowly missed qualifying for the United States National Team in Greco Roman style. He finished second in Greco, one spot away from making the national team, and fifth in freestyle.
Next, he traveled to Lincoln, Neb., for a wrestling camp then on to Tulsa where he helped represent Team Oklahoma in Junior Duals. Heindselman won 9 of 12 matches there as Oklahoma took second as a team in a field full of All-Star lineups from around the country.
“The last two matches there, I didn’t wrestle as well as I wanted to, but overall it was a good experience,” he said.
A trip to Fargo, N.D., to Junior Nationals is next on Heindselman’s agenda. He wrestled there last season, but was disqualified before the event concluded due to an injury.
“I want to go back there and show what I can do,” he said. “I’m very motivated.”
When school resumes in August, Heindselman will embark on defending his state title, though that isn’t necessarily his most ambitious goal for the year. He wants to finish the season unbeaten after going 47-2 as a junior.
“I want to do it really badly and I know I can,” he said. “No disrespect to anyone I wrestle during the season, but I wrestle tougher guys during the summer.”
Heindselman said his toughest match is likely to come at the Geary Tournament in January.
“There are some really tough kids there,” he said. “But I don’t feel like I’ll lose to anyone.”
