Beyond the Mat - Adam Schroeder

Not everybody knows what he or she wants to do right away. Sometimes, they need a little encouragement.

“I started wrestling actually by accident,” F&M wrestler Adam Schroeder said. “My mom decided to sign me up for it as a winter sport and I kind of had a knack for it even when I was little. I just stuck with it.”

Schroeder, a freshman this season, believes he eventually became hooked on wrestling because of his parents’ willingness to let him figure out what he enjoyed by himself. They always encouraged him and gave him all the resources necessary to succeed, but they always let Schroeder find his own way.

“Once we saw that wrestling was my thing, my dad started taking me to other places to wrestle and to meet people. But they never really forced me to do anything, which is good,” Schroeder said. “A lot of kids get burnt out and they just end up hating the sport. They influenced me a lot with hard work and stuff like that, but they never forced me to do anything.”

Like everyone else on F&M’s roster, Schroeder is pleased with his decision to pursue wrestling. It has taught him about hard work and dedication; two of the positive traits just about everyone mentioned.

“Wrestling has taught me a lot about … hard work and dedication,” Schroeder said. “A lot of the things a father tries to teach you wrestling just reinforces. I would definitely be different if I hadn’t wrestled. It’s helped with discipline, working hard, and just getting through things.”

For Schroeder, once he began wrestling, it was difficult for him not to do it all the time. The sport came naturally to him; it was hard for Schroeder to stop wrestling when the sport came to him so easily and he enjoyed it so much.

That being said, it wasn’t easy. Despite his success in middle school, Schroeder’s transition to high school wrestling was difficult. It couldn’t have been too challenging, however, as he always knew he wanted to pursue wrestling at the next level.

“Middle school was a lot of wrestling. I wrestled 100 matches a year from sixth until eighth grade,” Schroeder said. “I won a nationals championship in fifth grade. High school was a little different; it was a lot harder to adjust. It was more difficult. Wrestling was something that I just picked up easier [than other sports].”

“I knew I wanted to wrestle in college and I knew this was a great place.”

Despite some of F&M’s more recent struggles, Schroeder was never deterred. Like many of the other freshman wrestlers on the squad, he was enticed by the opportunity to start something new. For this year’s freshmen, F&M wrestling is like a clean slate; it is the first recruiting class head coach Mike Rogers brought together himself and there are countless opportunities for this class to leave its mark.

“I always…I kind of like the idea of starting something new,” Schroeder said. “[Assistant coach Matt] Greenberg said something that really sold me, ‘You’ll be coming in [to F&M] with eight new best friends.’ That’s something that appealed to me because I was never really that close with my high school teammates.”

“I didn’t really care about the history because both Greenberg and Rogers were All-Americans and I believed in them,” Schroeder added.

There was little hesitation in Schroeder’s voice when asked whether or not, so far, Greenberg’s words have rung true. Thus far, Schroeder does truly believe he has forged eight new friendships that will stick with him long after he graduates from F&M.

“I do,” Schroeder said when asked about whether or not he believes he has made those eight new best friends. “I had a roommate I was close with at the beginning of the year. But I asked to change my roommate and moved in with Rob Ruiz. [I like] every single one of them. They’re the kids I hang out with probably 95 percent of the time. They really are my best friends here.”

It’s a good thing this freshman class has become so close; there is a lot riding on its shoulders. Although Schroeder certainly recognizes and understands that, he also is cognizant of the fact that no one of them can lead the turnaround. It will have to be a collective effort with contributions not only from this class, but from future classes and those already on the roster as well.

In other words, this is no one-man job.

“One person can’t turn around an entire program,” Schroeder said. “If we all do our jobs and do what we expect each other to do, it might not happen this year or next year, but we all know we have a job to do and if we do that we’ll turn it around. It’s not really a personal thing because it’s too much for one person to turn it around.”

Although Schroeder didn’t see much time on the mat as a freshman, he has taken a lot away from this year. Just by observing and by listening to his fellow wrestlers and the coaching staff, Schroeder has picked up on different tips and techniques that will help him get his sophomore campaign off on the right track.

“I didn’t have a good record, but I learned a lot,” Schroeder said of this year’s performance. “It set me up for a great next three years. I learned a lot about wrestling. The fact that I didn’t have a great year will lead to three more good years. Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward.”

Off the mat, Schroeder has pursued business and economics as potential majors. With Columbia law school as the ultimate goal, Schroeder claims his academic inspiration comes from his family.

“I have a couple relatives who are partners in two law firms, so it’s something I’ve always been interested in,” Schroeder said. “I’ve taken a couple classes and it hasn’t turned me off; in fact, it’s made me more interested. That’s just what I’ve wanted to do for awhile.”

Going forward, F&M’s coaching staff believes Schroeder will be a crucial cog in the future development of the program. Schroeder doesn’t believe it’s one person’s job to reconstruct the F&M wrestling program; but that’s OK. This year’s freshman class has proven to be a strong one and next year’s incoming class should only contribute to the revitalization of the program.

However, it’s clear that Schroeder will have every chance to leave his mark. He may not have seen much time this season, but there’s a lot to look forward to in the very near future.