Phillips ready to face heavy competition
Jake Feldman
For the DailyNovember 20th, 2008
"Happy are those who dream dreams and pay the price to make them come true."
Every day, redshirt sophomore Eddie Phillips reads these words, which stretch across a wall of the Michigan wrestling room in Crisler Arena. Phillips dreamt all offseason of competing in matches on a regular basis and was willing to pay the price in an unusual way— putting on weight.
Phillips missed the starting lineup as a 197-pounder for much of last year, but he will begin the season as the Wolverines' top heavyweight wrestler. After a career of working to keep his weight in check, Phillips gained 20 pounds this past summer by eating big and lifting bigger.
“A lot of guys struggle to cut weight,” said Phillips, “But gaining weight is just as hard because it’s hard to make your body (grow) unnaturally big.”
Phillips spent last summer eating breakfast at Benny’s on South Industrial Highway, eating lunch at Great Wraps on State Street and of course, lifting in between meals. He has added proteins to his diet and hopes to gain more weight throughout the season.
At 220 pounds, Phillips prepares to face opponents who will outweigh him by at least 30 pounds. In the season opener against Lehigh last Friday, Phillips was taken down by 285-pound freshman Zach Rey in the final minutes of the match. To compensate for his smaller frame, Phillips will continue to wrestle conservatively, tiring his opponents early and taking shots in the third period.
One of Michigan’s top wrestlers, senior captain Tyrel Todd, normally grapples with Phillips in practice and has seen drastic changes in the young wrestler.
"The first two years we wrestled, he never took me down, but this year he’s taken me down a few times,” Todd said.
Phillips’s added weight and success in practice have given him optimism about the coming season.
“Strength-wise, I feel like I’m right there with everyone, even if they weigh a lot more than me,” Phillips said.
New strength and conditioning coach Jesse Miller played a large part in Phillips’s physical transformation. With new exercises and a fresh attitude towards lifting, Miller has illuminated the dark wrestling weight room. Last year, he served as an assistant at West Virginia University under Mike Barwis, the Michigan football team's current director of strength and conditioning.
“Last year (lifting) was kind of … something you don’t want to do but you have to,” Phillips said. "But with Jesse, you want to get stronger because you’ve got him there motivating you."
And with his huskier build, Phillips has already seen positive results beyond wrestling.
“The girls notice that I got a little bigger," Phillips said. "They like it.”
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:41:41 -0400