#WrestlingWednesday Feature: Hudkins Overcoming Injuries to Succeed

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By JEREMY HINES

jerhines@cinergymetro.net

Brock Hudkins is hoping his bad luck is finally behind him.

The Danville junior 120-pounder has had untimely illnesses and injuries throughout his career. He broke his hand as a freshman, suffered from a severe case of dehydration at the state tournament as a sophomore and just recently recovered from a fractured finger.

€œBrock really has had a lot of bad luck,€ Danville coach Steve Pugliese said. €œHe broke his hand his freshman year, and then he was sick at weigh-ins at state and couldn€™t wrestle as a sophomore. This year he was working out on a Friday and ended up smashing his finger severely and had to lose a month of the season.

€œBut he doesn€™t let it affect him. €œHe understands that as long as he€™s OK for the state tournament series, he can be a force.€

When he has been on the wrestling mats, he€™s been dominate. He missed a month of this season, but has advanced to Saturday€™s Evansville semistate with a perfect record. Hudkins is currently 25-0 on the year.

Hudkins started the season out as the No. 1 ranked 120-pounder in the state. Currently he is ranked fifth.

As a freshman Hudkins finished fifth at 106 pounds.

€œI went into my high school career with the goal of winning four championships,€ Hudkins said. €œI finished fifth as a freshman. Everyone was telling me that fifth was a big deal. They would congratulate me on winning regional and semistate. But that wasn€™t good enough for me. I wanted a state title.

€œI felt like I let myself down. I set my sights on winning the next year, but the cards didn€™t play in my favor at all when I got sick at weigh-ins. But now, it€™s all I think about. I want more than anything to get under those lights.€

While most high school juniors enjoy video games, movies and having fun €“ Hudkins said his fun is wrestling. There is nothing else.

€œI completely believe that,€ Pugliese said. €œHe has earned his success. He is always training. When he says he doesn€™t do anything else, it€™s true. He€™s not just saying that. I think in the summer he probably wrestled 50 matches across the country and I don€™t think he got beat.€

Hudkins has a total of three losses in high school, yet he knew there were plenty of things to improve upon. According to Pugliese, he€™s done that.

€œHe has gotten a lot better on his feet,€ Pugliese said. €œWe work on that 90 percent of our practice time, and it€™s really showing now.€

Pugliese feels that wrestlers at the elite level that Hudkins is at, have a certain quality that most wrestlers don€™t exhibit.

€œWhen I took this job, Hudkins was in fourth grade,€ Pugliese said. €œEveryone talked about him and talked about him. Finally, when I saw him compete I found out why they were hyping him so much.

€œFor him, like a lot of elite wrestlers, attitude is everything. He gets out in front of a bunch of people, and he doesn€™t care. He doesn€™t care who€™s watching him. He knows what he can do. He knows he€™s earned his success. He knows he deserves to win the match.€

Pugliese also said that Hudkins is never arrogant or cocky about his abilities.

Hudkins truly loves wrestling.

€œI love everything about it,€ he said. €œIt€™s fun. It€™s the main reason why I wrestle. But I also love competing against other people. You don€™t have to rely on teammates. It€™s you and one guy in the middle of the mat going at it. Best man wins.€

After high school Hudkins hopes to wrestle for a Division 1 school. He is still contemplating his educational goals, but he€™s narrowed it down to either a lawyer, a physical trainer or an engineer.

Hudkins will face Evansville Memorial sophomore Nolan Schaefer (27-18) in the first round of the Evansville semistate on Saturday.

If you have a #WrestlingWednesday feature idea, please contact Jeremy Hines at jerhines@cinergymetro.net.