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By STEVE KRAH stvkrh905@gmail.com It took a little convincing to get brothers Bo, Blake and Beck Davis to see that wrestling is for them. But once they committed to the mat sport, success followed and Garrett has been the beneficiary. Bo Davis represented the Garrett High School Railroaders twice at the IHSAA State Finals, qualifying as a junior in 2014 and placing third in 2015 — both times at 195 pounds. He became a collegiate wrestler at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne. Blake Davis (220) was a State Finals qualifier as a junior in 2015 just won Carroll Sectional and Carroll Regional titles as a senior in 2016. He will be a No. 1 in the Fort Wayne Semistate at Memorial Coliseum. Beck Davis, who was at 182 as a freshman in 2015, has won at the sectional and regional stages as a sophomore at 195 in 2016. He, too, will be a top seed at semistate . Bo, Blake and Beck are part of a family athletic legacy that includes father Chad Davis and mother Lisa (Leichty) Davis (a pair of 1990 Garrett graduates) and grandfather Steve Dembickie (GHS Class of 1971). In a family where they take their sports and their academics seriously (Bo, Blake and Beck have all excelled in football for Garrett and Blake and Beck are ranked in the top five of their respective classes), it took some serious coaxing to become wrestlers. “In our school wrestling was the weird thing to do,” Bo Davis said after being recruited to wrestling in sixth grade following a less-than-satisfying basketball experience. “I was forced into it, but I loved it.” Blake Davis soon followed his older brother into wrestling. But, at first, there was resistance. “All of us thought wrestling was a joke,” Blake Davis said, speaking for himself and both his brothers. We didn’t take it seriously. Bo went out and we made fun of him.” But something clicked for Bo and Blake. They began to really enjoy wrestling and the all work it takes to do well. It took a little more work coaxing Beck to join them. “We offered him $250 to come to one practice,” Bo Davis said. No sale. “I was probably the most stubborn at the start,” Beck said. “I thought it was weird.” It was Garrett coach Nick Kraus, who had Beck in a weight training class, that persuaded him to became a wrestler. Kraus, in his fifth season with the program and third as head coach, watched the oldest Davis brother grind to make himself into a decorated wrestler. “Bo is very coachable and he hated to lose,” Kraus said. “He was very, very persistent.” After not placing at Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic as a senior, Bo bared down week by week and it paid off during the IHSAA state tournament series. “He’s a strong kid with an athletic build who got very good at a couple things he did consistently,” Kraus said. “I’ve never coached anybody who worked as hard as Bo Davis.” That kind of drive in the classroom turned Davis into Garrett’s 2015 valedictorian and he is now studying biomedical engineering at Indiana Tech. Blake and Beck are ranked in the top five of their classes at Garrett. A mean streak has also served Blake well. “Blake is the meanest of the brothers,” Kraus said. “He imposes his will on people. He’s almost a bully on the wrestling mat.” Lisa (Liechty) Davis, a standout athlete during her time at Garrett (she is a 1990 GHS graduate) and the boys’ mother, has witnessed the rage. “Blake is mean,” Lisa Davis said. “If Bo was beating them when they were wrestling, they might throw a punch or two. Five minutes later, they are each others’ best friend.” Blake does not shy away from the mean label. “I guess since I was little I had anger problems,” Blake Davis said. “I’ve gotten better over the years of channeling it. If you are a competitive person, you don’t want to lose. If you live with them, you’re going to hear about it.” Kraus appreciates the hate-to-lose attitude. “That’s not a bad thing in wrestling and it’s trickled down throughout the team,” Kraus said. “All the kids are getting that chip on their shoulder.” Superior conditioning has been Blake’s calling card. “I know I’m not the most talented wrestler, but I can outwork them,” Blake Davis said. “I prefer to pin the guy as quickly as possible, but I can go six minutes.” After an injury-filled football season, Blake just reached the wrestling shape of his junior season in recent weeks. Using his competitive nature, Blake has avenged early losses or beaten opponents even more convincingly in rematches. “(Blake) does have finesse,” Kraus said. “But for the most part, it’s a physical brute style of wrestling.” Even at 220, it’s not all bulldozer with Blake. “He’s pretty slick,” Bo Davis said of Blake. “He’s athletic for somebody that size. He can pull off some lighter-guy moves that stop people in their tracks sometimes.” Kraus said Beck has the potential to be the best wrestling Davis brother. “He’s had his brothers to work with all the time,” Kraus said. “He didn’t want to do it at first. Once he started to do it, he was all in. Now he doesn’t miss summer sessions, camps or weight room workouts. There are high expectations with his brothers’ accomplishments, but he doesn’t let it get to him.” Following coaching advice, Beck tries to keep moving on the mat and believe in himself. “I’ve been working on (constant motion),” Beck Davis said. “And to keep having fun and stay confident. “I’m not really technical sound, but I have a decent gas tank and I like to shoot.”