Feb. 7, 2006

by Ben Stroup

It's hard to imagine Cinderella in a tight spandex singlet with matching headgear, but the story of Andy Daniels, the 1978 National Champion wrestler for Ohio University, is one that even the famed fairy-tale legend would be jealous of.

Daniels spent the early part of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, aspiring to become a law enforcement officer when he grew up, not a wrestler. He said the wrestling thing just kind of fell into his lap.

Just before high school, Daniels moved to Chicago with his family where he spent two years. After his sophomore year, Daniels' mini-odyssey brought him to Ohio and the sport he would fall in love with.

Daniels said, at the time there was no wrestling in Mobile or Chicago so he actually knew nothing about the sport. Ohio was a different story however. It is there that Daniels both discovered and dominated the sport.

Daniels first experience with wrestling came as a junior in high school. For him, he said it was a learning experience. But, while learning, he still managed to finish sixth...not in the city or regional meets, but he finished sixth in the state of Ohio.

Daniels said he would have liked to do better than sixth but he took pride in the fact that he was never taken down. Despite being inexperienced, no one was able to force him to the mat that year, Daniels said.

As a senior, Daniels was virtually unstoppable again, however, during the state tourney that year he was grappling with more than just other wrestlers.

"I looked to win state but I got sick during the state tournament," Daniels said. "I still never got taken down though."

During high school, Daniels was recruited by Harry Houska, the wrestling coach at Ohio University during that time. After a short visit his senior year, Daniels said he was impressed with the program, enough so that he knew he would make Ohio University his next home.

As a collegiate, the potential Daniels encompassed in high school was groomed into straight-up talent. During his four years at Ohio, Daniels lost only twice and was a three-time Mid-American Conference Champion. He was also named Ohio's most outstanding Athlete his senior year and was captain of the team as a junior and senior.

"I lost two matches in four years," Daniels said. "Both were at duel-meets as a freshman."

That would be enough achievement for anyone to be comfortable with, but in Daniels' case, there's more.

Daniels wrestled himself to the ultimate honor in 1978, winning the NCAA National Championship his senior season.

"I won the National Championship in 30 seconds," Daniels said. "I was actually only taken down once the entire national tournament."

Daniels said he is the type of person who doesn't let anything get him down.

Daniels' career at OU was great for him on the mats, but it was the time he spent with his teammates and the life lessons preached by coaches that helped him grow as a person Daniels said.

Despite his minority status, Daniels said he was never treated any different than anyone else.

"The wrestling team was predominately white, but we were a team of brothers," Daniels said. "We still keep in touch today."

Even if problems did arise, based on race or anything else, Daniels said coach Houska, and wrestling in general, prepared him to deal with anything life threw at him.

"Wrestling helped me in life overall," Daniels said. "Houska taught us to handle pressure and show no emotions."

When he wasn't wrestling, Daniels focused on the other half of being a student-athlete.

Daniels said he would have liked to pursue law enforcement, a life-long dream of his, but the criminal justice program at the university was off-campus. He just couldn't find the transportation.

Instead, Daniels ended up as a general studies major with an emphasis on art.

Daniels never stopped following his dream however, and today he is a Chief Investigator back in his home state of Alabama for the city of Prichard.

Daniels said the mental toughness he gained from wrestling benefits him today more than the physical ones as he is responsible for assigning detectives to cases criminal cases ranging from theft to murder. Regardless, he is still taking people down today, one way or another.

Ben Stroup, a Columbus native, is a journalism major at Ohio.