Letter perfect
12/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Bethlehem, PA - Off of the mat, sophomore Troy Letters is about as simple as they come. “I do my school work, but other than that, after school, wrestling is my life. I go hunting and fishing, but other than that, I just wrestle.” On the mat, Letters tries and keeps it that simple as well. He goes out and does his job. And so far, the kid from Shaler,
What is so appealing to Letters about wrestling? Why does he train so hard? “The competitiveness of this sport is unprecedented, and even though it is a team sport, it’s more about individual effort. The harder I work and the more sacrifices I make, it’s better off for me, so I really enjoy that part of this sport.” It is that drive and determination that developed Letters into the top high school prospect in all of Pennsylvania when he was in high school, and also a top-five recruit in the nation in any weight, as well as a first team High School All-American.
This is something that Letters, a political science major, has been working for his whole life. When he was eight, he carried on the tradition that his grandfather, father and uncles began earlier in their lives. Letters explains, “My dad got me into wrestling when I was young, and he has helped me so much. He put a wrestling room into our living room when I first started, and then eventually built an entire room into a wrestling room, which he would wrestle me in, and really put me through some intense training.” Was
Even though Letters and his father would get after each other on the mat, he does not forget what his parents have done for him, and is quick to thank his parents for devoting so much time and energy in helping him on his journey towards his goals. “I went to camps all over the country, and then they got me into free style wrestling. I also had a coach come to my house in the morning before I went to school to help train me at five in the morning. So they really put a lot of time and money into helping me train.”
Head Coach Greg Strobel says that Letters had to really work to put himself in this position. “Coming out of
Letters says that coach Strobel and the rest of the coaching staff, coupled with the strong academics were what drew him to Lehigh. “Coach Strobel was the Olympic coach, former assistant Pat Santoro was great and Chris Ayres and Kerry McCoy are terrific workout partners. You just can’t beat the coaching staff at Lehigh, and obviously the school is known for academics, so that played a key role in me choosing to come here.”
The laid back Letters says that he would like to become a graduate assistant and possibly get his MBA after graduation, but for now is just focusing on getting his degree from Lehigh. He also has some things on the mat that he would like to accomplish as well. “I’ll train free style this summer, and see how I fare at the U.S. Nationals (in
Letters could not be happier with his decision to come to Lehigh or with the great teammates that he has. “This team is really close, closer than any other team in the country, in terms of hanging out, and getting along. We do joke with each other a lot, other teams don’t really seem to understand us. There are a lot of close friends on this team, and I would not choose any other team over this one.”
