A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight: Andrew Frey

andrew-freyAt 120 pounds, you wouldn’t think Andrew Frey is a very imposing figure. But on the wrestling mat, it’s a different story.

Two sectional championships, four regional appearances and two trips to the semistate along with a Northern State Conference championship and numerous super dual individual titles have allowed the John Glenn senior the opportunity to wrestle in college while getting his education.

Wednesday afternoon in front of his classmates in the high school cafeteria, Frey signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his wrestling career at the University of Indianapolis.

“It is not too far from home,” Frey said, who is leaning towards majoring in exercise science. “They have a real good program and I have a real good buddy going there to wrestle and it is a good school and I just really liked it when I visited. I have wrestled since the fifth grade and I couldn’t see myself not wrestling at the next level. So it just seemed natural to just go wrestle in college.”

You can say when it comes to wrestling that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in this family.

“My dad wrestled in middle school, high school and college,” Frey said. “That was an influence. He never pushed it on us. But we tried it and we liked it.”

Frey had an opportunity to visit the school and meet with the Greyhounds coaching staff.

“They told me the way of doing things and the way they practice and it sounded good to me and I really liked it,” he said.

In his high school career, Frey finished with 114 wins and 48 losses and was 33-5 this season.

“The sectional championships were pretty good,” Frey said. “I made it to semistate my junior and senior year, but I fell short of my ultimate goal. But my whole experience of the whole four years was a good memory on to itself.”

Frey’s most memorable moment came in a match that can be easily described as the turning point of his high school career.

“My junior year at the sectional final I wrestled at 106 and was going against the 17th ranked kid in the state,” he said. “I wasn’t very confident, but I ended up winning 4-2. And that was big and my first sectional win and against a kid that I didn’t expect to beat.”

Frey has wrestled for numerous club teams and attended the prestigious J Robinson, 28-day all-intensive wrestling camp at the University of Minnesota.

“My off time is preparing for the wrestling season and working in the weight room,” Frey said. “I do a lot to stay in shape.”

Frey has one piece of advice for those interested in wrestling.

“Stick with it,” he said. “Wrestling is not an easy sport. And it is not for everyone. And it is a sport where even the smaller people or the two big people can fit it. I am a real small guy and the other sports like football and basketball I fell short of being successful at. But wrestling, I had a weight class and competed against people my own size. And I like working hard and trying to be the best I can and wrestling worked out.”