Feb. 3, 2005

For a high school student, senior year, amid all the fun and reminiscing, comes down to one big thing: a decision. Where am I going to further my education and spend the next four years of my life?

This choice can be simple for some and heart-wrenching for others. A high school athlete, for example, might be weighing such a full plate of options that choosing from a handful of exceptional schools is the toughest thing he or she will ever have to do.

Ryan Joyce was an exception to this rule. Sure, college coaches were interested in his services--which program would not be curious about the man who holds the Florida High School record for most wins? But rather than making his ultimate verdict his last year of high school, Joyce had his mind made up before he was a sophomore.

"My ninth grade year I knew where I was going," Joyce said. "I pointed to Coach [Brian] Smith and said, `That's the guy who's going to coach me in college. Wherever he goes, I'm going to follow him.'"

That outcome was a product of having gone to many camps all over the country for the better part of his youth. Joyce's father, Mike, coaches high school and club teams in Florida, so he has a strong foundation in wrestling.

"My dad always said the worst thing for a youth or a kid nowadays is spare time," Joyce said. "I've done [without] it my whole life and I don't want to stop."

Joyce made his first trip to "Tiger Style" camp in Columbia as a seventh grader. Smith, who had coached on Florida national teams with Mike Joyce, was in his first year at the helm of Missouri wrestling. What ended up calling Joyce back to the camp two years later was the degree to which he enjoyed himself. He was also impressed by the family-like rapport Smith shared with his wrestlers who aided him at the camp. "I've seen a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways a team comes together or doesn't come together," Joyce said. "When I came to this camp the first time, I had fun, so I came back again my ninth grade year."

At that point Joyce was getting ready to embark on a successful career as a Brandon High School Eagle. The team won four Florida team titles during Joyce's years there as he claimed the 2A individual title at 135 pounds as a junior in 2003. He medaled at the state meet in each of his other three years helping the Eagles to the designation of the nation's number-one public school in 2004.

This season he will probably hone is skills in practices and workouts. Joyce is coming off a shoulder injury sustained in a car accident and is not yet ready to be thrown into the fire of the MU starting lineup. But with wrestling in his blood--younger brother Sean was a teammate on the Eagles and nine-year-old Troy is getting started in the sport--Joyce will undoubtedly be ready when that day comes.

--Kevin Druley