Cody Greene Senior Feature Story
1/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 28, 2005
To be successful, an athlete has to be an expert at overcoming adversity. No matter how much natural talent, discipline or instinct a competitor possesses, he is going to have to fight through obstacles to reach his goals. Some people are blessed in the fact that although they do have to face stumbling blocks, the ones they experience are few and far between. For others however, it seems as if there's always another problem to overcome, a perpetual obstruction to the fulfillment of their dreams. The athletes who fight their way through setback after setback are rewarded with the success that such perseverance breeds, the success that Missouri senior wrestler Cody Greene is experiencing this season.
A product of St. Charles, Mo., Greene first stepped onto a mat in fourth grade, and the unique hold that wrestling places on its participants didn't take long to set in.
"After a year or two, it's like an addiction, something that you have to and want to do," Greene said.
That addiction stuck with him throughout high school, where Greene had a standout career for Head Coach Jeffrey Taylor of Seckman High. He finished third at state in 1999, then ascended to the Missouri 3A state championship and received recognition as the 3A Wrestler of the Year as a senior in 2000.
Despite the success he had at Seckman, he wasn't very highly recruited before entering college, and in his first year at Mizzou he went through a tough learning period as a redshirt.
"I took some beatings my first year," Greene remembers, "and mentally it was rough getting used to it."
Despite the difficulty of adjusting from high school to the collegiate level, he stuck it out through his redshirt season and improved greatly, only to find another barrier in the path of earning a starting spot at 149 pounds; three-time captain Jeremy Spates.
In his time at Mizzou, which ended with All-American recognition last season, Spates etched his name into the annals of Missouri wrestling as one of the best grapplers the school had ever produced. Instead of letting the role of substitute get to him, Greene used the three years he spent behind Spates to study his teammate's work ethic.
"I couldn't have had a better person to learn from," Greene said. "He was a very hard worker. I always saw him doing something extra in practice, and he was at a level that I wanted to reach."
Greene does say, however, that it wasn't easy to play the role of backup.
"It's tough to know that you're getting better, winning open meets, but still not a starter. It was hard to get through mentally."
Spates' graduation after last season however, opened the door for Greene to assume the starting role for which he'd been working. At the beginning of the season, he had a little trouble keeping his weight under control, but to this point in the schedule he's been one of Missouri's strongest wrestlers, an athlete that Coach Brian Smith expects to achieve great heights this season.
"You know, he's had a lot of struggles since he got here, but through it all he always comes back stronger," Smith said. "He's focused in every aspect on the mat, and I expect him to be an All-American this year. Cody's perseverance is a story that I'm going to tell my team in the future, how hard work can result in success."
One of the biggest reasons for Greene's 23-4 record this season is the speed he has on his feet. Smith says that he's one of the fastest wrestlers he's ever seen.
"He has amazing quickness, and an ability to change levels that always surprises his opponents as well as the people in the stands. There's a point in every one of his matches when Cody makes a move and the crowd gets hushed. You kind of hear a gasp, and every jaw in the arena drops. He's also a dangerous person on top, and he's got a lot of weapons. He's a lot of fun to watch."
Greene says that he's always had that quickness, and although he's worked hard, it's something that comes naturally to him. As for his chance to follow in Spates' footsteps and become an All-American at 149 pounds, he believes that, "As long as I stay focused on each individual part of the seven minutes I'm wrestling, I think I've definitely got a shot."
Greene has a lot of options once he graduates from Mizzou. A psychology major with a minor in business, he may decide to go on to graduate school. On the other hand, he says that if he's offered a coaching position, he'll certainly think about the chance to stay in the sport he loves. Before he has to make that decision though, he has to finish the stellar senior season he's begun. With his ability to overcome adversity, look for Cody Greene to finish his career as a Tiger on a triumphant note.
-Joel Erickson, MU Media Relations Student Assistant
