Logan Massa verbals to University of Michigan
8/14 - What is the secret to success? If you’re
looking to St Johns junior Logan Massa for the
answer, then it is simple – hard work. The younger
brother of arguably Michigan’s most successful prep
wrestler ever, Taylor Massa, Logan has been
surrounded by intense training, high expectations,
unprecedented success, and hard work most of his
life, and his hard work is starting to pay off.
He is only half way through his prep career and
already has a list of accomplishments most would
dream about, and his most recent accomplishment is
a verbal commitment to wrestle for the University of
Michigan following his prep career.
“I knew Michigan was the right place – it felt right
training there at the Regional Training Center,” said
Logan Massa. “Taylor is there and he has loved it and
the coaches are great and I have always felt
welcomed and comfortable there.”
Massa, who is entering his junior year at St. Johns
High School, is the first commit for Michigan’s recruiting class of 2015, and he is one of only a handful of wrestlers from his grade across the country to make have already made a college commitment.
“I wanted to get this done early to get that weight off my shoulders. Now I can focus on training and getting better and working towards my goals instead of worrying about where I am going to school,” said Massa, “Plus I want to help my recruiting class be better. Better wrestlers want to be around other better wrestlers, so hopefully I can help convince other guys to want to go to Michigan.”
As if the University of Michigan Coaching Staff needs any help on the recruiting front, Coach Joe McFarland and company have landed highly touted classes the last two years since hiring on big name assistants Sean Bormet and Donny Pritzlaff in 2011, including the consensus #1 class in the country this year.
With all the success the Wolverines have had attracting top tier talent from across the country, Massa will step into a wrestling room that is already jam-packed with big name recruits, many of which are slated to be in the same weight range as him. This is not a concern to him, however, as he welcomes the training opportunity and the challenge.
“It is great to have competition,” said Massa, “The best guy will wrestle and if I can’t beat them then I will just need to train harder.”
Massa currently sits as one of the top 20 pound for pound wrestlers in the class of 2015 after a banner sophomore season that included a dominant undefeated season and the 135lb Division 2 State Title. Last October Massa won the Grappler Fall Classic and he piled on more national success this Spring with a FILA Cadet Runner-Up finish and a 3rd place finish at the FILA Junior Nationals. An ankle injury sidelined him from Fargo, however, he has staked his claim as one of the best wrestlers in the country and has done so much in two years, that his goals for the latter half of his career are as high as can be.
“My goal is to get ready for college and to win the Super 32 and make the Junior World Team, I just need to keep working and training.”
Two years ago, when Massa was entering his freshman season at St Johns, he was not listed among InterMat’s top incoming freshman after failing to place at the Cadet Freestyle Nationals. He also fell short of placing at the Super 32 his freshman year, suffered two losses his freshman season and failed to win a state title. Since then his stock has sky rocketed with big win after big win and now he joins a group of about a dozen St Johns wrestlers who are continuing their competitive career at Big Ten Institutions. The secret to the success, among other things, is hard work.
“The biggest things is that we (St Johns wrestlers) are all in it together, we are really good friends and we go in and grind it out hard, but then when we are done, we are friends again. We train together, hang out together, and we just enjoy ourselves.“
Massa also noted the influence of his father Rodger Massa as well as Pat Whitford, Andy Simmons, his brother Taylor, and all the training partners and friends who have helped him get to where he is today.
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