Nervous tension in the sweaty staging area beneath could cut it with a knife.
   There dozens of jittery gladiators danced, bobbed, and weaved while they endured a new form of torture, the countdown to the finals.
   Quietly, from out of nowhere, the card girl appeared and called their names. The moment of truth had arrived. One by one they were led into the coliseum for six minutes of hand-to-hand combat that would settle which of these warriors would become state champions.

   The veterans of this physically demanding athletic event, by contrast, had a different appearance. They were almost surreal in their calm approach to the championships.
   "It's all a mental game from here," said Enterprise senior Joe Osborn, who appeared calm and relaxed as he counted down the minutes to the most important match of his life.

   "You spend so much time thinking about it you have to learn to relax," he explained. "There is nothing else I can do at this point that will make me a better wrestler."  (Photo: Osborn lifts Danny Emerson of Nea-Kah-Nie.)
   By the end of the evening, Osborn won the state title in the 152-pound weight class with a solid 12-6 victory over another veteran matman, Jeff Hamor of Gervais, who was the state runner-up last year at 145 pounds. It was a classic state title match featuring two accomplished wrestlers, a match of wits as much as wrestling ability.

   With the victory Osborn realized a personal goal that he has carried to long, grueling practices for the past four years.
   "It has taught me dedication," the state champion said of his sport. "Wrestlers are by far the most dedicated of all athletes. The trips to the events are longer, and you're always battling your weight."
   In Osborn's case, the trip to the top of the awards podium Saturday capped a season in which he accumulated a 36-2 won-loss record and worked out every night for three to five hours. It marked the end of a season of daily trips to the scales to make sure he was always within reach of his competitive weight – 152 pounds – and a body fat ratio of 6 percent, the minimum allowed under high school wrestling rules. During football season his weight fluctuated between 170 and 180 pounds.
   "It's always there," he said, referring to intensive weight control. "It's a lifestyle."

   Indeed, it is a lifestyle, not just for Joe Osborn but for the entire Osborn family, starting with his father, John Osborn, who was a two-time runner-up at 191 pounds for Wallowa High School in the 1970s, and for his mother, who helped her son watch his diet to maintain his strength without gaining weight. For Joe's older brother, Jake Osborn, this year's family field trip to state was a reminder of his own four trips to state as an Enterprise wrestler. His best finish was second at 145 pounds his junior year. For Osborn's younger brother, Jerad, it was hopefully a sign of things to come; he barely missed a trip to state this year as a sophomore, with a fourth place finish at 189 pounds at the district tournament.
   For Joe, who was second in the state last year at 152 pounds, it was a chance to break the long string of Osborn wrestling seconds, which he refers to as "the Osborn curse." Saturday night he got it done.

   In all likelihood, that memorable performance was his last wrestling match. He said he is not planning to wrestle at Oregon State University next fall, where he has a full-ride ROTC scholarship from the U.S. Navy.
   Osborn's coach, Chris Wolfe, says that he would like to see his star wrestler "go to the next level if that's what he wants to do" and that there will be plenty of colleges that will try to steal him away from OSU. In addition to his ability as a wrestler, the EHS wrestling captain has accumulated a 4.0 grade point average.
   "He's going to get offers," said Wolfe. "How many state champions out there are sporting a 4.0 GPA?"
   "I'm proud of him," Wolfe added. "It takes a lot of dedication to be as good as he is both in the classroom and on the mat."

© Copyright 2002 Wallowa County Chieftan   Reprinted by permission