Soccer star excels on mats too
By Rich Fisher, The Packet Group
When he’s old and gray — which will be some 60 years from now — Corey Marsh can sit in his rocking chair on the front porch, drink lemonade and think back to his junior year at Princeton High School with a big smile.
Most likely, he’ll do some other cool stuff between now and then as well, but this school year is shaping up as one to remember for the Cranbury resident.
”Things are going good,” Marsh said. “Its been awesome, a lot of fun.”
In the fall, Marsh played on a PHS soccer team that went undefeated in the regular season, and he scored the only goal in the Little Tigers’ 1-0 win over Steinert in the Mercer County Tournament finals.
His success has continued this winter in wrestling, as Marsh is 12-1 with five pins at 119 pounds. Barring a disaster, he should be a top-three seed at the county tournament that begins Feb. 1.
And if that’s not enough, his Giants are headed to the Super Bowl, although it came at the expense of his mom Colleen’s beloved Packers.
”We were kind of split in the house,” Corey admitted.
But the family is on the same page when it comes to the wrestling of Corey and his younger brother John, who took up the sport in this, his freshman year.
That’s how old Corey was when he started, which is ancient in some corners of the state when it comes to wrestling.
”You go to these tournaments and the little kids wrestle first,” Marsh said. “You see kids 6 years old and 50 pounds go out and wrestle. They go out and do, whatever, and some of them are really good. So you naturally think, ‘If I started then how good could I be?’ But I’m learning pretty quickly.”
That’s an understatement. Marsh has progressed at a rapid rate since being coaxed into the wrestling room by Tigers coach Rashone Johnson.
”I didn’t actually know anything about wrestling until ninth grade,” Marsh said. “Before that, all I knew was WWE and I didn’t like it at all because I knew it was fake.
”When I got to high school I didn’t consider doing it until two weeks after the season started. I finally decided not to do it, but coach Johnson saw me in the hallway and somehow talked me into it. I went to a practice and really liked it. It was definitely hard, but I like the hard work, I like challenging myself, it’s something I like about wrestling.”
As a freshman, Marsh wrestled at 103 pounds and put up a respectable 15-8 record. He lost in the first-round of the MCT, but his season’s body of work was enough to enliven Marsh’s interest in the sport.
”I was pretty surprised about my first year,” he said. “I didn’t think I would catch on so quickly. Since I did, I thought I’d stick with it, I really liked it.
”The good start propelled me to work harder. It gave me insight to how good I could be.”
It got even better last year, as Marsh went 19-9 at 103, took third in the counties and fourth in the district tournament. Had he won his consolation match in districts Marsh would have advanced to the regionals in just his second season.
He continued to focus on both soccer and wrestling after the season. Marsh and the rest of the team learned from a guest coach who runs a wrestling club in Paulsboro, which has one of the state’s top program, each Wednesday in May and June.
Once summer came along, Marsh and his dad, or other teammates, would travel to weekend tournaments, where they would pay a $20 entry fee to compete against some of the top competition from around the state.
It was, to say the least, a busy summer as Marsh wrestled approximately 30 matches in between soccer games and practice.
”For soccer I’m on a team, I practice with them and go to whatever tournaments and games we have,” Marsh said. “Whatever off time we had, I’d try to find a wrestling tournament to go to.
”I recognized a bunch of tough kids from (wrestling hotbeds) Hunterdon and Voorhees and I did well against them. After that, I figured I could compete with the best.”
Marsh entered this season brimming with confidence. The decision was made for him to jump two weight classes and, since he is a few pounds over 119, he has not had to cut much weight.
”At the beginning of the season I contemplated wrestling at 112,” Marsh said. “But the way the lineup worked out, it was better for me to go to 119. We have a guy at 112 and someone at 125, so this has worked out better for the team.”
The jump in weights has hardly halted Marsh, whose only loss thus far came in overtime to Hightstown’s Jason Herrara, who’s 19-3. Peddie’s Frank Cimato is 14-4, and the three will probably get the top MCT seeds.
”I’m not too surprised,” Marsh said of his success. “I worked hard in the offseason, I kind of expected to do this well. Getting third in the counties last year showed me I have what it takes to go with the big guys, and it gave me a lot of confidence.”
Marsh feels his greatest improvement this season has been with his technique, which he honed last summer.
”My strength and moves have always been pretty good, but my technique got a lot better,” he said. “I just try to keep a match at my pace now. If I’m wrestling a guy who’s quick and shoots from an open tie, I’ll try and tie him up and control the match. If I’m wrestling a kid trying to tie me up I’ll break out and try to wrestle my match.
”I go out in every match thinking I’m going to win. The confidence really helps in wrestling, because half the battle is mental.”
Marsh is trying to use some of his mentality to help out John, who has struggled with wins and losses but is making great strides according to his big brother.
”You’re going to have to take your lumps if you’re a first-year guy on varsity,” said Corey, who talked John into trying the sport. “But he’s improved so much since the beginning.
”We wrestle on a mat in the basement. Before he started wrestling it was a joke, I used to beat him easily. But he’s improved so much now he can challenge me when we wrestle. He has a chance to win.”
And these days, it’s pretty impressive when you can put up a challenge against Corey Marsh on the mat.