Westfield Student Wins Triple Crown Wrestling Award
Photography provided
Connor Maddox, a fourth-grader at Washington Woods Elementary, has already accomplished quite a bit at a very young age.
The Indiana State Wrestling Association (ISWA) presented Maddox with the Triple Crown Award at Lawrence North High School this past September.
He earned the coveted award by winning his weight class at the 2019 ISWA State Championships in all three styles of wrestling: Folkstyle, Freestyle and Greco-Roman. More than 3,000 wrestlers competed in the championship tournaments. Only 29 wrestlers were able to complete the triple crown.
“I love wrestling,” Maddox says. “I’ve been able to make a lot of friends, and I really like getting better at the sport.”
The more he practices and competes, the better he gets. In 2018, he won Folkstyle State but did not compete in Freestyle or Greco-Roman.
“This year my goal was to go three for three at states,” he says. “That and grow a mullet.”
Maddox outperformed his goals when he won 2019 Indy Nationals and was selected for the “all-star” team that won the 2019 AAU National Elementary Duals. They became the first Indiana team in history to come home as National Champions.
“That’s the most fun I have ever had at a meet,” Maddox says about the trip. “It was awesome traveling with my friends. Winning was crazy. The whole team was really pumped, jumping and hugging. It was really exciting.”
Maddox’s successes earned him invitations to travel the nation for competitions this coming season. He is on the Ohio National Team roster — a big honor being from Indiana. Connor wishes Indiana had a national team, but he is happy Ohio wants him to wrestle with them.
“There’s only two kids that aren’t from Ohio, so it’s pretty cool,” he says.
He started wrestling three years ago with the Westfield Wrestling Club but wanted to continue after the season, so he joined Ryan Parrish’s Contenders Wrestling Academy (CWA) in Brownsburg.
Parrish couldn’t be prouder of Maddox.
“Connor has improved immensely since he started wrestling at Contenders,” Parrish says. “He has such a passion for the sport. He is constantly working to improve his wrestling at practice, and at home. His hard work and dedication has become very evident with the success he is having on the mat.
“However, I think Connor’s biggest growth has been socially off the mat. When I met Connor, he was a very quiet, introverted kid, it was hard to get him to show his personality. Now I see him flourishing, becoming outgoing, gaining friends on the team, and really showing off his fun personality. It has been so impressive to watch his growth on the mat, but I think I am just as proud of who he is becoming off the mat.”
Parrish added that he was happy Maddox won the Triple Crown Award.
“Honestly, I wasn’t surprised,” Parrish says. “He has put in so much work, that I was extremely confident he was the best wrestler in the state at his weight. However, winning all three at his age is hard. You can not have an off day, be sick, injured, get caught out of position. I am always impressed when someone accomplishes it, but in Connor’s case, I was not surprised because of how he approaches the sport.”
Maddox says wrestling is definitely in his future.
“I am going to wrestle at the University of Iowa,” Maddox says. “I want to wrestle for (University of Iowa Head Wrestling Coach) Tom Brands, become an NCAA Champion, World Champion and Olympic Champion.”
When he’s not in school or wrestling, Maddox enjoys playing Fortnite, learning tricks on his trampoline, coaching his little brother in wrestling, and spending time with family and friends. His favorite subject in school is math.
