Wish SMU Could Snare This Scot!

[MrMustang1965]

By TODD WILLS / The Dallas Morning News

UNIVERSITY PARK ­ Trash-talking hasn't become in vogue on the wrestling mat. Either that, or no opponent has the guts to tell Highland Park senior Frederic Rowsey his mop of red hair gives him a Ronald McDonald look.

"Not to my face they haven't," Rowsey said.

Maybe it's the 71-match winning streak that the wrestler teammates call "Frederic the Great" takes into today's UIL state tournament that keeps opponents from saying anything that might further fire him up.

He admits some friends have stooped to calling him "Ronald." But on the mat, he gets nothing but respect. If anything, Rowsey's red hair is as recognizable at the state tournament as singlets and half nelsons. This will be his third trip to state.

The 6-1 Rowsey will be in Austin looking for consecutive state titles in the 180-pound weight division. He went 48-0 last year, helping Highland Park take home its fifth state championship in eight years.

He is only 23-0 this season, but he has been as dominant as ever. He has 20 pins and two technical falls. He has one major decision where a match went all three rounds, and that came in last week's regional tournament against The Colony's Chris Capodagli. Only two offensive points have been scored against him.

Rowsey's match total is down for a reason. He missed the first month of the wrestling season helping Highland Park win its first state championship in football since 1957.

"Football was hard to do because it had been such a long time," said Rowsey, an all-district linebacker.

But in wrestling, his goals are different.

"It's an expectation to win state," he said.

Rowsey is the next in a long line of all-state wrestlers at Highland Park, but he might be the best. No one has matched his win streak, said coach Tim Marzuola, who has been at Highland Park since 1982.

Rowsey's last high school loss came in the state semifinals his sophomore year. He lost twice last summer, but both defeats were to wrestlers entering college. He was disappointed it cost him All-American status.

But he deserves respect because he is a two-sport athlete, said Bishop Lynch senior Ben Ashmore, one of the country's top high school wrestlers at 119 pounds.

"He's missed a lot of tournaments because of football," Ashmore said. "I don't know how he does it."

Rowsey has also always had one other trademark ­ his hair. "I don't remember too well what it looked like," Marzuola said, "But it was red."

Rowsey said it was always short until his sophomore year in high school, when after a loss in football to Lancaster, he decided to grow it out. When Highland Park started winning and made it to the state semifinals, he kept letting it grow.

"It grew into a superstition," he said. "As long as I was winning, why cut it?"

Now he sees his mop of red hair as something cool. Even when wrestling season is over, he has no plans to cut it.

"I'm kind of attached to it," Rowsey said. "I'm sure I'll get some of it cut, but not a lot. I'm scared of what it will look like."

[EastStang]

I suspect this kid will try to go to one of the few schools that still have collegiate wrestling.

[BUS]

I bet this guy would make a good LB.

Personally, I coached with Ashmore's dad when my son wrestled. That whole family is tough.

Anyway, wrestling is like a little family. It really does not matter the school because you see everyone at weekend tournaments. If this guy has pulled weight to get to 180, I bet he could carry 220 and play football.

Does anyone know if he wants to wrestle in college? So, is football even on his mind? What is his 40 time?