In 2007 University of Iowa Wrestler, Mark Perry was set to square off against his bitter rival. Johnny Hendricks of Oklahoma State University was the two-time defending national champion at the 165-pound weight class. Hendricks had bested Perry in four other matches throughout their impressive careers. At the 2007 NCAA National Championships, Mark Perry squared off against a metaphorical bully who he had never beaten. Adding intrigue to the matchup, Mark Perry’s bitter rival was coached by his own uncle. Oklahoma State head coach, John Smith is the brother of Cathy Perry, Mark Perry’s mother. With a long backstory, the matchup created a fight for the ages. And it did not disappoint.

Mark Perry began his wrestling career at a very young age. As a member of the Smith family, Perry grew up not just around wrestling, but around some of the greatest United States wrestlers in history. His father, Mark Perry Sr. was a two-time all-american selection for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. His uncles Pat and John are cemented into wrestling glory. Pat Smith was a four-time NCAA national champion at Oklahoma State. Pat is one of four wrestlers in the history of the sport to win four NCAA titles, and he was the first to do it. John is the “Michael Jordan” of United States wrestling. He was a two-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma State and went on to have the most illustrious international career in American history. John won six straight world championships including two Olympic gold medals in that span. The Smith brothers, along with their future brother-in-law, Mark Perry Sr. were inseparable and represented all that was great about the Oklahoma State Wrestling program.

For Mark Perry, growing up in the wrestling community at the time his uncle John was dominating the world was a dream come true. As he grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Mark had incredible access to the Oklahoma State wrestling room. He idolized the members of the Oklahoma State wrestling team. As a child he room was donned with posters of members of the Oklahoma State wrestling team. His dream as a kid was to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy.

In high school, Perry grew into a large amount of success. He eventually became a two-time national prep champion in high school. It turned out, growing up in the Oklahoma State wrestling room paid dividends for Perry’s development as he was able to be under the guidance of his uncles who were coaching at Oklahoma State at the time and he had great access to training partners with Oklahoma State wrestlers.

In the summer of 2003, the year before Perry became a senior in high school he spent the entire summer training for the National High School Freestyle wrestling tournament held in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo is one of the most illustrious wrestling tournaments in the world. In preparation, Perry spent the summer training at Oklahoma State with some of their top incoming freshman. In the group of his training partners was the number one recruit in the country, Johnny Hendricks. Hendricks was a year older than Perry and was the prized incoming wrestling recruit for the Cowboys. Hendricks and Perry trained together all summer, developing a unique friendship. Prior to the national tournament they planned to enter two separate weight classes so as to avoid competing against each other. Perry would enter the 160-pound weight class and Hendricks would enter the 171-pound weight class. 

When tournament time came, Perry was shocked to see Johnny Hendricks had entered the same weight class without telling him. It seemed the alliances and bonds of the Oklahoma State training room were shifting. Perry was betrayed. In one moment a potential future teammate and training partner turned in to a threat to everything Mark Perry had worked for.

In an interview with the company Flowrestling, Perry had this to say about the experience:

“I think that was the first time in my life, I began to realize, I may not be going to Oklahoma State. I held some animosity towards my uncle for recruiting Hendricks for my weight class instead of me.”

What was once a great partnership between Perry and Hendricks turned sour in a matter of hours. They would now stand in each other’s way in pursuit of the same goal. There would only be one champion, and they would have to go through each other to get to the top. The problem for Perry is it was mostly Hendricks standing in his way than the other way around. Hendricks was the top wrestler in the country, and at the time had a winning streak of over 100 matches in a row.

Hendricks would go on to defeat Perry 3-0 in the final of the National High School wrestling tournament that summer. With the road blocked for Perry at his dream school of Oklahoma State he began to look elsewhere in his own college recruiting process. He was still one of the nation’s finest and had options. Schools that assumed Perry would follow his family’s path were now heavily involved in recruiting him.

After taking visits to other campuses, Perry chose a peculiar path that ruffled many feathers in his extended family. Perry would choose to go to the University of Iowa and wrestle for the Hawkeyes - the fierce rival of Oklahoma State. He finished his high school career with a 169-7 record and was the Dan Hodge Junior Trophy winner (the high school wrestling equivalent of the Heisman trophy). He then set his sights on his college career in Iowa.

625 miles separate the two wrestling rooms of the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Two of the best wrestling programs in the country and one of the fiercest rivalries in college athletics. Oklahoma State has won 34 team national championships and Iowa has won 23 team national championships. The next closest college is Penn State with nine total championships. No two schools have dominated like Oklahoma State and Iowa. Their dual meets have been some of the most heated matchups in the sport. One year they set the NCAA wrestling attendance record for their matchup with over 42,000 fans attending. 

Perry’s decision to attend Iowa when his family had roots in Oklahoma State would be the equivalent of Benedict Arnold switching to the Redcoats. Luke Skywalker switching to the Dark Side. Herb Brooks coaching the Soviet Union after the United States. The decision shocked the wrestling world, and no doubt made Thanksgiving gatherings for the Smith-Perry family a little uneasy. 

It wouldn’t take long for Perry and Hendricks to meet in the collegiate wrestling world. In the 2005 NCAA national finals the two would meet for the second time. With Perry’s uncle in the opposite corner coaching Johnny Hendricks, Hendricks would go on to beat Perry in dominating fashion. This would be the second time Hendricks beat Perry. Hendricks now had an NCAA wrestling championship title and was 2-0 against Perry.

Two years later, in Hendricks final season of collegiate wrestling, Perry knew this would be his last shot at the man who disrupted so much of his plans and caused considerable frustration and pain emotionally. In the regular season, Oklahoma State and Iowa dueled and Hendricks picked up yet another win against Perry, moving to 3-0 all time against the Iowa Hawkeye. The third matchup proved to be the most dominant by Hendricks, and it clearly seemed he had the upper hand, not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.

Hendricks and Perry were on a collision course through the tournament and on the final night of the tournament they were set to meet in the 165-pound national championship bout. For Perry this sole individual had stood in the way of his childhood dream of wrestling for Oklahoma State. This sole individual had now defeated him three times and had celebrated championships that Perry had trained for.

In a way, Johnny Hendricks was a bully to Mark Perry. Not in that he threw Mark Perry into a locker and stole his lunch money. But, in a way in which he caused harm in Mark Perry’s career. He stood in the way of Mark Perry’s dreams. There’s often no way around a bully. You can’t tattle on a bully and expect things to return to normal next time it’s you and the bully alone on the playground. When it comes to bullies, the only way is through them. Mark Perry was prepared to stand face to face with his bully one last time.

The playground fight happened to be with the “golden boy” of the Oklahoma State wrestling program, and the man who had disrupted Mark Perry’s dream of wrestling at Oklahoma State. The man who he couldn’t beat in three tries and who would test him in the fourth and final matchup.

From the start of the match, Hendricks dominated as he had done in their other three matchups. He controlled most of the action even though the match was scoreless heading into the last period. With a little over a minute remaining, Hendricks took a two-point lead and was in complete control. With just under a minute left, Perry had his head on the mat and was dejected. Then something switched and the tides changed. Perry reversed Hendricks and was now in control as the score was tied with just over thirty seconds remaining.

In wrestling the sole goal is to control your opponent’s body, mind, and will. The sole aim is to expose their back to the mat, only possible by imposing your will, and one of the hardest feats in sports. With 20 seconds remaining in the match, Perry exposes Hendricks back to take a two-point lead. 20,000 fans erupt in a sold out arena in Auburn Hills, Michigan. We all love an underdog story and we all love someone standing up to a bully. After so many losses to Hendricks, so many times denied by one man. Mark Perry finally got his break through and his celebration was glorious and is a must watch scene.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE FINAL PERIOD & CELEBRATION : HERE

There’s only one way to take on a bully. It’s to go right at them. Bullies come in many forms, but all bullies try to limit our confidence and disallow a sense of hope. Perhaps the bully in your life is one of the following:

• Weight loss

• Finances

• Fear

• A manipulative relationship

• Depression

• Lack of direction

• Addiction

• Insecurity

• Coworkers

The question becomes,

What is bullying you?

We have a tendency to allow certain things in our life to bully us. We wouldn’t allow someone to stuff us in a locker, or take our lunch money, yet we let a great deal of things in our minds go unchecked. The only way to stand up to a bully is to go through them and it may take a few tries to finally take our bully out. But, on the other side is a wealth of celebration. Go get it.

Stay The Course,

JB