University of Minnesota Athletics
All In The Family; Sophomore All-American Damion Hahn
12/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
"Boy, the way the Wild Mongos played.
Drop kicks that made the hit parade.
Guys like us, we had it made.
Those were the days.
Didn't need no Oklahoma State.
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee, our old Buick ran great.
Those were the days.
And you know who you were then.
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, remember little Damion again.
Those were the days."
"Damion knows how to find me," Betty said. "He just has to listen for my mouth."
"They come from a long way away (Lakewood, N.J.)," Damion commented. "It's great to have them come to as many of my matches as possible. My dad was my coach for years and my mom is a little crazy up in the stands. But I love having them there."
They've been there from the beginning, and will be there until his wrestling career comes to a close. They were there for his start in the sport - a start that might be considered a bit unorthodox for college grapplers.
"I got started in the sport because I was attracted to what my dad was doing in pro wrestling," Damion said.
That's right. Professional wrestling. The "sport" that is highlighted by suplexes, clotheslines and drop kicks. The "sport" with characters such as Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Andre the Giant and the British Bulldogs.
Damion's introduction to wrestling came by way of the Wild Mongos, Damion's father's tag-team. It was the experience of travelling around with his father to the pro wrestling events that showed him what he thought was the sport in which he would later excel . Wild Mongo and family toured much of the East Coast, giving young Damion a taste of the greatest sport ever, in his mind. That experience gave him the urge to pick up the sport. But his long-held belief about what wrestling entailed was soon to take a major slap in the face.
"One day in elementary school, they were handing out fliers for `recreational wrestling,'" Damion recounted. "I thought that meant I'd be doing what my dad did - jumping off the top ropes and stuff. My mom told me that that wasn't what it was, but I didn't listen. We went to the first meeting and, as I walked in, I turned to her and asked, `Mom, where's the ring and the ropes?' She told me that it was a different type of wrestling. Yeah, I was disappointed, but I stuck with it."
That's a bit of an understatement. Hahn did more than just stick with the sport of wrestling. He flourished. Early on, he was nearly unbeatable. In his first season, he went 26-4. In his second, he was 56-0. And, it's a memory from his initial season in wrestling that sticks with Damion to this day.
"In my first tournament, in second grade, I was down 8-2 in the finals with 30 seconds to go and I pinned the guy. I was so excited. I ran around and jumped into my dad's arms. I was hooked on the sport after that."
With the hook of wrestling firmly implanted, Hahn's development into a top-notch grappler began to form. Prior to joining the Golden Gophers, the accolades poured in for him. A three-time Junior National Freestyle champion, a three-time New Jersey state champion, Asics' Wrestler of the Year, a three-time USA Wrestling All-American, a four-time all-county honoree and a three-time all-state honoree, a 131-3 overall high school record, including a flawless 36-0 mark his senior year. And, of course, the No. 1 recruit in the nation in the fall of 1998.
To the delight of thousands of Maroon and Gold faithful, he chose Minnesota over Oklahoma State.
"I was recuited by a lot of schools, but Minnesota was a perfect fit for me.," Hahn said. "We're like a big family here. We do so much together. And you can't say enough about the great workout partners that we have here."
The coaching staff couldn't have been happier with his choice to become a Golden Gopher, either.
"Damion came in as one of the most high-profile guys in the country, and he's handled the pressure very well," Assistant Coach Joe Russell said. "We expect great things from him."
One of those great things almost happened in Hahn's 1999-2000 true freshman year. Although he was redshirting, Hahn wrestled in a number of open tournaments to gain experience for following years. At the Kaufman-Brand, he met up with the nation's most dominant wrestler, Iowa State's Cael Sanderson (now a three-time NCAA champion), in the title match. Hahn gave him all he could handle, but the Cyclone came out on top by a score of 4-3 to remain unbeaten.
"I was kind of mad about it," Hahn said. "I was undefeated and he was undefeated at the time. I wanted to hand him his first loss. But I looked at like I had a long way to go. It was definitely a confidence-booster for me, though."
Hahn used that confidence in his first season as a starter for the Golden Gophers, helping Minnesota to its first national title by taking fifth place at 184 pounds. With the team championship in the books and his first All-America honor under his belt, Hahn turns to individual goals as motivation.
"I want to win an NCAA individual championship," Hahn commented. "If I don't achieve that, I'll have let myself down. If I get that done, it will help my team. And I think it's something that I can get done this year."
Whether or not Damion meets that individual goal this season or the next, one thing remains a certainty - the Hahn family will be watching (and yelling) from the stands, supporting Damion on the mat. And, who knows, maybe some years down the road, Miles and Betty will sit down at the piano and belt out another song.
People seemed to be content.
(Six hundred) Fifty dollars paid the rent.
Damion's opponents were always bent.
Those were the days.
Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Golden Gophers win.
Have yourself a dandy day that cost you just over a fin.
Skirts were short and hair was long.
Britney Spears really sold a song.
I don't know just what went wrong.
Those Were The Days.
"Boy, the way the Wild Mongos played.
Drop kicks that made the hit parade.
Guys like us, we had it made.
Those were the days.
Didn't need no Oklahoma State.
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee, our old Buick ran great.
Those were the days.
And you know who you were then.
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, remember little Damion again.
Those were the days."
"Damion knows how to find me," Betty said. "He just has to listen for my mouth."
"They come from a long way away (Lakewood, N.J.)," Damion commented. "It's great to have them come to as many of my matches as possible. My dad was my coach for years and my mom is a little crazy up in the stands. But I love having them there."
They've been there from the beginning, and will be there until his wrestling career comes to a close. They were there for his start in the sport - a start that might be considered a bit unorthodox for college grapplers.
"I got started in the sport because I was attracted to what my dad was doing in pro wrestling," Damion said.
That's right. Professional wrestling. The "sport" that is highlighted by suplexes, clotheslines and drop kicks. The "sport" with characters such as Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Andre the Giant and the British Bulldogs.
Damion's introduction to wrestling came by way of the Wild Mongos, Damion's father's tag-team. It was the experience of travelling around with his father to the pro wrestling events that showed him what he thought was the sport in which he would later excel . Wild Mongo and family toured much of the East Coast, giving young Damion a taste of the greatest sport ever, in his mind. That experience gave him the urge to pick up the sport. But his long-held belief about what wrestling entailed was soon to take a major slap in the face.
"One day in elementary school, they were handing out fliers for `recreational wrestling,'" Damion recounted. "I thought that meant I'd be doing what my dad did - jumping off the top ropes and stuff. My mom told me that that wasn't what it was, but I didn't listen. We went to the first meeting and, as I walked in, I turned to her and asked, `Mom, where's the ring and the ropes?' She told me that it was a different type of wrestling. Yeah, I was disappointed, but I stuck with it."
That's a bit of an understatement. Hahn did more than just stick with the sport of wrestling. He flourished. Early on, he was nearly unbeatable. In his first season, he went 26-4. In his second, he was 56-0. And, it's a memory from his initial season in wrestling that sticks with Damion to this day.
"In my first tournament, in second grade, I was down 8-2 in the finals with 30 seconds to go and I pinned the guy. I was so excited. I ran around and jumped into my dad's arms. I was hooked on the sport after that."
With the hook of wrestling firmly implanted, Hahn's development into a top-notch grappler began to form. Prior to joining the Golden Gophers, the accolades poured in for him. A three-time Junior National Freestyle champion, a three-time New Jersey state champion, Asics' Wrestler of the Year, a three-time USA Wrestling All-American, a four-time all-county honoree and a three-time all-state honoree, a 131-3 overall high school record, including a flawless 36-0 mark his senior year. And, of course, the No. 1 recruit in the nation in the fall of 1998.
To the delight of thousands of Maroon and Gold faithful, he chose Minnesota over Oklahoma State.
"I was recuited by a lot of schools, but Minnesota was a perfect fit for me.," Hahn said. "We're like a big family here. We do so much together. And you can't say enough about the great workout partners that we have here."
The coaching staff couldn't have been happier with his choice to become a Golden Gopher, either.
"Damion came in as one of the most high-profile guys in the country, and he's handled the pressure very well," Assistant Coach Joe Russell said. "We expect great things from him."
One of those great things almost happened in Hahn's 1999-2000 true freshman year. Although he was redshirting, Hahn wrestled in a number of open tournaments to gain experience for following years. At the Kaufman-Brand, he met up with the nation's most dominant wrestler, Iowa State's Cael Sanderson (now a three-time NCAA champion), in the title match. Hahn gave him all he could handle, but the Cyclone came out on top by a score of 4-3 to remain unbeaten.
"I was kind of mad about it," Hahn said. "I was undefeated and he was undefeated at the time. I wanted to hand him his first loss. But I looked at like I had a long way to go. It was definitely a confidence-booster for me, though."
Hahn used that confidence in his first season as a starter for the Golden Gophers, helping Minnesota to its first national title by taking fifth place at 184 pounds. With the team championship in the books and his first All-America honor under his belt, Hahn turns to individual goals as motivation.
"I want to win an NCAA individual championship," Hahn commented. "If I don't achieve that, I'll have let myself down. If I get that done, it will help my team. And I think it's something that I can get done this year."
Whether or not Damion meets that individual goal this season or the next, one thing remains a certainty - the Hahn family will be watching (and yelling) from the stands, supporting Damion on the mat. And, who knows, maybe some years down the road, Miles and Betty will sit down at the piano and belt out another song.
People seemed to be content.
(Six hundred) Fifty dollars paid the rent.
Damion's opponents were always bent.
Those were the days.
Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Golden Gophers win.
Have yourself a dandy day that cost you just over a fin.
Skirts were short and hair was long.
Britney Spears really sold a song.
I don't know just what went wrong.
Those Were The Days.
