Red-shirt hopefully pays dividends for St. John

IOWA CITY - Derek St. John's  benefitted from his experience as a freshman.

Most of that experience, however, came in the University of Iowa wrestling room as the former Iowa City West state champion red-shirted during his first-year despite winning an early-season wrestle-off.

Now, after a full season to become acclimated to collegiate wrestling, St. John look attempt to contribute to the Hawkeyes varsity lineup. He's anxious for the season to begin.

“Real excited,” St. John said. “I can't wait for it to get going. I've got to handle wrestle-offs and see where it goes from there.”

The red-shirt season was helpful. It allowed him to make strides in progress, which extended into the offseason.

“I feel like it helped out a lot,” St. John said. “I feel like I made a lot of jumps. Even from this summer to right now, I feel like I'm maturing into the college wrestling part of it.”

The maturity isn't limited to one area. He's grown mentally and physically.

“Both,” St. John said. “Mentally, it's a lot more demanding. … Physically, it's just a different kind of demand on your body, a more endurance part of it.”

A year without varsity competition can take a toll on a wrestler. You have to have perseverance and keep improving.

“There's points where it does,” St. John said. “You can't think of it that way. You just got to keep moving forward and make it a grind on everybody else instead of yourself.”

St. John posted a 26-4 record as a freshman, wrestling unattached. A highlight came when he placed fifth at the Midlands Championships in December. He calimed a pair of open tournament titles in his first season. He'll contend for the 157-pound spot and is ranked 12th nationally by InterMat and W.I.N.

"Yeah, again, you're not making predictions, but the kid can wrestle," Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. "Emotionally how is he going to handle it, and he'd better be tougher than he was a year ago, which he is."

That's a requirement for any Hawkeye, and is something that is hone with the competition he experienced that season in the practice room.

“If you're not tough in this room you're not going to go very far,” St. John said. “You got to be tough.”