Norwood lightens his load

Chip Norwood is a model student-athlete at Cleveland High School who has received a congressional recommendation for the Air Force Academy.

He is a svelte 6-foot, 189-pound wrestler, a 2008-09 state tournament medalist and a member of the 2009 Best of Preps all-area football defense.

It wasn't always that way.

"I was a butterball," said Norwood, who was a 5-9, 255-pound freshman.

His coach at the time was Heath Eslinger, who now is in his first season as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's head coach. Because of NCAA rules, Eslinger cannot comment on Norwood. It is, though, common knowledge in Cleveland that Eslinger prompted Norwood into his life-changing decision.

"Chip got frustrated that first day," Cleveland assistant wrestling coach Al Miller recalled. "He said, 'I can't do this. It's too hard.' Heath talked to him and the next day he came back. He said he couldn't believe he had even thought about quitting."

And Norwood went to work, shedding 40 pounds and getting several matches as a freshman 215-pounder.

Before Norwood arrived at the high school, Cleveland middle school coach Steve Collier had told Miller and Eslinger that there was something special about the chunky kid and his battling attitude.

"I thought he was mistaken. I'd heard how slow he was in football, but Collier said, 'This kid will be a starter at least by his sophomore year,'" Miller recalled.

The transition wasn't overnight and Norwood had to deal with beatings from older and more established wrestlers.

"I was definitely overweight and that first practice I was totally broken down mentally. I didn't know if I could keep my commitment," Norwood said.

"Heath was very good at explaining that he was going to be frustrated," Miller said.

Norwood went from pants with a 40 waist to a 34 and even now they 34s are baggy. He dropped again -- from 215 to 189 his sophomore season -- and he has remained there for wrestling. He played football this past season as the Blue Raiders' starting middle linebacker at 215 pounds.

Like many of his peers, Miller has little use for the National Wrestling Coaches Association weight management program, especially the inordinate amount of paperwork.

"I think, though, that this is one case where the weight program may have helped a kid. When Chip saw his body weight and what he could weigh with 7-percent body fat, that was a motivation," Miller said. "What Chip has done physically is remarkable. He was convinced that his football ability would go up with his quickness, and he has been a joy to have in the classroom and the practice room."

He reworked a body that had been "chunky" since he was a third-grader.

"I was always husky, but I ate a lot of junk food -- fast food, chips and Swiss Cake Rolls -- and now I don't eat any of it," he said.

But unlike many of his peers, Norwood stays out of the fast-food joints year-round and he doesn't starve himself to make weight.

"I get about 3,300 calories per day, and I eat five times per day," he said. "When I first started it was almost like a science project."

A usual breakfast consists of two cups of Malt-O-Meal, four eggs (two without yolks), two pieces of whole grain toast, a cup of milk and 1.5 cups of orange juice. His mid-morning snack is eight fig newtons and a pair. His lunch varies but an example would be a roast beef sandwich, a cup of fruit cocktail, a cup of broccoli and a cup of milk. The afternoon snack is a couple of granola bars and his favorite dinner is two cups of spaghetti, four ounces of meat sauce, 1.5 cups of a green vegetable, two pieces of toast, a cup of peaches and a cup of milk.

He is 14-1 this year, his only loss coming in overtime to 2009 state runner-up John Salada of Cookeville. He placed fifth in the state last year after reaching the championship semifinals. But he feels he has more energy this year because of his diet.

"I'm stronger because I'm eating and maintaining my weight rather than cutting weight. Our practices are pretty good for burning calories," he said. "I can go hard for six minutes, and I don't feel like I'm being deprived of any food I want," he said. "People know me more as the kid who lost all the weight -- which is humbling -- but sometimes it would be nice to be known just as Chip."