CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- One of Bradley Central's most decorated wrestlers has returned home and, spurning a career in law, has joined the school as a teacher and coach.
And while Travis Creagan thought initially that after earning a degree at Columbia his education was pretty much done, he has discovered that there is as much to learning the tools of a trainer as there was to being trained.
He learned the hard way earlier this season about professional decorum demanded of coaches. He went to bat for one of Bradley's wrestlers and wound up getting ejected from a match. His intent was good; his approach not so good.
Lesson learned. There are differences as wrestler and coach and from the college level back to high school.
"It's about as different as it can get," said Creagan, who decided against the legal profession after spending time in the law department of Jones Management in Cleveland. "When I was a trainee I had trainers that, whether I liked it or not, made sure I did what I needed to do.
"There are expectations placed on when you enter this (practice) room, and it's a great source of motivation. It was interesting, but I realized law wasn't where I wanted to be. It's interesting, but I didn't think I'd be happy doing that."
Even while working in the world of suits-and-ties, he kept drifting back to Bradley, where much of his life had been molded.
"I realized I was gravitating back here to work out or just to say hey," he said.
So now he is a history teacher and first-year assistant wrestling coach for the school where he was a four-time state medalist, three-time state finalist and two-time state champion.
While his collegiate aspirations as a wrestler were wrecked by a freshman shoulder injury that nagged him until he turned in his singlet midway of his junior season, he has, at least for the moment, found his niche.
"I think so," he agreed. "Although I'm young, of the jobs I've had this is the most fulfilling. Wrestling is such a huge part of my life. When I quit in college it was weird not being a wrestler anymore. There was a void. I can't imagine not having wrestling in my life."
So the education begins anew, and this road has more bumps than that even of a freshman wrestler.
"I know what it feels like to underachieve and know that I could've done something to avoid negative outcomes," Creagan said. "I see kids doing it and I really don't want them to go through that. You have to put them through the sweating and exhaustion before they can grasp what it takes to avoid losses."
He also is learning when to offer a hug or pat on the backside and when to bark.
"I've made some mistakes where I don't know kids as well as I'd like. Different kids have different needs," he said.
He's learning every day and Bears coach Ben Smith said that he hasn't been as demanding as he will be while he waits, sometimes impatiently, for Creagan to establish himself in the classroom.
"He's getting away with a lot right now," Smith said with a smile. "He's focusing on being a teacher first. I haven't asked a lot of Travis yet. What I look for from coaches is what Coach (Steve) Logsdon looked for out of me, and it took me four or five years to get there. Travis would be successful wherever he was and whatever he was doing."
Creagan has had his eyes opened to coaching and was surprised at how much there is to the profession beyond the mat or the wrestling room.
"I'm humbled," he said. "Ben does so much. I don't think 10 percent of people could handle what he does -- coaching the team, the liaison with the kids clubs and the middle school, parents and personal life.
"One of the things I'm beginning to realize is how much I represent something larger than myself and that my actions have consequences, both negative and positive. I'm still awfully young, and I realize there are lots of things to learn."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.