Prescott Garner glances at his sparring partner Joe DeAngelo during a wrestling practice at McKenzie Arena. Garner spent a year at the U.S. Naval Academy.A Christmas break binge came ever so close to causing the ruination of Prescott Garner, the transfer 125-pounder for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s wrestling team.
Making his first trip from Chattanooga back to his West Linn, Ore., home, Garner found the holiday fare and his mom’s cooking more than he could resist.
“I was over [weight] by 20 pounds when I got back,” the former Naval Academy wrestler said.
He had broken one of the cardinal rules of the wrestler’s lifestyle – at UTC, anyway – and learned a painful lesson. His transgression raised more than a few eyebrows on the Mocs’ coaching staff.
“Without a doubt, dealing with weight management is one of the toughest things for a wrestler,” head coach Heath Eslinger said. “It’s an added stress no other athlete has to deal with. You have to be so conscious of what you eat.”