Wrestling Outlook | Mangrum is king of working class

AUBURN — Michael Mangrum is a fierce competitor with fancy dreams:

• Three high-school state wrestling titles

• Four NCAA championships

• One Olympic gold medal (for starters)

But there's nothing fancy about the way Mangrum posts those goals.

"I wrote them on computer paper and stuck them on my [bedroom] wall with medical tape," he said.

That's Michael Mangrum for you, all thrills and no frills. The Auburn Riverside senior is Mr. Matter of Fact when it comes to wrestling, a masterful technician who won't be outworked.

"The difference between him and any other wrestler I've ever been around is that he practices and works out every day," Auburn Riverside coach Steve Mead said. "He is doing something every day. Wrestling is his life. This is what he does."

The dedication has paid off with two state championships and a 102-2 career record that includes a current winning streak of 72 matches. Mangrum's only losses came his freshman year, to Kelly Kubec of Lake Stevens. The second defeat came in the 112-pound state finals and dashed his dream of becoming a four-time state champion.

But Mangrum never looked back. He went 32-0 and won the title at 125 the following year, and last season capped a 40-0 campaign with the 140-pound crown, winning 30 matches by pin or technical fall. He allowed only one takedown and one reversal all season.

Over the summer, Mangrum picked up a pair of titles in national tournaments. He has signed with Oregon State and hopes to qualify for the Olympic Trials next year.

Tahoma coach Chris Feist said one word comes to mind about Mangrum: "Dominant."

One other "D" word is appropriate as well: Dad.

Mangrum's father, Carl, has helped mold him into one of the top wrestlers not only in the state, but the country. Carl Mangrum, an assistant coach for Riverside, won back-to-back state titles at Mount Rainier High School in 1975 and '76 and went on to wrestle at Washington. Mike Mangrum, Carl's brother and Michael's namesake, was a repeat champion in 1979 and '80, also at Mount Rainier, and wrestled at Oklahoma.

Carl, similar in stature to the stocky, 5-foot-4 Michael, still wrestles with his son.

When teammate Eric Jones was asked what has made Michael such a special wrestler, he paused just long enough for Michael to say, "My crazy dad?"

Jones, also a returning state champion, quickly agreed.

"It's his dad and the way he's pushed him," he said. "It's not like he'd refuse to do it if his dad wasn't around, but it's like his dad put a work ethic in him."

Michael and Carl share the same passion for the sport, something older brother Chris does not. While Chris was a very good wrestler and a state qualifier in 2005, he doesn't eat, drink and sleep the sport like Michael does.

"To be a great wrestler, you have to live it," Carl said, "and either you can or you can't."

Michael not only can, but wants to. He said he enjoys his close relationship with his father and looks in the corner for guidance from him during matches.

Michael started wrestling at age 4 and insists he "used to suck" at it. But it didn't take him long to catch on and he was a national champion by the time he was in seventh grade.

Wrestling is basically a seven-day-a-week sport for the Mangrums. Michael hated having to scale back his workout routine the past two weeks because of an ankle injury, which likely will prevent him from competing at 100 percent until the postseason. And while his life centers on wrestling, it is not all-consuming.

"Outside of the wrestling room, I have a normal life," he said. "I hang out with friends. I hang out with girls."

He plays video games, eats at McDonald's and has a sarcastic sense of humor. But his first love clearly is wrestling and he plans to succeed at the highest level. That lofty list of goals primitively taped to his bedroom wall attests to that.

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com