ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Here's an interesting theory as to how Pulaski County High 171-pounder J.R. Osborne became such a tenacious wrestler:
``Osmosis,'' says one local wrestling authority. ``He's been around it all his life. You tend to absorb things.''
Sounds like that view has merit. Then again, it should. The speaker is Danny Osborne, J.R.'s father.
Danny Osborne is also the Pulaski County coach. The man knows a good wrestler when he sees one. In the case of J.R., he saw him early.
``I've been wrestling since I was in the second grade in Gastonia, N.C.,'' J.R. said.
Danny Osborne looked on with a those-were-the days look in his eye.
``We'd go all over the place to tournaments in North Carolina,'' he said. ``We'd put the boys in the pickup truck, pack a picnic lunch, and go all over the state.''
``The boys'' were the Osborne boys, of which J.R. was the youngest. All of them wrestled, two of them - Danny and Steven - in college. A third son, Jason, took off his headgear and abandoned the mat for good after high school.
``But I think he was good enough to wrestle in college,'' Danny Osborne said of Jason.
It seems as though the youngest of the boys, J.R., is going to have the opportunity to follow in the physically fit footsteps of his brothers and wrestle at the next level. Danny grappled at Campbell University as a heavyweight and now coaches there. Steven is a reserve on the Naval Academy's team.
Campbell seems to be interested in J.R. as a wrestler as is Virginia Military Institute. If he's inclined one way or the other, then he's not letting on at this stage. Perhaps that is very wise. A good showing at the Group AAA Northwest Region tournament and a stout performance the next week at the state tournament should attract some more interest from the recruiters.
J.R. is counting on a big postseason and why not? Right now, he's cruising along with a 20-2 record. The only losses came to Scott Justice of Grundy High, a defending AA state champion.
History suggests that his aspirations are not in the least far-fetched. As a sophomore, he won the region and placed third at the state meet.
With that powerful tonic coursing through his veins, he counted on a huge junior season. Events did not unfold in such happy fashion, though. By any standard, his 25-5 record was outstanding. However, the joy of accomplishment was tempered by a third-place finish at the region that served to place him in the wrong side of the bracket at state. He ended up losing to both the eventual state champion and the wrestler who finished third.
``It was disappointing how it turned out,'' he said. ``I didn't see it coming.''
Of the five losses for the season, three of them were to state champions and the other two were to guys who placed in the AAA state tournament. That knowledge ultimately was of little comfort to him.
``I didn't dwell on the disappointment,'' he said. ``Instead, I worked harder to prepare myself for this year.''
Part of that involved wrestling for his father in the summer freestyle and Greco-Roman season. That has been Osborne family tradition for years now. Twice, J.R. has won USA Wrestling Greco-Roman state titles and twice more he has been in the top four. Twice he has been a member of the team that represented the state at the national tournament.
Dedicated off-season labor tends to endear wrestlers to their coach. In J.R. Osborne's case, he had sort of a head start as far as endearment goes.
``J.R. has been a pleasure to coach,'' said Danny Osborne, who is in his first year of coaching the Cougars. ``He has a good work ethic and he's a likeable kid.''
Situations in which fathers coach their sons occasionally turn out to be tense for both parties, but he has never been that way for the Osbornes.
``I don't feel any more pressure because I'm wrestling for my father,'' J.R. said. ``I wrestle because I enjoy wrestling. I do it for myself, not anybody else.''
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: RAY COX STAFF. Pulaski County High School wrestlingby CNBcoach J.R. Osborne and his son Danny. color.