Devin Schroder - Athlete Spotlight Q&A

Welcome to another American Wrestler "Athlete Spotlight" Blog section! This section has been created as a way to shine some light on upcoming, established, and inspiring athletes within the wrestling community. Today we are happy to have Devin Schroder. At 125 lbs Devin is not just a humble person, caring brother, and outstanding Industrial engineering student, he is also a force to be reckoned with!

Let’s begin with getting to know you a bit more.

Q. How did you begin your wrestling journey, and for how long have you been wrestling?

a. I’ve been wrestling since I can remember, my dad was a coach so I got into it through him and rolled around with the high school kids he was coaching at the time.

 

Q. What do you consider to be your highest achievement so far within the wrestling community?

a. Being awarded an all-american this year and a Big Ten finalist probably are my highest two accomplishments.

 

Q. What would be your ultimate life achievement?

a. My ultimate life achievement would be to

 

Q. After becoming familiar with wrestling and realizing it’s a very demanding and difficult sport what makes you want to keep wrestling?

a. I think that the difficulty that comes with wrestling gives me confidence to handle everything else that comes with life. It’s the ultimate test of disciple and hard work.

 

Q. Do you have heroes/ role models in your life that keep you motivated/ inspired?

a. My little brothers are a couple of heroes that keep me motivated. I always think that I have to keep going in order to set good examples for them. We’ve been through a lot together and I always look to them.

Q. What do you consider to be your biggest strength when it comes to wrestling?

a. I think I do a good job at putting things in perspective and letting it fly every single match. I push myself hard in practice and I know that when it comes to time to compete I’m always ready. Wrestling with that type of freedom is something that keeps me ready to go for every match.

 

Q. How do you best spend your down time when you are not doing schoolwork, or training?

a. I spend a lot of my time watching other sports. I’m an avid Detroit sports fan so you can catch me wathcing the Lions, Pistons, Tigers, or Red Wings (probably losing) any time outside of school and wrestling.

 

Q. What is your favorite food dish?

a. I’m a sucker for pizza and chicken tacos.

 

Q. What are your most listened to artist?

a. Juice Wrld, Lil Uzi, and Drake

 

Q. As an athlete, what do you aim to represent within the wrestling community?

a. I try to represent the community as a leader who makes a difference outside of the sport of wrestling. My mom always tells me it doesn’t matter how good of a wrestler I am if I’m not an even better person, so that’s something I strive to do day in and day out in the community.

Q. If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?

a. A Detroit Lions superbowl win.

 

Q. What would you want to be remembered for in this lifetime?

a. Being a standout human who cared for the people in his life and made an impact for those around him. Isaiah Thomas once said “If all I’m remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I’ve done a bad job with the rest of my life.” and that’s a quote that I feel strongly about as a wrestler.

 

Q. What are you currently studying and why?

a. Industrial Engineering because it’s a great degree and I like working my problem solving abilities.

 

Q. Do you have any favorite wrestling moves/ strategies?

a. Not in particular, I moreso just try to wrestle hard every match for 7 minutes!

 

Q. After graduation what are your plans?

a. I want to either get a job, or try coaching out for a little bit. Either way I plan on staying connected to the sport in some way.

 

Q. What is your Zodiac sign?

a. Cancer

 

Q. What do you love most about Wrestling for the Purdue University?

a. The thing that I love about wrestling for Purdue is the support I get from my teammates and coaches, and how close we are. Looking from the outside in at college wrestling, most of the time people onle see the wins and losses, but there is so much that goes on inbetween those results that have huge impacts on the student-athlete. The daily grind as a college wrestler is very difficult and there are plenty of lows that people don’t realize. The people that are involved in the program at Purdue have helped get me through many of those times and I can’t thank them enough for that.

 

Q . What match has been the most difficult? Did you learn anything from it?

a. I have had plenty of difficult matches that have taught me valable lessons, but none that stand out from others.

 

Q. What kind of life lessons has wrestling taught you? How has the sport aided in your character development?

a. Wrestling has taught me many lessons that I’ll carry on forever. Hard work, brotherhood, resilience and learning to accept and handle responsibility are some of the biggest.

 

Q. If you could get a custom designed singlet to you taste, what would it look like?

a.I would probably get a singlet that has a shared theme of the state of Michigan where I’m from, with Purdue as well.