By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — Job Fox kept his game plan simple as to how he could ultimately walk in his father’s footsteps.

“As long as I worked as hard as I could and fine-tuned my craft, I could compete with anybody,” the Fryeburg Academy senior said.

Not only did Fox compete, at times he was downright dominant on the wrestling mat. Combining brute strength, the ability to identify his opponent’s weaknesses, and a strict attention to detail in executing “moves,” Fox found himself the last competitor standing this winter, claiming the Class B state title in the 195-pound weight class.

It didn’t come easy.

Fox rolled through the Regionals held at Fryeburg Academy. He pinned all three opponents, nearly breaking a sweat. 

Match 1 — over in 27 seconds

Match 2 — over in 36 seconds

Match 3 — the final took just 1 minute, 4 seconds.

Despite his short time on the mat, Fox appreciated the cheers from fans and family — those sounds sorely missed when Covid-19 cancels high school wrestling a year ago — stealing Fox’s junior year.

“Very disappointing, to say the least, when every other sport competed, besides football which went 7-man. With no contact present (in football as a Covid safety precaution), I took myself away from it all. I have been doing this since I was a little kid. It was always run and tackle, not run and touch,” Fox said of missing football, then wrestling. “It’s (wrestling) not a mainstream sport anymore. To have all the people there supporting me made it 100 times better. It is really something special to win at home, with my family there, my friends there, cheering for me, is something else.”

The next hurdle was claiming the top prize — a state title, something his father, Dan, had done three times as a wrestler at the Academy.

It nearly didn’t happen.

Job Fox started wrestling when he was in the first grade. The success his father had in the sport drove Job. 

“It pushed me to want to do well because I wanted to impress him,” he said. “As I got older, I respected the one-on-one competitiveness. If you lose, it’s on you. If you win on the mat, it’s on you. You can’t point fingers anywhere. When you are in the Finals, everyone is looking at you. 

I wanted to do an individual sport.”

He also enjoyed the physicality of the sport. “It’s the beauty of it. Two people battling. There is no other sport like it,” he said.

Admittedly, Job spent his early days learning and competing to impress his dad. “I didn’t want to disappoint him,” he said.

When he reached high school, Job briefly walked away from the sport.

“I had a short season my freshman year (competed at 160 pounds). I wasn’t the best student. I wasn’t the best athlete. I wasn’t very fit (I was 160 pounds of pudding). I was going off the rails,” he recalled. “My coaches reached out to me my sophomore year after I gained a bunch of weight. On my way to the weight room, they said they wanted me to come out for wrestling again. That alone was enough to get the ball rolling, get me interested again. I felt I was more mature. I was more humble.”

Passion pushed Job to a new level. While there was no one defining moment for the shift, Job said the key to his rise to state title contention was due to the “support from others” and his growing confidence in his wrestling abilities. That confidence came from hours spent in the weight room getting stronger and on the mat perfecting technique.

“There is always a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Some people think I’m arrogant. Some people would say I’m confident,” he said. “Confidence in yourself — believing that the work you put in is actually going to pay off. I’d say I’m very confident on what I can accomplish on the mat. I’d say my greatest strength is my will — my will to win. Every move I am going to execute, I am confident with it. I stick to my strengths.”

Learning and executing wrestling moves “comes more natural to some than others,” Job said. The only way to improve is to spend hours on the mat competing in practice. One problem Job faced was to find someone to spar with.

“It’s been one of the hardest things. Bigger squads don’t have the problem that I do. It’s been a struggle. My sophomore year, I had Jared Ensor at 285, but he wasn’t the most skilled. It was his first-year wrestling. This past season, I wrestled mostly against my brother, Haden (who wrestles at 160 pounds), who did a better job training me than I expected. He’s been out of the sport for a long time. And he came back, he’s stubborn. I really appreciated that. I hope he was able to learn some things from me. He certainly improved (Haden reached the Regional final and competed at the state tourney),” Job said.

Job also faced off against Raider Assistant Coach Jake Thurston, as well as his dad on a couple of occasions (“He can still roll around the mat with me,” Job added). 

“Assistant Coach Jake Thurston, he is one of the main reasons why I got better this season. I am grateful to have him in the room,” Job said.

When Job first reached the Academy, he wrestled at 160 pounds. He moved up a class the next year, weighing in at 182. Rather than “cut weight,” Job decided to wrestle at his current weight, 195 pounds.

A heavy hitter on the Raider football team, Job credits wrestling for making him such a force on the gridiron.

“I credit a lot of my football success to the training and practices we had in wrestling” he said. 

Wrestling matches feature three 2-minute rounds. Like a boxer, wrestlers train well beyond that mark, knowing the need to be in top physical shape to absorb potential hard knock downs to the mat and powering through forceful grips that deplete one’s energy. FA coaches ratcheted up practices before the state tournament, which Job deemed “the hardest practices we had all year.”

“Wrestling everyone on the team for a minute in a row for 30 minutes straight on the mat, then headed to the other room for the assault bike. I really killed myself cardio-vascular wise, trying to get to the best possible shape I could be in,” he said. “Anyone who has ever wrestled would say wrestling is the most physically exerting sport. The training we do compared to all other sports is just unmatched. It is very important to over-train the 2-minute period mark.”

One must be of strong mind and body.

“I’m comfortable out on the mat. When I get I to those tough situations when I am either on my back or losing by points, I have the composure to keep on competing rather than give up. Mental toughness is part of wrestling, for sure,” Job said.

“In the past, I have realized myself giving up because the skill level gap is too much or physical gap is too much (stronger and quicker than me), I’ve noticed it a couple of times with opponents this season (twice at Regionals, once at States) most of the time, they give it their all for the six minutes.”

Being unfamiliar with opponents he faced at States, Job relied on the approach that carried him through West competition.

“You want to take in every bit of information they give while you’re on the mat, whether it is mistakes they are making or advantages you can find in your own skill level compared to theirs. Definitely, a feeling out process,” he said. “Depending on a wrestler’s body type or stance, it is mostly what I look at. If they cross their feet or don’t bend their knees as much and I can get lower than them, I’ll hang on their head and go in for a low single.”

After pinning Kloee Morse of Old Town in the opening match and earning an 18-8 decision over Alex Munson of Mattanawcook Academy, Job took a slightly different approach when it came to his title match-up with Dexter’s Nathan Schobel. With finalists creating two lines, each weight class competitors across from their opponent, Job knew this was his last time to be on the mat. 

“This is it, my last wrestling match. I wanted to be really proud of it,” he said.

Not big into “trash talking,” Job did try to gain an immediate advantage over Schobel.

“I tried to get into his head a little bit. I am not someone who will trash talk. During the announcements of the finalists, we were lined up across the mat, I just stared him down. I shook his hand, said ‘Good Luck,’ stared him in the eyes, and he wouldn’t look me in the eye. I think he may have been more nervous than I was, maybe not as prepared,” he said. “As soon as the whistle blew, I think I wanted it a little more than he did.”

FA Coach Chad Smith reminded Job to stay patient and wrestle his match.

“I appreciated that because it showed they have confidence in me and believe that I could get it done,” Job said. “It was a good match. I didn’t want to over-extend myself. I didn’t want to go for the pin and end up on my back myself. It happened in my semi-finals match at States. I had a take-down, went for a tilt, and I didn’t have it tight enough, ended up on my back, had to fight back, bridged out of it, and got my reversal to work my way back ahead on the points board.”

Job added, “Sometimes, when you have a wrestler almost as skilled as you, you want to be more cautious. He made it to the same place I did. I definitely had respect going into the match. I hadn’t seen him wrestle, so I wanted to feel him out, see where I could get my advantages, and ultimately wrestle mymatch.”

Schobel had pinned two opponents to reach the finals, so Job was on alert. Ultimately, he beat Schobel on points, 7-4. Having his hand raised in victory for the final time, Job felt mixed emotions.

“Honestly, I was relieved. Instantly. After the relief was gone, disbelief,” he said. “I started wrestling in first grade. I’ve had hundreds of matches. And, here I was, state champion. Wrestling is not for everyone. When we had 24 people come out on the first day of wrestling, we ended up with only eight who stuck through it. It’s happened the last couple of years here — start with high numbers and slowly dwindle down.”

Coach Smith said Job's greatest strengths as a wrestler was his "mental toughness and commitment on the mat and in the weight room."

"Job really improved on his feet. Job was dangerous in the neutral position. He also improved as a leader and a champion among his peers," said. Coach Smith, who noted Job went 22-2 this season. "The key to Job winning a state title was mental toughness throughout the season."

Although the Raider wrestling “family” was small, it was definitely “tight.”

“I will miss getting my hand raised. Training hard with my teammates. Having teammates who will help you push forward. Helping teammates push through their mental walls — thinking about giving up. I’ll miss them helping me,” Job said.

It has been a long journey for Job Fox, but one that ended with him being the last one standing and continuing a family legacy.

Job is the son of Heather and Chris Calvert, and Dan Fox. He lives in Lovell.