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It was good to spend some time Sunday afternoon at Parkersburg South with Braxton Amos on the final day of his wrestling camp.
If anyone sees Amos around town and he has a new acquaintance with him, it's his recently acquired puppy Jack Daniels.
"Half lab and half golden retriever," Amos said of the four-month old pup, who made the trek with him from Wisconsin to Parkersburg.
"He's the best dog ever. He just chills out. It's like having a kid in the car. He slept the entire way."
Amos said he had planned to get a dog following the Olympics if he qualified, but a shoulder injury at the trials back in April derailed that idea and he ended up with his new pet a little sooner than hoped.
"I was in a bad spot after my first shoulder surgery," Amos admitted. "I was not in a good headspace at all. I got through it. Sooner or later you have to realize you have to be a man and deal with it.
"This time around, different shoulder, different tear. The shoulder is completely toast, but a different way of injuring it and different parts of the shoulder. I told myself I was either going to be an Olympian or get a dog."
Amos, who has since had his second shoulder surgery following the injury at Penn State, added "I blow my shoulder out in the first round and I'm sitting there with my coaches and I have my little pity party for an hour or so, text my parents and tell them I'm OK, but my shoulder is toast. The shoulder is a pretty far distance from your brain and heart, so I'm OK."
Amos, who conducted the two-day camp with Carson Kharchla and Nick Boykin, enjoyed the opportunity to give back.
"They loved it," Amos admitted. "It's awesome having those guys and just having the experience. We were talking, between the three of us we have 60 years of wrestling between the three of us, at least. I'm the youngest out of the three of us.
"We've all been wrestling for about the same amount of time. We have a ton of wrestling knowledge from three completely different backgrounds. Just being able to get in front of the kids and trying to grow Mid-Ohio Valley wrestling, and just grow the sport and give back."
The former Patriot said whenever he's in town he does still try to lift, run and get in some workouts, but that "it's time to see family and it's time to be home. It's a constant like, I'm always training for something. I'm always trying to keep my weight down. I'm always trying to do something.
"When I'm home wrestling is trying to be the last thing on my mind. I'll be here for the fourth and then I have to hop on a plane and do some work for Spartan Combat Apparel down in Florida. It's the gear and shoe company I work with out of New York. They are great people, love wrestling and love growing the sport. I signed with them after the (2021) Junior World Championships."
Amos said he's going to fly down to Orlando for the weekend and work with Team Florida.
"Then it's right back to work in Wisconsin," he admitted. "You know, camps, grow the sport, rehab, lifts. It's kind of funny, when I'm hurt the grind ramps up as weird as it sounds because I'm not training for something.
"I'm training to get back to health. I don't like just sitting around. I like staying busy. I like always having a project going, so it's great to be able to grow the sport, have my buddies down and hang out for the weekend. It's awesome just being able to do what I do."
Amos said he was more than blessed to have several sponsors for the camp, which allowed him to keep the cost down.
"The amount of people that have come out and supported, not just the 30-plus kids who came out and spent the time and the money to come here," he said. "Thanks to Astorg Auto and Jamie Spears, United Construction Company Incorporated, Little Rosie Boutique, Jason Barton, the Dixie Bar and Steve Mohwish, Chad Graham at State Farm, Tokyo Restaurant, Bill Smith, Shaun Smith, Blennerhassett Middle School, Parkersburg South High School and Chris Way. It's awesome seeing both north end and southside come together to help and try to grow the sport.
"The rivalry is still there, don't get me wrong. When it's South/PHS week I still send my PHS buddies a few texts like 'hey, we got you. We're coming.' Outside of those weeks, who cares? Let's grow the sport because at the end of the day Jared Haught claims Parkersburg. Josh Humphreys claims the city of Parkersburg. Parkersburg High or Parkersburg South, but we're from Parkersburg. It's about giving back to the complete wrestling community because at the end of the day who cares what side of the river you are on as long as you are progressing forward and making the state better, the city better and it's been great."