Published Sunday, December 09, 2007 6:00 AM EDT
An old saying goes: "To err is human; to forgive is divine." Such an old adage holds true for Bradley senior wrestler David Mang, who after getting into some trouble in 2006, finds himself back
in a black-and-gold singlet and recently signed scholarship papers to continue his career at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the fall of 2008.
Mang, who wrestled in Alabama and won a state
championship last year, will not be eligible to wrestle until the end of the season, which is fine with him for now.
"It's giving me a chance to help the other guys out," he said. "I can
spend time working with them and getting ready for the state tournament. I'm already ready."
Mang says the time off will give him a chance to work on one of his career goals.
"I get to watch a
lot more," he said. "I get to watch the different ways to coach; I hope to become a coach one day, so learning from coach (Steve) Logsdon is hard to beat."
Mang has had an excellent career,
finishing second at 119 pounds in 2006 and sixth at 119 pounds in 2005 before his move to Alabama.
"Coach (Nate) Gallick won a national championship at Iowa State in the 2005-2006 season and is now an
assistant coach at UTC," Mang said. "Coach Bono is a great coach and they teach all different styles of wrestling.
"I'm pretty excited about it (college and everything). It'll be a different
experience."
Mang has high goals for his career at UTC.
"I want to win an NCAA title sometime in my career," he said. "I hope our team is in the top five one of these days. We want
people to think differently of UTC wrestling."
Bradley coach Steve Logsdon is proud of what his wrestler has overcome.
"David's credentials speak for themselves," Logsdon said. "He's
faced adversity, which he brought upon himself. He realizes that and I think he's sorry for what has happened. He's paid his dues.
"He's been with us since he was a kid. He's crystal clean and has a
clean slate; as disappointed as his choices were last year, that doesn't wipe out over 10 years of a spotless record. He's tyring to redeem himself and his reputation; I think he's doing a good job of
it."
Logsdon believes that UTC got a great wrestler in Mang.
"There is no reason to think that he won't excel," Logsdon said. "He's very talented with a great work ethic and loves
what he's doing. It's not hard to go out and do something you love to do and he loves going out on the mat.
"He's going to go in as the low man on the totem pole at UTC and begin his climb."
