Joe Roman came a long way during his senior year with the Carson High wrestling team.
Geographically, Roman's success is taking him even farther as the CHS standout has signed with the Bethel College wrestling team near South Bend, Ind. The NAIA school took third in this past year's National College Wrestling Association Championships and had two individual champions.
Roman's odyssey to Bethel began when the school first noticed him at Reno's Tournament of Champions last December where Roman took eighth to earn All-American status. Roman went on to take second in the Coast Classic and first in the Lions Invitational, Cardinal Classic and Albany Tournament.
He won the Sierra League title and then beat Fallon's Darren Lewis for the zone title at 171 pounds. Roman beat Lewis two-out-of-three times this season with the loss coming in the NIAA 4A State finals. Roman settled for second after losing the state title 2-1 to Lewis. All three of the matches between Roman and Lewis last year were decided by one point.
Roman had a 105-27 career record, including 44-7 last year and was team captain for the Senators last year as they won their first zone title since 1991. Carson also finished third at state, which equaled its highest finish since 1986 when it took second.
Other options were presented to Roman, including wrestling at Sierra Community College in Rocklin, Calif.
"I wanted to go here because I feel like it will be the best educational place for me," Roman said. "It's a small school. It's a Christian school."
Roman will major in environmental biology at Bethel and plans to work in forestry. Roman's scholarship package will be worth $10,000 to $11,000 a year. The location of the school was also a drawing point - a stone's throw away from Notre Dame and about two hours from Chicago. "It's really beautiful out there," Roman said. "I can't wait."
While back there, Roman said he plans to go to Notre Dame and Chicago Bear football games.
"If I can get the tickets," said Roman about Notre Dame games. "When I was down there I hear it was going to be intense."
Roman said he'll focus on becoming stronger during his freshman year. "The first year I should just try to get my strength up," he said. "Hopefully I'll start this year."
Recently, Roman got a chance to see where he stands when he wrestled Bethel's 189-pounder from last year. "I did all right the first five minutes but I'm really out of shape right now," he said.
At Bethel, Roman said he'll likely stay at 174 pounds. "I might go up, it just depends on how much I gain," he said.
Roman was part of a team that won 26 individual titles, had 72 tournament placers, won three tournaments and a dual championship, had a 12-0 meet record, including 7-0 in league, and won the zone crown.
"The work and dedication during the season shows that success," said Carson coach Dean Schmanski about Roman. "It's a great honor to have Carson High wrestling recognized in the Midwest."
Contact Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@nevadaappeal.com.
