On Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, Pennridge senior Josh Stillings signed a letter of intent to continue his wrestling career at Drexel University. To view photos of the signing event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
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Josh Stillings – Drexel University (Wrestling)
Major: Sports Management
Final list of colleges: Drexel, Campbell, American, ODU
Reasons for choosing Drexel: “The co-op program and the academics, and the coaches were a big part of my decision. I liked the coaches a lot.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in wrestling at the collegiate level? “I started wrestling at five, and when I turned eight or nine, I was like, ‘I want to do wrestling for the rest of my life.’ I think it’s a lot different than other sports in the sense that it’s just you. You don’t have to rely on somebody else. I like the fact that I can dictate what happens.”
Top achievement as a wrestler: “Taking second at states, and two weekends ago, I took second at Super 32. I beat the number six ranked wrestler in the country, and this morning I got ranked 12.”
Coach RP Norley says: “We have had a lot of really talented wrestlers come through the program, and people always ask – who’s the best wrestler you’ve had. There’s a lot of factors that go into that, but it’s been occurring to me as of late that Josh is probably the best wrestler we’ve had come through this program collectively. Technically, he’s at a level where he’s teaching me moves at this point. Academically, he’s right there with the Parkers and the other kids who’ve paved the way. He gets great grades. Certainly he leads as an example off the mat for his teammates.
“Josh came in as one of the blue chip kids that we all anticipated having a really good career. I knew he had technique, I knew he was going to be a really good wrestler. He was just an eighth grade kid, and really, for us, the challenge was turning him into a man. That took a lot of physical hand fighting, a lot of hard work, a couple beatings here and there, but now he’s giving them back, as a coach, that’s all you can ask for when your pupils are taking it to you and teaching you new stuff.
“You’ve got to give him credit because he does so much in the offseason on his own. I tell people all the time – the kids that do everything we ask them to do are having the success. You can see it very clearly. Josh is above and beyond what we ask. Josh is training with an Olympic gold medalist twice a week down at Penn, a guy named Brandon Slay who won the 2000 Olympics. There’s an hour drive each way two times a week that his mom and him make that not many wrestlers are willing to do. That’s one very small example, the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to traveling and going to competitions, putting in the extra training, Josh has raised the bar and set the precedent as far as what I’ve seen come through the program.
“I see a national champion (in the future), I see someone who’s going to compete for and earn a spot on the World team or Olympic team one day. I think that’s his goal. I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t his goal. That’s a pretty lofty claim to make, but Josh has been eying that up his whole life. He’s putting himself in a situation down at Drexel with the Penn ROTC that it’s really going to be up to him. If he really wants it and that fire stays lit, he’s got plenty of fuel down there.”
About Josh:
Favorite food: Strawberry/Banana Crepe with Nutella from the Reading Terminal Market
Favorite movie: Anchorman
Favorite music: 80’s Music
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