Eric Larkin: NCAA Champion and Hodge winner building something Valiant (Part 2)

Part 2 of Shane Sparks' discussion with four-time All-American, NCAA champion and 2003 Dan Hodge Trophy Winner Eric Larkin on  Episode 30 of the Go Earn It Podcast.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Go Earn It Podcast, where we bring you stories each week
of people who have battled through adversity, overcame the obstacles, and earned their
dream. You were born for greatnessand our mission is to bring you the
stories that will inspire you to dreambig and go earn it. And Welcome

(00:28):
to the Garnet Podcast. This isepisode twenty nine and I am fired up
once again for this one. EricLarkin joins us Larkin. Four time All
American, four time Pat ten Champion, two time or one time national champ,
Hodge Trophy. This guy did alot of winning. Eric, I
am thrilled to have you. Welcometo the Garnet Podcast. I appreciate it,

(00:52):
Shane, thanks for having me.You and I before we recorded,
I was asking you about Valiant Prepbecause I knew you were at Valiant as
a coach, but I wasn't sureif you were a teacher or you had
another job. I wasn't sure whatyou did. Talk about Valiant Prep and
what you do there and how thatall originated. Okay, well, I

(01:12):
have five boys, so I wantedto make sure that I had a structure
in place, a program where Ifelt comfortable at first, he was going
to be me being the coach.I was just gonding. I was at
a high school. I was buildingthat program I was about I was just
finished up season four and stuff didn'tgo the way I wanted it to.

(01:33):
I had some different ways I wantedto take the school as far as the
wrestling program, and that wasn't goingto happen. So I moved on past
that, and my son was goingto be a freshman, so he that
was a seventh career yer. He'sgonna be a freshman in two years.
So that next year, in theyear after, I really put some thought
into what I was going to dofor them. Because I started building the

(01:55):
program didn't turn out the way Iwanted. I didn't want to get back
in a situation where I didn't todo what I wanted to do as far
as the program goes. So thatone day I just called up a buddy
of mine and I said, Hey, what do you think about starting to
school And he kind of laughed andhe said, let's do it. I'm
like, all right, So thenI called another friend of mine. There's
three of us that co founded thisco founded Valuet and he's a principal at

(02:17):
that time, he was actually ingetting schools accredited. So I went to
him and I said, Hey,we want to start a school. What
do you know about that? Andhe said, I, actually that's what
I do as I'm a principal,but I also go and get schools accredited.
So we sat down. It wentabout a year and we finally just
said, Art, let's go,and we started working on it. By
the time, my son was afreshman while we got the school started.

(02:40):
And that's kind of how the reasonI started is because I wanted to make
sure that my kids were taken careof and I didn't really necessarily want to
be their coach. I ran intoAngel so Hulo and I said, hey,
do you want to be the coachof this school? The head coach?
And we sat and talked a coupleof times like absolutely, and now

(03:00):
here we are in our seventh schoolyear, and that's that's the way Valiants
started. My My job here nowis I mean my titles director of Operations.
I kind of do a little bitof everything. Big decision, small
decisions that everyday stuff, travel,you name it. And then I'm also

(03:21):
in that wrestling room us as oneof the assistant coaches. What were a
couple of things, Eric, youalluded to it before, you know,
a couple of things that you justdidn't align with from a philosophy standpoint.
You know, what were a coupleof those things that were really really important
that were non negotiables for you asfar as your kids in wrestling. Well,

(03:44):
when I sat down with the administrationbefore I took that job, I
said, hey, they were thethey were a small school. It's a
it's a private Catholic school. Theywere. They were Division four, So
that's small school here, right.So we did a lot of traveling to
these outskirt cities and I didn't wantto do that. I wanted to wrestle

(04:05):
the bigger programs, the best ones. I know. We are a small
school, but I had a lotof really good kids and they I slowly
moved ourselves up to that fifth year, we're going to be Division one,
which was the big schools with thesunny sides of the world. Right,
So I was excited about that.They made a judgment with the AIA that
year where whatever the football team is, every sport has to be Because at

(04:29):
this school, I was the onlyone that was going to be Division one.
I was the only one progressively movingup right, so that got overturned.
Also at that time, when Ifirst sat with him, I talked
to him about being part of thenational preps. I said, I at
least want that on the table.When I proved that what we can do,
can we please do this? Andthey're like, yeah, we'll revisit
it. Then, well, whenwe got to that point where we had

(04:53):
six kids ranked in the top twentyin the country and took second at state,
they shut it down. It gotshut down above them, according to
them. So those two things,I was just like, all right,
I'm moving on. What are yourfirst memories of wrestling as a kid?
How did you get involved in thesport? The first memory I have I

(05:17):
think I was I don't know,ten years old and I was in practicing
in my living room. My dadhad me and my brother drilling moves in
the living room only one time,and then we went to a tournament.
It was at Sunnyside High School,so you wanted to take us there?
Well, I wrestled two matches andI got tech ten zero ten zero,
like right away, and I'm like, I don't want to do this.
Anymore. So two years go byand all my friends start going out for

(05:42):
the wrestling team. We were allsoccer players. I'm like, it was
the same season, so they allwent to that. I'm like, you
know what, Dad, I'm gonnawrestle, and I don't think I lost
a match for a little bit afterI started that time. Wow, So
you were like in sixth grade,right around sixth grade, twelve years old,
you when you really kind of doveback in. Yep, it was

(06:04):
the start of my seventh grade yearswhen I started wrestling again. I wrestled
one time they live in in onecompetition and then Yeah, I want to
talk about Sarah because I think thisis really importance. I mean you you
understand as a parent in your involvementas much as anybody in this topic.
Because when it comes to wrestling,it's my belief that it's a great sport.

(06:27):
It's hard, it's not easy,and if somebody tries it and they
don't like it right away, ifyou push them, it's probably gonna blow
up. If you take your footoff the gas a little bit, maybe
they come back. You at leasthave a chance speak about that time and
how your parents handled you and anddidn't obviously didn't push you too hard to

(06:49):
stay in wrestling when you when yougave it a break. Yeah, to
be honest, I don't even rememberthat time. It was just like they
were just like, okay, thewas They didn't even really talk about it
with me after that. And uh, when I started back up in seventh
grade, I was so self driventhat they didn't need to do Like if

(07:12):
my dad got up in the morningto go wake me up to go do
something, I was already gone.So I didn't need that. And that
that was something that I wanted myown, my boys to have, was
that inner drive. And I talkedto them about that all the time,
like I can't be the one doingthis. I'm not going to be the
one doing this. I'll give yousuggestions and I might poke you here and

(07:33):
there, but for the most part, you this is your journey, your
sport. Go find your path.We here's here's a template. I know
how to do this. I knowhow to do it better now because I've
been on both sides of it.And yeah, it's very important to have

(07:54):
that self drive someone pushing you froma young age. I mean, don't
get me wrong, that there areall those guys out there that were pushed
it from a young age that arevery successful. I think, just from
the way I view it is theones that aren't pushed really loved the sport.
Percentage wise most of them. Theones that are really pushed, there's

(08:15):
a handful of them that really reallyloved that sport. Do you think in
her self drive you're born with itor is it something instilled in you?
I mean, what's your philosophy onthat inner self motivation? Yeah? I
think it's nature and nurture, right, I think it's both. I definitely

(08:35):
was born with it, at leastI think I was. I had really
good parents, and my dad andmom were extremely hard workers and everything they
did. My dad was a firefighter, my mom was She's a couple of
different things, but she worked atSunnyside when I left Sunnyside. She was
a tendant lady. But when theycame home, they had their chores,

(08:58):
they had they made dinner like theywere just I had a really good I
had a really good role model inmy parents. But I definitely know that
I was. I was born withthat that fire So in middle school,
you're in seventh grade, these storiesjust they fascinated me, and at the
same time it's my own believe.It just kind of reiterates my philosophy as

(09:20):
far as you don't need to bewinning national titles at six years old,
Like I just think it's crazy.Like you said, it happens for some,
but it doesn't happen. You know, the majority, it doesn't work.
What was it in middle school aboutthe sport of wrestling that really stuck?

(09:43):
Kind of being able to go outthere and let go of some of
that aggression. I remember practicing andnot wanting to give up certain positions,
not really understanding the positions, butI was really good with with my body
and understanding where it was that yeah, and then being able to control somebody,

(10:03):
like put my hands on them andmove them and it was just me
and them. That's I remember thatfrom when I was a kid, like,
ah, this is a lot offun, Like I get to dictate
where this guy's going. I reallyenjoyed that. I like fighting. I
liked wrestling, you know what Imean. It's it's fun. It's a
lot of fun. And when someoneis able to do that to you,

(10:24):
it's a good time to go figureout what do I got to do to
shut that down. So it's justit's a chess match. It's just I
feel like it's everything is in thissport, the mind, the body,
everything. You go to Sunnyside HighSchool, I mean that's a legendary high
school. Who are some of theguys that you looked up to like in
middle school? Who are some ofthe hammers that were at there high school

(10:46):
at that time? There was abunch of Danny Begah his son won several
Bargo titles, went to Iowa Stateand transferred to South Dakota State. His
dad ad the kid that Marco VasquezUh. He was a finalist in Fargo

(11:07):
his senior year and I was afreshman. He actually beat me out for
the one with spot. So Ididn't even make the team my freshman year
in high school and I won aCadet national title. So that's how good
that guy was. And then therethere's there's a laundry list of guys,
but those are the two that reallystick out to me. So you would
a cadet title in Fargo, whichis basically kicking off right now, and

(11:33):
you don't make the high school teamas a freshman. What what was that,
Like, did did that throw youoff mentally or were he you know
what was the I mean that's aI don't know if that's happened with anybody.
No, it actually just stoked myfire. Really, that was my
goal to beat him by the endof the year. And I remember before

(11:54):
going to far Well, it wasn'tfar it was actually Missouri that year before
going to Missouri that I was getand I was beating him, so that
I always kind of looked at thata little bit different when I was younger,
like just I just know I gotto get better every day, Like
no one really told me that,like just to focus on your daily stuff.

(12:16):
I just always need that, Like, hey, I just got to
get better each day and it's gonnait's gonna pay off in the end.
Like I always just I just stackedpacked my bag with work, you know
what I mean. Like I'd getup in the morning, I ran all
the time. I if I gotin bed and I was goustaing it was
midnight. If we were out withthe family, like going to a movie
or something, and I didn't accomplishmy checklist, which was like push upstirs,

(12:39):
I'd get out of bed, andI'd made sure I did it,
because the next morning I'd be like, oh my god, I didn't get
done when I needed to get done, so I didn't feel satisfied. And
then your sophomore year, you takewhat third place? Third place? I
was undefeated going to the state tournamentand I lost in the orders to I

(13:01):
think he was a two or threetimes state champ. Just really strong guy,
stayed in good position. I hada bad match too, But yeah,
I took third as a sophomore.And we'll talk more about this when
we get into your college career aswell. But one thing, Eric,
that I've just really come to appreciateis third place. Talk about this pretty
much every podcast. When you wantto quit, it's just so easy to

(13:24):
hang your head and pack it in. I just think third place is exceptional.
Taking third place, even at thatage as a sophomore, coming back
and taking third. What do youremember about coming back and taking third?
That one was actually probably the toughestthird place I've ever taken as far as

(13:46):
my like, that was devastating tome. Like I learned how to control
that later, but there was noway I was losing at the state tournament.
My sophomore year. That's everyone aroundme, the media, myself,
like there's no way I'm losing,and I get be and I just remember
crying outside and it was hard togather my thoughts and get my focus.

(14:07):
And Sunnyside one state titles every year, right, so it was a big
deal for me to come back andtake third. Like I had to come
back and take third. So Ilearned to kind of get outside myself that
that year, like, I gotto do this for the team. This.
I know wrestling is an individual sport, but I got to do this
for the team and everyone around methat supports me. That's what I think

(14:28):
taking third place does. It's likeyou learn how to care. You take
care of everyone else around you.It's not just for you. Yeah,
it's great to go take third,but just the support system that you have
in your team, you can't beas selfish because it's easy to just quit,
right, It's easy to get beatin the semis and drop and take

(14:50):
sixth place. It's hard to comeback and take third when you're the one
that's supposed to win. It's reallyreally hard. And I remember that feeling
my sophore. I've taken thirty ofother terms and stuff, but I'll never
forget that one. And I learnedhow to control my emotions from that from
that match. Then you come backand win two state titles. What were

(15:11):
the biggest you know what? Whatput you over the top to get that
first state title as a junior?Like again, like my sophomore year,
I didn't I didn't have a closematch. I think my closest match was
ten points, like I was reallysupposed to win. I think I was
doing all the right things. Thething that put me over the top is
it humbled me. It taught methat I can be beat on any day.

(15:39):
So from that point on, Ialways went in with that little bit
of I wouldn't necessarily call it doubt, but knowing that, hey, this
guy can beat me, So Icannot take in lightly. I've got to
put everything out there every single time. I can't be cocky. I can't
walk out there like that. Iown the mat. I got to have
respect, and I think that's whatput me over the top. What is

(16:03):
your favorite state tournament memory? Probablymy sophomore year. We won state as
a team. My brother was afreshman. He won a state title at
the weight class, a couple ofweight classes below me. I think that
was my favorite memory watching him winthat first state title and I took third

(16:25):
as a sophomore. I think thatwas my most satisfying state tournament, watching
the team get extremely excited. Itwasn't about me. What do you remember
standing atop the podium as a statechampion for the first time? Relief?
Just yeah, like a weightlifted offmy shoulders. Like that's what you're supposed
to do with Sunnyside. You're supposedto go win state titles, right,

(16:48):
That's what you wake up in themorning dreaming of as being a state champ.
You walk in that room, there'sstate champion pictures all over the wall.
You want to have a picture onthat wall. That's that's what it
meant to me. Just, Uh, I achieved what I'm supposed to achieve.
So I felt relief. Walk methrough the recruiting process, I mean,

(17:14):
you're you're there in Tucson. I'llultimately end up at Arizona State.
What was it like for you becauseyou won? You won two state titles.
Did you have other success Eric atFargo after that first cadet title?
Yeah, I want to uh fourFargo titles. I made a Greco World
team cadets. Uh yeah, Ihad. I had some success. So

(17:37):
I won the high school nationals whenit you should just be seniors in Pennsylvania.
I won that tournament. So yeah, I was pretty successful coming out
of high school. I'm sorry.What was it? What was the question?
Why did I start where? No, that's okay. Where did you
take your visits? Oh? Yeah, uh nowhere. I went to Yousu.
I knew I was going there frommy sophomore year in high schoo I

(18:00):
wasn't going anywhere. I wanted tostay close to home. I had a
girlfriend that I started dating, who'snow my wife. Uh so, yeah,
I was coming to Acy. Itold everyone, now I'm not going
anywhere. No way. You didn'tgo onto any visits, not one they
I would have went to ASC forfree. Really what's that? Who was

(18:22):
it was it Ortiz? Was hethe coach when you were Lee? Leroy
Smith Zeke Jones was an assistant.So I got letters from them, called
from them. Lero came to haddinner at my house. Uh south of
Tucson, up in the mountains.Yeah, it was Leroy and Zeke.

(18:44):
What did you know? What didyou appreciate about you know, Leroy?
What was the biggest impact he hadon you? Uh? I mean right
off the bat, just his nameright, uh Smith That that excited me
and then I need Zeke Jones atthe time, like that was just they
were superstars to me. So Ijust felt like I didn't really know much

(19:07):
about it. I mean, therewasn't a whole lot of coverage on.
You can't get to watch a wholelot of video and stuff back then,
right, so not like you cannow with social media and stuff. You
see everything. I think the biggestimpact was just knowing that they've been through
it, they've done it, andthey were gonna give me the template for
it. So I just trusted thatprocess and knowing that they've been through it

(19:33):
and you were there. What ninetyeight ninety nine season is a true freshman
correct? Yep? What are yourrecollections of getting into that room for the
first time. I remember doing orientationmeeting with the guys and the dorms,
all the freshmen. I think there'seleven to fifteen of us coming in and

(19:55):
everyone just talking about how we're goingto get beat up this first year.
And then the first couple of practicesand stuff. Just listening to the guys
come out of practice and how theywere getting beat up and stuff. I
never had that. Like I walkedinto that room and I was getting pretty
much everybody for the most part.So I was really confident that I could

(20:17):
compete at that level right off thebat. When you look back Eric at
your developments and let's call it highschool. You know you alluded to this
a little bit earlier, but peelthe onion back a little bit in terms
of what are some things now againyou can look back at this twenty five
years later. Going these couple thingspaid more dividends than maybe I even expected.

(20:38):
Being able to go into a collegeroom and compete when most guys are
going in there getting whipped. Yeah, I think just confidence. I think
a lot of times when freshmen getthere, they might be shell shocked.
I don't know if that necessarily happensas much anymore like it used to in

(20:59):
the past. I think these guysare so good coming out of high school
like that. That wasn't very commonwhen I was coming out of high school.
To be able to step into aroom and being all American is a
true freshman but nowadays it's like theseguys are winning national titles. This true
freshman, I think just going inthat room and having confidence. I never
really had any doubt. I knewevery day I was getting up and I

(21:22):
was gonna get better, and I'mjust gonna impose my all on these guys
every day at least try to andeither I'm gonna win or I'm gonna push
them to the limits where I'm gonnabreak them, and then I'm gonna be
confident. I think that's what itwas. So you're a true freshman,
go to the national tournament nineteen ninetynine at Penn States All American, You

(21:47):
lose to Cody Sanderson in the semifinals and you finish in fourth place.
What were you most proud of beingon that stand as a true freshman making
the weight all year? I madeone thirty three, So there's a story
behind that. I was supposed tored shirt my freshman year. They had

(22:07):
a guy there that ranked top tenSean Ford, and we both entered the
Sunkiss International Tournament and the way itwas like one thirty two and a half
or whatever the weight class was,and I made my way through that bracket
I think I got to the quartersor Semis and I lost to a Cuban

(22:29):
as Sus Wilson and ended up dropping. I got into the concert Semis and
I wrestled the kid that was rankednumber two in the country at one thirty
three. I didn't know who hewas, Stan Green from Fresno, and
I tecked him in a minute andLee Wered sprints across the gymnasium. He's
running at me. He's like,do you know who he just beat?

(22:52):
I'm like, no, coach,who goes the number two guy in the
country. I said, oh cool, and he goes, You're wrestling this
year. I'm like, watch.I said, I can't make this weight
every day, but I didn't saythat because the young kid. I was
just like, okay, yes,sir, you know what I mean.
Sean Ford got hurt at that tournament. He broke his ankle or something,
so I got moved into that spot. I was walking around one fifty five

(23:15):
and I'm five ten, so makingone thirty three all year was horrible.
It was. It was not agood time, but I did it,
and that third weigh in for NCAAs, making scratch, I was done.
I'll never forget. Before that thirdplace match, I was like, hey,
guys like that. I never reallyspoke up like that, but I

(23:36):
was in this position where I knowI'm gonna get smashed right now. There's
no way I'm winning this match.I could barely like walk. I was
just dead. And I went tothe coade and say, hey, I
don't want to do this, likeand they never heard me say that,
and they're like, you're gonna wrestle. I'm like, all right, So
I did and ended up getting beatBut yeah, making that weight was brutal.

(23:57):
So even making one forty one,I put size on. I should
have been a forty nine pound.If I would have read shirted in my
freshman year, I would have beena forty nine pounder every year. I
want to go back to something.You just talked about your rustler guy.
You don't know who he is.You just go out and compete, You
beat some guy. Was that alwayskind of your approach? I mean was

(24:17):
it just show up, don't lookat the just show up and wrestle.
I mean, is that how youwere in college? I mean, what
was your what was your approach tobig matches? No, the big matches
I scouted the guys I watched them. I was just new to the college
scene, and like I said,there wasn't social media and stuff like that
then, so I didn't really followit like I like I do now or

(24:38):
like I did in college. Sowhen I was coming out of high school,
I really didn't know who anyone wasexcept for like the Brands Brothers or
you know what I mean. SoI at that time, as a freshman,
it was really easy to take abig match on because I didn't care.
I was just gonna go out thereand wrestle as hard as I could,
and if I win, I win. So it was really easy being

(25:00):
the underdogs as a true freshman.Definitely, as they got older, I
started scouting guy, especially guys Ihad wrestled a couple of times, trying
to break down where they're good,their positions that they want to be in.
But yeah, I definitely took advantageof my freshman year not knowing anybody.
Did you? I was I goingto ask you, did you Did

(25:22):
you have any like favorite college wrestlerswhen you were in high school? You
just mentioned the Brands Brothers, youhave anybody that you loved watching? I
know it wasn't as accessible. Asyou said, with TV and social media,
it's a whole new ballgame now.But at that time, were you
a fan of anybody in particular?Yeah, the Abbess Brothers definitely, just
their funk, their slickness, theirspeed. Yeah, I was really intrigued

(25:45):
by those guys. Yet, aninteresting career from the standpoint that you go
four three two one. So youtake in two thousand and one, that's
the one that was impressive. Youlose to Grand Hero Wisconsin, and then
you came back to beat him,you know, for third place, getting
that next best thing. What youknow, how did you handle you know,

(26:07):
that loss and then coming back andfinding way to get it done.
What do you remember from that tournament? Well, it kind of starts back
three days before Pack tens. Sothree days before Pack Tens, I tore
my knee. It was a buckethandled tear. Bucket handled tear, so
my knee would lock on me andI couldn't get it unlocked. And my

(26:30):
options were have surgery and not compete, or tape my leg with a bend
in it where it's locked, wrestlethrough the Pac ten tournament with a bent
leg where I could barely use it, fly home that night. I didn't
even get on the podium. Idon't think they flew me home that night
after I won the PAC ten title. Had surgery that morning and that's pack

(26:53):
tens was two weeks before the NCAAZwell a week and a half, right,
So the first time I wrestled livefrom my surgery to that first match
with Grant was when they blew thewhistle at nc Double A's and we shook
hands. That's when I wrestled live. They were shooting up my knee every
match. So as the tournament wenton, I mean not my first match.

(27:14):
I hadn't matched before that, sowhoever I wrestled prior to that,
but Grant was my first like realtest in that tournament, and he got
me. But as that tournament progressed, I kind of started getting my rhythm
again and feeling better. And bythe time that third place match came around,
I was I already felt great,felt confident like I wasn't going to
get beat. So it was itwas kind of scary because at one point

(27:37):
when I tore my knee and myknee kept blocking, there was a chance
I wasn't going to wrestle the tournamentbut when the doctor said we can tape
it like this, do you wantto do it? I said, of
course, I'll do it. Yeah, you lose the grain here in the
quarters and then you beat him forthird. I'm just trying to wrap my
head around Eric at that level.I mean, you're you're injured. I
mean you're not hurt, you're injured, and there's a difference like how do

(28:00):
you how do you put it togethermentally in not up for lack of a
better way to say it, andget it done. That's all I knew.
I mean when I mean, wewere taught from me, like if
you're hurt, you're hurt, right, you just you suck it up.
You don't show weakness, just kindof keep your composure, right, So

(28:26):
when I was injured, I alwaystried to do the same thing, even
when I like with that, Like, I just always tried to hide it.
And I remember when I heard it, I ran out of the room
and I went and sat in thelocker room, and I'm just like,
I don't even know if I wantto tell the coaches, but I probably
should because I can't strain my legout. Like I didn't want to say
anything because I didn't want any buzzaround me being hurt. So that's kind
of just how I was brought upunless I was injured, like you said,

(28:48):
right, So I just I justdid it, and I just knew
I had to do it. AndEric will be back with more of this
has been great episode run with EricLarkin looking forward to episode to Thank you
so much. Thank you,