Michael Irving gave up a full-time teaching job to pursue his Olympic dream in wrestling.
The 1998 Boyd Anderson state champion was teaching at Clewiston High School and driving five days a week to coach and train with the Calvary Wrestling Club at Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale.
It wasn’t so much the driving or sleep deprivation. At 26, Irving wanted to devote full time to training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. He made the decision last year to quit his job, and on Christmas Day, packed up his Geo Prizm and drove to Colorado.
“The first month out there I am thinking, `What am I doing,’ and then the longer I was there I knew it was the right decision, “said Irving, who arrived home Thursday for a week to visit family and friends and raise money for training and travel expenses. He gave a clinic Saturday at Douglas. His younger brother Matthew wrestles for Plantation.
“I taught for three years while driving to practice back and forth for two hours, “said Irving, one of six kids. “I love and miss my students. I made a page of my former students on Myspace.com.
“I just wanted to give it 100 percent instead of doing the weekend-warrior thing. I didn’t want to look back and think `what if?’ So I put my life on hold to see where this takes me.”
The 6-foot, 250-pound heavyweight has the credentials to be a legitimate 2008 Olympic hopeful. Ranked as high as fourth in the nation, he is currently ranked seventh with several tournaments scheduled next month in Canada.
After winning a state high school title, he went on to win a national title at Cumberland College in Kentucky. He came home and got a teaching job. It wasn’t until he finished second at the Dave Schultz International Tournament, and was ranked among the nation’s top five, that he decided to devote himself to wrestling full time.
He was encouraged to follow his dream by veteran coach and former Olympic hopeful Steven Williams, who like Irving, put his life on hold (1996-2000) to train for the Olympic Trials only to blow out his knee. Williams, coach of the Calvary Wrestling Club, and Irving have known each other for 10 years.
“I saw him doing it and I thought it was a fun thing to do … he was training for the Olympics and living the life of an athlete full time, “Irving said. “I always kept that in the back of my mind.
“I am feeling real confident. I can see it now. That Olympic dream doesn’t seem like it’s so far off in the distance anymore. I think it’s 100 percent attainable. I have wrestled the top guys and beaten them. It’s not like I don’t have a chance. I feel I have another two years in me. I am just following my dream.”
Williams, a top USA Wrestling club coach, said Irving learned from the mistakes he made during his Olympic pursuit.
“He has more potential than I ever did, and he is doing things the right way, “said Williams, who next week will coach Jonathan Taylor of the Calvary Wrestling Club at the Oct. 31-Nov. 5 Beach Wrestling World Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
Those interested in helping to sponsor Irving can go to www.teamwilliams.org or e-mail Irving at mirving at teamwilliams dot org.
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