February Athlete of the Month: Cooper Licklider

Photos from Roberta Pratt.

Maddie Arthur

Congrats to February's male athlete of the month, Cooper Licklider. Licklider is currently a senior here at Hamilton and wrestles for the varsity wrestling team. Cooper is a heavyweight wrestler and has been on the team for all four years of high school. 

Senior wrestler Weston Hackbarth speaks highly of Licklider stating, “Cooper is a very strong leader on our team. He is a great role model for the underclassmen and he encourages everyone to work hard and do their best.” 

Congrats to Licklider; read more to hear from him!

How long have you wrestled and why do you wrestle?

I only started wrestling as a freshman because a few of my buddies were going to wrestle and convinced me to. Funny thing is they all quit after a year. I kept wrestling to prove something. As a freshman I went 0-11 and got made fun of a lot for it so it would've been easy for me to quit; nobody was expecting me to be a good wrestler or to come back the next year, but I wanted to prove to everybody that I wasn't defined by my losses but from what I made of them. 

Who is your athlete role model and why?

Tom Brady. He got drafted out of college in the 6th round as the 199th pick. He didn't have to perform and he was not supposed to be great, but when he was given his opportunity, he proved everybody wrong and showed he deserved to be there. 

What is your main goal this season?

My main goals for the season were to win conference and make it to state. I wasn't able to accomplish either of those, losing by a point in the finals match at conference to an arguable call and lost in the second place match by a point to make it to state. While it was crushing to come so close, how far I had come as a freshman to now was huge even though my season goals didn't pan out. 

What are your future plans involving wrestling?

I would like to wrestle in college and maybe after that, but haven't decided yet. 

Do you play any other sports and if so what?

I play football and throw shot put in the spring. 

Besides wrestling, what are some of your other hobbies?

I really like to disc golf, golf, and cook. I enjoy hanging out with my friends a ton and find them to be some of my biggest supporters in sports and life. 

What are your pre-match rituals?

I wouldn't necessarily say that I have any rituals, but I always wear the exact same thing for every meet: socks, shirt, sweatshirt (and yes, I would wash them). 

Do you have any teammates, coaches, parents, or other people in your life that have helped as an athlete?

My coach Matt Blackwell helped me a ton this year making me a better wrestler, but also being able to make it enjoyable to be at practice and want to show up and get better every day. I would also credit a lot of my success this year to Trey Altuve. He got me into club wrestling last spring and always had me drive him around to practices making me get better and just being a great teammate. Even though he's younger than me, I definitely look up to him. The struggles he went through to be a great wrestler and helped [motivate] me to get there this year.