Talan Hogan is the next wrestling star at Pennridge High School. He has shown that he is a force to be reckoned with. Talan was a two-time state placer in Pennsylvania, helping lead Pennridge to states during his career at Pennridge. His awards show his hard work and dedication to being a successful wrestler. It is no surprise to say that Talan is a captain of the Pennridge wrestling team, showing his skills as a leader on and off the mat. Talan is also committed to Lockhaven University for wrestling and can’t wait to dominate at the collegiate level and take his talent to the next level.
If you can’t tell already that Talan is the big deal when it comes to wrestling, there are even statistics to back it up. He is a hard worker and dedicated to the sport of wrestling which is shown by his impressive high school wrestling record of 106-33, proving he is an elite wrestler. An outstanding achievement that many don’t accomplish in their wrestling career is achieving 100 total wins. Talan was able to accomplish this as a junior.
He can’t give himself all the credit though, Talan has an amazing supporting cast around him. He has a strong and loving family that supports him, and friendships that help remind him about his passions and goals. He grew up with a sister and brother along his side, and his dad first introduced him to the sport by signing him up at a young age, something Talan can’t thank him enough for later. “My dad randomly signed me up for it and I just really liked the people I was with so I stayed with it”, says Talan. The friendships and bonds he built are very strong and important to him, and he can thank wrestling for this. The main reason he had a passion for wrestling was the friends he made during the process. Talan is an impressive wrestler on the mat, but he is also working hard to be a great person off the mat as well, building friendships and being a supportive person all around while also being a supportive teammate. Whether Talan is spending time with friends or building relationships on the mat, he is always trying to be the best he can be.
Talan has faced some serious challenges this current year. One of the worst injuries an athlete could face happened to Talan, where he tore his ACL recently during his senior football season. If you think it couldn’t get worse, it did. Talan then wrestled in a tournament not long ago when another knee injury occurred on the same leg. When his injury happened, it was suspected that an MCL tear might be involved and other ligament damage happened too. Talan is now faced with a dilemma, he can decline surgery and risk a life-long injury, or miss his senior wrestling season and get the surgery to save his leg. Talan had to take the heartbreaking surgery and will, unfortunately, miss his senior season of wrestling. This is an unfortunate event for the stat wrestler, as he cannot add any more wins to his impressive 106. All his hard work and dedication were set back and from here on out Talan can only look ahead. Despite all of this, Talan is staying resilient and positive, he knows that he still has a bright future ahead of himself and is focusing on that. His wrestling career at Pennridge High School did not end as planned, but he remains strong as he prepares for a promising future to wrestle at Lockhaven University.
All of these events can highlight Talan as the star wrestler he is, but don’t forget he is still as strong as he is on the mat, as off the mat. Talan kept going with his wrestling career because of the friendships and bonds he made along the way, and he will continue to do great things on and off the mat. He might be going through some recent, tragic setbacks, but Talan is ready for the next step to be successful in his wrestling career. Despite his injuries, Talan is ready for a successful collegiate career at Lockhaven University, and his lessons picked from wrestling on and off the mat are not fading anytime soon.
