It will be a memory that sticks with father Adam and son Anthony Tissandier for many, many years.
Anthony, the Clinton-Massie senior wrestler, jumped into the arms of Adam, the CM assistant coach, following a win over St. Paris Graham’s Hunter Hyden to earn a berth in the upcoming state wrestling tournament.
“It was, I don’t know, something that doesn’t happen very often,” Anthony said. “It was very surreal, I guess you could say. After I won the match I just ran up and hugged my dad and I about wanted to break down too. It was a good moment.”
Tissandier, 37-6 on the year, will face Brenton Miller of Carrollton, who is 47-6, at 170 pounds in the opening round Thursday of the Div. II OHSAA Wrestling Championship at the Jerome Schottenstein Center at Ohio State.
“When you go to the state tournament, everybody is good,” Anthony said. “I want to wrestle my match, don’t let him control the match. Just wrestle loose.”
Adam said he is much happier for his son to qualify for state than his is sad that he was unable to make it. Like any parent watching their child participate, Adam admitted it was an uneasy feeling.
“Going up against a kid from Graham … I mean he wasn’t their best kid but he’s still from Graham, the schedule they wrestle and who they wrestle in practice, they’re all good,” Adam said. “By far, I was more nervous. It was crazy.”
Anthony welcomed his father coaching him, first as an eighth grader at Massie then the next four years in high school.
“I was kind of excited about it because I’d have someone to push me in practice,” Anthony said. “Definitely motivates you a lot more because I want to do well for him, make him proud. He tells me good job but he also tells me what I can do better on.”
Anthony believes he is wrestling at his best, as his career nears an end.
“It’s all about peaking at the right time,” he said. “I feel pretty good at this time. After this, wrestling’s over. I want to work with my dad and take over the family business (Tissandier Construction). This is it, so I’m going to go as hard as I can and get a medal by the end of the weekend.”
