By Elizabeth Contreras

Before Broken Arrow’s Matthew Mann stepped into a wrestling room as a competitor, he was watching from the sidelines. As a small child, he remembers watching his older brother wrestle.

“I thought it looked really fun,” he said. Neither of them knew it then, but watching his brother became the spark that pushed Mann forward.

Now a senior at 175 pounds, Mann said his brother has remained the most influential person over the course of his career.

“He is always pushing me to be the best version of myself,” he said.

A lot of that influence hasn’t come through words; his brother simply set the standard by how he carried himself.

Wrestling is, at its core, a one‑on‑one sport. There are no substitutions once you step into the circle. No one else can score your points or defend your shots, but for him that’s exactly the appeal.

“I love how it’s individual, so you are in control of your performance and outcome of every match,” he stated.

Individual doesn’t mean alone. The culture around him has contributed to his growth.

“The culture of my team is dedicated and hardworking,” he said.

Their standard is collective, and when one steps into the circle alone, he carries the work of the room with him.

He puts in the work and owns it when something doesn’t go right. Those habits trace back to the lessons he picked up as a child, watching his brother on the mat.

That mindset didn’t change, even when things got difficult. At the end of his junior year, Mann tore the meniscus in his right knee. An injury like that can discourage any athlete, but his response reflected everything he had learned.

“I just stayed patient, did everything in my power to get back as quickly as possible, and kept a good attitude,” he said.

For Mann, wrestling is a way to push himself and see what he’s capable of every time he steps on the mat.

That early example from his brother still hangs in the background of every match. It showed him not just how to compete, but how to commit to something fully.