Wrestling Q&A: Luke Demore, Ocean City

Luke Demore is a senior 160-pounder for the Ocean City wrestling team. He won 25 matches last season and was one of the top wrestlers in his weight class in the Cape-Atlantic League. Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan caught up with the 17-year-old Ocean View resident recently as he prepared for his final high school wrestling season. Sully: How much did that help you last year having (state qualifier) Cooper Gallagher as your wrestling partner? That kid was a beast last year. Demore: He pushed me so hard. He was the best practice partner I’ve ever had in my life. Not only that, after my brother went off to college he almost replaced my older brother. He was always somebody I could talk to. He was a great kid and a great role model. Everything he did was just to get better and that helped me out a lot. Sully: Was it like trying to wrestle a panther? Demore: Haha, yeah. It was crazy wrestling him. He would take you down time after time and just keep beating you. You almost wanted to give up, but once you get lucky and take him down, you get that one takedown it’s the greatest feeling ever. Sully: What are you looking forward to this year? Any set goals in mind? Ocean City’s Luke Demore should be one of the top 160-pounders in the Cape-Atlantic League this season. Last year, as a junior, he won 25 matches and earned his way to regionals. (Glory Days Magazine 2014 file photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Demore: Oh yeah. I want to place in the state tournament. My dream is to win it. If I win it, my life will be complete. I want to make sure I place in that tournament. Sully: What’s the toughest thing about cutting weight? Thanksgiving? Demore: This year is a lot different. In years past, I would wait until the season, see what I weighed, and cut the weight. But this year my mentality is 100 times better. I’m thinking like a champion. Two months before the season I was already thinking about my weight and starting to get down. I was thinking about my meal plan, I started training, and losing the weight slowly so I wouldn’t have to cut so much weight. I’m probably 165 and that doesn’t seem too far away from 160. By the time I’m allowed to go to 160, I’ll aready be there, no problem. Sully: Do high school wrestlers like those weekend tournaments? Or is it more like, jeez, I have to sit at this school for the next eight hours? Demore: You obviously don’t want to sit there and waste your whole day when you could be having fun with your friends who aren’t doing any sports. But once you are there and getting ready for your match, you truly believe you are going to accomplish something great. That’s what it’s all about, and that makes every second of it worth it. Once you win your match and get your hand raised, you want to be there. You don’t look forward to going, but after, you don’t want to leave because you’re so happy that you pushed yourself through it. It’s an awesome feeling. Sully: Do you have a certain song or type of music you listen to before a match? What gets you pumped up? Demore: I like to relax. In prior years I would listen to crazy metal music, but I’ve learned that’s not how I want to go into a match. I don’t want to go into a match angry and do stuff on impulse. I want to be able to relax and think, and react to everything my opponent does. So now it’s more of a meditation and I focus in more and clear my head. I like silence before my match so I can think about every little thing I can do to be successful. Sully: How would you characterize the smell in the wrestling room after practice? Demore: Well, that’s one of the things you don’t really notice. Once the sweat gets under the mats and starts fermenting, oh, man, it’s disgusting! We know it’s been a good practice when the mirrors are fogged up. Sully: Have you ever seen the movie “Vision Quest”? Demore: I have not. Sully: Ah, man, you have to watch it. It’s the best wrestling movie ever. Demore: I want to see “Fox catcher” that just came out. That’s about wrestling. Sully: So what’s the coolest thing about wrestling, just getting your hand raised in victory? It has to be such a grind to be a wrestler. Demore: There’s just so much about wrestling. It’s not all about winning. I mean, yeah, that’s the greatest feeling ever when you are successful. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Just the way it changes you is amazing. I’ve seen kids who have no confidence and struggle with things, and they’ll become a wrestler and they’ll start pushing themselves in practice. It just builds your confidence so much and you feel like you can be such a better person and accomplish so much more. It makes you push yourself in everything, and that’s the best part about it. It really matures you. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]