David Arendt Jr. defeated Erik Nye to become the first Marine to win the U.S. Open since 2006. Larry Slater photo. Continued from page 18
people that I’ve met within my last nine and a half years in the Marine Corps – ranging from Sergeant Major to Lance Corporal that I have been led by or have led throughout my career, some not even in the Marine Corps anymore – call me just the other day. So it’s a real tight-knit brotherhood.” Arendt decided to join the USMC his sophomore year of high school, prior to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. However, those events spurred an even hotter fire in Arendt. “I just had this sense of duty and patriotism that I should serve my country, and this was prior to September 11th,” he said. “[But] September 11th was the reason I wanted to go to war. I wanted some justice for the people who were lost and their families from the events that occurred that day.” As an infantry unit leader, Arendt has served seven month
stints in Iraq and Afghanistan in his military career, tours that gave him an outlook on life different than most civilians. “Being in the military makes you appreciate the little things. When you’re deployed, you don’t have much,” Arendt said. “It makes you appreciate the time you do have here to train. I probably take [wrestling] more seriously than some people just for the fact that I don’t always have the opportunity to do it. So when I can actually train and compete, I want to take full advan- tage of it.” Arendt, 28, hopes that his orders will allow him to wrestle full- time for the Marines through the 2016 Olympic Games, but knows that he will do his duty as a Marine no matter what, as
he’s done for the last 10 years. “I have orders to the Marine Corps team which allows me to compete. But if the Marine Corps needs me to go somewhere else, I’ll go where the Marine Corps needs me,” Arendt said. With the strict physical requirements and intensive training he goes through as a Marine, Arendt Jr. is no stranger to hard work. Early mornings, long hours, extra workouts and height- ened focus are all part of the game as a Marine and top-level athlete. Arendt said his focus is on the U.S. World Team Trials, being held in Stillwater, Okla., June 20-23, with his primary goal being to stay injury-free.
“Injuries are such a killer in this sport because the season is
so brutal that it’s hard to get anything recovered,” Arendt said. “Then it’s a snowball effect. You hurt one thing and then you can’t lift, you can’t run or get on the mat. It really kills your train- ing. So I think that’s the biggest thing, just staying healthy.” Arendt and his family are incredibly close. He works to see his brothers, three who are living in Wisconsin and one who is serving in the U.S. Army, his mother and step father as often as possible. The passing of his father made Arendt realize how important family is.
“It makes you appreciate the time you have with your family and you have to take advantage of it,” he said,“and live every day to its fullest because there is no guarantee you will get tomorrow.”
19 USA Wrestler
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