Havelock’s Bigelow signs with Missouri powerhouse

Havelock senior Todd Bigelow makes no bones about it: He’s not going to wrestle in college; he’s going to college to wrestle.

Monday, in a brief, subdued ceremony attended by his coaches and parents in Havelock High School’s library, Bigelow signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Lindenwood University, a small liberal arts school in St. Charles, Mo., just west of St. Louis. Lindenwood’s wrestling team won the NAIA national title two years ago and finished runner-up last season.

For Bigelow, Havelock’s all-time winningest wrestler, the signing was the culmination of a lifetime of hard work, beginning when he first took the mat at 4 years old.

“There’s no professional wrestling,” said Bigelow, who works out every day, all year. “We do wrestling to get our education, and we’re out. Then we teach it to our kids.”

His kids will have a lot to learn. Bigelow went 162-22 in his career at Havelock, making four state tournament appearances. He won the state title at 130 his sophomore year and placed second each of his final two years.

In February, after he lost in the state finals to Cary’s Robby Fryer, he went home and worked out that night.

He does push-ups between deliveries at the pizza restaurant where he works. He’s even been known to do push-ups during class at school.

“Teachers think I’m crazy,” Bigelow, a New Jersey native who moved to Havelock in the seventh grade, said.

But he goes to Lindenwood with a clean slate. He’s never even visited the campus; his tours of the school have been virtual, on the Web. For the first time in as long as he can remember — wrestling people know when a state champion walks into the room — he’ll be just another face in the crowd.

“Nobody knows me there,” said Bigelow, who admits he’s not exactly an academic. “I’ll just keep quiet and do my work and keep out of trouble. If nobody knows you, you can’t get in trouble.”

Havelock coach Ed Cruz believes Bigelow has found a good fit in Lindenwood. While the average person hasn’t heard of the school, the average wrestling fan has, Cruz said.

“They’re a good, solid program,” Cruz said. “With the size of the school and the size of the classrooms and more of the one-on-one-type instruction, it’s a good fit for him wrestling-wise and academic-wise.”

Bigelow, who said he probably would have dropped out of high school if not for wrestling, said he plans to make the most out of his opportunity.

“I can do the work,” he said. “I just have to get up there and do it.”