He’s on pace to put Thurgood Marshall wrestling on the state’s biggest stage again.
“Yeah, I got that a lot,” Ayyoub said. “When they think of Thurgood Marshall they don’t think wrestling. I think we’ve been establishing that over the last couple of years.”
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Ayyoub is a home-grown talent. Armiya, who wrestled for Trotwood-Madison, got his son involved in the sport as a sixth grader. There’s no middle school wrestling program so Ayyoub - and teammates - trained during the summer wrestling freestyle and Greco, doing weight training and conditioning, and learning fundamentals.
There’s one thing Ayyoub doesn’t do, though, when it comes to wrestling.
“We have a rule that after school and practice is over we don’t discuss wrestling at the house,” Armiya said. “We only discuss wrestling at tournaments and during practice. At the house I get to be dad.”
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That means he makes the rules. When asked if Ayyoub has ever pinned him, Armiya laughed.
“No; oh, no,” he said. “I’d cheat before I let that happen.”
Ayyoub was one of six Cougars to make the All-City first team along with Saa’lih Muhammed (120), Joshua Collins (132), Jenisus Thompson (145), Xodus Thompson (152) and Charles Wade (285). Keylin Miller (126), Dawan Scott (160) and Kevin Ogletree (220) were honorable mention.
At the Eaton Invitational on Jan. 25-26, Ayyoub won the 138 bracket and Wade was sixth at heavyweight. Four other Cougars came within a win of placing.
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As for Ayyoub, his wrestling style can often frustrate opponents. With a longer, leaner frame he prevents opponents from diving low for takedown attempts with a low stance and his knees touching or just off the mat. Armiya calls it the Praying Mantis.
“That’s something that works for me,” he said. “My legs are long so I don’t like being attacked. I figured that out along the way.”
Something else Ayyoub has discovered: when you qualify for state, you become a marked wrestler. Ayyoub said he’s seen every opponent’s best effort, from the lowest seeds to the highest. That has prepared him for another shot in competing at Columbus. Ayyoub, 31-8 last season, was 0-2 at state last year.
“I feel a lot more driven going and seeing what it’s like to compete at a state-level tournament,” Ayyoub said. “It’s a shock. … This year I won’t be as nervous as I was or as shocked or as timid. I feel like it’s all about the grind leading up to the state tournament.”
Should he qualify again his dad will be in his corner, cheering him on as much as he does coaching him in the sometimes difficult dual role.
“That’s the hard part,” dad said. “I get to enjoy it, but I don’t get to enjoy it enjoy it. (Sometimes it would be fun to) just to sit back and watch someone else coach him.
“I had to get into coaching to notice how much the small things and the extra hard work is what makes you become a state qualifier and a state placer. He’s picked up on that. … He’s a great kid, he’s a wonderful son and his dad loves him.”
With all the cradles, cross faces, fireman’s carries and other wrestling moves the Muhammeds have worked on during the years, the best lesson Ayyoub has received from his father transcends the wrestling mat.
“How to be a man, most importantly,” Ayyoub said. “Be just as good of a man as you are on the mat as you are off the mat.”
• The Greater Western Ohio Conference meet is Friday and Saturday at Butler.
DAYTON CITY LEAGUE
First-team wrestling
106: Barsish Aguilyev (Ponitz); 113: Meshack Illunga (Ponitz); 120: Saa’lih Muhammed (Thurgood Marshall); 126: Tantorrian Campbell (Ponitz); 132: Joshua Collins (Thurgood); 138: Ayyoub Muhammed (Thurgood); 145: Jenisus Thompson (Thurgood); 152: Xodus Thompson (Thurgood); 160: DeAngelo Edwards (Ponitz); 170: Kaliq Crutch (Ponitz); 182: Kevin Buck (Stivers); 195: Zach Blevins (Stivers); 220: Maurice Bennett (Stivers); HW: Charles Wade (Thurgood).
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