Bear Bryant Siegal working hard to live up to famous name

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Bear Bryant Siegal, named after a legend. Safe to say there’s a little pressure that comes with it, but this upcoming North Bay Haven freshman seems to be handling it well.

”I won AAU middle school states like last week, and I only gave up two points. It was easy.” says Bear. who is not lacking in the confidence department, and with good reason. Just this spring, the wrestler won also won the Georgia AAU State Title, the Florida USA Wrestling State Folkstyle Title, placed third at the USA State Greco Roman Wrestling tournament, made the Florida National team, and wrestled in the Big Eight Invitational for the top wrestlers in the country in middle school in Madison, Wisconsin a couple of months ago.

”He puts in a lot of work,” who coaches Bear at the Gulf Coast Grappling Academy “even when he’s not with us, like I said, he’s consistent with it, and his parents, of course, push him and make sure he’s consistent with it. When you’re consistent at what you do, you get really good at it.” Being a Buc, Bear has already had the chance to compete at the high school level, but now, heading into his freshman year, he’s ready to hit the ground running. “Pretty excited because I can actually have stuff that matters on my record and stuff, and now I can finally start getting actually recruited.” the 14 year old says. Ahead of his next four years, Bear knows he’ll have a target on his back. “There’s going to be a bunch of coaches who already know who I am and already know what I do in matches, so they’re going to tell their kids exactly what to do and what not to do, and everyone is going to basically already have a scouting report on me.” Still, at only 14, Bear’s coach says he has a way to go. “Bear’s already got a name on the high school circuit, so therefore, the sky’s the limit. I would love to say state championship, but once again, we’ve got to get Bear out of Bear’s way.” Looking to the future Bear says this “My first goal, just to make it to high school states. I was very close last year. Then, after that, is to place, after that is just to get one place higher each year, and hopefully by my junior or senior year I win it.” Hoping to bring a little more success to the name Bear Bryant.

Copyright 2022 WJHG. All rights reserved.