River Curtis is a Class 6A state wrestling champion in Virginia. Like most champions, he’s a ferocious trainer and, at 126 pounds, a lean, efficient winning machine. The Battlefield sophomore was a surprising Washington Post All-Met selection and state champion as a freshman, using stunning strength and agility to dominate all comers. He hasn’t let up as a sophomore, and some are now looking to his rather unorthodox training methods as the root of Curtis’ success. That’s because Curtis doesn’t train in a gym. He trains in a forest.
Well, almost a forest. As reported by the Washington Post, the 16-year-old is part of the Curtis family which owns Freedom Tree Service, a lumber company that provides firewood and general tree care for all of Northern Virginia. As a result, there is always wood to be chopped, which has served as a welcome training technique both physical and mental for River and his younger brother, fellow Battlefield wrestler Beau.
“A lot of times I’m like throwing the guy, I just picture myself chopping wood at the same time,” River Curtis told the Post.
It isn’t just about chopping wood, of course. The Curtis family has a custom built wrestling room in their house and are a one-family wrestling legacy, dating to their father, Johnny Curtis, and his time as an All-American wrestler at George Mason.
Still, wood cutting is an integral part of River and Beau’s training, with the brothers chopping for hours on end before the recent winter storm Jonas that struck the Mid-Atlantic hard. That served two purposes for the Curtis brothers: It helped them earn money for River’s future car, and build muscles, for what they hope will be River’s and Beau’s future state tournament runs.