By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
MOODY — Cory Land is the most decorated athlete to come through Moody High School. A silver medal-winner at the 2021 Greco-Roman world wrestling championships, Land decided to sign with Northern Iowa University in pursuit of his dream to become an Olympic champion.
Cory Land (seated, center) signed with Northern Iowa University earlier this week. Land is a four-time defending state champion wrestler for Moody High School. (Photo by Hannah Caver)
Land said that he was impressed with Northern Iowa’s wrestling program. On his official visit, earlier this year, he simply felt like he fit in.
“I went up on an official visit a couple of months ago, and I was planning on kind of playing it cool,” Land said. “But I was up there for three or four days, and the atmosphere was just really good. I really liked the way the wrestling team practiced, liked their intensity a lot.”
Land is a four-time state champion entering his senior season, and was part of a senior-heavy Blue Devils squad that won the state team title in 2019. Not bad results for a young man who only began wrestling in the fifth grade.
“My older brother wanted to play basketball, but he didn’t make the team,” Land said. “He made the wrestling team, and I got to watch him. Finding wrestling was great for a guy like me who’s not the biggest guy in the world.”
As an eighth grader, Land went 50-3 and won a state championship at 108 pounds. In his freshman season, he went up in weight, wrestling at 120 pounds and going 51-0 for his second state championship. As a sophomore, he stayed at that weight and again went undefeated. His junior year at 126 pounds was another successful undefeated campaign that resulted in his fourth straight title.
He’s been recognized by the St. Clair County Commission and been given the key to the city of Moody.
But there’s one thing that Land wants: a shot at an Olympic medal.
“My major is going to be exercise and sports science,” Land said. “But I really want to try to go to the Olympics to wrestle. That’s my goal.”
