People of Central: Luke Cochran

Story and video by: Breanna Prince

After a year of trying out soccer at 6-years-old, sophomore at Central Michigan University, Luke Cochran’s father signed him up for wrestling, after his coach said that soccer wasn’t the best sport for him.

“I got ejected [from soccer] every single game, all season long,” Cochran said. “I would get a red card every time. I would hit everybody, slack tackle everybody, wrestle everybody.”

Cochran said the importance of wrestling is what you become in the process.

“The character that you produce, the displacement that you learn, the relationships you form, and the focus you learn is what makes wrestling such a great sport,” he said.

When Cochran is out there wrestling, he feels connected to the Lord.

“I feel as if I’m out there and I’m sacrificing and working hard,” he said. “I feel as if I’m offering him a bodily sacrifice, and it’s just a really special thing to me.”

Cochran is currently starting off his second season of wrestling at CMU.

“There’s no sport that’s going to build character, that’s going to build discipline, like the sport of wrestling,” he said.