Former Palo wrestler returns early from injury

By Christopher Drexel

Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 | midnight

Kyle Barrett got a taste of collegiate wrestling in the past year. Now, he's ready to feast.

The Palo Verde graduate has recovered from an early season lateral collateral ligament injury in his knee and is preparing to finish the season strong for Stanford.

"Some guys target the knee and ride that particular leg because it has tape on it," said Barrett, who won two individual state championships at Palo Verde. "At this level, if you give a weakness, guys will exploit it. But the knee almost isn't a problem any more. I've improved a lot in the last year, a crazy amount."

Barrett sat out the majority of the season last year until Stanford's 165-pound wrestler, Peter Miller, was struck with potential career-ending injuries to his shoulder and knee. That forced Stanford coach Jason Borrelli to ask Barrett to step into competition earlier than expected.

"When you pull someone out of a red-shirt that late, a lot of kids don't respond well, but Kyle was excited for the opportunity," Borrelli said. "He stepped out there and took it as a chance to see how he'd progressed since high school."

Barrett wrestled in one dual meet before the Pacific-10 Conference tournament. He lost his initial match of the tournament but defeated his next three opponents to take fourth.

"I didn't know what to expect going in," Barrett said. "By the end of (the tournament) I knew I belonged at this level."

Barrett entered this season as a solidified starter at 184 pounds. But the injury to his knee provided an early setback as it occurred during Stanford's initial dual meet of the season against Air Force.

Barrett heard a loud crack coming from his knee in the first period, but he continued to wrestle and barely lost the match 6-5 on a last-second take down. He was forced to miss most of the next month letting the injury heal.

Barrett returned for the Oklahoma Open on Nov. 29 and won two matches before losing 11-7 in the finals to an opponent ranked ninth in the nation.

"I'm excited to see him compete at his weight with another two or three weeks of practice without having to nurse an injury," Borrelli said. "Kyle really knows his offense, the things he can do to score and put himself in winning situations."

Growing up in Summerlin, those around Barrett expected him to play baseball. His father, Marty Barrett, is a former big league infielder, but he never played past Little League.

He was introduced to wrestling during middle school and gave the sport a chance when he was a freshman at Palo Verde. After that, Barrett fell in love with wrestling and quit playing football to compete on the mats.

"It's hard when your dad is a pro baseball player and other kids are asking in Little League why you're not that good," Kyle Barrett said. "With wrestling, my parents didn't know the sport, so it was nice to go on my own learning it as I went. I like that you can't look to anyone else in wrestling. "

Barrett won state titles for Palo Verde at 140 pounds as a junior and 152 pounds as a senior. Now, Barrett feels he is on the verge of his longtime goal — to become an All-American.

"I've gotten a lot quicker and stronger in the offseason and lifted way more than I ever before," he said. "Being an All-American is my biggest dream in college. That will be my goal the next few years."

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].