‘Hard work always pays off.’ Fresno State athlete has found success in wrestling and football
Fresno State junior Josh Hokit, the Bulldogs’ dual-sport standout, almost gave up on wrestling.
Good thing he didn’t: He placed fifth at last month’s NCAA wrestling championships to earn All-American honors.
After finishing up spring football practice, Hokit revealed what pushed him:
“I became obsessed with the sport and everything that came along with that with weight lifting, wrestling, film. I took it all in and that’s all I thought about everyday. That’s what I really wanted to accomplish was be on that podium in March. Hard work always pays off.”
His obsession was a 180-degree turn from earlier thinking he might give up the sport to focus on football. What changed?
“I had a gut feeling” there was more to prove in wrestling, Hokit said.
Hokit went 6-2 in the three-day NCAA Championships as a No. 16 seed to finish the year 27-8.
Hokit is Fresno State’s first wrestling All-American since 2003 and first football player to accomplish the feat since Lorenzo Neal took seventh in 1992.
He did all that just months after playing running back on a Bulldogs team that won the Mountain West championship and the Las Vegas Bowl.
Which is bigger?
“When I’m 5 or 6, I don’t dream of being Mountain West or bowl game champion,” Hokit said. ‘That’s not like one of my goals. My goal was to be on that (NCAA wrestling) podium. I felt like that was a dream come true for me taking fifth in NCAAs.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. To share a Mountain West championship with a hundred other guys, that has its importance, too. That’s really special.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2019 at 11:49 AM.
