Three-time Delaware state champ Harp completes unexpected journey to Iowa Central
FORT DODGE, Iowa (BVM) — In life, some of the most unexpected moments end up being the most impactful. Just ask Hugo Harp, a recent graduate of Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Del. He had never expected to join the wrestling team as a freshman at Smyrna, not wanting to grapple with other boys in a singlet, but he was convinced by head wrestling coach Aaron Harris when he told him that Harp would be allowed to slam opponents in the sport.
“Aaron Harris found me on the football field,” Harp said. “I was basically running everybody over and he came up to me and was like, ‘You trying to wrestle?’ I was like ‘Nah.’ … But then he told me ‘You get to slam people and stuff.’ I was like ‘alright bet’ so I was in there the next week slamming everybody so I just fell in love with it, I guess.”
It was a moment that may not have seemed all too significant then, but it is one that has shaped who Harp is today. In all honesty, Harp was fortunate enough to even be able to be at Smyrna for the moment at all.
Harp faced adversity from a young age. Growing up in the foster system, where he would live in over 20 homes based on his own recollection, Harp’s life was a struggle in instability. This instability would also find a way to creep into his actions as before he was even old enough to reach high school. Harp had already been arrested a number of times, and spent three years in a juvenile detention center.
“I was raised in Wilmington,” Harp said. “My mom was affiliated with a lot of things going on in Wilmington and every weekend I would go back with her and I would get into so much trouble.”
It wasn’t until after Coach Harris had heard about a freshman football player causing havoc on the field that Harp was given a form of stability and that came through Harris, who had gone through a difficult life himself according to Harp.
“He was basically like my dad,” Harp said. “Coach Harris taught me to never quit in life. I always had quitted or turned back around to those influences that had me in those situations I was already in. Coach Harris always told me to never quit in life, but he never told me. He would show me. … He had taken me where he was from, showed me stuff and I understood what he was showing me just never quit.”
Harp was given an outlet and a direction that his life sorely needed. Practices and workouts replaced time in the house or on the street. Athletic participation forced a focus on maintaining a qualifying GPA. Acquaintances of Harp’s past were replaced with teammates on the Smyrna wrestling team.
“[Wrestling] kept me out of a lot of trouble,” Harp said. “When I started wrestling we had practice on the weekends and on the weekdays so that would keep me from even thinking about going to Wilmington. I wanted to impress in wrestling so much. … The main thing that gave me the burst to come to practice was the team. I loved them. The team is what pushed me to come to practice.”
Smyrna’s wrestling team also benefited from adding Harp. Though extremely raw when he first came in, Harp developed into a dominant force in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association wrestling circuit. As a heavyweight, listed in the 220-pound weight class, Harp dwarfed many of his teammates and even sometimes his opponents on the mat.
In four years, Harp would be nothing short of incredible for the Eagles. After failing to win state his first year, Harp would win three consecutive DIAA state titles en route to helping the Eagles claim back-to-back Division I state titles his junior and senior seasons. Though he earned the awards, Harp doesn’t take credit for them. He gives all the credit to Harris.
“It felt amazing, but it felt so much more amazing because I was with Harris,” Harp said. “He was the first person ever in my life to give me my first positive influence. My first positive opportunity. By doing that with him it felt even more perfect.”
His performance on the mat also helped Harp achieve something he couldn’t imagine prior to finding wrestling. With difficulties both in and around the house, Harp knew getting a college education was a longshot, but wrestling made the dream a reality.
“That was never really in my mindset,” Harp said. “Being around Coach Harris he helped with that. … I’m definitely glad Coach Harris changed my mindset.”
Harp received and accepted a scholarship to wrestle at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa in April. His hopes would be to grow as a wrestler at the collegiate level to be able to move onto a Division I college in the future, not bad for someone who was fresh out of a juvenile detention center entering high school.
“I’m glad I’m even here,” Harp said. “I knew I could get the help I needed at Iowa Central. … It was perfect. … I’m coming back next year too. This is definitely the place to be. … After my two years here I’m definitely thinking about going DI. I’ve been looking at a lot.”
Though he hasn’t been there too long yet, Harp has already made an impact on his Iowa Central squad. With his fun and vibrant personality, Harp has been able to quickly become a popular wrestler in the locker room.
“I’ve probably spent more individual talks and time with him than anyone on the team,” Iowa Central head wrestling coach Luke Moffitt said. “He’s good with the team. He’s fun to be around. … I want to see his name on the Dean’s List. It’s about conquering the little goals. … I feel strongly he’s going to leave here winning the national title and he’s going to have offers on the table.”
Moffitt also feels confident that Harp’s story won’t be a hindrance to his growth as a wrestler, it’ll actually work in just the opposite way.
“It is tough,” Moffitt said. “A lot of people haven’t gone through what he’s gone through, but you never use it as a crutch. It’s a look at what I’ve already bypassed, look what I’ve gotten through. There’s nothing I can’t do if I put my mind to it.”
Although reaching the Division I level is a high mountain for anyone to climb, it seems less formidable when it is Harp who is facing it. He has cleared many hurdles in his life up to this point, what could prevent him from clearing another one? With his wrestling season at Iowa Central scheduled to begin in the near future, Harp is out to show it’s not a person’s past that defines them, but rather what they bring now. Though he may not have been too fond of the idea of wrestling when it was first brought up to him, Harp is happy to have found it.
