COVINGTON, Ga. — Over the offseason, Newton Rams head wrestling coach Tommy Gregory had his team focusing on the mental aspect of the sport. 

There is one player who really took that message to heart. 

Malachi Riley is a sophomore wrestler for the Rams. Already this season, Riley’s performance has led him to take on the prestigious “Stud” title by the Rams. 

A stud is a wrestler who is expected to win his or her match every time and, so far this year, Riley has proven that title true. 

“[Dec. 7 at South Gwinnett] was the first time an opponent had lasted past the first round in my match,” Riley said. “For the most part, it’s mostly over in the first round, and that shows improvement for me.” 

On the 2022-23 season, Riley is 7-1 with all seven wins coming by pinfall. He has contributed 42 team points during the competitions. 

Just this past weekend at the South Metro Invitational tournament, Riley went 4-1. 

There have been a few tools Riley has used to enhance his game. 

YouTube has been his friend the past few months watching tutorial videos of certain wrestling moves. On top of that, Riley’s sister records his matches so he can go back and watch his performance. 

However, there is one instrument at Riley’s disposal that has helped him the most — a black and white Mead composition book. 

While watching YouTube videos and studying his own matches, Riley keeps a record of his notes from each study session. 

“I just take notes and write down stuff,” Riley said. “I have, what coach Gregory calls, a cerebral mind, which is just thinking and understanding. So I had to write a lot of things down and had to think about a lot of things differently in a way that works for my brain.” 

The day after Newton’s match against South Gwinnett, Riley had approximately 30 pages filled with notes and other miscellaneous information he used to help sharpen his game. 

Included in the notebook is what Riley labeled, “My Wrestling Identity.” He has outlined his go-to setups, takedowns and pins for each match. Also featured in the notebook is a wrestling moves list. 

On that page, he maintains which moves he’s mastered — signified with a check mark — and which moves he’s still developing. 

Riley constantly leans on his notebook heavily at practice and on match day. It provides him with some sense of support. 

“I can never go into a match with a pure game plan, because I never know what my opponent is going to do,” Riley said. “But I can go into it knowing what I’m comfortable with. Of course, I’ll have to improvise depending on the situation, but for the most part the notebook gives me clarity. It makes me feel certain of myself.” 

Riley’s favorite YouTube videos are all things collegiate wrestling. But his favorite wrestler to watch is seven-time gold medalist, Jordan Burroughs. 

Instead of trying to fashion his style to Burroughs, though, Riley focuses on how to constantly build upon his own personal flair to perhaps reach Burroughs’ level one day. 

Though his notebook provides support to go back and lean on, Riley recognized his teammates’ support as a motivational factor for him. 

He credited the level of competition he faces from his teammates in practice as a measuring stick for his own progress. 

“There are people on this team that last year I couldn’t even think of beating,” Riley said. “And now, I can compete with and beat them sometimes.”  

With all  of this success, Riley almost didn’t even give wrestling a shot. In seventh grade, he was encouraged by his peers and an administrator to try out for the wrestling team. Riley hesitated, and then the COVID-19 pandemic ended his seventh grade year and complicated his eighth grade year. 

But one morning during his freshman year at Newton High changed his mind, and he’s grateful for it.  

“I always thought it was an odd sport,” Riley said. “Then one morning, I saw it on the morning announcements and I wanted to come out. And I did and I really liked it. It was fun to do with a lot of movement, and it was never boring. It is one of those sports where I’m allowed to be energetic.” 

All of the notes, videos watched and motivation has gone a long way in Riley showing considerable progress on the mat. 

Even though he’s just in his second year competing in the sport, he has high aspirations for the remainder of his career. 

There is a page dedicated in Riley’s notebook where he has written, “I will be the state champ” 23 times. But, instead of focusing on the long-term goal of winning a state championship, every minute studying ways to improve his game goes back to Riley’s No. 1 goal. 

“I want to be able to continuously improve,” Riley said. “As long as I see myself improving, I’m satisfied, because I’m at least going forward and not standing still. I just want to become better than my best everyday.”