CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- Chris Funches was just a freshman football player trying to find his way. What he found was his future.
"I was going out to football conditioning," he recalled. "I came a little late so I just asked Coach Shuler where it was and he was rambling on asking if I was going to come out to wrestling and I said yeah."
"I had everyone clapping and was like 'yeah, we got a new guy coming out for the team,'" Grassfield head wrestling coach Patrick Shuler remembered. "He was like 'where's the football field.' I'm like 'oh, I thought you were coming out for wrestling!'"
Eventually, Shuler got his wish. Short on heavyweights, he was happy to see Funches join the squad after the conclusion of that football season. His new student-athlete immediately went to work at a different sport that presented it's own unique challenges.
"Harder conditioning in wrestling," Funches pointed out. "You just have to work through everything in wrestling more than football."
It wouldn't take long for Shuler and his coaching staff to see his potential. That potential quickly turned into pins. As a heavyweight, Funches showed his grit on plenty of occasions during that ninth grade campaign, providing a window into his future.
"We had to win and the kid was probably better than him," Shuler said of a meet against Kellam that season. "He found a way to win and since then he's like a rocket, just straight up."
"It made me really just want to work harder," added Funches. "You can't blame anything on anybody really. You just blame yourself. Why didn't I do this in practice? Why didn't I do this right? You get what you put into it."
Fast forward and Funches is a senior and more than just a full-time wrestler. He's developed into a master of the mat. The heavyweight claimed the state title as a junior and looks to repeat this weekend. He's gone from a beginner just a few years ago to a core piece of a nationally-ranked wrestling team.
"There's something about Funches," said Shuler. "There's a charisma to him. He's likable and he's influential and he's proven that he is a leader in a way."
Now he looks to cap off his high school career with his arm raised in the air, which would assert him as one of the few Grassfield wrestlers adorned on the wall of the team's wrestling room that have won two state crowns.
"I think it would be amazing," remarked Shuler. "I don't think he ever would've imagined that."
"It would really mean a lot to me, just going back-to-back," Funches added. "Just showing what I'm made of, Grizzly grit."
The heavyweight star's career will not end after this weekend. He'll continue his academic and wrestling career at Ferrum in the fall.
Funches is part of a Grassfield squad this is also looking for back-to-back team titles. The Grizzlies have been dominant this season, shutting out four opponents and topping four state championship teams. The squad has not lost a dual meet against a Virginia opponent in 736 days (as of publishing) and is ranked No. 28 in the nation.
