(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
Kordell Norfleet launched into the scene of Pac-12 wrestling winning Freshman/Newcomer of the year in 2018. That year Arizona State, as well as Norfleet himself, won a Pac-12 Championship. His freshman year quickly became one year to remember. But then came Norfleet’s injuries, and they were not relenting.
Norfleet was plagued by injuries almost all of sophomore year. The most prominent of the injuries was a neck injury that ended the conclusion of his sophomore season. Then moving into this season Norfleet went on to suffer a concussion. “[It was] more major then I’d like it to be. It was making me upset I couldn’t be here for the start of the season,” he said.
Injuries are tough for any athlete, and it was no different for Norfleet, “It was hard seeing my team wrestle without me. I felt like I could have always contributed.”
Teammate and senior Josh Shields turned to Norfleet’s passion and love for the sport when injured, “He was itching to be back on the mat, he loves to compete.”
His love to compete made his injury even more difficult. Head Coach Zeke Jones explained how Norfleet stayed in the game mentally. “I still think he grew in his wrestling even though he wasn’t actually wrestling,” said Jones. “His mind, the supercomputer, was processing even though it wasn’t working everyday it was gathering information and analyzing it.”
Off the mat challenges
While injured staying in the game mentally was half the challenge.
The other half was all physical.
“I just think he was diligent through the process of his injury,” said Jones. “Rehab, coming to practice still helping the team, watching video.”
How Norfleet handled his injury and recovery says a lot about him as an athlete and as a competitor. Coach Jones said a large reason behind Norfleet’s rehab being so successful was because, “He didn’t lose sight of the long-term goal with short term frustration.”
Jones also went on to say, “Kordell’s a great human being. There’s a reason why he’s a tremendous student athlete, because it all starts with character, being a good person, hard worker, committed, dedicated.”
Shields added to Jones in saying, “He’s always adapting to his environment and I think that’s the mark of a great leader and a great wrestler.”
Even though all of this praise is most definitely a good thing, there is also a theme to it. It’s all of the people around him and close to him. After winning accolades as a freshman, injuries then caused Norfleet to start falling off the map in the wrestling world.
Coming back with a bang
Before the Penn State dual this season, the last time he was seen competing on a college mat was December 14, 2018 against the same opponent, Penn State. A 343-day span of not wrestling competitively set up the possibility for an unbelievable comeback from injury.
Norfleet was set to come back for the dual between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the at the time No. 1 ranked Penn State. Not to mention that he would be wrestling the No. 7 ranked 197-lb wrestler in Kyle Conel.
If this was not big enough of a combination of motivation and pressure, Penn State added on to it by forfeiting to Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia at 184-lb right before Norfleet and Conel took the mat. This gave the Sun Devils a 16-15 lead going into Norfleet’s dual.
The idea behind Penn State’s 184-lb dual forfeit was suspected to be because of the Nittany Lions trust in their 197-lb and heavyweight wrestlers to win the final two matches. Norfleet, however, had different plans.
He proved Penn State wrong and took down No. 7 Kyle Conel by a 10-4 decision. When speaking about Norfleet sneaking up on Penn State after the fact, Coach Jones said, “Now the world’s on notice.”
Because of Norfleet’s injuries the Devils knew they were catching their opponent off guard, “I absolutely think he snuck up on Penn State. He was hurt so much in the past, no one was really able to see what he could actually do,” said Shields. “We were all expecting that, we were expecting him to come in and take care of work which he absolutely did.”
However, to Norfleet it was just another match, “I don’t think my coaches or anyone who trains me really thought that was a big deal, but it was a good statement to make I guess to put the rest of the world on notice. So now I just got to keep duplicating it.”
Norfleet’s win by decision gave the Sun Devils a four-point lead that they would end up holding onto for a 19-18 win over the then No. 1 ranked Nittany Lions. This would end up being the start to an impressive beginning of his season.
Norfleet is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation according to InterMat. He recently defeated Stanford’s Nathan Traxler who ranked above him at No. 5 at the time of the match. The second half of the season is coming up with Pac-12s and NCAA Championships to finish out the season.
Shields has high hopes for his Junior teammate as the season progresses, “He can make some serious noise at NCAAs, and by serious noise I mean he could be walking away with some gold hardware.”
Getting Hardware
Shields thinks Norfleet’s wrestling will make an impact on the individual level. Coach Jones looks at it in a more team focused way and speaks about the importance and possible impact of Norfleet, “it’s a difference in maybe a team trophy and not a team trophy. We need Kordell on the podium, we need him on top the podium.”
Whether Norfleet is on top of the podium or not Jones knows his importance, “I think it really gives a lot of energy to the team,” Jones said. “That you know there’s another guy that’s going to get his hand raised and is a part of what we’re trying to do as we head towards that championship run.”
Norfleet is focused on hardware as well, “First we got to win the PAC, then get to NCAAs, and then I’m trying to win it all, so we’ll see what happens.”
As they get closer to the championship run Norfleet looks back on what he has been through. “Adversity always helps everyone,” Norfleet said. “I feel like you get a chance to really just sit back and see how this sport can pass you bye and how you can get forgotten.”
