(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)
The new Godzilla vs. King Kong movie is set to be released on March 31st. The upcoming release date has led fans of the series to engage in heated debates as to whether Godzilla or Kong will come out on top. For ASU 197-pound wrestler Kordell Norfleet the answer is a no-brainer. “Kong bows to no one,” claimed the decorated redshirt junior. Similar to King Kong, Norfleet has not bowed to anyone this season.
Norfleet holds a perfect record in regular season matches and has not lost a conference bout in over three years. The Sun Devil is in his fourth year at ASU but ignores fans’ and coaches’ claims of him being a senior.
“I don’t know who started calling me a senior because last year I was a redshirt sophomore,” said Norfleet. “I don’t know how I just jumped, but I got to talk to somebody.”
Despite there being four starting seniors on the roster, Norfleet has taken over a serious leadership position for the Sun Devils. He claims that the “many lessons [I’ve] learned,” from Myles Martin and Zahid Valencia have helped him lead this team to an overwhelmingly successful season.
“If there is one thing [Zahid] always did, it was he led by example,” said Norfleet. “He would call you out. He didn’t really allow for you to give anything less than all you had. He pushed [ourselves] in ways a lot of people aren’t willing to do.”
Norfleet has naturally taken over Zahid’s leadership role this season.
“There is a lot of unspoken things in which people on the team look to me. You know it’s kind of like we are going to do what Kordell says,” added the 197-pound wrestler.
Norfleet’s authoritative figure has proved to be incredibly helpful for the young squad. He mentioned that the team has been tediously training since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Norfleet certainly made a difference during these offseason workouts simply from his work ethic.
“I was afforded the luxury of being around Zahid. You see he got it done at the highest level in college multiple times,” said Norfleet. “You pick up the good habits. You see what he does and see how he trains, and it rubs off on you.”
His work ethic and leadership have led to high expectations from the junior.
“I expect us to shock a lot of people. I think we just got ranked like nine. You know that’s still not a trophy,” said Norfleet.
This has helped the Sun Devils to an undefeated regular season with even more achievements to come. In two weeks, the team will go up to Corvallis, Oregon for the PAC-12 Championships. Norfleet is not worried about the competition and expects his team to take home another conference championship. After that, Norfleet looks to achieve his most desired goal: a national championship.
“It’s what every college wrestler wakes up and does this for. I want that national title,” said Norfleet. “Regular-season success doesn’t equate to a national title.”
Hopefully, for Kordell, he can have his hand raised in the final bout of the season, and then eleven days later see King Kong do the same to Godzilla.
