Indiana University Athletics
Brothers Cayden and Graham Rooks Look to Fuel Program Turnaround for IU Wrestling
12/23/2019 10:03:00 AM | Wrestling
By Jared Rigdon
When it came to picking a place to wrestle in college, Graham Rooks never faced a tough decision.
Growing up in Columbus, Indiana, just an hour east of IU, Graham saw first hand how talented the state of Indiana was in wrestling. However, IU was a struggling program in the powerhouse Big Ten conference.
When former IU wrestler Angel Escobedo took over the reigns of the program, Graham knew IU was starting to build something special.
"Growing up, I always wanted to be like Coach Escobedo," Graham said. "He's from Indiana and he won state four times. He went to IU and won a national title. He was like a role model growing up and someone I wanted to be. When he came back and took over as head coach at IU, it wasn't a really hard decision at all."
If Graham's decision was easy, his brother Cayden's was even easier. As Graham heads into his sophomore season and Cayden his freshman campaign, the two brothers from Indiana are at the core of a program rebuild that has started to make noise inside the conference.
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Wrestling runs deep in the blood of the Rooks family.
It's a sport that crosses multiple generations. For Cayden and Graham, it was something they were heavily involved in from a young age.
When Graham entered high school at Columbus East, it wasn't known as a wrestling power in the state. But he had plans to change that notion.
"Indiana is an up and coming wrestling state," Graham said. "The expectation wasn't to go into high school and to just wrestle. It was to go in and dominate the scene."
Even though Cayden was a year behind Graham in school, the younger Rooks brother was exposed to the high school wrestling school early.
It was enough for him to know that this was the start of something special.
"After watching him compete his freshman year, when I was in eighth grade, I knew this was going to be awesome," Cayden said.
During Cayden's sophomore season, he became the first wrestling state champion to ever come from Columbus East.
His performance helped earn Columbus East a top-10 finish as a team. The following year, Graham won a state title during his senior campaign while Cayden made it back to the finals, falling to eventual teammate Asa Garcia of Avon.
To top that off, Cayden capped off an impeccable high school career with his second state title as a senior.
Both Graham and Cayden committed to IU to continue their wrestling careers. The decision all came back to what Escobedo is building here in Bloomington.
"He was building a program that centered around character with people that wanted to come in and work hard every day," Graham said. "Hearing that, it was like 'why wouldn't you want to come here'."
The two have to find a balance between being brothers and competitors in the wrestling room. During high intensity drills, the two are prone to bumping heads. It's part of the fire and tenacity that each one possesses.
They admit it's gotten better since high school where they would often be separated from each other when drills turned to fights during practice.
But at the end of the day, they're here to build each other up. With each brother wrestling in a different weight class, they know how crucial the other is to the success of the team.
"We're family so we're not gonna go to practice and try and tear each other down," Graham said. "The goal is to push each other to be the best we can be. Things do get intense but it's just trying to get us to be better than we were when we stepped into the room."
Both of the Rooks brothers know how far that IU has yet to come to being fully competitive in the Big Ten conference. Last season, seven of the top-10 teams in the NCAA were Big Ten teams.
But with that comes the knowledge of how far they've already come. Last season, Graham was 15-7 and had a win over Brendan Fitzgerald of Ohio State. This year, IU already has two ranked wrestlers in their respective classes.
Cayden has an idea of where he wants this program to eventually be. Even though he's just a freshman, he's set out big plans for IU. He wants IU to be the premier name in college wrestling, to a point where the top high school wrestlers don't even consider leaving the state.
If they're to get there, Cayden and Graham Rooks will have a big part in that happening.
"You represent the name across your chest," Cayden said. "I'm from Indiana and I don't want anyone to think that Indiana is bad or that we're a bunch of pushovers. I wear it proud and I want you to know that we're a bunch of gritty guys. You're going to have to fight for everything that you get from us."
When it came to picking a place to wrestle in college, Graham Rooks never faced a tough decision.
Growing up in Columbus, Indiana, just an hour east of IU, Graham saw first hand how talented the state of Indiana was in wrestling. However, IU was a struggling program in the powerhouse Big Ten conference.
When former IU wrestler Angel Escobedo took over the reigns of the program, Graham knew IU was starting to build something special.
"Growing up, I always wanted to be like Coach Escobedo," Graham said. "He's from Indiana and he won state four times. He went to IU and won a national title. He was like a role model growing up and someone I wanted to be. When he came back and took over as head coach at IU, it wasn't a really hard decision at all."
If Graham's decision was easy, his brother Cayden's was even easier. As Graham heads into his sophomore season and Cayden his freshman campaign, the two brothers from Indiana are at the core of a program rebuild that has started to make noise inside the conference.
*********************************************************************************************************
Wrestling runs deep in the blood of the Rooks family.
It's a sport that crosses multiple generations. For Cayden and Graham, it was something they were heavily involved in from a young age.
When Graham entered high school at Columbus East, it wasn't known as a wrestling power in the state. But he had plans to change that notion.
"Indiana is an up and coming wrestling state," Graham said. "The expectation wasn't to go into high school and to just wrestle. It was to go in and dominate the scene."
Even though Cayden was a year behind Graham in school, the younger Rooks brother was exposed to the high school wrestling school early.
It was enough for him to know that this was the start of something special.
"After watching him compete his freshman year, when I was in eighth grade, I knew this was going to be awesome," Cayden said.
During Cayden's sophomore season, he became the first wrestling state champion to ever come from Columbus East.
His performance helped earn Columbus East a top-10 finish as a team. The following year, Graham won a state title during his senior campaign while Cayden made it back to the finals, falling to eventual teammate Asa Garcia of Avon.
To top that off, Cayden capped off an impeccable high school career with his second state title as a senior.
Both Graham and Cayden committed to IU to continue their wrestling careers. The decision all came back to what Escobedo is building here in Bloomington.
"He was building a program that centered around character with people that wanted to come in and work hard every day," Graham said. "Hearing that, it was like 'why wouldn't you want to come here'."
The two have to find a balance between being brothers and competitors in the wrestling room. During high intensity drills, the two are prone to bumping heads. It's part of the fire and tenacity that each one possesses.
They admit it's gotten better since high school where they would often be separated from each other when drills turned to fights during practice.
But at the end of the day, they're here to build each other up. With each brother wrestling in a different weight class, they know how crucial the other is to the success of the team.
"We're family so we're not gonna go to practice and try and tear each other down," Graham said. "The goal is to push each other to be the best we can be. Things do get intense but it's just trying to get us to be better than we were when we stepped into the room."
Both of the Rooks brothers know how far that IU has yet to come to being fully competitive in the Big Ten conference. Last season, seven of the top-10 teams in the NCAA were Big Ten teams.
But with that comes the knowledge of how far they've already come. Last season, Graham was 15-7 and had a win over Brendan Fitzgerald of Ohio State. This year, IU already has two ranked wrestlers in their respective classes.
Cayden has an idea of where he wants this program to eventually be. Even though he's just a freshman, he's set out big plans for IU. He wants IU to be the premier name in college wrestling, to a point where the top high school wrestlers don't even consider leaving the state.
If they're to get there, Cayden and Graham Rooks will have a big part in that happening.
"You represent the name across your chest," Cayden said. "I'm from Indiana and I don't want anyone to think that Indiana is bad or that we're a bunch of pushovers. I wear it proud and I want you to know that we're a bunch of gritty guys. You're going to have to fight for everything that you get from us."
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