Bergen Catholic wrestler sets his sights on 2020 Olympics

<p>A high school junior has his sights set on becoming an Olympian in two years and he already has won gold.</p>

News 12 Staff

Dec 10, 2018, 11:50 PM

Updated 1,971 days ago

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A high school junior has his sights set on becoming an Olympian in two years and he already has won gold.
Robert Howard grew up playing flag football. His coach thought he'd be a good wrestler, so he tried it, and his coach was right.
Howard says he is meant to be a wrestler.
"I'm here to go and compete and perform at the highest level in this sport," he says.
The Bergen Catholic junior built quite the resume to get to the highest level.
As a sophomore he won a state title. But this past summer at the Cadet World Championships for high school students, he fell short of a medal.
But he still had an opportunity at redemption. Howard was already a member of Team USA.
In October, he was one of just two male freestyle wrestlers sent to compete in the Youth Olympics in Argentina. Howard won gold at 121 pounds.
The Cranford native is already dreaming of another gold medal. Howard says he's going to try to make the Olympic team in 2020.

"I don't have anything to lose," he says. "I'll be an 18-year-old kid with an opportunity to make an Olympic team. So, why not?"

Even if he gets cut, Howard says he can always redeem himself when he gets his next opportunity.
Howard says he wants to wrestle in college at Penn State.


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