For Cooper, work equals success

Blake Cooper turned a disappointing conclusion to his freshman season into the prelude for triumphs to follow.

Cooper had advanced to the semifinals of the 2011 Chevron/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships in his first season at Pearl City, then lost his next three matches to finish sixth in the 142-pound weight class.

The end of that season marked the starting point of a string of victories running through last year’s state championship march and extending into his junior year with the Chargers.

"After that it clicked that, ‘I have to put in the work,’ " Pearl City coach Mike Lee said.

"He always worked hard … but you could see the desire and his focus the summer before his sophomore year really kicked up a notch."

Cooper’s offseason work ethic fueled an undefeated 2012 season as he swept through the OIA meets and the state championships to claim the title at 145 last March.

He’s renewed his focus in moving up to the 152-pound class as a junior and knows his status as a returning state champion makes him a target for the wrestlers taking a stance opposite him as the Chargers enter the OIA dual meet schedule starting Saturday.

"All the state champs are targets right now, they expect greater things from us," Cooper said. "Everybody’s working hard for that and that makes me work hard."

Cooper’s name tends to raise expectations before he buckles up his headgear.

Cooper’s father, Ray "Bradda" Cooper, rose to prominence in mixed martial arts. His older brother, Raynald Cooper III, won state titles in three weight classes from 2009 to 2011 and is embarking on a career in MMA as well.

While Blake takes pride in the accomplishments of those who preceeded him, he’s already carved out his own niche.

"The good thing about it is he’s no longer Raynald Cooper’s brother, he’s Blake Cooper," Lee said. "He has his own identity now with his wrestling style and everything."

Lee sees little resemblance between the brothers on the mat with Blake relying more on technique than raw power.

"He’s totally different," Lee said. "Blake is a lot more technical, he’s a lot quicker. He can use strength when he has to, but he’s more of a technician."

The younger Cooper also distinguishes himself by the way he channels emotion during a match.

"When (Raynald) wrestles, he gets mad and he can use that anger," Blake said. "When I get mad, I do stupid stuff, I get lazy and I get caught. … I stay calm and use smarter moves."

Blake didn’t exactly embrace the sport when he started out, concentrating on football in his childhood. But he inevitably gravitated back to wrestling after joining a team at Highlands Intermediate.

He was in the seventh and eighth grade when Raynald won his first two state championships and envisioned following the same path … though he didn’t know exactly what it would take to reach that level of success just yet.

"When I was little, I wanted to do that, too. I was thinking I just wanted to be there. I didn’t want to put in the work," Cooper said.

"Later on I started figuring out you have to do those things to get there, you can’t just end up there. You have to put in the work to get there and that’s how you know you earned it."

To that end, Cooper supplements the Chargers’ regimen of conditioning and practice with sessions with his father and brother — who finished his high school career as the 173-pound state champion — when he gets home.

"(Raynald) beats me up every day in practice," said Blake, whose younger brother, Baylen, is a freshman with the Chargers. "I like when people beat me up, it helps me get better."

It took a season on the bench to reinforce Cooper’s appreciation of hard work in academics as well. He sat out the football season his sophomore year after receiving a ‘D’ in a class, then worked his way back to regain eligibility before wrestling season.

"I just wasn’t paying attention and didn’t care about school. Now my grades are getting better and I’m keeping it up," said Cooper, who hopes to use wrestling to earn a college scholarship.

Cooper returned to football as a junior and was a first-team OIA White Conference pick as a linebacker while helping the Chargers to a 5-3 season. Not that he was touting the honor around the Pearl City campus. Nor does he use his status as a state champion to seek extra privileges in the wrestling room.

"He’s a very humble teenager. He just takes everything in stride," Lee said. "Everyone else is giving him all the praise and everything, but for him he knows he just has to work every day and good things will come.

"I didn’t even know he was a first-team all-star, but that’s how he is. He does everything he’s told. He’s a good captain and he leads by example. I don’t have to worry about him."

In recalling the emotion of accomplishing a goal in winning a state championship last year, Cooper was quick to credit the teammates who shared the mat with him in Pearl City’s wrestling room, taking added satisfaction in knowing he didn’t get there alone.

"I was thankful to everybody who helped me train," Cooper said. "My coach, he put me through some hell and I kept pushing and pushing. My dad helped me with everything … every problem I had he helped me through it. He taught how to push and don’t give up and it’s going to be worth it at the end.

"Everybody had a big part of it."