Cornell freshman Mark Grey has been on the radar of wrestling fans since he won the Cadet Freestyle National Championship. In 2008. When he was in 8th grade. So to say he's shouldering pressure to win a national championship at Cornell is an understatement. In this installment of "getting to know" Mark talks about mitigating the pressure, wrestling with his brother Mike (an assistant coach and former All-American for Cornell) and his quest for a national title.

Matt Schultz: If you could be any superhero, who would you be?

Mark Grey: The Hulk because he's really strong and can power through anything.

MS: Do you have a little "Hulk" in you on the wrestling mat?

MG: Yeah, of course! I try to use my strength to break people.

MS: How would you describe your wrestling style?

MG: I'm kinda goofy, to be honest. I like to have fun. I'll be serious, but then I'll just do something crazy out there on the mat. I like to let it fly, have fun and put up as many points as I can.

MS: You came into Cornell as a four-time national prep champion, among other accolades. How much external pressure do you feel to succeed?

MG: At first I felt there was going to be a lot of pressure because I'm Mike's brother, but then it kinda went away because I was at TC3 for a year and I wasn't in the Cornell spotlight. This year it kinda came back. I saw it from the beginning of our duals in Madison Square Garden all the way to the Rutgers dual. I lost [against Rutgers] and I was so worried about winning and losing and everything being on me, rather than just having fun, competing and trying to put up points. Not caring about anything else, other than just going hard for seven minutes and knowing that my opponent got everything I had for the full seven minutes.

MS: For most wrestlers the pressure gets worse as the postseason approaches. How do you combat that additional pressure?

MG: I've just been able to let it go. I don't really care about that anymore. It was actually a great thing – I mean, it sucks, but – when I lost to Dellafave [Rutgers] I was like, "I'm done. I'm done caring about anything. I'm just gonna come into practice every day, go as hard as I can, try to work as hard as anyone on the team and just try to be a leader and have fun."

MS: Regardless of anyone else's expectations, what are your expectations for yourself?

MG: National champ. That's it. National champ every year. One year at a time though!

MS: Your brother, Mike, was an All-American at Cornell and is currently an assistant coach for the Big Red.  What's it like having him alongside you as you begin your Cornell career?

MG: It's actually awesome. I came here to be with him. I wanted him as my coach; I didn't want to go anywhere else. Last year he was in practice some of the time, because we [at TC3] were able to practice at Cornell three times a week, but now I see him every day. He's kinda like a brother/dad/coach to me. You know, he has every aspect. Sometimes the dad part will come out if I'm messing up outside of wrestling. The coach part is there almost all the time. The brother is there if I break down in practice, have a bad practice or something, because he's there to comfort me. I just feel like everything is going to be possible because he's here with me.

MS: It's pretty cool that you get to train with Mike and can wrestle against him frequently in practice. After all, you've been wrestling against him your entire life! Are there some heated battles that take place in the wrestling room?

MG: Oh yeah, definitely. When we wrestle we always joke around, but when it comes to live wrestling we try to beat each other up!

MS: I've heard that it's a bad idea to say "Mike is tougher than Mark". Why is that such a hot-button topic for you?

MG: Because he's not. That's just it. Haha. I work harder than him. He's a coach now; I'm tougher than him. He's obviously tough – but I feel like he's mentally tougher now than he was in college. He's all about "you gotta be tough". Everything revolves around toughness. As a coach I think it's different than as an athlete. When you're an athlete you're only focused on yourself, but when you're a coach you can see other people, see if they break and get perspective on the importance of being tough. {under his breath} …but yeah, I'm tougher.

MS: Do you feel toughness is one of the biggest factors in being able to win a national championship?

MG: Oh yeah, definitely. Toughness, but also being able to dominate and not care.

MS: What do you have to do to dominate and not care?

MG: Go forward, push the pace and think about scoring the next point. No matter what happens – if you get taken down or whatever – just score the next point. Get out, score the next point. Get a takedown. Just focus on that and everything else, I've learned, will come.

MS: What are you studying and what would you like to do with it in the future?

MG: Right now I'm in development sociology, but I'm hoping to transfer to communications by next spring. Going from there, I'd like to do something in the business world. My mom has connections in healthcare, so possibly sales or marketing in the healthcare field. I'll be a wrestling coach for a couple of years and will be training for the Olympics in 2020, but other than that I want to branch out of wrestling.

MS: Off the mat, who is Mark Grey?

MG: Mark Grey is a kid who likes to have fun. A huge video gamer. NCAA Football 2014 is my thing. I'm very good. I like to get to church on Sunday or Saturday. I've always been brought up to go to church and I like to keep that going; I feel like it's good to have him on your side. I guess I just like kinda being goofy and bringing a lively spirit to guys in the house. Just being that guy who, whenever someone's feeling down, I can bring them back up.

MS: How does your off-the-mat personality translate into your wrestling style?

MG: It lets me just be free. Just go out there, not hold back and not be so tight. If you're tight you're just holding yourself back and it's just stupid. When you're just loose and you let it fly and have fun - while being controlled and not tightening up or holding yourself back – well, the sky's the limit.

Mark Grey is currently 24-4 on the season and is ranked 15th in the latest Intermat Poll.

Follow Grey and the Big Red at the 2014 NWCA National Duals in Columbus, Ohio on February 16-17. Cornell will wrestle Sunday, February 16 at 7 p.m. against the winner of Virginia Tech/Oregon State. If the Big Red win, they'll compete in the semifinals on Monday, February 17 at 1p.m. and in the finals or third-place match later that afternoon at 4 p.m. The semifinals and finals will air live on Big Ten Network. Preliminary rounds can be viewed by paid subscribers at Flowrestling.org. All Cornell matches will be broadcast live by Matt Schultz on ESPN Ithaca – 1160 AM and 107.1 FM - and can also be heard online at ESPNIthaca.com.