Eating the right food. Making weight. And, of course, beating the other guy on the mat.

Warsaw Community High School senior Chris Elvidge says his favorite sport, wrestling, is a mindset.

Interesting enough, it's something in the talented grappler's head that almost cost him his senior season with the Tigers.

But in the end, not even a string of concussions were able to keep Elvidge from participating in the sport that he calls a way of life, and today, he and his brother, freshman Matt Elvidge, as well as Wawasee's Chase Davis, will do battle at the Merrillville Semistate.

Though in his final season of high school wrestling, Chris Elvidge, the Tigers' star in the 135-pound weight class, is competing in the state tournament for the first time.

He, like his brother and Davis, is just two wins away from advancing to next week's state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

"I've never been there before," Chris Elvide said of wrestling today in the semistate. "Every year I've been out with injury. It's a pretty big thing to me. I feel like a freshman again. I've always been put out at the NLC (match) or had something stupid happen. I'm excited to be there this year."

The oldest Elvidge brother almost didn't make it there this year, having been told by doctor after doctor that he couldn't wrestle because of suffering concussions throughout his career. It forced him to stop playing football, where he was a running back.

After a number of doctors steered him away from wrestling this season, he ended up with the Fort Wayne Komets' team doctor, who had plenty of experience with concussions and who gave him the green light.

Since then, he has been on the go, and enters today's semistate competition with a 32-5 record.

He leads Tony Boley's Tigers in wins, points, falls and two-point near falls. He is second on the team in major decisions and three-point near falls.

Matt Elvidge, a freshman wrestling in the 130-pound weight class, takes a 28-5 record into today's semistate round.

The younger Elvidge leads the team in takedowns and is second in wins, points and reversals.

"They're very good wrestlers," said Boley, who coached his three sons, Rob, Anthony and Kyle, and knows what it means for assistant coach Brian Elvidge to be staring down a berth in the state finals for his sons. "They are leaders on this teams. Not necessarily vocal, but as a family, they have put in their time, like I did with my boys. The difference between them and my boys is my boys played basketball and baseball. They (the Elvidges) wrestle all the time. They travel all over the place looking for better competition."

The Elvidges said they have been to Oklahoma, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania to wrestle. Their list of travels is almost as long as their list of accomplishments.

Of all the states they've been to, it's Pennsylvania that might be closest to their heart.

Pennsylvania is where Brian Elvidge grew up and wrestled in high school. It's where his two sons lived until about nine years ago, in Canton, a city about 65 miles north of Williamsport.

And it's where the Elvidges say wrestling is life.

And so here they are now in Hoosierland, where high school basketball rules, or at least it once did.

"Out there, wrestling is life," said Matt Elvidge.

"I love the intensity and being out there on the mat," said Chris Elvidge. "Nobody else has your back. You have to take care of the other guy yourself. It's a great adrenaline rush."

The Elvidges got hooked up with the Warsaw wrestling program through some friends in South Whitley, who told them about Warsaw's club wrestling.

Since then it's been a great fit and fun for the whole family.

While they call their bond on the mat "brotherly love," don't expect them to extend any pleasantries to their opponents today. [[In-content Ad]]