For dad and coach Chris Creason Sr., the goal for his son was to allow him to wrestle against grapplers of all backgrounds and styles.
That drive to compete against the nation's finest took Creason to about 30 states. Sometimes, to face the best wrestlers, he wrestled up a weight class or vice versa or even joined a bracket above his age.
"Going around with my dad, he would push me to my max," Creason said. "We would go to one club and another, trying to find me the best partners. Go out of state and wrestle the best competition."
That approach paid off.
Creason won an individual 2025 CIF State championship on March 1, beating Buchanan's Leo Contino by a 4-1 decision. He won four of his six state matches in dominating fashion, two by pin and two by technical fall. His other two wins came by decision.
Creason, a junior, is the first Tulare County boys wrestler to bring home a state gold medal since Mission Oak's Jaden Enriquez accomplished the same feat in 2017. He is also the first Visalia boys wrestler in nearly half a century to stand atop the podium. Mt. Whitney's Scott Jones claimed the state heavyweight title in 1980.
The Creasons credited that success to their commitment to finding the best wrestlers to compete against.
"If we were the best in the room, that didn't do us any good," said Creason Sr., who is in his first season as the Miners boys wrestling head coach. "We were constantly looking for anyone better. Move him up an age group just to get that challenge. Make him work. We traveled two, three hours one way just to get a practice in and come back and do it again the next day."
And even when Creason would come out victorious in those matches, he was always hungry for more.
"It wasn't enough," Creason said. "I wanted to go find a better and tougher person to wrestle."
Wrestling has taken the Creasons to states like Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma.
"It was fun," Creason Sr. said. "We made the best out of it. We would drive and stop and look at places, just have fun with it."
Creason concurred.
"It was fun," Creason said. "I loved it. I loved being able to travel, either try new things or be at new places."
Creason estimates that he has wrestled close to 1,000 matches, maybe more, up to this point of his career. His weekends are usually filled with training or tournaments.
Creason culminated his state-championship season with a 41-6 record. During his sophomore year, he went 40-6 en route to a sixth-place medal at state.
Combined, Creason is 81-12 in two seasons with El Diamante. He was home-schooled as a freshman.
"We double bracket, sometimes, we triple bracket if we got the chance," Creason Sr. said. "We're always about the matches."
Creason draws inspiration from his dad and family.
Because of his weight, he weighed just 70 pounds, Chris Sr. never got to wrestle in high school.
So every time Creason takes the mat, he also wrestles for those who can't.
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