By Amy Lynch
NCAA.com
Naret Viravong says he wouldn’t have a successful career in medical sales without one thing: college wrestling.

“The sport has taught me so much about discipline and hard work,” he said. “It also provided me the opportunity to get a college education and beat the odds.”

The sixth of seven children, Viravong was born in 1974 in Ban Sai Fong, Laos – a small village near the capital city of Vientiane. There was a price on Viravong’s father’s head because of his work with the CIA during the Vietnam War, resulting in the family having to sneak out of the village in the night and swim across the Mekong River to safety. They lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for a year before immigrating to the United States in 1980. Through a church sponsorship, they settled in Oklahoma.

“It was a struggle,” Viravong recalled. “My parents had no college education, didn’t speak English well and worked minimum-wage jobs trying to feed nine mouths. We all wore hand-me-down clothes, and we heated our house by turning on the oven and opening the door until a friend bought us a kerosene heater.”

Because they were expected to pitch in to support the family financially, there wasn’t much opportunity for the children to take part in extracurricular activities. Viravong had a newspaper route, mowed lawns and hauled hay.

However, there was no cost to participate in sports through the public school he attended. Too small for football or basketball, Viravong quickly found his niche in wrestling.

“My junior high school assistant wrestling coach was the first person to see potential in me,” he said. “We were so poor, my parents couldn’t take us to practices or watch us in tournaments, so my coach would give me rides. He made me a better wrestler, and a better person.”

Read Full Story