Bubba Wilson state

Then-Manhattan High senior Bubba Wilson battles Wichita South’s Malachi Karibo. Wilson for the state title in 2019. Wilson won Nebraska’s “Redshirt of the Year” in his first season in Lincoln.

PARK CITY — When Manhattan’s Bubba Wilson popped up after winning the state championship for the second year in a row, he turned to the crowd, flexed his bicep and pointed to it.

It’s not just some macho act. The roaring fans probably couldn’t see what he pointed to, but a closer look reveals a tattoo.

It reads: “PG;”.

The “P” and “G” are the initials of Parker Greening, Wilson’s best friend who committed suicide in 2017, just before Wilson began his junior season. The semicolon is for Project Semicolon, which focuses on suicide prevention.

“If I can’t be here with him, then I might as well do it through him,” Wilson said. “It motivated me a lot day in and day out, just trying to do something for something bigger than me, not just myself.”

And to go along with that, his mom’s house burned down around Christmas. Wilson lived in a hotel for a period of time. He often had to scavenge for things to eat.

The mat was his escape. He said he would still cry, but wrestling was his way to clear his mind.

“He had to separate his emotions when he was on the mat,” MHS coach Robert Gonzales said. “Because what can happen when you’re wrestling for another person, you’ll lose sight. And so he was able to still keep sight of his goals, still wrestle for his best friend and his best friend’s memory. And for that, that’ll be a nice legacy for Bubba.”

If you want an idea of the type of senior leader Wilson is, here goes: He had just handled Wichita South’s Malachi Karibo to win another state title, but in the moment, he was a bit angry. He badly wanted the pin because it would have given his team’s bonus points. He didn’t care about himself.

“Basically, I was running after him the whole time,” Wilson said. “He wanted to continue to back up 24/7 and not wrestle me, and he just wanted to keep it close and try to survive. So that’s what happens when you just try to go out there and not wrestle.

“He wanted to keep running for me. Annoying.”

He later added: “Honestly, it’s aggravating, because I wanted that pin. He wanted to run from me the entire match. But he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

Because of that — and the adversity he faced junior year — he said the title he won last season felt better. He also defeated an opponent who had beaten him twice before that.

The Indians fell three points short of Derby. But with the victory, Wilson ended his high school career with 150 wins.

One theme of his career, he said, is patience. There were times when he would work hard and not know if it would pay off. There were times when it didn’t appear to be paying off.

But sometimes, Wilson said, you just have to wait. There were times when he was down on himself.

“I wish I could lie to you and say, ‘No, I never had a doubt in my mind,’” Wilson sid. “But there’s times when you take a tough loss and you have doubts. ‘Jeez, is this the best of my potential?’ Sometimes it’s not. But sometimes you’re just made to lose. But I’m going to continue to give it all I got, win or lose.”

He finished the season 41-2. He wishes he could’ve had one last pin, but he’s still left a mark on the program.

“Every time one of our kids has a tendency to get down, I’ll say, ‘What would Bubba do? Bubba’s not going to let you guys get down,’” Gonzales said. “He’s going to crack a joke or say, ‘Coach, give me a Rick Flair, give me two claps.’”

Wilson believes he sets too high of goals for himself. He’s always done that.

When he entered high school, he wanted to win a state championship four times. He won it twice.

He wants to someday be a world champion.

But first, college. Nebraska is months away from seeing what it’s getting in Wilson.

“Honestly, I can’t say much for my talent, but they’re going to get somebody that’s going to go in there and work hard day in, day out no matter what happens,” Wilson said. “Whether I start right away or I don’t ever start, or whether I win four NCAA titles or I don’t make it to the NCAA Tournament, I’m just going to go in there and give it my all every single day.”