Class of 2007

Joshua Etu began wresting in 1985 at 4 years old, winning his first local tournament, the Queensbury Mat Rat Tournament, the following year. He began wrestling Freestyle in 1993 and won the 12-and-under NYS championship that year. In 1994 he added Greco-Roman style, winning the NYS 14-and-under title in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman style. In 1995, he won the Northeast Regionals in both styles. In 1996, Joshua won his first national tournament, the 16-and-under World Team Trials in Greco-Roman style. In 1997, Queensbury was the top-ranked dual-meet team in NYS and Josh won all four matches at 220 (the final dual meet weight class that year) that determined dual meet victories, including the finals of the Union-Endicott dual meet tournament, where Queensbury needed a major decision to secure the title.

Following a loss in the 1997 Section 2 finals, Joshua would have his most productive year. By wrestling at as many as four tournaments a weekend, he would amass a record in 12 months of 104-4, with 2 of those losses at the Open level. He won the NYS championships, Northeast regional and Southeast regional in both styles. He won the 16-and-under World Team Trials in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman style and the 16 and under Nationals in Fargo, ND in both styles. Electing to compete in Greco-Roman style, Josh pinned his way through the World Championships. He gave away 1 point in the quarterfinals, a reversal. That match was his longest, lasting 1 minute and 19 seconds. He won his other 4 matches by fall in less than a minute. In the fall of 1997, Josh was selected as a Junior, the 1st captain of Queensburys football team, which hadnt had a winning season in 13 years. That team lost in the NYS finals, finishing 12-1 and Joshua was selected as a 1st Team All-State offensive guard. He would finish off that year, with a 38-0 varsity wrestling record include a title at the Beast of the East Tournament at the University of Delaware and pinning his final 16 opponents of the year, including his opponents at the Class Sectionals, Section II Finals and New York State Championships. He was named the Champion-of-Champions of the NYS tournament, national Belt Series Champion as the best high school wrestler at any weight across all-three styles and an Asics 1st Team All American.

The following year he was less successful, finishing second in the 18-and-under Fargo Nationals, losing again in the NYS football title game and losing in the semi-finals of the NYS Wrestling Championships, wrestling back to third on a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee.

Without a weight class near his size (~225 lbs.) in the NCAA, Josh wrestled at 285lbs for the University of Virginia. He won numerous tournaments for the Wahoos including two Virginia State Intercollegiate Championships, the Lock Haven Invitational, the Penn State Open and the University National Championships in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman Style. He was 7th in the 2000 Final Olympic Trials and 5th in the 2002 US Open. In 2003 he won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, before ending his career in the practice room, by tearing multiple ligaments in his right knee, prior to the NCAA Championships. He graduated later that spring with a degree in astrophysics.

After wrestling, Joshua worked two years at Columbia University Medical Center, researching methods to deliver drugs to treat brain tumors and strokes. He published 7 peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic in 22 months of work. Since 2005, he has worked as a contractor developing novel weapon systems for the Department of Defense. Josh earned his MBA in 2010. He has been happily married since 2004, with a daughter born in 2007, and sons in 2009 and 2013.