Muhammad Farooq did what everyone did during the pandemic.
Farooq is a senior at Northeast High School, and a few months before the world shut down, he moved from Pakistan to Philadelphia.
He was learning the language and getting comfortable in his new surroundings when the world shut down.
Farooq had nothing to do, and the former basketball player stayed home, watched TV and did very little working out.
“I was born in Pakistan, and I came here in 2019,” Farooq said. “I was in sixth grade. I wasn’t really big, I was about 190 when I came to the States. When COVID happened, everything shut down, I sat on the couch and ate and gained a lot of weight.”
For many, it didn’t turn out great. For him, it led to four championships.
By the time Farooq got to high school, he wanted to go out for the Northeast basketball team, but he quickly realized he wasn’t in the best shape to do that. As he was leaving the gym, he saw a sign for wrestling signups. He gave it a shot, and although it was a rocky start, it couldn’t have turned out better.
“Now I love wrestling, I love it, but it wasn’t always like that,” Farooq said. “I knew I couldn’t play basketball, I tried to go out for the team after the season started. But wrestling was about to start, so I just decided to try it.
“First practice, actually the first few practices, I hated it, it was the worst time in my life. But I stuck with it and I loved it. I’m so glad I didn’t quit. It was really hard, but I stuck with it. I really wanted to do it.”
He didn’t just do it. He’s a four-year champion.
Farooq won by decision at heavyweight, helping the Vikings defeat George Washington 44-12, giving Northeast its fifth straight Public League championship.
Sayaire Anderson (pin), Victor Lima (decision), James Sanchez (decision), Georges Eliam (decision), Damon Ross (pin), Samiyah Rahming (decision), Diego Rosario (pin) and Archil Paulin (decision) also scored victories for Northeast. Nazim Ibragimov (pin), Islombek Faziddinov (decision) and Isardor Madorifov (decision) earned wins for the Eagles.
It was special for Farooq for many reasons. He will never know what it’s like to finish a season without winning a Public League championship, and now he knows what it’s like to be the leader of a championship team.
“Before the season, there was some talk about other teams getting better and we lost a lot of seniors, so this was a tough year,” Farooq said. “I didn’t want to end my career with a loss without a championship. That was the thing that helped me work a little bit harder and push my teammates. We didn’t want to lose in the Public League. It’s not just for us it’s for the program. And they did it.
“It was great because we really beat a good team. Washington was good when we beat them during the regular season, and we had a lot of injuries. We wrestled really well (in the championship). It means more because Washington is good.”
Northeast didn’t qualify for the state team tournament. It lost to La Salle in the city championship and then suffered a defeat to St. Joe’s Prep in the second-place matchup. That ends the team portion of the season, but Farooq now turns his attention to the Public League individual championships, and he has huge goals there.
“I love wrestling with my team, this season was great because not only was I a wrestler, but I was a captain, so I tried to be a good leader and help everyone,” Farooq said. “But I love wrestling in (individual) tournaments because it’s just you. It’s you and you’re out there on your own. Wrestling is an individual sport, so it’s fun when you’re out there because if you win or lose, it’s on you.
“I really want to have a great season. My goal is to win the Public League tournament, then see what I can do at districts and hopefully make regions and then who knows? I’d love to make states.
“I work out with our coaches mostly. Because I’m a heavyweight, I usually partner with one of the coaches. They’re very strong so it helps me a lot. Plus they have so much experience, they have me prepared for any scenario I could face. I hope it helps me in states.”
Farooq has dreams beyond high school.
He hopes to wrestle in college, and he’s a strong student, maintaining a 3.5 grade point average in honors classes.
“I definitely want to go to college,” Farooq said. “Major? For now it’s biology, but if something happens, I might change it to business or maybe get a law degree. For now it’s biology, I want to work in medicine.”
He also is looking forward to playing lacrosse in the spring.
And leaving a lasting legacy at Northeast.
“There’s not a lot of teams that won four championships,” Farooq said. “I loved it here. It’s a great school, I’m really proud how we wrestled this year. We had a lot of our main guys hurt but we all worked hard and we did it. This was a great season.”
