Rudy Schaffroth had always planned to continue fighting after his amateur wrestling career was over. It just took some time (and a near-death experience or two) to get the ball rolling.
Long before becoming an unbeaten heavyweight prospect, the 32-year-old Schaffroth was a standout wrestler growing up in the area of Oregon now known as Damascus, formerly of Clackamas County. After high school, he bounced around at a few colleges, where he continued to compete when he was academically eligible.
First, it was Portland State, a situation that Schaffroth blames himself for spoiling due to having a bad attitude; then Schaffroth ended up at Clackamas Community College, where he rebuilt his reputation on the mats enough to receive a scholarship offer from Montana State University-Northern.