Imagine never losing. Never having a single slipup. Not once facing the agony of defeat.

Such is the life of John Meeks — or at least it was.

Iowa high school wrestling aficionados still remember Meeks. The Des Moines native starred at Roosevelt High School, where he racked up four consecutive state titles and an undefeated record.

Meeks stepped onto the mat 168 times in his high-school career and walked away with a victory each and every time. He was just the sixth wrestler in the history of Iowa high school wrestling to accomplish an undefeated career.

“It was great,” Meeks said with a big grin and a laugh. “But you know things change when you get to college.”

Things sure have changed. He is not interested in talking about his high school glory days anymore.

His past two years have been a tumultuous stretch that saw him fall from top dog to middle of the pack. Now, Meeks is focused solely on getting back to the top.

“I’m still the same person,” Meeks said. “It doesn’t really faze me. I understand what I accomplished and what I did, but you got to let it go when it comes to this point.”

Meeks, a highly touted recruit, chose to stay close to home and wrestle at Iowa State. Meeks had drawn national recognition in high school, being ranked as the second-best wrestler in the country at his weight class by InterMat, an association that ranks high school and collegiate wrestlers.

His high-ranking status and undefeated high school record meant Meek’s arrival at Iowa State was highly anticipated among local wrestling fans. The transition from high-school standout to college standout is not an easy one, however.

Meeks struggled throughout the course of his freshman season and ended the year with a 13-13 record, including a 7-9 record in dual meets. The .500 season was a far cry from his 168-0 high-school career.

“It sucked,” Meeks said of his freshman season struggles. “I hate losing. I hate getting taken down. And then when I go out there, and I wrestle, and sometimes I see myself on camera, and I’m just giving up, and that’s not me.”

Meeks said the main reason for his struggles were effort issues. He felt like he just wasn’t giving the necessary effort needed to win matches. ISU coach Kevin Jackson thinks Meeks may have come to Iowa State with the illusion that his high-school success would transfer over to collegiate level easily.

“A lot of times when you dominate like he’s dominated [in high school] you think it’s going to be easy,” Jackson said of Meeks. “I asked him [recently], I said, ‘When’s the last time a match has been easy, that a guy hasn’t tried his best or competed at a high level?’ He said never. It’s never happened.”

Meeks learned that lesson the hard way that first year of college wrestling. Another issue for Meeks might have been trying to live up to his reputation from his high-school days. Meeks may have felt some of that pressure from the outside, but a good portion of it was self-imposed.

“[I was] just worried about keeping my record,” Meeks said. “I [was] more focused on just winning, trying not to lose and when you think about that, things happen. I wasn’t focused, I wasn’t doing things right.”

Meeks quickly found that he would not dominate college wrestling like he did high school wrestling. At least not right away. Any dreams of following up his undefeated high school career with an undefeated college career were quickly dashed.

“It just comes with the territory,” Meeks said. “It’s going to happen. You’re going to get taken down, you’re going to lose in college. Not many people go undefeated … I just didn’t wrestle any of those [freshman season] matches. I felt like I could win them all, but I just didn’t wrestle any of them. I was hesitant.”

After struggling through his initial season, Jackson did something unconventional with Meeks. Jackson decided to redshirt Meeks for what would have been his sophomore season. Redshirt years are common for true freshman or injured athletes who need to mature or recover because it gives athletes an extra year of eligibility. Meeks was neither.

Meeks had no issue with the news that he would be redshirting and took it in stride.

“I was fine with [redshirting],” Meeks said. “Whatever coach says, I’m going to do.”

Meeks said Jackson told him he wanted him to work on improving his abilities in the top position as well as finding a way to get his effort issues in check.

A maturation process was also needed. Meeks needed time to grow out of his own high-school shadow and grow into his new role.

“We wanted him to mature,” Jackson said. “We wanted him to recognize the simplicity of the sport. If you go out there and wrestle to your ability, give effort in every single situation, then you’ll be fine. His redshirt year we saw that improvement. There’s no pressure, no stress … so we did see that improvement.”

Meeks competed in a few tournaments unattached during his redshirt season and performed well, albeit against lower-quality opponents. Meeks rolled up an 11-1 record as he took home first place in the Kaye Young Open and third place in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

Sure, Meeks’ opponents might have been below-average but that was not the point. The fact of the matter was that John Meeks was getting back to dominating. It still wasn’t the level of dominance in high school but his effort was there and the results followed.

Meeks came into the 2014 season fresh and ready to go. Now a redshirt sophomore, he was slotted as the starter in the 141-pound weight class at the beginning of the season.

Meeks hoped to reassert himself and show what he was capable of. He aimed to return to the John Meeks of high school, not the John Meeks of his freshman season.

Meeks opened up the 2014 season with a win in Iowa State’s dual against Utah Valley University, then subsequently dropped three straight matches. The early-season struggles were reminiscent of his freshman season.

After a disappointing first few duals, Jackson said he had hoped Meeks would have started the year out a little bit better.

“[Meeks] can compete with anybody in the country,” Jackson said. “His ceiling is very, very high. He just has to tap into the mental side of the sport and that’s a challenge for young guys, but he’s in his third year now so he should recognize and make those adjustments himself.”

So far this season, Meeks has been unable to show his coach that he has improved the mental aspects of his game. For the Cy-Hawk dual in Iowa City on Nov. 29, Dante Rodriguez, a true freshman, was chosen by Jackson to wrestle at the 141-pound weight class instead of Meeks.

Even though Rodriguez lost the matchup, Jackson sounded pleased with his effort afterward and made it sound as if Rodriguez would be the go-to guy at 141-pounds for the foreseeable future.

“He was our best guy,” Jackson said of the decision to give Rodriguez the start instead of Meeks. “He was the guy most capable of performing at a high level for us. I’m happy with his effort. He was right in that match.”

It’s another bump in the road as Meeks looks to get back to the dominating levels he became so accustomed to throughout his high-school career. Perhaps the latest development in the story of John Meeks will be a wake-up call.

“I would hope for anyone [that] it would fuel your fire,” said Kyle Larson, redshirt sophomore wrestling at the 125-pound weight class. “It just goes to show you what everyone is working for everyday.”

Instead of trying to get back to dominating, Meeks will have to turn his focus to simply getting back into the starting lineup.

Now, Meeks will find himself back in the wrestling room far away from the screaming fans, the pressures of competing and long removed from his 168-0 high-school record.

That’s in the past. His freshman season, his redshirt season and even the beginning of this season is all in the past now.

So what’s next for John Meeks?

“Just go out there and scrap,” Meeks said.

Meeks’ new mantra will have to carry over into the wrestling room until he gets another chance to prove himself. A chance to prove that he can dominate like he once did.

It’s been a journey so far for Meeks, who still has a long ways to go in his collegiate career. But the past two seasons and the beginning of this season have taught him a valuable lesson, one that he will carry with him as he goes forward.

“Not everything is going to be given to you,” Meeks said. “You got to go take it.”