In the thrilling world of sports, the journey of an athlete is as compelling as the sport itself. We were incredibly fortunate to have Lauren Louvive share her unique transition from barrel racing to the wrestling mat on our show. Barrel racing and wrestling may seem worlds apart, but Lauren's journey is a testament to the versatility and determination of an athlete.
Lauren's fascinating journey, however, is only a part of this episode's story. Listen in as we explore Lauren's experiences of high school and collegiate wrestling and making a mark in a highly competitive world. Lauren recounts some of her unforgettable tournaments, and the perseverance it takes to navigate from high school wrestling to college mats and beyond. She shines a light on the unique journey of a female wrestler who managed to balance work and training all the way to the Olympic Training Center.
We end this loaded episode with Lauren taking us through her training regimen, upcoming competitions, and her involvement with the AWA girls wrestling class. The tales of these inspiring journeys and the evolution of women's wrestling serve as a testament to the dedication, determination, and resilience required to achieve success in sports. So, if you're a sports enthusiast or just someone intrigued by the world of wrestling, you don't want to miss this episode.
The links below are the links to all of Lauren's sponsors and affiliates! Check them out for more info on Lauren's brands!
Yes Athletics - Women's Wrestling Shoes:
You can use Affiliate Athlete code: Lauren Louive
https://yesathleticsusa.com/
Barbarian Apperal Lauren Louive Store:
https://www.barbarianapparel.com/teamstores/LAUREN-LOUIVE-c35219032
Lauren's Place For Weight Training And Injury Prevention:
https://www.nxlevelathletics.com/
AWA Delifeild/Lake County Girls Classes Sunday 4-5:30 And Are FREE!
https://awawisconsin.com/
Laren's Mind Training Guru:
Email : info@mikegillette.com
For Mike Gillette Mindboss!
Ludis Athletics - Another Go-To For Lauren's Training And A Sponsor:
https://ludisathletics.com/
Appleton Tattoo Links
https://www.facebook.com/appletontattoo
https://www.instagram.com/mark_appletontattoo/
920 Hat Co. Links
https://920hatco.com/
https://www.instagram.com/920hatco/
https://www.facebook.com/920HatCo
In the thrilling world of sports, the journey of an athlete is as compelling as the sport itself. We were incredibly fortunate to have Lauren Louvive share her unique transition from barrel racing to the wrestling mat on our show. Barrel racing and wrestling may seem worlds apart, but Lauren's journey is a testament to the versatility and determination of an athlete.
Lauren's fascinating journey, however, is only a part of this episode's story. Listen in as we explore Lauren's experiences of high school and collegiate wrestling and making a mark in a highly competitive world. Lauren recounts some of her unforgettable tournaments, and the perseverance it takes to navigate from high school wrestling to college mats and beyond. She shines a light on the unique journey of a female wrestler who managed to balance work and training all the way to the Olympic Training Center.
We end this loaded episode with Lauren taking us through her training regimen, upcoming competitions, and her involvement with the AWA girls wrestling class. The tales of these inspiring journeys and the evolution of women's wrestling serve as a testament to the dedication, determination, and resilience required to achieve success in sports. So, if you're a sports enthusiast or just someone intrigued by the world of wrestling, you don't want to miss this episode.
The links below are the links to all of Lauren's sponsors and affiliates! Check them out for more info on Lauren's brands!
Yes Athletics - Women's Wrestling Shoes:
You can use Affiliate Athlete code: Lauren Louive
https://yesathleticsusa.com/
Barbarian Apperal Lauren Louive Store:
https://www.barbarianapparel.com/teamstores/LAUREN-LOUIVE-c35219032
Lauren's Place For Weight Training And Injury Prevention:
https://www.nxlevelathletics.com/
AWA Delifeild/Lake County Girls Classes Sunday 4-5:30 And Are FREE!
https://awawisconsin.com/
Laren's Mind Training Guru:
Email : info@mikegillette.com
For Mike Gillette Mindboss!
Ludis Athletics - Another Go-To For Lauren's Training And A Sponsor:
https://ludisathletics.com/
Appleton Tattoo Links
https://www.facebook.com/appletontattoo
https://www.instagram.com/mark_appletontattoo/
920 Hat Co. Links
https://920hatco.com/
https://www.instagram.com/920hatco/
https://www.facebook.com/920HatCo
Music, music, music, music, music Music.
Speaker 2:And we're live. We are live. We have a very special guest with us today. We kind of been waiting to talk to you a little bit about doing an episode. We have with us a very special guest, Lauren Louvi, and I hope I say the last name correctly.
Speaker 3:How are you doing today Good, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm all right. How was your Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3:It was good. It was good. I cooked my own turkey this year. It's awesome. I cooked it just a little too long, but that's okay, it's something.
Speaker 2:Proud moment. Right, yeah, Anything special you did with it. You're like this is different than anyone else's. Were you just trying?
Speaker 3:to keep it as simple. I put lemon on the inside of it. It's supposed to make it fresher.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, tip for all you turkey cookers. So that's awesome, it's good. Family, I assume, came around and we're able to do it.
Speaker 3:No, I stayed here in Wisconsin and went to practice and just kind of hung out, just kind of chill day, so yeah, Nice, Nice, Very cool.
Speaker 2:So we're here to talk about you. Like I told you before, this is your story, your tale. We want to make sure that we you know we're going to go from the beginning to now where you're at now. So we know that you've done some pretty great things here, but it's all led up from somewhere. So you, you got your beginnings in Ohio not the slouchiest group of wrestlers in that state, that's for sure. So where, when, when, when did sports really start for you? When did you kind of start getting into any sport, Like I said, soccer? What was your first memory of playing sports?
Speaker 3:Well, I guess it would be in kind of a non-conventional sport equine, so yeah.
Speaker 2:Interesting.
Speaker 3:I grew up with horses. So I grew up. My first ever sport was barrel racing. Oh, wow, One horseback. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, so you were in shape. I mean, you had to be in shape to do that. Like that's no easy task. I've I've been around horses before, so knowing that you've had to, that you've competed, doing that means you were going through some stuff. So where were you in Ohio? Like I don't think of horse racing or horse you know doing any barrel racing out of Ohio. Yeah, so did you live on a farm? Were you raising a horse farm? How did that all come about?
Speaker 3:It's a. It is a small horse farm. So my dad competed we're doing barrel racing and competed with this horse and trained horses and stuff, Just quarter horses, just local stuff, not anything like major, anything like that. But grew up doing it and yeah, so we had a, just a real small horse farm in Northeast Ohio it's a town called Masslin, masslin Ohio.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. Where does so some of the people that that are from here are familiar with like oh, let's think of some of the high schools there Masslin.
Speaker 3:Kerry.
Speaker 2:How close were you to that?
Speaker 3:That's in the same town that I grew up in, no kidding. Yeah, I didn't go to high school there. I went to Washington, which is a couple of miles down the road.
Speaker 2:but Okay, okay, my mom actually went to Perry, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. So you grew up, you started out in barrel racing with horses, so you, that's hard work. I mean, even if you're doing the local stuff, I mean, you still have to work with the horse. My grandparents own horses, and I know that just hopping on a horse isn't isn't getting it done right. You had to. You had to put some work into it. So, with your dad being in it, though, was he? Was he hoping that you'd be the national champ, you know barrel racer kind of thing? Was that his aspirations? That he was kind of hoping, maybe?
Speaker 3:I don't know. I don't know that he was hoping that. I don't know that. You know, yeah, I don't really know what he was thinking. Yeah, but my sister does still compete barrel racing and we actually got into cowboy mounted shooting. I think it was like five or seven years ago. Whoa. Yeah, so that's pretty fun. Holy cow, if you're not sure what that is.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's where you shoot 45s off a horseback and you got to shoot. You're shooting blanks at balloons. Yes, and there's 10, you got five shots each, each gun, and you switch. There's a gun change. As you round the barrel there's a gun change and fastest time wins. If you miss the balloon, it's added five seconds.
Speaker 2:Holy cow, yeah, that's impressive Number one to be in just anything with horses. Equine is tough yeah, like it's. Not only is it hard, but it's expensive as hell. Yeah. It is very expensive, and then you add guns to it. What's that?
Speaker 3:And then you add guns to it.
Speaker 2:Then you add guns. Yeah. So how American is that shit? That's very American, right. Horses and guns, man. So you started out with horse. We'll just say equine sports, because I mean I can't imagine, did you just do barrel racing? Did you try? Did you show horses too? Were you kind of showing them at the same time?
Speaker 3:We when we got into 4-H, so um so I started riding horses like my mom said that I could ride before I could walk. So we started like I mean as a baby, baby riding horses, and I remember riding by myself when I was four.
Speaker 2:In a basket. Did they have the basket on the on the set? No, no.
Speaker 3:I was just in the pasture by myself. Yeah, so yeah. I wasn't allowed to like pass the creek or whatever, but so I had a distance that I could go. But yeah, I was like four riding by myself.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. So I mean, you got you were, you were put into. You were put into the work area right away, Cause there's a lot of care involved, there are responsibilities as well. I mean you got to get up in the morning, feed them, make sure you exercise, and training and doing those things. So you're really already kind of being brought into a mindset of it takes work right. It doesn't. It's not something that you're going to be riding out and just being like, yeah, dad does that. You know there might be a couple of things dad does cause he's good at it, but you guys had to put in work. You guys had to, you know, go out to the pasture and help with the horses. So where, where did you? I mean, were you getting up at four o'clock in the morning, five o'clock in the morning, to?
Speaker 2:do anything with horses at a young age.
Speaker 3:No, my dad would do. My dad would take care of it before we went to school, but after school, okay, we had barn chores after school, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, Okay, so it's school, obviously. So obviously. There's a good balance there. You had parents that understood that you had. You know you go to school, but still you had responsibilities when you come home to do the do all the chores. Where, where, in where did you start to mix other sports in with it? You didn't just quit equine right away, Did you? You were trying a couple of things here and there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I'd actually still kind of compete in equine whenever I go back to my parents' house, so okay. Wow I still ride and still sometimes compete with just like local stuff, just for fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker 3:Nothing major, but I think I started, my parents started us in like I don't know, I played soccer, I played baseball, like church league stuff you know Nice. Yeah, and then I think middle school, I used to love to run, so I wanted to make the track team and you know you don't have to try out for track, but I thought you did.
Speaker 3:So, yeah so I used to love to run and yeah, and I wanted to be on the track team and then I found out there was this thing called cross country. So I think middle school was a big time. I started like running Okay, that's kind of what I found wrestling to because I started running track and then I was like man, I got the school record. I think like the second time I ran the mile and then I was like man.
Speaker 3:I really want to like do well at running, and so I was like I need a sport to stay in shape in the winter. And this is just my own thinking. Like I got to do something in the winter time.
Speaker 2:Right, right.
Speaker 3:And at my middle school we only had basketball and wrestling. There's only two sports you know, middle school.
Speaker 2:That makes sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was like wow basketball team and the basketball coaches were actually like they made some sort of joke, but like I took them pretty literal at the middle school age, you know. They made some sort of joke Like if you don't know how to dribble a ball, you should just leave. And I was like I don't know how to dribble a ball and I was like, oh gosh, I better leave. So I like left the meeting and then I was like, well, I better go see if I can wrestle then. And so I went and talked to the wrestling coaches and they're like, wow, we've never had a girl on team. But if you want to.
Speaker 3:I guess you can. So yeah, so I started wrestling.
Speaker 2:Very impressive. So you had the wherewithal to want to stay in shape. But before before we leave the equine sports in the dust, yeah, what were some of the most memorable moments you have from riding horses? Because I can only imagine there's got to be a couple, because it's tough Like it's not. So I, when I was younger, I dated a girl that raised Clydesdales and she showed them. I mean, she rode them as well and I was like you got to be kidding me. These things are like a ton and you're just all hanging out with 20 of them in a field, no problems whatsoever. So what were some of the biggest things you remember from any kind of barrel racing or anything equine that sticks out in your brain?
Speaker 3:Oh gosh. Well, I'm like trying to think, I'm like geez, there's a. I mean we had to like there's a bunch of stories, but yeah, yeah. Let me think. I guess one that comes to mind is like so we did like the barrel racing and stuff like growing up right, and you'd asked if I tried like showing them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in high school we did 4H and we got into, like I think it was actually middle school, high school, maybe like my eighth grade year going to ninth grade, something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I wasn't allowed to show my horse because you couldn't show. I'm trying to think how it you couldn't show, I want to say gilding, so like oh sure. Yeah, I think that's what the case. You had to be a mare or a stud. It was like some some weird rule, so the horse that I typically rode I wasn't allowed to show, and so I had to use a different horse and so my dad's like oh, you can use mine. And he had a very green, not very broke horse yeah.
Speaker 3:I was like. I was like okay, and he's also a stud, so yeah. So for anyone who doesn't know, he's not neutered if you were, and so so I was like oh, boy, okay. And so that was just a really raw horse, a really rough week, because he's not my horse, he's very green and and he's a stud.
Speaker 3:And yeah, and so he gave me kind of a hard time in the arena a couple of times and kind of like rear it up on me a couple of times, like in the arena. So I'm like showing him he's like rear it up and bucking and just like doing all this like just kind of dumb stuff and I mean. I'm in eighth grade, I think, going to ninth grade size. Like I was embarrassed and then also like mad and frustrated because I'm like he's not my horse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not my fault.
Speaker 3:Yes, so I was like this is dumb, but like so that was frustrating. So I guess that would be one story and another story, one of my, my again, my horse I had. I've had multiple horses, so Sure. My horse that I had had just passed away. Okay. And we went off. Yeah, and we went on a trail ride and so I had it was an unclaimed horse that we had on the farm Sure, he was actually Mustang.
Speaker 2:Oh boy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so, if you don't know, mustangs are are captured horses, right? Now. And we actually called this horse El Frigo, because he would have these episodes where I don't know if this is actually what was happening, but where we think that he would like revert back to maybe when he was being captured, because he would just have these moments where he's fine. And then boom, he likes, he's like freaking out.
Speaker 2:Just snaps.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. I don't know if it was that or if he was just crazy, but anyway. So I'm riding this horse and we're doing this trail in this state park that we have never been to.
Speaker 3:So, I'm riding and we're in with a big group, my family, so there's like I think there was like 10 of us in a group and like we're all riding our own horses. And I'm riding this horse and they're like Lauren, just talk to him and I'm like all right. So I'm like talking to him and then all of a sudden I look over the edge and there's a straight down like cliff. Oh no drop straight down and I start like panicking a little bit. Yes, the horse can feel that they can feel that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so he starts getting nervous and I'm like, I'm like thinking, like I'm going to go over the edge leader to find my body, like you know. Again, I think I'm probably like six or seven grade at this time. Okay, I was like, yeah it's, I'm like freaking out and finally, you know, I calm down and just start talking to the horse and he calms down.
Speaker 2:This reminds me of the great outdoors. When John Candy comes walking off the trail, everybody's back and they were riding horses. He ever seen the great outdoors? I haven't. Oh, my God, you got to watch that movie. It's hilarious. He's, they're all just on a trail ride. None of them own horses. These are just horses that are on that farm. John Candy got the one that was the oldest one and it was the one that could care less what you thought, did or said or anything like that. I think he got off because he's like well, he needs a little bit of a break. He gets off and he's like hey, you know, let's walk this way. And the horse wouldn't walk and he starts eating him. He's like Come on. And then finally the horse runs and he had to walk probably miles back to camp and he's just beaten up by branches, rad and everything. So when you say you're that, you're like I might fall off this cliff here, I was like that's perfect. It reminds me of that exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I have. I remember when my grandparents had two horses why they got horses, I don't know. Well, my grandpa had this crazy theory that if you saddle a horse up in the barn and get on them in the barn, they won't jump because they don't want to hurt themselves. And I'm like, when did you learn about horse psychology? Number one, but I was your age, I was young, you know. I was like maybe seven or eight at a time, like, yeah, grandpa, I'll get on them in the barn, not a problem. So I got on them and as soon as we got out of that barn though, that horse was up through me off my head was like that, far from hitting a bolt on a tractor tire, everything was crazy.
Speaker 2:So when I think about a young kid just being able to handle a horse and, number one, keeping your composure, it's pretty impressive Because that's scary stuff. I mean we're talking about 1500 pound animals, you know they're. They're huge, so that's cool. I mean that's an impressive start for sport. Like I said, you were. I know a lot of the guys that I that I hung around with when I was young. They were all horse. I mean those guys were in shape because it's not an easy task, a training a horse but then competing, because you're nervous, you're just as worked up as they are, but you have to keep your shit together because otherwise, like you said, the horse is sense that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they still, you had to learn some pretty key things when it comes to composure in a sport already. So, as you, as you, you, you went in there, you did can't dribble, right? Coach has already said if you can't dribble, don't even bother joining. You're like yep, done with that one. So you go to wrestling. When you get to the coaches, talk to them. They're like hey, you know what, let's try it out, see what happens. You already come from a wrestling area number one. Was that something that you guys knew of? Was it something that you guys paid attention to? Knowing what you could possibly run into as far as the level of competition, knowing? When we're talking, I'm trying to think of some of the guys that came out of Ohio, majorly like Palmer and all those Palmer's maybe Michigan, but Palmer and all those guys are down there. What's up?
Speaker 3:Dustin Slater.
Speaker 2:Yep, all those guys. So, knowing that you're kind of in an area like that, were you privy to any of that? Or were you just kind of out for the sport, didn't know a thing, and you're just like let's do this?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I didn't know anything about it. My little brother did wrestle and that was another like, oh, I could do that too.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah is that he wrestled youth wrestling so I had to go watch his practices, not being old enough to be alone or whatever. So I had to go watch his practices and then every Sunday they would compete in a youth tournament like a local youth tournament. So I'd go watch those, and I think I probably watched him wrestle like two or three years before this happened, and then I was like, oh, I'll just wrestle.
Speaker 2:I'll just wrestle.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So what are your first? Were you just going to practice with your brother? Was it out of like a convenience thing you went with him, or was it only school wrestling that you were doing?
Speaker 3:No, so we're a couple of years apart. So when I was in middle school, he's still youth wrestling. Ok, gotcha I went to my own practice.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so I just went to the middle school practice and he was still going to youth practices, so it was separate.
Speaker 2:Ok, how was that for you when you first started? How was wrestling for you when you first started? Was that a? I mean, obviously you're wrestling guys when we know the makeup and things like that but how was that for you as just an athlete Like you're, like, I think I could like this where you dig in the grind. That was involved when you first started.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it was awkward. It's awkward, but then some of the guys were like my friends anyway. So, it wasn't like too awkward because some of them I was already friends with them.
Speaker 3:It's cool stuff and so that part wasn't too bad. But I guess I did like the grind and so I stuck with wrestling because I was so successful in most of my other sports. So in high school and stuff I ended up playing. I played volleyball, I played soccer, I ran indoor and outdoor track. I even did powerlifting for like a season or something. Nice, I did a lot of those in most of the track in cross country. I was pretty successful, winning a lot of tournaments and Invitational's and school records and stuff and it was easy for me. Running was easy.
Speaker 3:And so, then, wrestling was challenging, and it was not easy, so that one kind of stuck with me because it was such a challenge and because I wasn't good at it. I wanted to be better at it.
Speaker 2:So track was running. I mean, if you can't, obviously, if you can run, they show you some technique, you can get better things like that. So as you were kind of traveling through that sport along with wrestling, did you notice that the running was helping you conditionally, especially when you see other guys in the room and there may be a little more tired than you are, because let's say that it's just football. Football shape's way different than wrestling shape and I would imagine track or cross country shape is a little different than wrestling shape. But the endurance factor, like, were you noticing, possibly, that you were able to just go and some of these other guys weren't able to go and you're like, well, just go for cross country.
Speaker 3:I honestly probably didn't notice until college when I was wrestling the girls, Wrestling the guys. I mean, they're just using strength and muscle. So, endurance isn't even necessarily coming into play yet. You know what I mean. They're being before they get tired. So, it wasn't a factor, I don't think, until I started again competing and training with the girls and college.
Speaker 2:So, as you're kind of going through middle school, you said that your brothers are doing the local tournaments and things like that in the area. Where was your first competition?
Speaker 3:Oh gosh, I don't know, somewhere in Ohio, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But just a local tournament kind of thing, yeah, just some local tournament, I'm sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I mean, god trust me. That's where I got my start and that's when I also realized that I was not going to wrestling just within the youth program itself, but I just kept doing it for some reason. But so as you were kind of competing through middle school, were there. I'm kind of interested in Ohio because I don't know, I know that they have a girls program. Now when did the girls seem kind of, was that around when you were in school at all in Ohio?
Speaker 3:I only seen one other girl while I was in high school.
Speaker 2:Oh OK.
Speaker 3:Ended up at our tournament. So my whole four years of high school I seen one girl that came to our tournament and so they put us because we were both girls they put us in the finals against each other and we were the same weight class we were both 125.
Speaker 3:But we didn't see each other in the tournament, and so I might have won a match or two, and then I was out of the tournament. And she might have won a match or two, and then she was out of the tournament, and then they both put us in the finals against each other because they're like, oh, there's two girls, and so they both took the final.
Speaker 3:Which, yeah, but I also thought I was like I didn't earn this. It's cool that they're showcasing us, but I also thought it was dumb because I was like I'm actually in the finals, they just want to. They're just putting two girls against each other. I didn't feel like I deserved to wrestle in that finals. I was glad that I got to wrestle another girl.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that makes sense. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of one of those things where you're right, I didn't earn it, but I think in hindsight it's always 2020. But it seemed like it was something that they realized that this could be a pretty cool thing for you guys, but also for the sport as well. But so that's pretty cool. So that was. Whatever your experience is, what was your? Do you remember the first match you ever won?
Speaker 3:I do. I actually do won the first match, remember it was in middle school.
Speaker 2:Okay, yep.
Speaker 3:I actually remember, because it was like I think it was like one of those try duels like where you wrestle two other times or whatever and we were wrestling another local team and they were like killing everyone, like they were like good you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Like destroy it. And I remember everyone on our team was losing. Only two guys on our team like won their matches. And so I was like oh man, and yeah, and I go out there and wrestle and this is my first year wrestling. And this kid, he just played with me the whole match, Like he just like, grinded my face into the mat and just like yeah. He didn't try and turn me, he was just doing like the power half. Yeah just arm bar. Yeah, arm bar. What a power. Power half.
Speaker 3:Yeah just grinding my face in the match and then he'd take me down and he was honestly just playing with me and I don't know what happened, but I think it was third period. So there, maybe that conditioning, but third period. I remember I was just tired of my face getting grounded into the mat and I was like ah. And so I remember we started back, neutral, whatever, and I just I took him down and somehow he ended up on his back and I was squeezing as hard as I can and my nose started bleeding and I remember I was like I can't let the ref see this, because if he sees it he's going to stop it. So I just buried my face in his neck.
Speaker 3:Yep and the kids screaming because he knows I'm bleeding and then I got the fall. I mean I was probably almost attacked, but then I had that pin, and that was my first one.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, and even better is that the guy thought he was just killing you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can't look he was.
Speaker 2:Well, but either way, you're like not today Ain't happening. That's awesome. So middle school was the beginning. What was the transition like for you? Because, again, girl wrestling guys, there wasn't a lot of girl teams, if any, obviously. What was that transition like for you? Going from middle school to high school, were you a little more obviously developed in learning the sport and knowing the sport? So were coaches kind of noticing like, hey, she can wrestle, you're probably were you a starter in high school right away. How was that transition for you?
Speaker 3:I was a starter all four years, but I still wasn't good.
Speaker 2:Do you know what I mean? Right, right, right yeah.
Speaker 3:I did have to wrestle off for the spot.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 3:I mean, I did barely make the spot every four years, like I made it by the skin of my teeth. They considered varsity spot. You wrestled off for every tournament for your spot.
Speaker 2:Oh OK.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think if you had like, I think it was like 10 or 15 varsity matches was a varsity spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And so I mean I think I'm very early made varsity every year.
Speaker 2:Still says something. Man. I mean that's four years of being a varsity in a boy sport. At the time you know that's a big deal.
Speaker 3:I wasn't good. I didn't have very many skills, I was just tough and stubborn. So that's why I'm good.
Speaker 2:Well training horses helps right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 2:Pushing around 1,500 pound animals definitely helps you kind of maybe man handle some dudes out there. So your freshman year. What was your? Do you remember the first duel that you were in for high school? You remember that? No, what was your first win in high school?
Speaker 3:I don't remember that either.
Speaker 2:You don't remember that either?
Speaker 3:No, I don't. I just remember like the tough wins, or you know what I mean, like that, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:So, as you're kind of going through what were some of the more memorable tournaments that you had Because I know sometimes a lot of these guys, especially around here, they get pretty excited about you know, I want to get back to this tournament this year because I didn't do what I wanted last year. What were some of the more memorable tournaments you had in high school?
Speaker 3:I know that we did this big tournament. That was, like you know, some of the guys that were winning like state and stuff before this particular tournament and it was huge. So I do remember like competing at that one and I remember the schedule, like when my brother wrestled at it he was wrestling at like midnight, so it was like I know it was. It was kind of crazy. It was like a holiday tournament too. So I think it was like Kierremov was before Christmas or after Christmas. It had to be after Christmas because everyone was like struggling to, like you know, lose weight and stuff around that time.
Speaker 3:So right after Christmas, maybe after Christmas, before New Year's, and everyone was like, why are we doing this? But but I do remember going to that tournament and enjoying that tournament because it was such a big tournament and you know a bunch of the like Perry guys and Jackson yeah a lot of North North Canton, so a lot of the guys doing well were competing at this tournament and so I did enjoy that one.
Speaker 3:And then this is like slightly different, but sort of what you're asking. And yeah, I wrestled this. I think it might have been one of our home tournaments. We hosted a tournament and I end up wrestling this kid and I remember them calling Louisv to the mat, but they mixed up my school of where I was from.
Speaker 3:Yeah like that's weird. They said I was from the other school but they must have just mixed up our, our last names or whatever, sure. And so I get to the mat and I'm like wrestling this kid and I noticed like halfway through the match, halfway through the match, that everyone is yelling go leave, or yelling my last name.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm like that's so weird. And then, anyhow, I ended up beating the kid, I think. I think I ended up pinning him or catching him or whatever. I ended up beating the kid and we found out after the match he was my cousin. Oh no, I didn't know him, I'd never met him, but we found out that, yeah, he was like my cousin or second cousin or something. And we had the same last name and I was like, all right, we have Louisv. Not very common so right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we ended up finding after the match that we were cousins.
Speaker 2:Interesting, and I did murder your last name, by the way. It's OK, it's OK, that's it, but interesting fact that you didn't even know this kid was your cousin. No, holy cow. Well, either way, you still, you still want to be. Another question I have for you what was? Were you cutting a lot of weight? Because, again, the chemical makeup of boys, the girls, different weight loss, different, right, I mean, even though each person is different, but just the way that we're built. How was that for you coming up and trying to make weight? Were you always just rewrestling up or were you having to cut weight as well?
Speaker 3:So when I started in middle school, I honestly don't even know what I weighed in middle school.
Speaker 2:But I definitely.
Speaker 3:I definitely wrestled up because they had the old, like the old fashion scale. That's not that you had to move them like weight on top. Yeah, I'm like why don't you guys have an act like a real scale, like that, like the doctor scale? And I was weird, but but anyway. So I don't even know what I actually weighed, you know, in middle school. And I know they had me wrestle up in middle school because they just put the guys where they thought they would win and they're like, oh, she's going to lose that right.
Speaker 3:So we're just going to. I'm pretty sure they bought me up like two weight classes in middle school, which that was not fun, and then in high school I just wrestled what I weighed until until my senior year, and so I just had to watch, you know, around Christmas time and stuff. But I didn't really cut any weight until my senior year I decided, because I wrestled 125 and 130. Ok, and then my senior year is like you know. You know, guys are tough at 125 and 130.
Speaker 2:Totally.
Speaker 3:Girls can do well, you know, with the 101 or 105 weight class against some of those guys you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I was like, all right, well, I'm not going to make that, but I decided to cut down to 119. And that was a little bit hard for me, just because, like nutritionally, I didn't really know what I was doing. You know it was. It was rough. Try to figure out. You know you think just like oh, eat salads and no, no protein right. That's so like it was interesting, and oh, don't drink water.
Speaker 3:you know like yeah that's enough that you think that you're supposed to do, and then you find out later all that was dumb. I probably should have done that, you know.
Speaker 2:So I did learn the hard way a little bit, so yeah, so knowing the age gap between you and your brother, were you and your brother on the team at the same time?
Speaker 3:Yes and no, so so no Not really no OK. We were three years apart, I think.
Speaker 2:Maybe OK.
Speaker 3:But he actually quit wrestling for a time.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 3:And so kind of. Once I got into high school, wrestling he stopped wrestling for a little bit, or like around that time. He stopped wrestling for a little bit and actually he swam for a little bit. Oh nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and my high school coach. I remember my high school coach being like super mad that he quit because he started in youth, you know, and my high school coach was also the youth coach and so I remember him being mad and like he's going to be a 200 pound swimmer. And he was right. My brother was like 220.
Speaker 2:But yeah, he's a big dude.
Speaker 3:He's big.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but.
Speaker 3:I hate. My coach was so mad he's like he belongs in the wrestling room. And I remember my brother telling me one day, like because we all did multiple sports. So, I ran. I ran cross country and played soccer, and that was in the same season.
Speaker 2:Soccer Nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, soccer cross country, but they're the same season, so I would go run, you know, five miles, eight miles, whatever it was, and then go to soccer practice.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God.
Speaker 3:Run some more and do some skills whatever, and so I remember my brother kind of wanted to do the same thing with swimming and wrestling.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and my coach. You know my wrestling coach didn't love it and I remember my brother telling me like I'm going to quit whatever sport makes me choose. So, I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to wrestle, and so I remember telling my wrestling coach don't make him choose, because he said he said whatever sport makes him choose, he'll quit. And of course you know the swim coach is like you got to choose. And then he was like all right, I choose wrestling. So I was like yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's cool. So so, knowing, knowing, as you're kind of going through high school, you had some pretty memorable moments and I guess I want to know more like around your, because recruiting happens right. I mean your junior year, were you getting any notifications about any sport, not just wrestling? But where were colleges notifying you or contacting you about any of the sports that you were in at the time?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was getting a lot of Ohio and like what is it? Ohio and like surrounding areas for cross country and track. Nice, I was getting a lot of stuff in the mail for a cross country and track and I actually that's what I was going to go do. I was going to, you know, I think I toured like Ohio State and I went to some smaller schools in Ohio and Columbus and some other areas as well toured for track and cross country. No name.
Speaker 3:I went to go check them out to in Ohio, the small.
Speaker 3:The yeah yeah, but for track and cross country, and I actually ended up going to. Well, I was going to go run and then I remember my wrestling coach was like hey, you know you could wrestle in college. And I was like what, Like wrestling in college? And he's like yeah, and that was literally it. That was our only conversation, Only just mentioned it once. And so I started like Googling, like looking stuff up like schools are, and at the time there was only five colleges in the United States that offered scholarship to women.
Speaker 2:Wow, five. Well, I can only guess which one was, because one of them you went to, but with. With that being said, what was? What was some of your thoughts? I had just had a question in my head, though, but what were some of your thoughts about? Ok, you know, I have, I have these, these scholarships already for this, these sports that I've been doing just as long as wrestling what? What was kind of your decision making process of, well, I'm going to, I'm going to actually go check in the rest of you're looking on the websites. What made you go in and pursue that?
Speaker 3:I was like well, I'm going to do both is what. I was like, oh, I'm just going to, I'll just run and wrestle, yeah, because I mean that's what I did all four years of high school. You know like multiple sports, and so I was like I'll just do both, so OK.
Speaker 2:OK, no, you had. Obviously you had, you know, a dad that was in a competitive thing. Where's mom? What's mom thinking the whole time as far as what you're doing, things that are going on Like, is she excited, she just a supportive? What was, what were your parents' reactions to, like, I guess, the trajectory of what you were kind of doing in sports?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was pretty independent. Like I was pretty independent, and so they kind of just let me do my own thing. But like yeah, and I remember, I actually do remember them like coming to, like my dad coming to you know some of my like wrestling competitions. And I actually had to ask him not to come to anymore. Because yeah, because he would make me so nervous. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I love my dad, but he was the dad that. That was like trying to tell you what to do you know you're not coach. You've never wrestled before, like you know, and so then it was just like frustrating and hard for me. So then I was like, hey, can you actually not come to anymore of my wrestling competitions? And then so you stop coming, you know, and well, hey, he got it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah he understood.
Speaker 3:My mom when I initially told, like my the first conversation when I was like, hey, I want to wrestle back in middle school, she's like no, you don't want to do that. And I was like yeah, I do. And she's like no, you don't, and anyway. And then once I started going, I mean they were, you know, both very supportive as far as, like you know, you can do it, you know once you made your mind up what you're going to do they're?
Speaker 2:like all right, we got a follower here, Make sure she's doing good, that's cool. And so I mean, obviously, every parents yeah, every parents got their own kind of dream. You know, like, as far as for their kids, you don't want to try, and we talk about a lot, you don't want to live through your kids. But at the same point, though, too, you're like do I want to go to a gym every Saturday, Thursday night or Sunday and watch the stuff? I'd rather go watch a track run. But hey, it worked out either way. And that's kind of why we ask we always look to see what people had as a support system, and obviously they let you decide and you were able to, you know, make up your own mind, and they're like all right, we're with you. You know that's, that's pretty cool. What about with your brother? When did he get back into wrestling again?
Speaker 3:Yeah, he got back in high, when he was in high school. So, I was in college at that point and then he was in high school, so he did get back in. So then when I come home on breaks and stuff and he was like way too big for me to wrestle, like he wrestled, I think, well, yeah, 191 and 250. I think he wrestled. Yeah, yeah, whatever it was. And so he was too big for me to wrestle with him. But I would go, we would go to practices together.
Speaker 3:Then I would come home to college and I would go to his high school practice because it was my high school coach and yeah, so let's talk about the elephant in the room.
Speaker 2:You're wrestling folk style right In high school. Yeah, so how being that? You went to college to wrestle, and we'll talk about that in a second. Was there ever a talk about hey, you should. We have the practices with the boys, but you should go over here and practice freestyle, because that's what women's is. Was there ever any? Anybody that's like hey, why are you wrestling folk style? You should be practicing freestyle. None of that talk.
Speaker 3:I didn't even know there was a different style. Until I got to college. I had no idea that women wrestled freestyle in college. Till I got there, oh yeah. And so I actually did compete in Fargo. Because, okay, once I decided I went to. So I decided to go to University of Converlands in Kentucky.
Speaker 2:Yep, where I went to college.
Speaker 3:And once I made that decision, it was, like you know, the summer before, like the spring before, I guess you know, before, you know, graduated and stuff, or is when I decided I was gonna go and then those coaches were like, hey, we're also the coaches for team Ohio to go out to Fargo. And I'm like, okay, cool. And they're like, so you should do this thing. And I was like, alright, I don't know what that is. And so they had us come down. I think it was like a week, and we did like a week training camp at the college that I was gonna go to, and then they drove us out to compete in Fargo. So I competed out in Fargo and I, I mean it was so it's a crash course. So when that like I'll say week.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was like trying to learn freestyle and I was like, man, this sucks, just just because it's a different style that you're gonna do. You know, once I figured it out, I actually was like wow, this is so much better, in my opinion, than folks out. It was more fun, you know. Yeah, and I didn't have to yeah, for me in high school, I always struggle with coming up on bottom, so oh yeah, oh you, just you don't have to come up from bottom, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you went on. How'd you do it? A fargo? What was that?
Speaker 3:What was your turn? I took eighth place nice. Yeah, so that's a nice first trip. Yeah, in my first match. Yeah, do you remember when people would take like a single leg and then you would do like a flip to get out of it? Yes, yeah, but four points if it's freestyle. So I forward, rolled out of it and went feet to back and gave up four and the ref was like, oh no he doesn't know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had no idea, so I thought I was getting out of a takedown and I just gave up for so you're like nope, yeah, yeah, you can't, you can't go throwing that back over towards Matt like that, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah so that's, that's pretty exciting. So you got you had put some pretty good results going to Fargo before you step on the college mat, right. So you got then from there you have prep time to get into college and college wrestling and it was. It was obviously fairly new Even then when it came to girls wrestling. So where were you guys? What was the training situation for you when you first got into college? You went to the University of the Cumberlands. Where is, where is that in the first place? A lot of people don't know.
Speaker 3:It's in Williams, williamsburg, kentucky, okay, like 12 miles from the border of Tennessee, so it's pretty yeah we get a couple Wisconsin kids that are down there currently too.
Speaker 2:So yeah, a couple boys went down there, cumberlands, I believe there's a Tennessee Cumberlands to there is, there is I think this is the one that you went to that they went After seeing the singleton stuff, I think that's. I can't remember the guys names, but I have them on a spreadsheet somewhere because I'm trying to write guys, it's great time, it's great time, but uh, the. So how was the training? As far as, obviously, guys are doing folk style in college, were they in the process of bringing more girls in for a team to be able to train with, or were they sending you somewhere to train?
Speaker 3:No, we already had 60 girls on the team.
Speaker 2:Holy Christ. Okay, wow, nicely done, cumberlands.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they were the number one. You know there's only five colleges, but yeah, we we went to Canada a lot to compete like okay every other weekend and there was a couple schools in Canada, so we did a lot of like Canada tournaments and then they would. They actually came to our nationals, which I thought was crazy that it's the United States nationals but Canada can still come. I was like, uh, it makes an international tournament technically, but right but anyway.
Speaker 3:So we did compete against Canada a lot and then you are seeing the same schools and then I mean honestly, there was a lot like five my first year, but then, I think there was like seven or eight, my second year, and then 12. You know, I mean it just kept piling on. Yeah, they kept getting more and more and more.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I kept adding programs. But yeah, when I started we had 60 girls on the roster.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's pretty cool. So that's a big shout out to those guys for that one especially, especially at the time. I mean, you're, like you said, five schools, yeah, so it's pretty impressive to have to be, I mean, I think it it's something that should have happened in the first place, but, being the schools that paid attention to it, they had such a deep pool of people to pick from to to have great teams, because there's so many girls out there already Competing that just didn't have a spot right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So what was the level of competition like for you in the room? And were these girls? Some of these girls used to freestyle already when you got into the room.
Speaker 3:Uh yeah, some of them work is. I mean there is. You know, it wasn't a new program when I went and I had already been around for like Six, seven, eight years. Okay, okay before I got there.
Speaker 2:Okay, and.
Speaker 3:I guess, um, traditionally University of the Cumberlands, they, they had jujitsu. I guess they had jujitsu, yeah, and they had done away with the program by time I got there. Wow but I don't know if that was, like you know, a transitional thing or something you know. I don't know really sure, but like yeah, a lot of those girls already did um no freestyle and and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:So all right, we had girls from all over the country. We had girls from Hawaii, California, Texas. Those were like the main schools where that was supporting girls wrestling early on. So, that was the majority. Of our team was Texas, California, Hawaii.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. And then we had a few yeah.
Speaker 3:And then we had a few outliers you know, from you know, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Other other schools you know, or other states, I should say but that were probably just getting going and just trying to get some Competition and that's.
Speaker 2:That's pretty cool. So you actually had a pretty decent room to walk into. When it comes to competition and training partners, how, how was? Were you ever at a point and I can only imagine college Was probably the point, but I'm guessing here Were you ever at a point where you didn't want to wrestle anymore when you're in college? No, no, no, never, never lost that fire, never lost that desire to Want to compete? Huh, and I mean, some people do, some people don't. Sometimes you get pushed to a certain point, you know, and you kind of wonder In question I want to get back into horses. Maybe I'm not digging this wrestling thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, we were definitely, we were definitely over trained. Honestly, we were doing three a days, so it was, it was a lot. Um, yeah, we had mandatory two a day, so we had mandatory six am mandatory three or four, I don't remember when practice was and then, Uh, we had. Uh, I remember the coach saying because there's 60 girls on the team.
Speaker 3:Yeah you don't come to open mats at 9 pm, I don't think you're serious, so then you won't make the starting lineup. So if you want to be serious, she'll be at open mats at 9 pm. So yeah, so it was wow.
Speaker 2:So where, when you guys were competing because you're a three-time all-american right and um, where were you guys? Where was the? You said you're going to Canada for a lot of competitions, but where were the main colleges that you were traveling to to compete at?
Speaker 3:Yeah, um so we hosted, we hosted a couple times like uh duels, and I think we did host a tournament, um, but we were going out to james torte, james town, north dakota. Oh, wow, yeah. Yeah, we went to king college in tennessee.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:We went to oklahoma city, yep um. We went to missouri valley. Okay, okay and then menlo, california.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, so some pretty decent areas, for I mean as far as, especially with the girls programs, the women's programs, they, they were kind of the, I guess, pioneers, for lack of a better term when it comes to getting things really started. So when were you? Um, was your first freshman year? Did you all american, your freshman year?
Speaker 3:Yeah I, I all-americaned, I don't know what all years. Um, I ended up having knee surgery twice while I was in college. Okay, so I think I must have missed a college nationals, I'm not really sure. Okay, but but yeah, um so yeah. I did all american my freshman freshman year.
Speaker 2:What was the highest placement you got in college for the nationals fourth, okay, where were what were some of the more memorable Uh matches that you had in college?
Speaker 3:One was wrestling my best friend at nationals, so it was like, uh, you know, this is, this is gonna stink. Because, yeah, it was like at first. I think it was like the first maybe two years that I was in college, like you could have unlimited numbers. Well, we were winning on sheer numbers. You know what I mean. Like it, it almost didn't matter how, because we were so deep.
Speaker 3:Yeah numbers, but then I think maybe my second or third year, might you know. They're like okay, you can, only you can enter as many people as you want, but you only 10,.
Speaker 2:You know, only 10 count towards points, yeah okay, so then you guys had the coaches, just had to decide who was going to be. You know part of that 10, but when you get to these nationals, are you so? I mean, did you ever watch any of the College nationals, anything like that, before you gotten any of this? Did you know how big some of these were? I mean, obviously, with you guys, you it was. It was different. It was a little smaller at the time just because things were getting going, but what kind of? What kind of, I guess, covered to where you guys getting, where you're. Did you guys notice, like full wrestling coming to the event to check stuff out, even though they weren't probably streaming it at the time at all?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but none of these guys are coming around to kind of check out what's going on with this national scene with girls.
Speaker 3:Oh, no, we didn't have any of that no we didn't have any of that stuff. Um, I I do remember you had asked what, like, one of the more memorable termins was. Yeah, I remember my absolute favorite tournament to go to was the? Um, the national duels. Oh, yeah, okay, because it was a dual tournament, so that's like fun, right. Right yeah, remember, the reason that it was my favorite is because we got to compete.
Speaker 3:You know, next the, the division one guys, so like yeah, it was when they were still like everyone was still going, so we're like on the floor next to, like you know, iowa, oklahoma. You know, nice, yeah, ohio State. Like we're like on the floor competing against all those guys you know and, um, I thought that was really cool, especially being women's wrestling, like it still was kind of unheard of then. You know, you know people are like, you know you're, you're going everywhere and people are like oh, women wrestle or girls wrestle, and like even Even guys that wrestled didn't know that girls wrestling existed.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean, so so yeah so, um, it was really cool to go to that tournament and I remember you know, uh, Dan Gable was there and that was like super cool and and again just getting to compete on the floor next to all the other division one schools was like really awesome and felt, you know, very like validating like hell. Yeah, hell yeah, college wrestler, you know right. Yeah, that's right, that was my favorite tournament to go to nice, nice.
Speaker 2:So, as you're kind of, as you're getting through the college scene, were you starting to compete on a senior level or, like at U23's world team trials? What were some of your, your bigger moves outside of college that you were trying to do? What were some of the competitions you were in?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I didn't know what any of that stuff is, but I wanted to do it all Um and yeah, and so 23 didn't exist back then. So, it was juniors, we had juniors, or we had you know seniors and so I computed all this stuff and I you know I was getting beat by the seniors, but I still went to you know you at the US Senior Nationals and World Team.
Speaker 3:Trials and Body Bar. I think those were like the main three. Okay, what are they called now? It's like junior World Team Trials. I think is what they changed it from but at the time Body Bar was one of the sponsors, and so they called it?
Speaker 2:Body Bar. That's one of them. Is the defense. What defense soaps? Super 32, so it's whatever. So, as you're competing with these other events, these more international events, because you won the World Team Trials challenge in 2020, correct?
Speaker 3:2019 19,.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you won that, so you were having success, you were doing well, you know, as far as anything you said. You wanted to go out and accomplish it. You were kind of hitting the notes perfectly. So where did you kind of see your like, I guess, your projection, I guess, of what you wanted to do? Obviously, you want to win a gold medal, you want to try and get the Olympics, things like that. But what was your training like then, as far as Aside from the college competition but going to the world level, did training feel different from college? To that? I mean, three a days is a little different. Right, don't get me wrong. Yeah, but was it the same type of training? Or did they show you on the world level, wait, wait, wait, you can do this. You don't have to do this kind of thing. Did you notice a difference, though?
Speaker 3:So when I was competing on the world level, when I was still in college, so it wasn't any different. There was literally no differences while I was still in college Because it was the same coaching staff and nothing changed. And the only thing that changed is we actually had less girls in the room, because it wasn't a season.
Speaker 3:And so whoever wanted to go, so the numbers dwindled then and it wasn't a requirement to be in the room then, and so that kind of went down. But it wasn't until like when I moved on to the other programs that I learned. So that's when I started like learning. You know different, maybe, tactics and strategies and different ways to train and hey, maybe three days aren't the best idea. You already feel that it's not the best idea right Crazy.
Speaker 3:You're told you're not going to make the starting lineup. If you don't do this, then you're going to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, here's that third practice, just to see if we can grind you enough and if you like it enough. It's like oh man, do I got it? But you did and you did it. And so, going through, and you know, as you're mixing in these world team trials and the world level competitions and with college, did you maybe find yourself like I don't even want to do the college thing anymore, I just want to, I just want to get to the world team trial stuff or the world level and do that? Did you ever think about just leaving college just to focus on the world level type?
Speaker 3:No that was. That was never a thought, because at the time Everyone who was competing in college just, you know, not everyone. It's not that everyone tried to go for that but like most people that were going for that were still in college or there I mean there were some people you know that were graduated at like at the Olympic Training Center, you know whatever, yeah, yeah like a lot were like still college athletes.
Speaker 3:So there was a never really a thought of like oh, I'm just not going to do, that wasn't a thing, that's a thing.
Speaker 2:Now it was yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, it was just a time of year yeah, and probably because my parents, since I was like five years older, like you will go to college and like, okay, so that's exactly why I was wondering, you know, kind of like, if you had that openness to be able to well, you're doing, well, just if you want to do whatever, do whatever you want. You know kind of thing, I don't think yeah, obviously education.
Speaker 2:So as, as you started competing when you're kind of getting towards the end of your college career, then, knowing that it was all part of that, did you find yourself then? You know, colleges winding down, wrestling is going to wind down. Did you think that you were going to stop wrestling once college was done? Now, you still had that. Yeah still were wanting to get on that next level.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I never thought that I was going to be done. I always knew that I was going to continue, continue wrestling. It was just a matter of where.
Speaker 2:Right. So where did the? Where did the? Where come from? When did you? When did you? So? You obviously left Cumberland's right where. Where did you go once college was done?
Speaker 3:Well, once college is done, I actually tried to leave Cumberland. So I I tried to. I was like, oh, because I want to keep competing, so I want to be a grad assistant. So I was like, oh, okay, I'll just coach and be a grad assistant and continue training that way. And I had reached out and I had actually applied to a couple other programs and I remember it was like it was down to me and one other girl at another program.
Speaker 3:And the coach told me. I remember him telling me like hey, like you were both so close, the only reason that she's going to you know we're going to give the job to hers because she's smaller and she can wrestle with my light weights. And I was like I'll cut, wait for this job, like you know. I was like, oh what, what do you need me to do? But anyway, so she ended up getting that job and I remember the one thing I didn't want to do is I was like I do not want to be a grad assistant at the same school that I graduated on at, just because I knew how difficult that would be to have been on the team with the girls and then and then, and not just like be a leader and I would coach them.
Speaker 3:I knew that that would be like kind of difficult, and so I was like I don't want to do that. Well, that's what I ended up doing, because the only position that was available and that they needed someone and we actually had a coaching change at that time and that. So then the new coach that came in was like recruiting me to be his grad assistant. God, and that, in combination with nothing else being available, I was like, okay, it looks like I'm saying so that's always nice though too.
Speaker 2:I mean, like you said, even though the wrestlers in the room there may have been some that you knew already, but the coaching had changed and they're who knows I can that can bring a whole different light to a situation. Once a different coach comes, I mean we can look at what's going on. You know what happens in Wisconsin right now. In the room changes a little bit and some guys aren't. You may not like it, even though you were there, and all of a sudden the mood changes just because they had coach changes, and you know you kind of shift a little bit. So once you got that coaching position, what did your did your? Did your training, I guess for competition kind of slow down because you were coaching more or you were on the mode of trying to get on a world team and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I still want to. I still had the like I'm going to make a world team and it didn't, it didn't slow down and so, like my duties, like, yeah, I had to come and do like some office work and like some recruiting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my biggest duties were for me to wrestle with the girls and to help run practice and and what I found is that it was very difficult to try and coach and train and I made sure that I got my workouts in and I would go to like the boys room sometimes, or sometimes I would have like a kid come in and I would wrestle with them before my practice. But what? I found is that if I'm wrestling in practice, it's really hard to wrestle in practice and run practice you know, we had another grad assistant and he's the head coach of a program in California, colorado, now.
Speaker 3:But he was a grad assistant with me and while we were coaching together. So sometimes he would run practice and like I would wrestle, or sometimes we would both coach, yeah, like it was still difficult because I mean we had a lot of girls on the team. We probably we didn't have quite 60, but it was 30 or 40.
Speaker 3:There's a lot and and you know if I'm trying to wrestle, they're still asking me questions like hey coach, how do you do this, or how do you do that and and you're like hold on a second. You're like, you're like. You can't tell him, like, don't ask me any questions, it's my practice you know, you know, you know you're, you're one of their coaches, and so you got to stop and you know you explain things or show them things to them and stuff like that, and I was just like man, this is not easy.
Speaker 2:No, no, I just watching. I mean watching a high school room right now too. I mean they've got three, four guys in there, right, like I mean there's, and you're only talking about 30, 40 kids maybe, and you're handling 40, 50, 60, and we're talking and most of them can handle themselves for the most public. Like you said, someone's got a question. You got to be able to answer a lot of questions, so you got to be available. So that's very true, very true. Trying to compete and then coach and training to compete and coach at the same time. It's got to be pretty easy, but you created a balance for yourself and you. You found a way to to make that grind work. As far as that aspect of it where we're where we're, your, where were you starting to lead to? Because you didn't stay there, right? You didn't stay there forever, right. When was the? When was the transition to leave Cumberland's? When did that start to happen?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I mean I got my master's degree, okay, okay, it's only a two-year. You know it's a two-year position to your thing. So I knew I was gonna be transitioning after that and I had applied I actually applied for an assistant coaching position in Kansas and I Remember I got the position and they, they like called to tell me like I got the position and it was right before our world team trials.
Speaker 3:So yeah, so yeah. So they're like, oh, hey, you got this position. I'm like cool, I'm all excited. And then I like go to world team trials, but they didn't put the press release out because they misspelled my name, so they held, they held off on releasing the fact that I was gonna be there the new assistant coach because they spelled my name wrong and and and they're like, oh, we'll just fix it. I don't know.
Speaker 3:We'll just really release it after the world team trials and I'm like, yeah, but I go in and compete at world team trials and I beat Lee Janes, who's a world medalist, Yep and and then. But I all, I didn't, I didn't. My goal was to become being national team top three right. Okay, I think I think I took fourth and lost in that that match to be national team. And. I remember I was so like disappointed and upset and I had actually met Mike Drow.
Speaker 3:Oh, nice yeah so I had I'd actually trained with a coach who was friends with him, and so we had gone out to Iowa and trained for a week there and leading up to this world team trials, and I trained with Mike Drow and Mike Drow was there and he jumped over in my corner, was like kind of coaching me and yelling at me and stuff. And then he talked to me afterwards. He's like he called me and you're at home, like like, like, let's talk. And I was like yeah.
Speaker 3:I call them, and he was like hey, you need to get into like a consistent training program, like wherever you you're gonna be, whether it's here, whether it's there, whether it's Iowa City, iowa.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, I want to come train with you, mike Drow. Yes. And so, anyway, I was like cool. And I was like, hey, can I come train with you? Like I want to be one of your athletes, I have enjoyed working with you. And then he is like, uh, let me, let me, let me see what I can do and let me get back to you. And I was like, all right, cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah he actually didn't get back to me for like two months and he was like hang on, I'm working on some things, hang out, you know what I mean. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm over here like I have this assistant coaching position that I'm already supposed to have, and so I actually called them and turned the position down, because I was like, if I have an opportunity I didn't even know if I was allowed to come yet, but I was like- I have an opportunity to train and I want to continue training like I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I know I'd be very upset with myself if I didn't take my didn't do that Right.
Speaker 3:No, I just kind of followed my dream and I turned down the position and they were not happy, you know. But I yeah, I turned that position down and, like it was like a week after I turned it down, coach Dero called me and was like hey, yeah, come on out and train. So he's like I'm the. He was the head coach at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, iowa and. The Hawkeye wrestling coach cup. Hawkeye wrestling club coach at Iowa.
Speaker 2:Yep Correct.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 2:And so and probably one of the greater minds in wrestling that has ever coached Wrestlers as far as men, any wrestler doesn't matter Mike Dero rest. Rest in peace. But that guy was one of the top reasons why the Brands Brothers won world championships, you know, aside from themselves. But yeah, so you were definitely smart and that was. That was kind of a. It's kind of tricky though, too.
Speaker 2:You think about when you've been talking to Liam about things that he wants to do in the future, like you were thinking of what you are able to do now. Right, cuz, coaching some, there's gonna be a coaching job somewhere. Right, somewhere, somehow there will be a coaching job. Your opportunity and window is only so big. So you were it's pretty cool to see that you were like, look, I'm never, this is only gonna be now. I had the opportunity to leave that coaching decision behind. To me is like high five, like it was a great choice because you only have so much time to get this done, right. Yeah, so you, you talked to Mike. He kind of he got you and I, because I noticed that too. I read a little bit about you that you were in Iowa City. It was like no it, she was the Hawkeye wrestling club. So what was that like getting into that room, because you're talking about a whole different level now, right, I mean yeah well, ching and stuff in the in the past.
Speaker 2:I mean little, you know, three days or a little hard, but Explain and kind of describe what that was like being able to get into a world-level room like that that was just surrounded with knowledge in the brain power of wrestling in general. What was that like? Was it an eye-opener a little more as far as the sport goes?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was so, yeah. So Mike was like hey, you'll be in the Hawkeye wrestling club, you'll be, yeah, that's in the club. And I was like, all right, cool. And so I came down and it was very eye-opening as far as, like, they do things a lot differently. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like you know, in NAI school in Kentucky, you know, right, things are different. And I was like, oh my gosh, the resources.
Speaker 3:I'm like these guys don't know how lucky they are. There's, you know, there's a sauna, there's a cold tub, there's people taking care of you. You know they have all these amenities and all you know. Light years. You can get into the practice room whenever you want. You know, it's just like wow. Yeah, it's so For me. Coming in, I was like whoa, and then you know the way they do things is, like you know, obviously different than than they would it. And then they and NAI college, yeah, that is, you know.
Speaker 3:For sure you know, new to women's wrestling still fairly, yeah. So like, yeah, the the training was definitely different and I mean I was up for it though, you know, but yeah, coming in and and being the only female in that room full of, like you know, sharks you know, or all the way through. Yeah, I just remember like having to take a deep breath because I mean it was very uncomfortable to go in and be the only Female in the room and you know I'm not practicing with another girl, you know, I practice in with one of the dudes, so yeah, we practice get whoever I could get.
Speaker 3:Sometimes it would be a walk on, it was. It was almost never a starting lineup guy, you know okay. Okay, it would be a walk on or an extra in the room or if they had an extra person. A lot of times they're like, hey, try and bring in your own partner. So Okay, during offseason I was able to bring some of the guys from Cornell so I would go up to Cornell practice to bring.
Speaker 3:Cornell guys in to wrestle with me and then I made friends with, like Jiu Jitsu owner she. She coached a gym or owned a gym and see her app is and so sometimes she would come in and I get to wrestle with her a little bit.
Speaker 2:So, okay, yeah, when you were, when you're competing in practicing, like you're obviously practicing with guys, were you noticing your level had jumped and your capabilities and the things? Obviously, I mean, coming from middle school it's way different. But just from where you were at Cumberlands to the training now that you were because you're out of college, did you notice your levels jumped? I mean, you're beating world-level people, you know things like that. So did you? Was that something that you kind of noticed? Or were you just kind of going with it? You were gone.
Speaker 3:It didn't. It didn't feel like my levels had jumped, especially not right away you know, yeah, that's true. I'm still, you know, getting beaten stuff. And remember one time Tom Brands telling me like hey, I don't know what to do with you, and I was like, what do you mean? He's like like you're not one of my guys. You know what I mean, and I I want them to run the guys into the wall, but I don't want that to happen to you. So I don't really know what to do with you.
Speaker 3:All right, okay. So I was like I don't want to be running to a wall here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know what to do with you either. Coach.
Speaker 3:But yeah so that's awesome. Yeah, so it's just, it was definitely different, but it did get a little bit Better, like when some some more of the girls like Megan Black. Yeah, yeah he's from Iowa and she actually went to school in Illinois and whenever she was like home for breaks or things like that, she would come in and we could wrestle together. Yeah, that was that was really good. Very cool.
Speaker 3:And then I had been there I think it was like two years and so coached a row past. Yeah and then, after his passing, they brought in Mark Perry. Ah yeah, so then when Mark Perry came in and he started coaching the women, they brought in Some other females too. So Ali Reagan forest, mckayla back or Kayla back. Yeah, I'm Kayla back, sorry and then Kayla, miracle, so they all came in, and so there is like some more options as far as female training partners go.
Speaker 2:So that mark Perry situation was a little different, right. So I would see, went to school there. You know he was, he was part of the program, but he was coming in and starting at the time when D1 colleges and things are that really starting to kind of grab hold of this wrestling situation, right, like they were starting to really form teams for girls and it was becoming a lot bigger At that point as far as the competition side. What happened? So mark left, right, he went down to Arizona State and kind of went down there. A lot of people followed. Were you one of them that followed down there at that time when he left?
Speaker 3:I left before Perry left.
Speaker 2:You did Okay, Okay yeah so where did you go?
Speaker 3:The Olympic Training Center? So?
Speaker 2:okay.
Speaker 3:I had left so in 2019, when I won the the world team trials challenge tournament. Yeah, I wrestled in the final X against Ali Reagan.
Speaker 2:Yes, yep.
Speaker 3:And so when we were preparing for that, I didn't exactly want to be in the same room Preparing, you know, I wanted a little bit more space to prepare for that. Yep, because I knew that, I knew the competition, you know. I mean like you're competing against someone, and so I just kind of Wanted my own space. And, yeah, I went out to the Olympic Training Center to prepare for that. A lot of people that were competing for final X we're at the training center and I already knew a bunch of the girls from camps and things like that and I went out there and trained for final X.
Speaker 3:Nice at that, and then, after I competed at final X, I lost, so I didn't, I didn't win that match. So I was like alright, I think it's time for me to to move on, and so that's when I transitioned to I moved out to the Olympic Training Center full-time.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you're, I mean, so we're talking, we're talking 2021, right? No, no, this is 2019 2019.
Speaker 3:Okay, so right after the final X 2019.
Speaker 2:Yep, and then COVID hit right and then COVID hit.
Speaker 3:I was out there for a year and then COVID hit.
Speaker 2:Yeah and then COVID hit.
Speaker 3:For a full year and then COVID hit, so yeah, so what was, what were your thoughts?
Speaker 2:being that you were there and obviously it's a great place to be, I mean Even more of a library of knowledge to pull from when you're out there. But once COVID hit, where are you kind of thinking? Well, you know I'm, we'll wait till this comes. You know, this comes through, because I always kind of get curious, like because this is a hard sport and this is not an easy sport where, where do where do you find yourself? Like not, you're still competing, right? I mean you just you're just a bill Ferrell, right?
Speaker 2:So, we were when COVID hit and you were like did they tell you that you guys couldn't stay out there anymore? What was the protocol?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's kind of weird. I remember actually just competed, so they had the I'm gonna get this a little bit mixed up, but they had the Pan Am Championships and then the Pan Am Olympic qualifier back in Canada in 2019 or I Guess 20 it was 2020 right when? Yeah, right. Yeah and so I had just competed in Canada. Yeah and then and I just got back and then the second group of Americans were competing, currently in Canada. And remember I was sitting in the sauna with Adeline. Actually we were in the sauna.
Speaker 3:We called us both and we put them on speakerphone and he was like telling us like what was happened with COVID, and we're like whoa.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, and and they were worried that we didn't know if they were gonna get back. We didn't know if they hold, if Canada was gonna let them leave, you know. So we didn't know if they were gonna get be able to be back. So we're like worried about our teammates, you know, and so we're like, oh, I don't know if they're gonna, you know, be back, and so so, anyway, everyone made it back, okay, but yeah, so it was like a weird process at the Olympic training center. So they like slowly kind of cut people, and what I mean by that is like they had the EAP program. So yeah, kylie Walker was a part of that, and so that's like, yeah, where they have high school kids that that basically can take school online in this special program and be able to train at the Olympic training center while they're there, yeah, and so they cut, all the kids who were, you know, in that EAP program or that were younger, go, yeah, and so they let them go home first, or they told them they had to go home first.
Speaker 3:And we, I think we only trained out there for like a week or two, and then they were like hey, actually we're closing, like we're shutting.
Speaker 3:Yeah shutting the training center down and we're like, okay. And so it was like this kind of weird thing. And at first, at first, like Jakara and I we're still we'd be like, alright, well, we're going in the wrestling room, we're just not gonna turn the lights on and no one will know we're here. There's security cameras everywhere. But we're, you know, we're like, oh, they won't see us. And so I remember we were wrestling and security came in and we just froze and then, like we like tiptoed behind them and they, I mean, they seen us. And they're like, hey, you know, you guys got to leave. So we're like okay, so we're like trying to sneak workouts in, you know. And then yeah.
Speaker 3:Then they finally like shut down like completely, like no one's a lot on campus at all and stuff, and they actually let us to take like some equipment home and stuff. But yeah. I remembered. I remember at first, like we were trying to first of all, we were running in the mountains. I remember I just go run on the mountains, I would wake up and I'd run until noon and be like, oh cool. I ran in the mountains for like three hours today. Well yeah, yeah, it was, it was crazy.
Speaker 2:You can get lost in those. I mean I spent some time out in Washington, oregon. I mean you start going, you're like, oh, I'll just go this way. And you're like, well, then turns out you got to go all the way around this just to get back where you came from. But man, just to kind of lose yourself for three hours and just training out there, that's, that's pretty sweet.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was fun, but I mean it didn't really have much to do with wrestling. You know, I was just running, yeah, yeah and then. So then we started like doing some stance and motion out there too. And then I remember like jacar and I would put on like sweats and we'd make sure we put on like like sweat pants and some like Sweat shirts or whatever and just go wrestle on the on the turf.
Speaker 2:So that was like yeah.
Speaker 3:So we're like we're just gonna take shots really slow and so we don't get like turf burn or whatever right. Yeah, and just don't take me down hard. Okay, you know, we'll just stand.
Speaker 2:Guys are just finding any way you could like. You're trying to find any way you could to compete, and it's a lot of these guys. I mean guys are just putting mats and stuff down in their garages, yeah, just to get people over we made friends with people that got some like you know, not very much mats in their basement and yeah.
Speaker 3:One of the guys had mats in his garage and we were going over there and like, literally like only two people can wrestle. That is like so small and it's like not a garage, it's like a bedroom size, you know. But we're thankful to be able to you know, go there and and it's freezing, you know, because it's a garage and so we're like bringing heaters and trying to turn the heaters on and yeah, anyway, yeah it shows your dedication, though, too.
Speaker 2:I mean you guys are still had your eyes on the prize and what you're trying to get to, you know. So I mean that's high five, you guys, for still trying to. I mean it was a struggle, right. I mean that was a. That was a weird time, even for the high school kids. We had parents that were buying mats to just have something at their house. The kids could practice any way that they could, you know. So, yeah, you guys are doing the same thing. It's kind of funny how you mentioned that the the high school kids got to go home first. That's because they still had parents that would take them in. Yet, because they're still in high school, right, whereas you guys were all older, I mean you still parents that cared, but it's like you didn't have, like it was last time you're at home and stayed in your bedroom, kind of thing, right, yeah well, that wasn't their reasoning there.
Speaker 3:No like no. Their reasoning was like that COVID was supposed to affect the kids or the youngest first youth. I don't know. That's what they told us. That's what they're like, hey we got a lot of they're more vulnerable. We're gonna send them home. They're probably yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got a lot of reasons back then and why not to do things. That was, that was kind of interesting time. So so you guys, you guys got the boot. Where did you wind up? What? Because obviously you guys still were staying out there, but did you wind up leaving then after so much time? No, I know, I was brings you.
Speaker 3:I stayed out the whole time. I did go to visit my family for like a week or 10 days in Ohio, but no, I stayed out there full time because I knew that if I went home to Ohio I didn't have any training partners, you know, and it was. It was nice to kind of go home because my parents are both retired and so like life literally didn't change for them, like you know what I mean. They were still doing all the farm stuff and like everything was still the same and I was like yeah it's kind of normal here, you know and so right.
Speaker 3:So that was kind of, you know, refreshing, but like I knew that if I stayed there I didn't have any training partners and I would have probably transitioned, you know, and so yeah, yeah, yeah yeah so I was like I need to get back to where my training partners are and where you know we're struggling together to find places to train, and so that's what I did and we end up having a local jujitsu like club or thing is like yeah, so they opened up their room for us and so they were like yeah, they had their own facility and they're like, hey, you guys can come in and train and yeah, so we got to go in and train there.
Speaker 3:And then, yeah, and then USA Wrestling actually found another location later on that they got designated as a special place where we could go and train.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, Okay, okay, so I mean they were trying to find a way to, but when you guys were, when you were out there because I know I talked to a couple guys about this how are you sustaining, are you working as well while you're out there? Because we hear about stipends and we hear about you know, people getting paid to be out there, because you're not in high school anymore, you're an adult, you're a functioning adult that's able to, you know, to compete. Still, what kind of situation is that like that out there for someone that stays full time?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so everyone, every individual situation is different, Sure sure. Yeah, it's based on national team. So if you're, you know, number one on the ladder, number two, number three, you make different stipends accordingly. So if you're number one, you have a bigger stipend, number two smaller, three, smaller stipends. So I had just, you know, I had just been number two to Ali, so I was getting a stipend and luckily, you know, usa Wrestling did continue to pay our stipend through COVID, which was nice, and then also, I am sponsored by the New York Athletic Club.
Speaker 2:Okay, very good.
Speaker 3:So that was helpful too, because if you're a national team then you also make based off of one, two or three. Then you also make a stipend with that as well. So again, luckily they kept that going through COVID as well. So I was getting stipends from both of those two places. And then I guess, if you back up to when I was at the University of Iowa, when I was in the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.
Speaker 3:There I did, so I was working three jobs when I trained there, yeah, and so that was tough and I was working three jobs, having multiple college degrees.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the reason I so I have four college degrees. Yeah, oh shit.
Speaker 2:Lauren Geez. Okay, okay.
Speaker 3:So the reason I worked it is for the flexibility to be able to go to practice. Yeah, right so at one point I was working at a like a. Was it like a daycare? I was working at a daycare and I had to be at work by 6.30 AM, and so I was getting up at 4.30 AM at Iowa so that I could go in, because the room opened at five.
Speaker 2:Yeah so.
Speaker 3:I could go in and do my five AM workout, be done by six shower, 6.15, and be at work by 6.30. And then yeah, and then I also worked for a contractor, so I messed up a lot of projects working for this contractor, who is a huge wrestling supporter, and I really appreciate him. So yeah. Yeah. He put up with me not having any contracting skills, but he was just. I know it was bad, he was just a wrestling fan and I can help him carry stuff. That was about it.
Speaker 2:That's cool, that's cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. And then I think I worked at like the rec center for a little bit, and at some point I worked at TJ Maxx too, so I don't know, it was all kind of in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you did do what you had to do to get things done, to make sure things are taken care of.
Speaker 3:Yep, and then I found out because I didn't know. So I was working all these jobs and still go to wrestling practice twice a day at Iowa.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I found out that all the guys because I was like man, like no one's ever rushing to go to work here, like you know, all the hockey wrestling club guys and then I found out that they're all in stipend and so then, yeah, and so then I actually went to Tom Brands and was like hey, like everyone else is here, what's a stipend shit?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so he was like all right, we're going to have this conversation again tomorrow and like tell me why I should pay you. And I was like okay, and so then we had the conversation. I had to kind of sell him on why I felt as though I should get paid and so that was a hard conversation to have, and then I'll pay you for a year and let's see how you do. Okay.
Speaker 3:Okay, I was actually in the finals of almost every competition, and so that was an eye opening for me as like hey, you can't work and do this.
Speaker 2:You have to yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:If you want to do this, you have to put everything into the, everything into this. Yeah. Like it's not like. Yeah, I know I was like I'm a hard worker and so like I was like trying to, like you know, survive, but it's like no, like if you, if you want to be successful, like you were just in the finals because you were, you know, you had a stipend, like and you could focus fully on training you need to focus fully on training.
Speaker 2:What's your takeaway from the Brands Brothers? Like because he gave you that opportunity to say sell yourself to me. What are you? What are you? How was that? How was that? Did you learn a lot from those guys? I mean, everybody's got their own opinion about seeing them on the, you know, mat side, things like that. We know they're crazy, we get that, but they seem like, if you're able to kind of sit down and have a conversation with them, that they're still some fairly normal dudes, right. Yeah, just a little off the track a little bit, but, but it was kind of a kind of a unique thing. That he told you is like come back tomorrow and tell me exactly why you think you should get paid.
Speaker 3:So what was? It was a good experience being there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly I was going to say I mean, was that something that you ran from? It seems like it'd be, especially with the newness of what you guys are dealing with, with women's wrestling coming up in college, like that was new territory for them as well too. So that's kind of interesting that you're able to have that kind of a relationship with those guys, and they saw obviously something in you, so they wanted to make sure that you were taken care of when you were not, when you chose to not work. Was that more pressure than that? Did you feel like you had more pressure than because well, now they're paying me, I got to perform. Or did you just know that you were going to be doing something either way and you were just going to push as hard as you could?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it was a second. I don't remember feeling more pressure. I do remember I would. I would have this thing where I would go out to compete and I would freeze and I had trouble like performing the way that I would in the room. And so I actually started working with a coach and his his name's Mike Gillette and and um, Mike yep. Yeah, oh, you know.
Speaker 2:Mike, yeah, yeah, that makes good dude, yeah. So what do you show you?
Speaker 3:He's a mindset coach so he helped me like work through some of those like performance anxiety types of things.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, and Liam's dealing with he's, he's handling those guys right now too. He's with wrestling mindset guys and same thing. You know he he be in the practice room and can just nail it and gets into competition and just doesn't want to make the wrong move and screw up. So you know they tighten up. And talk about Thomas Gilman and he was talking about. You know, I got to open up, I got to loosen up a little bit more. Some of the matches where you only beat a guy by like four points or something, is it cash it open up. But it's so. That's a that's a pretty big step because I mean, you weren't hitting that until, and seeing that until after college and you're on the world level. So did you that? Now, knowing that, did you notice a difference in yourself then, kind of realizing the, the little things that it was just you kind of causing, probably in in your own hand?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's a. It's such a process, you know everyone always says oh, it's a process. It's a process, but it's a process from when you finally, you know, a lot of times you're blind to what it is that you need to do. And then when?
Speaker 3:you figure out what it is that you need to do and then you figure out how to do it. Then you have to actually do it, you know. And then there's levels to doing it. You know you have to do a practice room, you have to be able to, you know. Then do it in competition, and then you have to do it again in competition, but at an elite level.
Speaker 3:So there's always layers to all of this and so like, yeah, I mean I, I did, I I figured it out. And then, like there were layers to it and it was a process in figuring out and it's still a process.
Speaker 2:Always, always. I mean. I think that I think if there's one thing you can take away from wrestling itself and apply it to everyday life, is that there's. You're, you're now, you're never going to perfect it, right, you're never going to perfect it. You can drive yourself to perfect it and you can drive yourself to want to perfect it. There's just no, I don't. Even. Kale Sanderson is not even perfect, right? I mean, he's still lost in international competitions. You won 159 and 0 in college, but it's a whole different ball game. Once you step outside the, you know the, the college room and get to the world level. So where, where were you once COVID hit? Covid was kind of petering off, things like that. Where were you once COVID started to wear off? What competitions were you looking to get to? I don't even remember what was around that time 2021 and stuff like that what were you starting to kind of push yourself towards?
Speaker 3:Um, so we I actually we went to, we competed internationally there around that time we did a tournament in France, so we can actually in France and like. So that was like. That was pretty cool. What else I'm like trying to think, oh, um, they canceled the Bill Ferrell because it was in New York City. They canceled that and I think you know they had a lot of stuff in Iowa they did. They ended up having a lot of stuff in Iowa.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so then that, uh, they actually had the US open there too, because I was supposed to be in Vegas.
Speaker 2:I went to that one. Yes, yeah, the 2020.
Speaker 3:So, then, that's the one that I won the US open at.
Speaker 2:Interesting. I actually got an opportunity at that tournament. Someone I don't know how it happened, some random guy had posted up. He's like hey looking for a coach. He sent me a message. He goes I noticed you do a lot of coaching here and there with your son. He goes Could you coach me at the world? I mean I can show up. I don't know that I'm going to be able to help you. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I got the opportunity, I got my. I had to get my credentials and stuff like that Kind of go through that whole process. But then uh was a, I think I got there and I was lining up with him, uh, downstairs, and then his, he actually had a coach show up and I was like, take it, you have had it. I do not want to ruin this man's chances right here. But yeah, we that was kind of interesting to go down to the, because I think that was when that X arena was first built.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, it was the first year, yeah, yeah, so that was fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, when you, when you started to compete after COVID I mean because obviously you're not done when did you get to Wisconsin?
Speaker 3:Uh, okay, so last year. So I've been there a year now.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, I got there in September 2022. September.
Speaker 3:October Okay Fully.
Speaker 2:I guess October. What brought you this direction?
Speaker 3:So I actually. So I was at the training center, so I didn't when I moved out there um that was a place that I knew, that I also. I didn't want to make that my full time home.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay.
Speaker 3:For me when I left Iowa and I went out to Colorado Springs. Um, I initially like, before I even moved out, when I'm like, okay, I'm going to go out to Colorado.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:In my head that was going to be a transition period for me.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay In my head.
Speaker 3:I'm like this is this is uh where I'm going to be. I want to, but I was looking for um, you know, because the national teams or coaches are out there.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean Yep and so I wanted a personal like my own coach, my own team, like you know, I wanted to be somewhere, um, like that, and so I was like I'm going to explore those options and where I could maybe be while I was at the training center. And then, you know, covid hit. But then, also, like I, I did explore a lot of options, you know, and and a lot of places just aren't or weren't looking for women.
Speaker 3:you know what I mean, like a lot of the RTCs that are already in place for the men, like their goal is not to have women there. You know, because you know they're they're trying to advance their men, their, their focus is their men, and at first I didn't understand it. I I don't agree with it, but I do understand it now you know Sure yeah.
Speaker 3:And the college programs, and I think that we're getting to a place, um, where we may be further along with this now, but, um, then we were not as far as like, they're just and it's still not a whole lot of options for the girls, but like even at the colleges. They definitely. They. They're not necessarily at the place where they have um RTCs created yet.
Speaker 2:Sure Sure.
Speaker 3:So they're not looking for women to to be extra coaches for some of their women? Do you know? What I mean, so like maybe they don't have the funding, maybe they don't have the space. Whatever the reason, they they don't have the structure yet in place to have regional training centers at these colleges, and a lot of them are so new. Their main focus is, you know, getting a coach, getting a full coaching staff getting you know filling their roster, so so you know having having an RTC, you know, is kind of like at the bottom of the totem pole as far as they go.
Speaker 3:There's still not a whole lot of options for the women to go to Um, but I did explore a lot of regional training center um options throughout the nation and what that could possibly look like.
Speaker 2:What were some of the? What were some of the other ones, like the top other two that you were looking at, that you that you chose to not go to besides, then come here.
Speaker 3:Um, I went to a. I went to a lot of places.
Speaker 2:Did you?
Speaker 3:So there was, like there was like multiple places that I had gone and, and you know, maybe the coach wasn't necessarily open to it, maybe they like, they like, let me come in for a practice. But they're like, hey, this might not be the best idea for you. Full time, I mean, I had gone to over 10. Wow Okay, I got like when I'm like I've been to a lot, I've been to a lot.
Speaker 3:So, like there's, there's a lot of RTCs that I had like explored, Um and so then, um, you know, I came to the funky fresh camp here in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:I shot the bed and asked if I could come to the funky fresh camp and he was like, yeah, come on out. You know he was like cool. So I was like all right and it was actually like a pretty cool. Um thing. I was just. I was at Mizzou when I reached out to him too. So I was like hey, like I'm doing the girls camp at Mizzou. And he's like oh, that's my alma mater. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Kind of talked about that a little bit, but he's like yeah, come on out. So I did the funky fresh camp that they have um here and then and that went really well and I was like, whoa, like this is definitely like I need this. Yeah, this is what I need and then I actually left and went to Alaska and I did, uh, um, I coached out in Alaska, I did a camp. There we go.
Speaker 2:I did that. Yeah, they're coming up and girls wrestling me, yeah, so I can understand why you went up there, for sure, yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 3:I, I loved being out there in Alaska. So I'd gone out there for 10 days and then I came back and I asked Ben if I could, if there was another camp that I could come back to, and he said yeah, and so I came back to I don't remember what camp that one was, but I came back to the next camp and I was like I, I want to be here and train here and kind of talk to Ben and coach mess and drink about it. And and they're like, yeah, you can come. And I was like cool. And they're like when do you think you'll be here? And I was like I can literally go back to Colorado, pack my stuff up with, be here next week. And they were okay.
Speaker 3:And so um I on that same training trip, like it was like. Within days I found a place to live while I was here in Wisconsin and I flew back to Colorado and I packed my stuff up and drove here.
Speaker 2:So got the hell out of dodge. Well, cause, I noticed you coming around to cause we would take Liam to Ben's location here and there. Uh, there was some of the training sessions he had for I think it was oh, in Utah, and then world team trial stuff. But I saw you in there. I'm like Lauren Louvy is kind of hanging out here. What's going on with that?
Speaker 2:You know, kind of kind of wondering if, like, you were going to be a coach like and I didn't ask, it was just kind of interesting. You know, I was seeing if maybe someone would be brought up. So I know I heard a little bit about, you know, ben, possibly, possibly this was never a concrete thing, but possibly getting an RTC type situation right Going in. It was never anything that was really put out there, but kind of started thinking about that and I was like, oh, I wonder if he's going to do, you know, like a, a women's kind of RTC kind of thing. Has that ever been brought up with you guys? Is obviously you're there now and the, the knowledge that you have and the, the, the things that you've been through in wrestling has that ever been a discussion of creating like a women's RTC at AWA?
Speaker 3:So I, I don't know, you know what, what Ben Ben's thoughts are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah Right. Right, nobody does.
Speaker 3:I would absolutely love to do that yeah. You know, I don't know what direction you know we're going with that or Ben's going with that or you know but I noticed that you're rolling around with Matea.
Speaker 2:Right, you got, you have Matea as a partner. Who else is kind of? Are people now coming to you a little bit more to to train in Wisconsin? Because I mean, I do notice a couple of extra people that make a trip here once a while. So who? Who are you training with now?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Matea is probably, you know, my number one training partner that I go with. Brooke Crawley comes in the room sometimes and hard Mateo go to, but I do train with a lot of the high school guys. So I train mainly with Matea and the high school boys, and we're working on getting some more female partners up here, so this season. So nice.
Speaker 2:What do you have on the horizon? What do you got coming up? Anything important. You just wrestled. Bill Ferrell didn't go the way you wanted, but what do you? What do you got coming up after this?
Speaker 3:US Open. Us Open is coming up in a couple of weeks here, so it'll be December 15, 16, 17.
Speaker 2:Nice, where's that at?
Speaker 3:On Texas, Fort Worth.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's right, that's right. I was just talking to someone else about that too, about Texas Lucas. I was talking to stealth about that. So here's the question you ever gone out by Lucas?
Speaker 3:No, what's out there no?
Speaker 2:No, well, hannah Ertham goes out there. I mean all those guys train out there, because I mean he's a Greco dude, that's all he focuses on. But he's got the girls in the room. Hannah Ertham, his daughter, avery's in there, but that's, I mean that's another nice group to train with as well, because that's, I mean, the international knowledge that Lucas has is insane. It's crazy, but a great spot to possibly check out, just to be able to go out there a couple times a month or something, because he's Where's that at? Combat wrestling.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:He's out in River Falls, so from me in Kikana that's like a three and a half hour drive.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:For you guys. It might be two and a half, maybe two, but he's just over towards the La Crosseway. But great room, great room to be in I think. I think Lucas has been doing this where he's had individual students. Kylie was out there for a little bit but then she went to the Olympic Training Center. But he is a big proponent of you don't need to go to high school and wrestle in high school wrestling. You don't have to do that. If your aspirations are world level, then your training should be world level, not high school level kind of stuff, which it makes sense. But we live in a different time, different area. But yeah, another great spot. So you got. You have US Open coming up. What is after? Are you going out to Vegas this year? Is that for you? Is that something for you guys at all?
Speaker 3:No, no, that's not, that's all younger. The Vegas is usually the US Open, and they moved it to Fort Worth this year.
Speaker 2:Fort Worth Okay, got it. Yeah, usually that's in.
Speaker 3:April and on the Olympic year, they have it in December on an Olympic year because our Olympic trials will be in April.
Speaker 2:Nice, nice, okay. So you got that coming up. Anything else you want to plug? Anything you got going on. I know the girls started AWA girls wrestling. So, is that something you're a part of?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Matea runs it and I'm her assistant. So on Sundays they at AWA in the Della Field location, we have Sunday girls class from four to five 30. So if anyone wants to come in, yep, it's free. There's no fee for the girls. So what?
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, my God.
Speaker 3:I know. Take advantage of it, come on in.
Speaker 2:Ben's got something for free. Hold on a second, wait, wait a minute. That's cool, that's very cool, and a great group of girls. I've had Brooke on. It'd be great to get Matea on. So you guys are really. You guys will make some noise, I think. In plus, you have a great group of girls within the state too, and the young ones too We've seen a lot of the younger girls coming up are really, really competitive. So it's good to see that you guys have created a coaching situation here for those guys. So nothing, no shade on all the other girls coaches, don't feel relaxed, calm down, but great. Hey, you know we've been on for hour and 34 minutes or something like that. It's a holiday weekend. We're going to get out of your hair. Okay, we want.
Speaker 3:I could have a couple other plugs, if that's okay.
Speaker 2:Yes, plug away, plug away.
Speaker 3:Yes, athletics, the first ever women's shoe created by women for women. Yeah, yes, athletics. Yeah, I might have a shoe here, you might.
Speaker 2:Grab it, go grab it, hell yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, I don't have it, it's in the car. I don't have it, okay so.
Speaker 2:I don't have a shoe, but anyway. Yes, athletics Y-E-S.
Speaker 3:Y-E-S. Yes, athletics, check them out. And then barbaring apparel for your singlets Yep, check them out as well. They've got really nice comfy women cut singlets. They got men cut singlets too. But barbaring apparel Super awesome there.
Speaker 2:But you don't wear guys singlets, do you? No, not anymore.
Speaker 3:I know Not since middle school, so middle school. Middle school. Middle school, I used to make you and you had to wear the T-shirt underneath and it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, the yeah Not anymore. And then yeah, and then if injuries or injury prevention.
Speaker 3:I highly, highly, highly recommend next level in. Waukesha, they actually have two locations, but the one I go to is in Waukesha, and they're super awesome. That's where I wheat train at. But injury prevention they have been phenomenal and my body has never felt that. I mean I feel like I'm 18.
Speaker 2:What type of things do they offer within there? What are the things that are helping with recovery?
Speaker 3:So it's honestly the way that they strength train, so it's like it's their format of strength training. There's a lot of mobility and a lot of injury prevention within the strength training, but they also have physical therapists and different things there as well, so Awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like a kind of like a one-stop place right there, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is.
Speaker 2:Almost crass-like with the situation that he's got going on out there. But with that being said, any more plugs. You plug as much as you want.
Speaker 3:Yeah, mike Gillette. Check out Mike Gillette at mikejilletteinfocom, if you mindset things. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, mike Gillette, again, great dude, great dude. I've been able to talk to him in a couple of tournaments and stuff that we've been at. But awesome guy. So, yes, definitely check out Mike Gillette, I agree, so we're going to let you go. I do want to talk to you for just a second once we're done, but we're going to let everybody else go and they can watch this awesome part right here. Bye.