#82 Reece Humphrey: From the Mat to Coach and Media Maestro

Wrestling aficionados and newcomers alike, prepare to be enthralled by the story of Reece Humphrey, the human highlight reel whose grappling tales extend beyond the mat. The Vision Quest Podcast was electric with the energy of Reece's incredible journey from his early days in Indiana to his current coaching role at the NJRTC. Our narrative weaves through the Humphrey family's wrestling dynasty and the invaluable lessons imparted by Reece's father, a towering figure in the sport. Explore the peaks and valleys of Reece's career, from his undefeated middle school streak to the highly competitive high school and collegiate wrestling landscapes.

As Reece opens up about the formidable challenges and personal milestones of his wrestling career, we uncover the tenacious spirit required to thrive in this demanding sport. You'll hear firsthand the intersection of love and struggle, the delicate balance that every dedicated athlete navigates. Discover how the lure of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling captured Reece's imagination, shaping his collegiate aspirations and his eventual rise to competing on the international stage. Be prepared to be inspired by the tales of growth that come from facing defeat, the adjustments made when transitioning to new coaching styles, and the resilience that's forged in the fire of intense competition.

By the time we hit the mats of the NJRTC, Reece's story has morphed into a symphony of success, creativity, and community, where coaching achievements meet the unexpected delight of music video production in Times Square. Get a glimpse behind the scenes of the No Genre podcast and the joys of bringing together wrestling, music, and media into a unique cultural blend that resonates within the wrestling community. Whether you're here for the takedowns, the tunes, or the chance to learn about the intricacies of the sport from a seasoned vet, there's something for everyone in this episode's gripping recount of an athlete's evolution to a mentor and media maven.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:15

But hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:02

Yeah, yeah. Hi man, we are here. What are you live on? I got it on Facebook, youtube, instagram. I took out Twitter because nobody watches this shit on Twitter.

Speaker 3: 3:20

What is Twitter anymore? It doesn't even exist.

Speaker 2: 3:25

Right, we are joined for another episode of Vision Quest podcast with an awesome guest. This guy has always been exciting to watch, man, I mean there's a reason why you have the nickname. You do the human highlight reel, rees Humphrey, give it up for him. Appreciate you coming on, dude. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 3:40

Appreciate you coming on my camera's going all crazy because it's all motion-sensor, but I appreciate you joining us. Man, it's been kind of a juggle right. I mean kind of getting this thing going with the holidays and things like that. So we want to talk to you. You are also a person that is always interested in us as far as you know what your story was behind wrestling, the things that you've been through, just everything. I mean I've watched some matches with guys from Iowa that burned me up, that you beat, you know, just because I was an Iowa fan for so long right. And then as an adult I grew up and I was like you know all wrestling's pretty good you know you just got to watch one.

Speaker 3: 4:17

Definitely watch the losses to the Iowa boys as well.

Speaker 2: 4:21

Yeah, that's right, that's right. Everybody's got something to offer. So when we talk about everything I was kind of talking to you about this in the beginning we talk about everything from the start to the end. So you know, we kind of dig into, you know, just some of the weird things that maybe someone doesn't ask. But I'm going to start off with because I have a guy that's around here that knows you well. His name is Zach Pearson. I wouldn't say he knows you well, well, but he's from Indiana, which is where you're from. Yeah, so I was a little surprised. So where are you from in Indiana?

Speaker 3: 4:53

From Indianapolis. I went to a high school called Lawrence North. Okay, yeah, we were very good, Zero recruiting. Just my dad kind of took the two middle schools and coached him up a little bit. My brother went to the one middle school and then we moved so I went to the other one. Those two feed into the high school Lawrence North and we ended up winning two state titles. We had seven guys ranked number one in the state at one point and the bummer, I was the only one to win. So that was we had six losses in the semifinals, we got one for seven and so that was crazy. But we had a very good team and we won the dual state tournament. Wow. So yeah, it was pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 5:33

Was that like right off the bat, right when your dad was? He? Was that right when he started coaching? Had he been coaching there for a while?

Speaker 3: 5:38

No, he just got there, he was just helping. We had a head coach and he just helped. And our head coach was awesome. His name is Brett Krausor and he was a guy with no ego. He knew that my dad had better technique than him, so he ran the team and ran the practices. When it was technique time my dad would step in, teach the technique and he would help me and the guys around me probably the most, and then some other, some other guys, even the guys who weren't as good. They had some really good fundamentals because of my dad's basic technique and I've said that he's the guy who created the rules of wrestling head up, back straight, hips in and pressuring your opponent.

Speaker 3: 6:12

That really steps from from my dad and then him coaching Brandon Slay and the Schultz brothers and all those guys at Foxcatcher. Along the way it kind of trickled down and then everybody knows to keep your head up and back straight and hips in. It's like a staple of it. And I say that to go like there's no way like, imagine being the guy that that said that you created head up and I made that bar. He's that old.

Speaker 2: 6:38

So it's, and a lot of people may not know this. You don't just come from any average dude that was around the sport of wrestling. Your dad was pretty decorated and again, I don't kind of not everybody knows, so let's kind of go. Your dad was. He was an Olympian, correct?

Speaker 3: 6:54

He was a four time World Team member, never an Olympian. So, ok, ok, it's the Humphrey curse, we can't get it done. So I was it's a little background on me. I was on the team in 2011, 13, lost two clinches to lose London and beat that guy in 11 and 13. He went on to win the bronze Coleman Scott. And then I am yeah and so then, so no London. And then I made the team in 2015, right before Rio, and then they took my weight out. So we went from seven weight classes to six and they didn't change the weights, they just took out 60 kilos and I was like this will be great, I'll be able to wrestle bigger guys. And then I started wrestling a bigger guy and I was like, come on, man, where's my weight? So we have a little curse going around us.

Speaker 3: 7:37

But my dad was the two time Olympic head coach, once for Canada in 84. And this is kind of different and I just found this out recently. But he wasn't the USA wrestling coach. So like is the coach and then will be the Olympic head coach, they would always bring somebody in and that I would coach the Olympics and there would still be a team USA coach. So it's different than I had actually viewed it in the past, but he coached the Olympic team in Canada in 84 and then the Olympic team in 88 and had one of the best Olympics for Canada and then probably the best Olympics ever for team USA. They won two.

Speaker 2: 8:16

Yeah, yeah, and so again, you didn't just come up in some average house when it comes to wrestling man. I mean you had to put to you so but I also.

Speaker 3: 8:26

I started in sixth grade, so right now, fill my shoes. My dad was in sales.

Speaker 3: 8:31

I didn't know that he was a wrestler Not, not like that, not on that level which is probably the greatest gift he ever gave me, because it's so, so hard to do wrestling for somebody else and we're always constantly trying to fill those shoes and later I figured it out, obviously. But when he first came to the first practice I ever was at, he I was like Dad, you're going to push us, but what are you going to do coaching here? You know no idea. I totally Jedi mind tricked me into thinking he was a normal dude, but I'm sure he was teaching me head up back straight hips in, while I was fist fighting my brother. You know that's that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 9:07

So and I've seen that a lot, you know we talked to some guys that are parents not now and they do the same thing. They're like I'm not pushing him to do this and I think you find that a lot of the whether it's a high, just like a higher level athlete parent in general, because they understand the pressure they get, how intense it can be and it's tough. I mean you're talking about wrestling on top of that. I mean it's not, it's not easy. You're talking about filling shoes. Man, I couldn't imagine if I knew about that right away. You know coming up and like, oh, everybody talking here or something. But as you came up in the household, you must have played other sports and I take it right. So your soccer, baseball, things like that what was the first sport?

Speaker 3: 9:45

When I was young, gymnastics when I was young okay, that's probably where all the flips and all that stems from. And then I played hockey for almost 10 years. Yeah, we were in, no kidding, yeah. So I was the smallest guy on the ice but we played in very, very competitive leagues. We played in the Chicago League and we played in the Michigan League and then my last year we played in the triple A Canadian League. I went from scoring 63 goals my second last season to scoring three. So everybody hit puberty before me and they were all going from you know 100 pounds to they were like 180, 200 and I'm like, yeah, the five pounds out there. Like it became a different game. So it's time to move on to a weight class sport For sure, for sure.

Speaker 2: 10:28

So that's. That's interesting. So was I mean again because of your dad's, you know things that he had done in the past and where he'd been, where was there? Was there a kind of instillment of that, um, give it all or don't give it at all kind of attitude was it?

Speaker 3: 10:43

was kind of off. He was so hands off on motivation, like on pushing me, like that. And yeah, I think that was just in me, it's not, it's not really in my brother, and so you got to just let your kids be who they are. Yeah, you know, he taught all my brother all the technique and all that. My brother he wasn't quite the Go get her like trying to push himself. I was waking up. If I woke up in the middle of night I would do a hundred push-ups, like no one's telling me to do that, it's just, it was in me. I wanted to always constantly better myself physically, my brother a little more cerebral and trying better himself in that sense, and so Everybody gets pushed different ways and so you kind of just let your kids be who they want to be and then just kind of guide I'm and help them, and that's how I've been treating my kids.

Speaker 3: 11:29

My son wants to wrestle and Jersey youth wrestling is very, very tough. It's different than Indiana. I was undefeated right away. No one had to tell me anything, I was just I had it. And yeah, because I had an older brother who beat me up every single day and we literally fist fought every day it's, then, yeah, I'd cry and then my dad would come in and teach me some technique. I'd be like I'll get them tomorrow. So without that presence is a little bit different and Jersey wrestling is really tough, but we're. We're in there scrapping. My son was an all-american and freestyle in and folks out, but nice, always trying to get better and yeah, he's got a bright future, but he's he's still got his hands full all the time.

Speaker 2: 12:07

So. So when you you started out in you know, hockey was a long time sport of yours and I would assume you tried some other sports on the side as well. But when you first kind of got your taste of Even in hockey just kind of like winning was that was there is an adrenaline rush for you, especially because I scored goals that played soccer. Every time I scored that was a rush right. Just no one that you just completed, you know, you just scored and then you got more coming, what. What was that like for you, especially as, you know, no pressure but you're driving yourself and it's interesting to hear that you say you're doing a hundred push ups in the middle of the night, you know, just on your own. So you must have been surrounded with some pretty good guys as far as just guys your age, you know, athletes your age were a lot of those guys kind of did they stick with hockey and kind of take it further After you left, and pros or anything like that.

Speaker 3: 12:56

Yeah, I'm not sure about hockey Kind of lost touch with those guys when I moved into the wrestling, I'm sure some of them I mean it was a very, very competitive league. We're, yeah, the best team in Indiana. They actually didn't let us play in the state tournament our last couple years. They said you guys, if you played, we don't play, we're like alright. So we did that. The one year we played we beat everybody by 12 goals and then they're like we let them have their thing. So, yeah, we had some very, very good guys on the team, but I'm not really sure how far they made it. I was playing college but we were pretty young. You know I stopped in seventh, eighth grade. Okay, there's still a big gap from there to no matter how good you right. Yeah, did pretty well okay, so you got.

Speaker 2: 13:38

You got into wrestling. You said about sixth grade and there was no pressure, there was nothing to be expected, and you're just saying that you kind of had you kind of had your way with it. When you first started, where, where were you? Where did you stick in Indiana? Did your dad take you to national tournaments and things like that right away, or was he just kind of seeing how much you liked it first and then it grew into that? Explain kind of the dynamic of how wrestling really kind of creeped in?

Speaker 3: 14:01

yeah, so I was undefeated in the middle school season Is nothing crazy, you know. I don't really remember how tough the competition was. Yeah, I wanted more, you know, I wanted to see what was out there and we always were freestyle guys. So we were always wrestling through the summer and that's where I got probably the best competition, because we started to go to the national tournaments. I would win the freestyle state tournament, win Greco. And then I remember the first eye opener I went to the schoolboy duels and there wasn't that many national tournaments back then yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:31

So many different tough competitions at these this day. But I remember going to the schoolboy duels and I went two and twelve there was no two went out. I went to being pretty much undefeated up to that point. Yeah yeah, we're crying under the bleachers after every single one, like I got a.

Speaker 3: 14:50

Russell again I'm I can lost 20 times already. That was the big eye opener of that. There is another level for me and it happened in a title wave and yeah, it was. It was humbling but also really exciting that, yeah, there's another level out there and I have to get a lot better. And I got to work and it didn't crush me. It crushed me that day, of course, but it didn't crush me. My dad's such a good motivator in those moments like, well, we got to get better. This is what we got to do. Here's a couple things you can work on. Here's what you did. Well, yeah, and then I got a new motivation for the sport and I got excited for that tournament the next year. I ended up going like 13 and 3 the next year and so I made a big jump. But, yeah, those experiences are really important totally.

Speaker 2: 15:41

I couldn't agree more. I think I think watching, just you know, my son coming up and not. I wrestled when I was younger but I was not at a level that even he's at at 15. You know, I was that chubby kid who played so strong in the legs I was fat in the upper body so I was ready to roll down a soccer field. I was not ready to roll in a wrestling mat but just kind of seeing the progression that these kids, especially like you're talking about, these guys have so many events now, so many things that they can go to.

Speaker 2: 16:07

And I think I've probably said it a thousand times when I was younger there was one tournament I knew about. It was in Iowa. My brother and those guys all traveled down to it. I think it was freestyle to. I don't even think it was folks down and it was crazy. It was one of that just all of a sudden now, when once my sons were in, is like there's all these tournaments everywhere, new way, things like that. So as you guys, as you started, you had the you know the rough weekend and whatnot. But what solidified because you're having success. So what solidified the thing for you to stay into wrestling after something I wouldn't say it's devastating, but you're like, holy crap, I have to work more. Some kids would be like I'm done.

Speaker 3: 16:47

It was so easy for me because it was so much success all the time. It was one day there I got it up to a bad tournament, but sure dad didn't let me do that, it wasn't. I didn't feel good that day. It was neat because these kids are better than you yeah, better and so it was easy to stay into it because everybody loves getting their hand raised.

Speaker 3: 17:05

You know, I saw one of the. He's a great flipper on the trampoline. He could do a quad back. He's done a quint back. So one bounce, five flips, he's done that. Yeah, I could show you a video. Yeah, it's pretty insane how athletic he is there. But he's still trying to figure out the feel of wrestling, where to go and how to turns the wrong way sometimes. So he doesn't quite have it just naturally so. But he listens well and he works really hard. But it was easy for me to stay in it because I was having success all the time. I was the man around my my middle school, at least in sport and yeah, I don't know, I didn't have to keep trying to come back. I wanted to you wanted to.

Speaker 2: 17:42

So, as you kind of, as you're getting older, you're getting into the high school days, because I mean, like you said, middle school, middle school is not a whole lot to kind of put put a hat on. I mean, there might be a tournament that you, that you kind of probably took pride in, or something like that back and back in the day. But as you go into high school, kind of getting out of middle school, how much did you weigh your freshman year?

Speaker 3: 18:01

So yeah, it was. It was close call for me. So I was 70, 75, 80 as an eighth grader, which my son is is a hundred pounds right now and he's in. So big difference from for where I was. I was the smallest kid, I was the hairiest kid, there was enough, no battle for your boy. In that summer I got really focused because I knew the way. Class was 103 back then and I ended up way in 104, but so I gained 24 pounds and then we have on our team in high school. He cut probably 15 pounds to make 103 his senior year and I lost him in double overtime Four times. Oh, make team. So I'm JV, but I ended up having to beat my best friend off the team at 112. So I was giving up a ton of weight there too. I qualified for the state tournament, but I had Angelos Capito first round. Oh yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:53

I ended up losing that, but then I won three state titles after that, and the rest is history rest is history.

Speaker 2: 19:00

So we are as your, as your, climbing through high school because I think I think it's always interesting to find out, like you know where, who was your toughest opponent and who was the one guy that you ran into that I always had your number. Some guys usually have that, especially in high school. A lot of guys have in college. Who was Angel? Was the only one that had your number, or was there another guy that was always kind of behind you?

Speaker 3: 19:21

Yeah yeah.

Speaker 3: 19:22

Angel was just a one match, but he was undefeated. High school he was the superstar. I had my eyes set on him, even though I was giving up weight. I believed I could beat him, and then he kind of beat me up. So there's like once again levels. But the real guy that I literally never beat was a kid named Mac Ryder. In college, okay, I've been majored Five times in my life. Mac Ryder was four of them. Oh shit, he tech me, pinned me, majored me and something else. Like God, dang this dude, I can't do anything to. Matchups are a real thing. But man, this dude had my number and every time I thought I was gonna beat him every, every single time, and It'd be close and then it would just all crash. And, yeah, you taught me a lot.

Speaker 2: 20:10

You ever run into him after college.

Speaker 3: 20:12

Oh yeah, he's my best friend, nice, nice, and that, just that's why I love the sport so much man Like it.

Speaker 2: 20:18

It brings a lot of people together, even sometimes people that probably don't like each other at some point. They come together. They just start right.

Speaker 3: 20:23

Yeah, it's tough when you're battling against somebody. You can. Yeah, I never hated my opponent. Some guys have to hate him to beat him. But this dude, he knows, he has my number, you know, and he's, he's big, he's a little out of shape now but he fucking knows, he's got, knows he's always come up to me and talk to me and and I love it, man, I have no hard feelings at all. But yeah right, he definitely knows, he's got my number, so he wants to be extra friendly, just so you could. That's where you see I got. That's cool.

Speaker 2: 20:53

This championship match, not a problem. So, as you're kind of going through high school where you are like freshman year where you thinking I want to go to college and Wrestle, this is what I want to do in school, yeah, it was already already in there.

Speaker 3: 21:07

Huh, yeah, always on remembering sixth grade, I was in a home net class I drew 2004 Olympic games With on the back and so, yeah, it was always a goal of mine to be definitely okay. I was had no idea how much better I had to get. I just thought that I had won some matches on the middle school scene. Yeah, gonna be that guy. But yeah. I forgot about the curse that the Humphries can't make it there, so I you know, it's kind of interesting and watching your style of wrestling is.

Speaker 2: 21:40

It was always fun because you you knew, I mean you knew what you were doing and I think a lot of obviously, like I said, you had, you had the Knowledge behind it, the basics knowledge, just in the good, basics knowledge, and I think a lot of people miss the, the base of what is needed to be able to be Just just a good wrestler, good sound, you know, wrestler with, with basic technique. Yeah, I mean you can win championships right, I mean yeah, that's all we talk about.

Speaker 3: 22:06

So I NJRTC, which is out of Princeton, and these guys are the smartest, most intelligent Athletes I've ever been around and so I can talk to him a little bit differently. But yeah, for them and for really everybody, it's breaking it down to making things sound really simple. And, yeah, einstein was a guy that's associated with Princeton and he make the theory of relativity sound simple. That's a good coach should be able to do make it make sense to somebody. A coach that teaches a lot of moves and Puts your hands in these specific places.

Speaker 3: 22:37

It's so hard to comprehend when you're out there. Yeah, little concepts on staying athletic, staying balanced, not fading off to the side because you're not as powerful there. You want to be a solutions that you're athletic and can do explosive things. You can relate it to a guy like Nate Jackson, who's 6 3, down to a guy who I used to coach, tyler graph, or Matt Coladzik, who these guys 5, 5, 3, and so they they all have different strengths and different weaknesses and if you give them the philosophy of balance and and athleticism and a little bit of pressure and the release of pressure, all these things make you so much better and then it always goes back to the golden rules of wrestling head up back, straight hips.

Speaker 2: 23:14

Oh, there it is again, there it is again, and that's that's so cool to be able to have that in a room, especially at an RTC, to be able to and you know these guys I mean yeah, so that's that's kind of the. The part for me is that I kind of want to dig into a little bit here. It's kind of going through high school is looking into colleges, right. So you're getting in sophomore, junior year, you're getting recruited how soon it was that right after your sophomore year, where you get in those phone calls, letters, what not.

Speaker 3: 23:40

However, however, was back then. I mean, I remember talking for hours down there like God, I can't get away from this, and I didn't have a smartphone back then, you know, whirling the thing around like I got to go. Yes, yes.

Speaker 3: 24:04

Came down to, I said my dad. So Russ Alex was the coach at Ohio State and you know, he told my dad that he could come be on the staff or at least coach the club there. Yeah, so that was the deciding factor for me. My dad was like I'm gonna go do this, but you definitely don't have to. And final three were Ohio State, michigan which is pretty crazy and then Oklahoma. But Oklahoma sent a letter and didn't make those calls and the letter got there by the time that you can.

Speaker 3: 24:31

I had already committed because I took a visit to OU and I really liked it. I like the guys. We got in a fist fight which I thought was cool at the time Over recruiting visit. Everybody got to go. I'm like, man, these are my kind of people. Yeah, man, I owe you what. I ended up being a really good place for me, but, but I ended up going to Ohio State but yeah, oh you, it would have been haze Winkle, then me, then Tion where, and then Tion when he graduated, not gonna move to 41 when Ohio State. I kind of got stuck at 133 because we yeah, even if I could have beat Jay, which, who knows, it made no sense because, Jay and what I had Lance Palmer ahead of him, so we had perfect lineup, but I was. It wasn't perfect for me. I was right 33. So I said never again. I'll never be 33 again. And then they moved to freestyle night before lands. I made it for like the next 10 years. I hate myself so.

Speaker 2: 25:32

Is when you're kind of going through the recruitment process here, your dad got the offer and and once you get into college, in just kind of facing it was what was that like? Because you talked about levels and and just from middle school to high school and things like that, did you get a big smack in the face going on the college room.

Speaker 3: 25:50

Not so much. Okay, I expected it to be Very hard, but we were 11th in the big 10 out of 11. When I signed I just knew that we had Jaggers and TJ and right and some really good guys right around me, that I knew that Dad could coach and I had these really great partners. We were gonna be great. And then Russ left or got fired as Tom Ryan came in and Tom brought a whole new staff and then we just jumped levels. But we jumped levels pretty immediately but it was all Russ's recruits Lance Palmer was a Russ, ellis and recruit me and Jay and then Tom Ryan brought over Mike Piscilla and those guys four guys really led this team to a national runner-up finish and we were 50th at the national scoring like one point and then we got eighth, second, something else up in the top 10. So yeah, it was. It was a needed change, but it was also a really good timing for Tom to come in.

Speaker 2: 26:41

Yeah, yeah. So I'm kind of interested in where did you guys go for Tournaments and things like that back then, because, like you see now, where, um, you know, like Iowa goes to the midlands and then some guys go down to the southern scuffle, what did you guys have? That was a constant.

Speaker 3: 26:56

Yeah, we were at the southern scuffle and we would always do Vegas. Okay, okay, it's the only tournament of ever one in college and see how much is crazy. I want a couple like Michigan State opens. But yeah, only really wrestled in the scuffle and I don't even know if we did that for very long. I think they stopped going to any Christmas tournament so we'd wrestle in Vegas. The big tens of the nationals, okay, okay, kept it simple. Yeah, and I had to beat cow day to win that. So I mean it kept it simple. It was just every college tournament was a grind, and now there's a couple more in there, but still it's not very many. You're winning tournaments. You got a chance to win the nation's.

Speaker 2: 27:34

Yeah, so I noticed the something. This is just me, maybe it's not how you feel about it, but I think freestyle seem to be your favorite. Yeah, of course, dude, just watching you compete in freestyle is insane Because you can let it fly right. I mean, there's certain things you get in trouble with the folk style that you're not gonna get in freestyle. So watching you just let it go, that's when I really started paying attention. Once I saw you competing in freestyle because I was like Dude, this guy's just letting it rip. Like a lot of these guys are trying to stay in a pocket and trying to wrestle inside whatever their comfort zone is. You would leave your comfort zone so many times when you were wrestled and successful. Sometimes didn't work, but it's not like you lost anything. What? Where did you get that portion from? I mean, that's confidence, right. I mean that's not just a bad thing. There's a lot of confidence.

Speaker 3: 28:18

And what people don't understand is I get a lot of upper body stuff with duck unders and lateral drops and step arounds. Okay, I drilled that stuff. Yeah, and people neglect upper body and so if you can drill it and get confident in there, it's. It was all really high risk or high reward, low risk. Sure, people think that upper body is such a high risk, high reward, but it was low risk for me because I always knew how to bail out of it. Yeah, and I could send it.

Speaker 3: 28:43

And if I had it to the breaking point, if I got past that, I'd get it, and if I didn't, I'd back out of it, and so I could constantly threaten those things. I could challenge people and get them really tired in positions that they weren't used to. So all because I drilled that stuff and nobody does it and I don't really know why. And we, we drill it all the time at the NJRTC out of Princeton. Yeah, and it's, it's really important stuff. It's half of the body is up there. Yeah, it is. Half of my attacks are upper body and the other half are down low and if you can threaten both, you can be more dangerous. You're dangerous and work out more.

Speaker 2: 29:17

Hell yeah. So what was what was the when you took your first trip to Ohio State? What was that like for you?

Speaker 3: 29:23

Yeah, it was really cool, yeah, and so I. I took a couple of trips out there, we saw. So I had 50 yard line tickets from my sophomore year to my senior year of high school Damn At the horseshoe. So that was a selling point as well. So whenever I wanted it was.

Speaker 3: 29:38

It was always a cool thing, and I went to high school with two really good basketball players Greg Odin, who got the number one in the NBA over Kevin Durant and then plagued with injuries so it didn't work out. And then Mike Conley, who is, I believe, still in the league one of the most highest paid athletes. He's a point garden. He was drafted number four, so two of the best guys. And then they went to Ohio State too. So every time we sat 50 yard line they were there, which was an in with the cool kids and I was in my high school, buddies went to all those Ohio State Michigan games.

Speaker 3: 30:09

It was a great rivalry games, bright 50 yard line third row, and then we'd hang out with my boys and it would be a blast always, and so I knew that Ohio State was going to be a really good time, and I ended up going to Ohio State as well those two best football guys and so it was always a really cool thing. And it all worked out.

Speaker 2: 30:29

That's awesome. I mean to be able to be at a big 10 school number one because just watching the kids now that the dual team that I had, all these kids now are starting to graduate and some of them are just becoming seniors and they're all really successful and seeing some of these guys signing to big 10 schools and big 12 schools is really exciting To me. At some point, though, was there ever? You can have a love for the sport, and I had a love for soccer, don't get me wrong. You can have a love for a sport. I always ask everybody, even as you get into college was there ever a point in college where you're like maybe I just need to call it, maybe this is, I love it, I love the sport. Man, it's kicking the shit out of me and I don't know if I'm going to be as successful as I want to. Was that ever on your mind?

Speaker 3: 31:13

All the time Cutting too much weight, taking a loss. We had those four really good guys and maybe one other good guy. If any of us lost, we'd lose a duel. So it was so much pressure all the time I was miserable cutting weight. I had no friends. It was tough during the season so it felt like a lose-lose, like I have to win and I should win by more or I would lose and the whole team would be let down.

Speaker 3: 31:36

And so there is, and you're cutting weight, you're not eating, it's miserable during the whole year. I'm like why am I doing this? But I do love the sport and there's a big part of grinding through those really miserable times that when you step out of it you're like man, it's really cool to be all in for something. I didn't mean that much, but I say, if you don't want to quit wrestling at some point, you're not doing it hard enough. Sure, it's just such a grueling sport and losing out there one on one, there's nobody to blame but yourself. It's really hard for an 18-year-old, even a 25-year-old, to handle, let alone a 15-year-old, and so it's just a really difficult thing. And so if you don't want to quit at some point, you're probably not giving it your all, and so it's totally part of the process and just stay in there.

Speaker 2: 32:20

Yeah, so what are some of the more memorable matches that you remember from college, or even tournaments?

Speaker 3: 32:25

Yep. So beating Caldeque was a really funny match for me because it was the quarterfinals. It was in Vegas, my whole family was there. None of them showed up, just my wife was the only one to make it. Actually, she didn't make it, my dad was the only one. My dad was the only one that made it. Everybody else was hungover. Sled day and I go. It's cool, guys, you didn't miss much. I beat a freshman in overtime.

Speaker 2: 32:48

Yeah, that was it.

Speaker 3: 32:49

It ends up being like, I think, it's win of all time. I didn't wrestle very well, you know.

Speaker 2: 32:58

What are you going to do? What are you going to do? You wrestled one of the best guys ever in the sport and just happened to be in a match.

Speaker 3: 33:03

It was just some little blonde hair boy back then. Boy, could he scrap though? Yeah right. So then NCAA finals is a match that I constantly think about. Not so much anymore. I thought about it pretty much every day until I won the US Open, and so just realizing that it's over and you didn't get that goal done and you won't forever, and so I think about it. You know they do the NCAA, so, like all Americans stand up, and I always stand up, and I know what's coming. They go a national champion, it stays there, and I'm like yeah, yeah, and so right on, right on.

Speaker 3: 33:41

So I coach ourselves a little bit. But yeah, there's a couple matches that still stand up.

Speaker 2: 33:47

I kind of wonder. You're very so. You're from Indiana. You are very New Jersey. Yeah, I'll tell you that. Yeah, man, like I mean just the way, yes, yes, you're very New Jersey. My wife, it's kind of funny because my wife is, she's Sicilian, but her family's from up north. But it's just kind of funny to see you fit in Like there's nothing wrong with it. It's like it's like your environment. What got you there? What took you to New Jersey?

Speaker 3: 34:17

So Joe Dubuque, who's the head coach now at Princeton, he's the one who called me. He saw one of my stupid videos I was teaching technique or throwing some kids around or doing something and he saw it and he called me. And I used to get these calls every once in a while from RTCs that would want to bring me out, but the offers weren't anything crazy, yeah, and so my offer kept getting pushed up to what I actually would want to move, because I was living out in California, my brother was my assistant coach, coach for Tyler Merckrey Youth, and I was just doing what I wanted to do, because college coaching really didn't appeal to me. There's so much work that's not wrestling and I just love wrestling and want to do wrestling and want to be able to do all the side missions that I'm trying to chase after, and you need a little bit more time than being a head coach or a assistant coach even, and so all that pencil pushing is not for me, and so I just want to coach wrestling and travel the world and this was a really good opportunity. And when I hung up the phone I'm like yeah, it's just another one of those RTC jobs.

Speaker 3: 35:14

And my wife started crying. I said Princeton, new Jersey. And she started crying. I'm like what's going on? She goes, you got to go, look, you're not going to look at Princeton, new Jersey. And she really didn't like California. And so I'm like I'll take the visit. And so I took the visit and flew out to Jersey. And man, what a town. Everybody comes to New Jersey but no way, oh, it's the garden state. It's beautiful in Princeton and where I live, in Pennington, we're an hour from the city, we're 40 minutes from Philly, we're an hour from the beach. It's like it's a dream. I love it. You're wrong, the Jersey is home for me and my family. And so, yeah, I grew up in Indiana. I went to a house state. That's awesome Little dip of Jersey's home.

Speaker 2: 35:57

And again, like I said, you fit in. I can't think of another person that's from the Midwest Right. Just hop on out to Jersey and be Jersey. But you're a character and that's always been kind of how you worry, even watching your wrestling too. Like the flip that I know pissed Dan Denis off. After you beat him he said I hate that crowd. I was like dude, he's excited man, he can do a flip Like for real.

Speaker 3: 36:23

Yeah Well, I'm sorry about that, so it wasn't the flip. I did a break dance. Oh, did you? Yeah, so I did a break dance.

Speaker 3: 36:31

I did it after I won my first state title. It all went great. I thought this is cool. I'm going to do it for winning the World Team Trials.

Speaker 3: 36:36

Yeah, I beat Dan. Dan is one of the guys Dan could never beat. He would be beating me and I'd headlock him Like I just had his number. For whatever reason, he was awesome as he was. He was just a guy that I had his number. But I beat him and I did the break dance. But the coaches had both gotten out of their chairs and so as I'm spinning around, I'm looking for my dad and Razzelli, but I can't see him. One, I'm spinning real fast and two, they're gone, they're out of the chairs. So I just like I'm pointing at one of these chairs. I pointed at the brand's brother's chairs, oh Bam, oh, just like this. And then I realized on the very restitting behind it, I go no, and so you can kind of see in the video I get up kind of shamefully. Yeah, and that's not what I was going for. So that's probably why he doesn't like that.

Speaker 2: 37:29

So, those guys don't like it in general because they lost. That's about it. It's sour taste.

Speaker 3: 37:34

But yeah, that made it a little bit worse, Sorry, Dan. Dan and I actually we worked together a little bit because he's the Hawkeye RTC coach and so when we go overseas everything's always confusing. Dan and I are two of the guys that go scout stuff and figure stuff out, and there's what he learned on his trip. I try and help him and it makes it a lot more simple. So it's good to have that relationship.

Speaker 2: 37:56

Did you ever have any overseas experience in college or around in your school days? Where did you go?

Speaker 3: 38:04

I've been I don't know, 30, 40 countries at this point. Oh really, yeah, ok, from my U23 days, where I met guys like Keith Gavin, trudeau, delagna, JD Bergman. So I had first interactions with those guys Greece, italy for those trips, and then the Tinos A trips yeah, the countless. Belarus, ukraine, nice Such a numerous times Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, I mean everywhere you traveled. You traveled Cuba, yeah, some of the better trips, cuba was always been a good time.

Speaker 2: 38:37

Yeah, a couple stamps in your passport nonetheless. Yeah, nice, nice, okay. So when you kind of got done with college, going into the RTC, what was your thought process? Kind of is going into an RTC, I mean, you're not necessarily heading up a college program, but you're still the coach, you're still the dude, right. So you got to have some type of a program. What did you? How long did that take you to put something like that together? Because I know just taking a test with SaveSport to get my USA Wrestling Coach, it's not easy. So I can't imagine what you had to put together. Was that something? You're like, all right, you called those guys back. You're like, yeah, I'll do this, you just start working on a game plan, or do you kind of is that something that sits in your head just because you're?

Speaker 3: 39:20

called. I like this podcast man, I just wing it.

Speaker 2: 39:23

I was just wing it at that.

Speaker 3: 39:26

I'm in a lot more organized. These Princeton guys, the athletes and the coaches they're really good mentors and so they taught me a lot about being more organized and getting everything scheduled and laid out and I'm actually a much better coach because of it. But in the beginning, for a long time I would basically train alongside my guys and wing it, and it just randomly worked out really well. We had some. We were the bad news bears man For a little bit. It was Nate Jackson and I. We were the Nate Jackson RTC, the NJRTC, for a little bit, and then we brought on Pat Downey straight from the streets. Basically he had him next to nothing in the beginning and then he made the world team.

Speaker 3: 40:02

Tyler Graff was a guy who was he had left a couple programs because he wasn't happy with that and then so he found a spot with us and boom, made the world team. We had two guys on the world team in my second year as a freestyle coach and I won coach of the year, which caught some eyes but still very difficult to get some guys to train in Princeton. And so now we're just slowly building, but I think our reputation is that we are going to get the most out of these guys. We got a guy named Quincy Monday right now who was really stepped on a scene in a brand new way. He's jumped levels just with really basic stuff. That is really helping him and he's very hard worker, super cerebral, he listens very well. Sometimes he looks at me dead in the eyes and I'm a little bit. I get a little intimidated.

Speaker 3: 40:49

So you get a little like me or something, but such a great guy to be around. All these guys are really really good to be around. Nate Jackson I really think could, could be the Olympian.

Speaker 2: 40:58

You guys all just killed it.

Speaker 3: 40:59

Yeah, and we got Mark Steller who who beat JB last year, and so we have a very, very good team right now and we have some good recruits looking to fill the spot for the guys that stepped out of the scene in 2024. So things are looking out for the NJRTC and I really just enjoy what I do travel the world and teach wrestling with really good people.

Speaker 2: 41:20

It's awesome. So that's the RTC. Let's talk about this podcast a little bit. You got going on man, no genre.

Speaker 3: 41:27

Yeah, look at this, we got the whole setup. We got the same thing. We're having a blast with it, me and my former athlete, cj Brucky. We do a podcast and it's no genre, so it's anything that's straight off the top of the dome. It's going to be wrestling content, mma, fighting stuff, music. We do a lot of music on the podcast. Yes, you do. We had Frankie Edgar on the other day and he was rapping. We had some really cool. We had a brain surgeon on yes, call it out at youtubecom, slash, highlight Humphrey. Or you can find us on Instagram at no genre underscore, underscore and then make up a couple of the characters. You'll find it.

Speaker 2: 42:05

There's all that other stuff in there and I'll put some of that stuff in the, because this will be audio form and I'll put links to all that too for you guys out there. So what kind of, what kind you're a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy? What type of things are coming up in the future for the NJRTC? I mean, you guys? Got a pretty good class around by you already. Where do you guys feed from?

Speaker 2: 42:28

What'd you say? Where do you guys feed from? Like what athletes from, cause a lot of the RTC guys aren't just Princeton, are they?

Speaker 3: 42:35

Yeah, there's a couple of them. It's anybody that we can get, but we're looking at guys who are very explosive and then let me teach you how to do the hand fighting and positional stuff would be the number one guys that we're going for. But anybody that wins and wants to come over here, come get it, because, yeah, I really believe that I can help any style of athlete and so I attract mostly my friends are going to be the first people that I reach out to, but I'm making new friends all the time. When we recruit anybody, they come over and they see the vibe that we have. We really do. It's not a show. We have a blast in the room every single day. We're cracking jokes and it's really, really fun to place to be, and wrestling is such a grind. You got to have that, and so we're going to Croatia January 6th and then we're going to Nice, france, right after that. Nate Jackson and I are going on a double tour. Chance and Quincy are just doing Croatia and then Pelodzic and Thomas are going to do France and Nate's going to do both, and so we'll be going for a good 15 days overseas, which will be really exciting. But we got some really exciting stuff, coming up with no genre. We have a new EP that's probably going to drop at the end of January.

Speaker 3: 43:44

We did the music video in Times Square. It's called Anybody Want to Dance, so we were dancing out there. We got the reaction to the story is really cool, so we did. We're doing a promotional video for Princeton Wrestling as well. We did a song. They asked us to do a song for the home dual, so we cranked that out in about a week and now we did a music video for that. At 8am went to the city, new York City to do a podcast with a financial company, which ended up being a blast, and then I was supposed to meet with somebody to do the adult wrestling. We're fundraising a little bit for the adult wrestling classes. That were done and they canceled. So we hit up our media team and said, hey, you want to shoot this video while we're in the city. Boom, they met us in the city. We're like, okay, we're going to do it Once again. We have no plan, they're straight up.

Speaker 2: 44:28

Juices, they're flowing, they just they're going to square.

Speaker 3: 44:31

Let's hit up some of those B boys that are out there street performing, yeah, and we threw them 20 bucks Like hey, we're going to play this song, we're going to do this music video. Well, you guys dance.

Speaker 2: 44:41

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 44:41

Well, we, we turn it on, they're like yeah, okay, okay. And then we turn the song on and they're like, oh, okay, let's go. Yeah, we're break dancing, they're doing windmills, I'm break dancing. We're saying to the camera it ended up being an awesome thing. The whole crowd surrounded us. They're all cheering. It is a really, really fun thing. So I hope the video portrays some of the fun that we were having that day. But it was fly by the seat of our pants and all day, every day.

Speaker 2: 45:07

So you guys and that's the best part Like just listen that the first song you guys put out, because it was like you guys were just having fun doing stuff. And then all of a sudden I'm seeing these videos of you guys in a studio. What is going on? Sound studio I'm not talking just like a podcast studio. Sound studio I hear the sound like Damn. These guys are actually like serious, they're good at what they're doing, man.

Speaker 3: 45:27

It's just like wrestling man. It's exciting, it's frustrating, it's it's a brand new challenge and once the Olympic trials were over, for me personally, I know it's something. I mean it's nothing, cuz I agree something to chase. That's way too big of a goal that you're never gonna achieve. At least everyone thinks that. And but the people that are around us, they believe in us and they, they give us a deal on everything. It's so that's awesome. Producer charges us next to nothing, the media team charges us next to nothing and so everybody just wants it to blow up. All our deals are when it blows up, we'll get paid this and some like cool. If it does what it does, then it's cool.

Speaker 3: 46:05

But man, I'm having such a blast. It's so much fun making music. It's so much fun doing the podcast, meeting people like you, bring other people in, bringing people that I've always looked up to, and really Getting their backstory, and so you guys want to check the podcast stuff out. You can find it on my youtube channel If you want to listen to the music. Sound Spotify after music everywhere. But we're getting better and better, and just just watch.

Speaker 2: 46:34

And that's the best part, because you can tell you guys are having fun and that makes watching it fun, because you guys are living it up. Yeah, I mean just watching you guys. In the last one you put out when you I don't care if it's, if it's content of just doing a Move you guys be in the Grinch and Santa play. Shit.

Speaker 2: 46:49

I love that stuff because I'm I'm not that open with things, but I still have fun with that kind of stuff like I think it's awesome. I think I think it's great that you guys are also able to take Something that you love and incorporate it into something else that you can enjoy and love and it's yours. That's what it is for me to. This is mine. Yep, I don't answer to anybody.

Speaker 2: 47:09

I don't nobody tells me what I could put out, what I can't put out. Yeah, I don't care if there's five people watching or zero people watching or 500 people watching. I put it up because I like talking to guys like you, just like you talking. I talked to Frank Jasper quite a bit. Yeah, shoot from vision quest the guys. A Chinese nutritionist man like he had no idea, no clue. But that's why we do this stuff, because we like talking to interesting people, spreading the word and kind of having fun with all of it. So I appreciate man it.

Speaker 2: 47:38

We've been going, dude, we've been going for almost an hour now, but you're just as busy as I am with doing stuff and obviously with the podcast. You guys are putting all, all kinds of stuff together. So I'm gonna get out of your hair, but I'm gonna talk to you for a second just after we cut out here. Okay, I'm gonna play some music, but again, everybody go check out no genre podcast. Go check out the YouTube channel. They got. Check them out on Spotify. They got music out. Now they got the podcast. I mean, you guys are blowing up it's fun.

Speaker 3: 48:05

It's fine. Oh, gee, wc og wrestling club. Instagram is where you can find all our adult wrestling stuff too. We didn't really get touch on it, but that's cool.

Speaker 2: 48:13

I'm busy, I'm tired See ya, yeah, right, no shit right. Watch out for the NJRTC to man. Those guys are coming up, you guys kill that. So we are gonna get out of here. Folks, we appreciate you, every one of you, joining us. It's been a little bit, but that's kind of what happens, and things happen in life and we just roll with it, but we're out. Oh.