Jacob Ison didn't even try to wrestle his emotions.
With eight seconds to go in the last period of his match, Ison tucked and rolled and was able to turn Minnesota's Gabe Dretsch to score the first two points of the third period.
The last seconds ticked off the clock as he avoided Dretsch's moves until the referee blew the final whistle. Ison fell to the ground filled with joy as he had made it to the World Team Trials.
No Ohio undergrad has ever made it to the trials.
That was the best feeling I have ever had in my life
Ison said.
Ison is now preparing for the tournament of his life.
After placing sixth at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Las Vegas earlier this month, Ison is getting ready to take to the mat at the World Team Trials, beginning Saturday in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Ison will be wrestling for a chance to compete for the United States at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships in Herning, Denmark, Sept. 21-27.
Ison currently ranks sixth in the TheMat.com U.S. Senior Greco-Roman Rankings for the 84 kg/185 lb. weight class.
Greco-Roman wrestling is totally different from college wrestling, Ison said. Competitors are not allowed to grab below the waist and their stance is modified. The Greco-Roman wrestling stance is more upright.
It's a lot of positioning and patience Ison said. You don't have to force the action a lot of the time. Whereas in college wrestling you want to be forward and keep going to wear the guy out.
In Greco, you want to lay back and get the guy frustrated instead of wearing him out, so to speak.
The rules in scoring points are also different in Greco-Roman wrestling. It is a mixture between Sumo and Freestyle wrestling
Ison said.
One to five points are awarded for a takedown
one point is awarded for a reversal
an exposure will award two or three points
a penalty earns one or two and an out-of-bounds awards one point.
Ison has been training hard in preparation for this weekend. He has been hitting the mat 5-7 days a week. The rest of the wrestling team wrestles three days a week.
Ison's training consists of a lot of stretching and drills before he even starts a practice match. Stretching is especially important in wrestling
Ison said. The rib muscles are very susceptible to injury in the sport
so Ison does extra exercises and stretches to build up his rib and abdominal muscles.
The focus of Ison's drills has been on defensive work.
I know these guys are going to be a lot more offensive than I am, Ison said. They know how to do throws better and I'm a rookie.
I'll be an underdog going in here.
Training for the Greco-Roman competition has provided some obstacles for the redshirt junior. Ison has had just more than a month to train in the Greco-Roman style whereas his competitors have been training year round.
Training with his team has its limits, though. Not many of Ison's teammates practice Greco-Roman wrestling style.
With what I have here to work out with
Ison said. I'm doing the best that I can.
Ison's training has taken him to Cleveland to train with former Ohio National Team coach Steve Melatovic to work on throws and positioning. He will also serve as Ison's coach in Council Bluffs.
Match strategy has been one of
the important areas of Ison's training.
My main goal is to get back to where I'm hitting one pointers and scoring before we get put in par terre (going to the ground)
Ison said. It's different because I'm not used to wrestling Greco all year round and (the competition) is doing it their whole season.
Ison's competition will be mostly armed service personnel, he said. He is one of only a few college athletes competing at the World Team Trials.
Hopefully these guys will take me lightly and I'll be able to squeeze out a couple of wins here
