“We need to have an attitude and a swagger, and we need to be tougher than anyone that steps out there on the mat against us.” - Brent Metcalf


Metcalf ready to roll


Two-time NCAA champion looks to rebound after falling in first round of World Championships


By Craig Sesker Brent Metcalf had trained his whole life for this opportunity. And it was gone in four minutes. Metcalf’s first appearance in the World Championships was short-lived after a two-period loss to past World silver medalist Otar Tushishvili of Georgia in the first round of the 2010 Worlds in Moscow, Russia. “I felt like I wasted the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Metcalf,


a two-time NCAA champion for Iowa. “I dumped it down the drain. You don’t feel good about it at all. There are not a whole lot of positives because you lost, and you lost in the first round. There are no excuses for what happened at the World Championships. “The only thing you really get out of it is that I’ve been there


and I’ve wrestled on that stage now.” Fortunately for Metcalf, and the American wrestling program,


he may have a few more opportunities on the World stage. Metcalf plans to wrestle through the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He’s off to a strong start this season. He defeated Rasul


Murtazaliev 1-1, 3-0 when the U.S. defeated Russia in a November dual meet in New York. Metcalf won the first period with a takedown in the last 20 seconds of the period, and then took the second period with a takedown and two ankle laces. “Any time you get an opportunity to compete against top for-


eign competition, it’s good,” he said. “The Russians are coming in here to beat us whenever they come over here. Our team wrestled pretty well, and it was a good win for us.” Metcalf planned to wrestle in a tournament in Russia in January and another event in Cuba in February. He competes at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Metcalf finished his Hawkeye career by winning his second


NCAA title this past March. He followed by winning the U.S. World Team Trials in June. In his match at the Worlds, Metcalf scored two second-period


takedowns but was unable to rally against a veteran wrestler in Tushishvili. “It’s a matter of believing in yourself and believing in your offense,” he said. “You have to go get it. You have to be stingy


36 USA Wrestler36 USA Wrestler


Brent Metcalf fires in on a takedown attempt against Georgia’s Otar Tushishvili at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia. Tony Rotundo photo.


with your defense, but at the same time you have to be offen- sive. The best guys in the World are going to their offense right away and continuing to pull the trigger and get to a guy’s legs.” This season takes on added significance with the 2011 World Championships serving as a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games. The top-six finishers in each weight class at the Worlds qualify their countries for the Olympics. “There is a lot more at stake now,” Metcalf said. “It doesn’t


change anything for me. You are going out there to win. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself. I’m not going in there to place in the top six. You need to go in there to win.” Metcalf continues to train in Iowa City, alongside top freestyle wrestlers like World silver medalist Mike Zadick.


Continued on page 37


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