WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Vanni gives back to sport
By Gary Abbott Tim Vanni was one of the greatest lightweight freestyle wrestlers in American history. He competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games at the 48 kg/105.5 lbs. weight class, a division which is no longer contested on the inter- national level. A native of Porterville, Calif., Vanni was
a state runner-up and two-time placewin- ner for Monache High School. Although considered too small for college wrestling, Vanni had plans to continue competing. “I walked on at Cal State-Bakersfield. I
knew they also had a good freestyle pro- gram there and were connected with the Sunkist Kids club,” said Vanni. Cal-Bakersfield was coached by Joe
Seay, and produced numerous talents in the lighter weights. Although Vanni saw limited college action at 118 pounds, he competed nationally in freestyle at 105 pounds. Vanni wrestled in his first Senior World Championships while in college in 1982, placing sixth. It was the beginning of a tremendous career. His weight class included talents such
as Billy Rosado, Bobby Weaver, Rich Salamone and Paul Widerman. Vanni didn’t make the 1984 Olympic team, a spot which went to Weaver, who eventu- ally won Olympic gold. It was the 1985 season when Vanni took over his weight class and controlled the weight class for the next two Olympic cycles. “I stayed at Bakersfield until 1987, then
went to Switzerland for a season. It was a nice opportunity for me. A large group of people helped fundraise so I could train out of the country. It helped me liv- ing and competing overseas in the pre- Olympic year,” he said, Vanni moved to Tempe, Ariz. and
trained with other Sunkist Kids athletes at Arizona State. It paid off with a berth on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team which com- peted in Seoul, South Korea. He finished fourth, losing in the bronze-medal match to Sergey Karamtshakov of the Soviet Union. “In my first match, I wrestled a guy
from Spain and beat him. I looked up into the stands and said to myself, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this,’” said Vanni. “In the end, losing the bronze medal was discouraging. It motivated me for four
12 USA Wrestler
Tim Vanni was a fixture on United States World and Olympic wrestling teams in freestyle wrestling at 105.5 pounds.
more years.” Vanni was a member of talented U.S.
World Teams which placed as high as second at the World Championships behind the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Vanni was consistently in the medal hunt on the World level, scoring team points for the USA. “We were the kind of guys that helped
the USA turn the corner. I think we took great pride in trying to beat the Russians. It included Dave Schultz, who had such ingenuity and strategy. We had great wrestlers at that time, and we showed each other so much technique,” said Vanni. Vanni also had great training partners
in Arizona, including World champion Zeke Jones and a young 105.5-pounder named Rob Eiter, who would be the next U.S. star at his weight. “Rob was my regular workout partner.
He shadowed me through my training. For a good three years, he did whatever I did. In 1992, he beat me in the first match of our Olympic Trials series. It was like wrestling a mirror of yourself. I was able to come back to win the next two
matches and make the team,” said Vanni. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Vanni
was again right in the thick of things, but ended up finishing fifth. “When 1992 came around, I was faced
with being out of the medals again. I beat the West German 1-0 for fifth place and went out with a win. I went 5-2 at both Olympic Games, just shy of a medal. You really have to be ready at the Olympics,” he said. After the 1992 Olympic Games, Vanni became a physical education teacher and wrestling coach in his hometown. He took the job at Porterville High School, his rival school when he was competing for Monache. Vanni faced a monumental rebuilding effort there. “I built it out of the ashes,” said Vanni.
“They were decent in the 1960’s when there was only one high school in town, but when there were two, they had hard times. They were lucky to win a match. When I took over the program, I had some pretty good people with me. I had a lot of training as a coach by then, as an
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