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to see the chemistry of the team through the summer. Each guy added something to the collective spirit of the team and as a result they were able to get a good per- formance out.
What did you do differently as a coaching staff from last year to this year?
It really was the same plan. We really didn’t do anything that differently. We fine-tuned our plan, but we really didn’t do anything different. We did refine our daily freestyle plan and we had a good focus on what Americans really need to do to be good in freestyle. We’ve done that in detail and it showed up in competi- tion. We did a little bit more international training, which was good. But really those are the only things I could find. Each year, we’ve had a different team and this year was no exception. We had a little bit of a different team this year and it played a factor in our performance. How can the performance at the
Worlds carry over into the Olympic year?
It makes you hungry. We got a taste of success and it reaffirms the work the guys did, but it still leaves room for hunger. We didn’t get what we wanted at the Worlds. It felt good, but we didn’t get everything we wanted. I know the attitude of the team will be to go in and get what they want at the Olympics. Ask Cael and Varner and even Jordan Burroughs. Sure, Burroughs has a World title. But he does- n’t have an Olympic title yet. There is a hunger from every guy on the team. Did you have any idea Jordan Burroughs was capable of wrestling at such a high level at the Worlds? I absolutely believed it, 100 percent. When I saw him wrestle in the Ukraine and win that tournament in July, I knew he could do it. We needed to know Jordan was prepared in all the technical and tactical areas. When he went to Ukraine, I was 100 percent convinced he could win a World title. I couldn’t see any- body beating Jordan.
Burroughs beat wrestlers from wrestling powers Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran at the Worlds. What kind of message does that per- formance send?
It sends several messages. One, you can come right out of college and win a gold medal. You can do it. Two, it says that our plan is working and our guys are improving. It sends a message that we are getting better.
How much room for improvement does Burroughs have?
He can still shave five strokes off his golf game. There is no doubt he can do
10 USA Wrestler
U.S. National Coach Zeke Jones hugs Jordan Burroughs after Burroughs won a World freestyle title on Sept. 18 in Istanbul, Turkey. Larry Slater photo.
that. He needs to get better at taking guys down and turning them. He has to be able to stop every gut wrench in the World. We are an attacking country and we don’t put any time into defense until guys get on the National Team. Jordan will run into guys who play 100 percent defense and he’s going to have to figure out a way to continue to score on them. Jordan has to learn how to defend an attack late in a period when he has the lead. There are certainly areas he can improve in and he recognizes that. What did it mean to have a wrestler of Cael Sanderson’s caliber back to compete again? It meant a lot. The team’s confidence went way up when Cael made the World Team. When Cael started to train with the team, his leadership by example was great for us. Cael does everything right. He trains properly every minute of every day. He is very disciplined in everything he does, on and off the mat. The team feeds off that. He elevated our whole team with the way he approached training and practice. I know he gave me confi- dence.
What kind of plan would Cael need to follow to be successful in 2012? He needs more competition. You can- not underestimate how important it is to get those tough international matches prior to the Olympic Games. He wrestled well, but he obviously needs more match- es to be at his best to compete at the Olympics. Jake Varner, how much improve- ment has he made?
Jake is absolutely the most improved guy on the team. I call him the smashing
machine. Jake probably has the best stance in America with his head position and where he keeps his hands. He is now getting his offense out onto the mat in full production. He’s stingy on defense. He understands the game of offense- defense, and he’s very good at it. He understands when he needs to score and he knows what he needs to do when he needs to shut a guy down. He under- stands freestyle in detail now, and he’s only going to get better. Tervel Dlagnev turned in a strong performance, including a big quarterfi- nal win over two-time Olympic champi- on Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan. How tough was it to see him lose the way he did in some of those matches that came down to leg clinches? Going 0-and-6 on the ball pull, what a bummer for Tervel. He’s got to be able to score on guys who are playing 100 per- cent defense. Those guys were playing defense and taking their chances with the ball pull. In the offense-defense game, he has to score on guys. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. Tervel was attacking. He knocked off a legend in Taymazov, and that tells you what Tervel is capable of. Tervel just needs to keep improving. We think he’s the best heavyweight in the World. Now he has to go out and prove it. How impressed were you with Nick Simmons in his first appearance at the Worlds?
Nick got on a roll and it was contagious for the rest of the team. It was great to see him work with John Smith. Nick was a little shaky in that first match. After he got past that, he had that attitude and hunger and fight that we like. A lot of peo- ple didn’t think Nick could do it and he went out there with a chip on his shoul- der, which was good. He went out and said he is going to prove those guys wrong. He didn’t get a medal, and I know he’s not satisfied and we’re not satisfied until he gets on the podium. When he spladled that Moldovan, he let you know he was there to compete and there to win.
Where does 2008 Olympic champion Henry Cejudo fit into the mix for 2012? I don’t know. He’s the X factor. We haven’t had an Olympic champion take three years off and do the external things he’s choosing to do. Has he got the God- given ability and talent? Yes. Does he have the distractions like any Olympic champion? Yes. What he chooses to do will be his path for success or failure. That’s the long-winded answer to say I don’t know what’s going to happen with Henry. We will just have to wait and see what he decides to do.
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