BRACKEN, Continued from page 12
beat him three in a row, instead of two in a row. It was a pretty great memory for me,” he said.
At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Bracken won his pool competi- tion, going 1-1 but claiming the most technical points in his matches. A memo- rable match came in the quarterfinals, when he lost to Russian star Varteres Samourgachev in a wild emotional see- saw bout which ended 11-5 for the Russian. Bracken ended up placing sixth, dropping his fifth-place bout to Bakhodir Kurbanov of Uzbekistan.
“Placing sixth was a great experience and a positive in my life. Looking back, I learned some lessons as a person. I learned about keeping a great mindset. I learned when things don’t go my way, I can overcome any adversity and still could have won. Rulon Gardner proved that in the same event during the semifi- nals. From my perspective, I was really right there with anyone,” said Bracken. Bracken committed for another Olympic cycle, and when the weight classes changed, he ended up at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. He made three straight World Teams at the weight class, including seventh place at the 2001 World Championships. His quest for another Olympic berth was stopped in the finals of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, when he lost in two straight matches to Olympian Oscar
FRAYER, Continued from page 9
“I took a year off,” said Frayer, “to put things in perspective. I was in just as good of shape this year as I was last year, but I needed to be away from it.” Khloe was a big part of the reason why.
“Nicole had given up a lot for me to be able to do the things I wanted to do,” Frayer said. “She’s changed jobs every place we’ve gone and I kind of owed it to her and to myself. I want to be a great husband and great father just like I want to be a great wrestler. I needed to step away and be a dad. If Khloe was 100 percent normal, I’d have done the same thing. “(Wrestling) wasn’t killing me and I realized what it took to be a dad and what I really needed to do on a daily basis. It all came to fruition that Sunday night (in Iowa City). I had confi- dence I never had before,” said Frayer. Even after coming back to the mats to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Trials, Frayer had to fly back immediately follow- ing his title at Sunkist last fall. Khloe was in the hospital.
“I came straight home from Sunkist and spent the night at the
hospital,” said Frayer. “Things are different. Any young father will tell you.”
With a second child now due in early August, some of the same worries go through the mind of Frayer and his wife. “With anything, it’s a little easier the second time around,” said Frayer. “Nicole’s been pretty helpful in doing things and for the most part, we don’t have to do all the classes again. We didn’t plan it this way, we’re going to try to hold (the birth) off as long as she can.”
Wood of the U.S. Army.
“It was shocking,” said Bracken of the loss to Wood. “I wrestled so guarded. My advice to someone training is don’t decide to retire the Olympic year. I’d sug- gest to retire the year after the Olympics. It takes off the pressure. I had a five month old and very little business world experience. I wanted so bad to make the team and close things out right. I didn’t perform with the passion I gained over the years. I tried to protect my position rather than going out and earning it like I did in the past.”
Bracken entered the business world,
starting with a pharmaceutical firm, where he had great success in sales. When his father and brother were diagnosed with cancer, Kevin moved back to Illinois to be with them, getting a job with Zimmer Orthopedics. When his family members were able to regain their health, Bracken took a job as a coach in a fight gym in Ohio, working alongside Teyon Ware and Sam Hazewinkel. When the gym closed after a year, Bracken moved with his fam- ily back to Colorado.
He is back doing medical work with Aspen Health Care Assets, which is locat- ed in Centennial, Colo. His company is part of MedAssets, a firm owned by 2008 Olympic Greco-Roman Team Leader John Bardis.
“Now I try to reduce the costs of ortho- pedic transplants, and negotiate for hos-
pitals to help them save money,” he said. Bracken has gotten back involved in wrestling as a youth coach where he lives in Castle Rock. It started when he was encouraged to get some Greco-Roman and freestyle going there, and put out a flyer for a program at a jiu jitsu club. His first practice had over 35 kids show up, so he moved the program to Castle View High School. The coach there encour- aged him to run a camp last summer, which was also a big success. This year, he was asked to take over the youth club in town. “We have 55 kids so far this year, and I expect 80-100 next year,” said Bracken. “Castle Rock has two high schools and a ton of middle schools. The athlete base is rich. Last year, we had only five kids with more than a year experience, but we won a medal in every event we entered. Castle Rock is going to come onto the wrestling scene over time.”
Bracken still enjoys many memories from his years as an elite Olympic wrestler.
“The No. 1 memory is of the training, and the bond with our coaches and team- mates. It is the daily activity of training hard, knowing you put your best effort in. It’s the days when it was difficult to even raise your arms after practice. It’s guys like Chris Saba and Matt Lindland. The bond is so rich. We have been together through so much,” he said.
The Frayer’s second child is due August 7, three days before the freestyle competition gets underway in London. “If she’s as late as Khloe was, we’ll be home,” he said. As far as making the team, Frayer couldn’t have pictured a better place to do it than Iowa City. “It’s like beating the Russian in Russia,” Frayer said. “Especially after spending time there and getting to know the fans and them getting to know me. Hearing the ovation for Brent, it was more of a mutual respect. The fans were awesome and I’d expect nothing less for them to support him, but it got me fired up.” At 33, Frayer’s the oldest member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic freestyle team and he’s probably making this his last stanza. “I’m going to be able to take a lot of experience into my train- ing and be the most prepared guy there,” he said. “I think we have an awesome team. All these guys are super guys. I’ve been around Tervel (Dlagnev), Jake (Herbert) and obviously Sam (Hazewinkel). It’s going to be great to be able to pick (Jordan) Burroughs’ brain. If I can stop his double leg, I can stop anyone’s shot.” “I’ve been to too many World Championships and Olympics … I have experience now,” he said. “I got that fan experience out of me and now I can focus on myself. There’s no reason we can’t go over there and dominate these Olympics.” After the Olympics, Frayer will set his sights on family and coaching in the hopes of bringing the Sooner program back to the national championship days of Port Robertson and Stan Abel.
Khloe Frayer will be right there for it all. 13 USA Wrestler
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