“I won an Olympic gold medal and nobody can take that away from me. I still want to win, and I want to win a World title. It’s still fun to compete and that’s why I’m still wrestling.”
- Jake Varner
Jake Varner
2012 Olympic gold medalist set to make run at World title By Craig Sesker
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – When Jake Varner arrived at
Iowa State University in 2005, a Cyclone assistant coach made him a promise.
“I will make you an Olympic champion,” the coach said, “and a World champion.”
That coach was 2004 Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson, who became Varner’s head coach at Iowa State. Nearly seven years later, Sanderson was in the corner coach-
ing Varner when he captured a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. “Cael believed in me and I believed in him,” Varner said. “And he helped my dreams come true.” One part of Varner’s dream remains unfulfilled though. He
wants to win a World title. A bronze medalist at the 2011 World Championships, Varner is back on the mat at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. with his sights set on winning a World title in 2013. “I feel like I still have a lot of good wrestling left in me,” he said. “I’m still pretty young. My plan was to win a couple of World titles and win the Olympics, and then be done. But some- times things don’t go the way you want them to. I’m going to take it year-by-year and see how things go. It’s exciting to be back out there.” Varner, a two-time NCAA champion for Iowa State, made his first U.S. World Team in freestyle wrestling in 2009 while he was Continued on page 13
12 USA Wrestler
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