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great Lee Kemp. I was recruited as a 142- pounder. We had a freshman vs. varsity dual meet. Lee Kemp won the only match for us, and I tied the starter. He got hurt, so it was pretty clear sailing to the varsity spot. I was growing and it was hard to make weight. It was blood-letting for me. It was clear to me I was struggling. I transferred out. I was frustrated and burned out. I went to Arizona, walked in the room one day, had success with their athletes, and the coach offered me a scholarship. I redshirted a year. The next year, I wrestled for Bill Nelson at Arizona, finished 24-6, won the conference title, won four matches at Midlands. After the semifinals of the conference, I heard a pop. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had broken my hip. I couldn’t run getting ready for nationals. The next year I was 22-1, and hadn’t lost any bouts at my weight, 158. Just before the conference, Bill want- ed me to cut down to 158 scratch, and I didn’t want to. It got very public and Bill kicked me off the team, and he should have, because a kid can’t disrespect the coach. My record at Arizona was 51-7 and that was it. I went to summer school and I graduated.
USA Wrestler: How did you develop an interest in Greco-Roman? Bardis: I liked Greco because I learned early how to throw. I had throws on both sides. I felt comfortable at it. I was too stupid to know I wasn’t very good. I had a comfort level with Greco. I felt more com- petitive there. My college redshirt year was 1976. I entered the Regional Olympic Trials. I won my weight class. At that time, if you win a Regional in one style, you could petition into the other style. I thought I’d get more matches at Greco at the Olympic Trials. At the final Trials in Cleveland, I started winning matches and made it to the round-robin finals. I sur- prised some people and finished third.
USA Wrestler: You have had a suc- cessful career, developing MedAssets into a successful business. What qualities that you learned from wrestling helped you in achieving your business goals? Bardis: Every day, there has not been a single day of my life, when I don’t think about what the great wrestlers and the coaches say you must do and what you must be prepared to sacrifice. Period. I can’t tell you the number of red-eye flights I’ve taken from the West Coast to the East Coast. So much of it is the grind and not quitting. It’s not being smarter than everybody else. It’s about grinding through it and outworking your problems.
36 USA Wrestler36 USA Wrestler
Wrestling is the essential thing I have been taught in my life that enables me to think in those terms.
USA Wrestler: You served as Greco-
Roman Team Leader for the USA from 2005-2008, arguably the greatest U.S. Greco-Roman performance in a four-year cycle ever. What allowed the U.S. to become a World leader in the style? Bardis: It was absolutely the vision and personal sacrifice of the administration of USA Wrestling and the coaching staff of the Greco team. You had a complete commitment and people who understood what to do to win. You had Ivan Ivanov, Anatoly Petrosyan, Momir Petkovic, Steve Fraser, Dan Chandler. You had an entire two generations of wrestling leadership who had given their entire working lives to the development of the entire program. Individuals who were successful like Lindsey Durlacher, Joe Warren, Harry Lester, Brad Vering, Justin Ruiz, Adam Wheeler and Dremiel Byers, all stood on the shoulders of the tough and successful Greco athletes from the generations before them. They learned from them. It wasn’t a single generation, it was many, That team was special. We had a truly bonded love and chemistry. It was very unique.
USA Wrestler: The USA won the Greco-Roman World title in 2007. How did that amazing achievement happen? Bardis: We all believed going into that
World Championships that we could and should win. In 2006, we had an unbeliev- ably good team. Joe Warren was World champion, Harry Lester and Lindsey Durlacher won bronze. We fully believed we had medalist potential in every weight. In July 2007, Joe Warren was taken off our team and we went into Azerbaijan severely hampered with our defending champion no longer in the program. But our guys came through. Brad Vering won a silver medal, Harry Lester and Dremiel Byers won bronze, and Lindsey Durlacher was fifth. The USA won the World title, and it was won by a whole lot of wrestlers and coaches who had been a part of the program for three decades.
USA Wrestler: Can the USA get back on top in Greco-Roman? Bardis: America has the wrestling tal- ent. It is so important for us to channel that talent to the Greco program. We have the athletes. It makes no sense for some of the best wrestling gene pools sitting on the sideline because they can’t beat Jordan Burroughs. Greco has to make its case to those athletes.
TEAM GEAR
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t with
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www.cliffkeen.com 800-992-0799
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