Tony Ramos (right) won the World Team Trials after being seeded fourth in the Challenge Tournament. John Sachs photo. Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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Not bad for a guy who hadn’t wrestled freestyle in a handful of years. “It’s not about style. It’s about scoring points," Ramos said. "I am best on my feet and that is what this is. It’s not about the rules. You find a way to win.”
Ramos did not make up his mind about wrestling until after the U.S. Open in April, an event he did not attend. “I thought I was going to take the year off,” Ramos said. “During the Open, my fiancée and I were sitting down and watching it. I thought about doing it. But as soon as she said, ‘you gotta do this,’ I said let’s do it. I thank her a lot. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do yet. Terry and Tom (Brands) and I sat down. I didn’t know if I wanted to make the drop. But I am a competitor. And if you see people winning that you know you can beat, that drives you even harder.”
Ramos, who wrestled 133 in college, cut all the way down to the Olympic weight class of 127.5 lbs. for the Trials. He could’ve wrestled at 61 kg/134 lbs. in the final Trials in July. The 61 kilos class will be contested at the 2014 World Championships, but it
is a non-Olympic division.
“I’m not going to wrestle at a non-Olympic weight,” Ramos said. “Why wrestle at a weight that isn’t in the Olympics. I’m going for it all. If you really have a dream, then go for it.” Iowa coach Tom Brands said Ramos is a guy who backs up what he says. “Walking the walk and talking the talk are the same to him,” Brands said. “When you’re talking and you’re doing, or you’re Tony Ramos and you’re talking, there is no difference between the two.
“Plus, he’s a showman. He craves that spotlight. When you’re a competitor there is no better life.” The United States has not won a World-level medal in the lightest freestyle weight class since Henry Cejudo struck Olympic gold in 2008. Ramos, who placed fifth at the 2009 Junior World Championships in freestyle, is looking to change that. He is still taking his goals one at a time. And his goals now are becoming much bigger. “I want to win a World title, another World title and then an Olympic title,” Ramos said.
USA Wrestler 9
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