20 QUESTIONS WITH... Andy Bisek
Andy Bisek enjoyed a breakthrough season on the mat in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Bisek capped a phenomenal season by earning a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He became the first U.S. wrestler to medal at the Worlds or Olympics in Greco-Roman since 2009. Bisek earned one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he knocked off Olympic and World champion Roman Vlasov of Russia at 75 kg/165 lbs.
The 28-year-old Bisek was competing in his third World Championships. He won seven tournaments during the 2013-14 season, including five international events. Bisek, a member of the Minnesota Storm, is a resident-athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Bisek took time out of his busy schedule to answer 20 Questions for USA Wrestler: 1. Favorite movie? What About Bob? 2. Favorite TV show? How I Met Your Mother.
3. What do you listen to before you compete? Nothing usually.
4. Favorite food when not watching your weight? Chicken wings.
5. Favorite sport other than wrestling? I enjoy watching any sport, but I enjoy watching baseball the most.
6. Favorite athlete to watch in another sport? Kirby Puckett.
7. Favorite wrestler and why?
Brandon Paulson, he was my coach as a kid in the 90s. His intensity is just as high now as it was then. 8. Best piece of advice you've received? Learning to love the struggle and being uncomfortable. 9. What kind of advice would you give a young wrestler? Chase your dreams as long as you can. 10. Best moment as a wrestler so far? Aside from taking third at 2014 Worlds, winning the 2012 Pan Am Championships with my best friend, Chas Betts. 11. Name three people you would love to invite to dinner? Jimmy Fallon, John Muir, my grandfather. 12. What is one thing you are afraid of?
I usually wake up thinking my son is crawling around my room or falling off the bed, and the whole time he is asleep in his crib. Happens at least once a week.
13. How did you become involved in wrestling? My family always wrestled around in the house when I was growing up and a lot of my family was involved with wrestling, so it wasn't long before I was going to practice. 14. How did you adjust to competing on the Senior level? It was a bit of an adjustment for me, I went almost two years before winning a Senior match and about six and a half before winning a medal at a tournament overseas. I just tried not to focus so much on results and instead getting better every day. 15. Any idea what you will do when you stop competing? My wife bothers me with that question all the time, I'm not really concerned about it. I'd like to do something outdoors.
Andy Bisek won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships in Uzbekistan. Robbert Wijtman photo.
16. What prompted you to grow the moustache and how much attention have you received because of it? I grew it out a few times and seemed to keep it longer and longer whenever I grew it out and it started feeling natural for me. So many people overseas have commented about the moustache and given me different nicknames. 17. What did it mean to knock off a wrestler like Vlasov? That was a big win, for sure. I had wrestled him once before and lost a close match. He is a very tough wrestler with great technique and power. I knew if I could keep it close and go the distance I would have the upper hand. 18. Coolest place you've traveled to and why? Cuba. We had the tournament first and then two weeks of training. On our days off from training we went to two baseball games, watched a boxing match between Kazakhstan and Cuba, and went on a day trip scuba diving. 19. What did it mean to win the first U.S. World medal in Greco since 2009? It's meant a lot. To get USA back on the podium has been a good spark for our team that we can build upon. 20. Funniest guy on the team and why?
Hands down, the funniest guy is Joe Rau. His stories blow me away, even after hearing them over and over.
21 USA Wrestler
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