Continued from page 19 Vering placed in the top five at the World Championships three times in Greco-Roman wrestling. Larry Slater photo.
“I was competing against guys who wrestled Greco their whole lives, who never grabbed a leg legally. In many Eastern bloc countries, Greco is the big deal. It was tough. I was able to win some matches, score some points for the team, qualify the weight for the Olympics, At that point in my career, I felt I was still young and was happy with where I was. But when you get a chance to compete at the Worlds, you are there for one reason, to win a medal. Coming up short of a medal was disappointing to me,” said Vering.
In 2004, the first challenge was making his first Olympic
Team. He asked his older brother to help coach him at the U.S. Open, to help compete against top rivals such as Ethan Bosch, 2000 Olympian Quincey Clark, Jake Clark, Kenny Owens and others, most who also were also training at the OTC. “I decided I would not avoid these guys in practice anymore. I am just going to impose my will on them. At the U.S. Open, Quincey Clark got the eighth seed. I thought that was the crazi- est thing I ever saw. I knew I had to perform, having to beat an Olympian in the quarterfinals. I was able to stay focused and win that tournament, a great feeling. Then I had to prepare for the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. At the Olympic Trials, I got to weigh in and wait for the guy in the finals. I was so focused. I didn’t care who came through. I felt great and was in the best condition from a Greco standpoint than I had ever been. I was going to give them everything I had,” he said. Vering defeated Jake Clark in two straight matches to make the Olympic Team, and he prepared hard all summer for the Games in Athens, Greece. At the Olympics, he drew into a pool with talented Mohammad Abdel Fatah of Egypt, a future World
20 USA Wrestler
champion, who beat him 4-0. Brad was not able to advance. “The Olympics is such a special thing. I appreciated the chance to represent my country. Going into it, I was trying to win this thing. I am going there for a reason, to bring home a medal, preferably gold. It didn’t turn out that way. I had some tough matches, some tough calls with Mohammed, who was one of the best guys. It was a tough draw but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t able to get it done. It opened my eyes a lot, with the pride that my family, my hometown and the state of Nebraska had for me, being able to represent them. That was a phenomenal experi- ence. In a sporting venue, it is the greatest experience you can have,” said Vering. Vering immediately committed to going another four-year Olympic cycle, with his eyes on the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. He made the 2005 World team but did not medal, and in 2006, he was beaten in the Trials and did not make the team. That was a springboard for 2007, which turned out to be his greatest season and a part of American Greco-Roman wrestling history. Vering made a big change. He was invited to serve as a part- time assistant coach at American University, where Mark Cody was the head coach and needed somebody to work out with tal- ented Josh Glenn. Cody felt Vering was a bit burned out and it would be good for everybody. “Mark said I needed something different in my training, because I was training so hard for so long. I threw the idea before coaches Fraser and Momir, and they weren’t excited about it. I decided to try it for a while. I treated it as cross-train- ing. I trained with Josh Glenn and it was a great experience. I’d
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