Herbert placed second at his first World Championships appearance in 2009 in Herning, Denmark. Tony Rotundo photo. Open title. “It feels good to be back on top.”
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training smarter now. We have a system and a plan in place with Coach Andy Hrovat at the University of Michigan that is really working for us.”
If Herbert qualifies for the Worlds, he would need to win at least five matches in a one-day tournament to capture a gold medal.
“I’m not in the shape right now that I need to be in to win a
World title, I know that,” he said. “I need to be able to stay aggressive the whole match and keep wrestling hard for six minutes. If I can do that, and keep that kind of pace, I know I’m going to be tough to beat.”
Herbert entered the Open without many matches under his belt – he had a 4-4 record this season. He placed fifth at the Intercontinental Cup in Russia before going 1-1 at the rugged Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia. He then went 1-1 at the Grand Prix of Paris in February.
He did benefit from being able to train with a number of top Russian wrestlers during his trips there to compete. Herbert ended up moving up to the No. 5 seed at the Open after initially being the No. 10 pre-seed.
“The game plan was to get me unseeded, so I could go from worst to first,” Herbert said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re seeded, you need to beat tough guys regardless. Everybody you wrestle is good here, in my opinion, so seeds don’t matter that much to me.”
Herbert is definitely enjoying every second of his return. “I’m 30 years old, and I got to do what I love on a Saturday night in Las Vegas,” Herbert said just minutes after winning the
During his hiatus from wrestling, Herbert also did some act- ing. He appeared in the critically acclaimed movie “Foxcatcher” as NCAA champion Mike Sheets. Herbert wrestled against movie star Channing Tatum, who expertly played the part of Olympic champion Mark Schultz in the movie.
“I had to lose to Channing Tatum in a wrestling match – and it took all of my acting skills to do that,” Herbert quipped. Foxcatcher was nominated for five Academy Awards. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” Herbert said. “It was fun to play Mike Sheets. He pushed and tested Mark Schultz in the 1988 Olympic Trials, and gave him all he could handle.”
Herbert made a huge splash of his own internationally in 2009. Just a few months out of college, Herbert stormed into the finals of the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, before dropping a 1-0, 1-0 match to Uzbekistan’s Zaurbek Sokhiev in the finals.
Among his wins in that tournament were victories over Azerbaijan’s Sharif Sharifov and Russia’s Abdusalam Gadisov. Sharifov won a 2011 World and 2012 Olympic title. Gadisov won a World title in 2014.
He also placed ahead of two-time World champion Ibragim Aldatov of Ukraine and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Jaime Espinal of Puerto Rico in that event.
“I definitely know I can beat the best wrestlers out there,” Herbert said. “I still think I can be the best in the World. “I wouldn’t be doing this again if I didn’t believe that.”
USA Wrestler 9
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