TEAM USA PROFILE Getting to know James Green
by Gary Abbott With a Twitter handle of WhoIsJamesG, you might wonder if James Green has an identity crisis. But after his amazing bronze medal performance at 70 kg/154 lbs. at the 2015 Senior World Championships in Las Vegas, the world now knows who James Green is. It might be time for a new handle. Competing in his first Senior Worlds just months after com- pleting his college career at Nebraska, James Green took advantage of the big opportunity in front of him. On the final night of the six-day event, Green put on a show that will be long remembered, pinning Muroslav Kirov of Bulgaria in the first peri- od of their bronze-medal match in 2:16.
“I just had to be able to keep my head up, battle back and get it done. It was awesome to light it up in front of the USA with a pin and get the crowd going. That was truly amazing,” said Green.
With the support of the pro-American crowd in Las Vegas, Green got off to a great run, scoring technical falls in his first three matches. He put away Johnathan Scott Duque of Costa Rica, 10-0, Robert Olle of Slovakia, 12-1 and Arun Kumar of India, 10-0. This placed him in the semifinals, which guaranteed him a medal match. In the semifinals, he faced 2014 Junior World champion Hassan Yazdani of Iran and was defeated 4-9. Against Kirov in the bronze-medal round, Green was in the spotlight with a sold-out crowd behind him. He came out strong jumping to a big early lead to get the crowd roaring, then turned Kirov and secured the fall.
“I knew I had that guy once I stepped out on that mat. My head was in the match, was in the moment. Coming off that loss, it put fuel to the flames. I was ready to go,” said Green Bouncing back from the semifinal loss was not easy, but Green kept his composure and self-confidence. “It’s a tough thing to do when you want to win gold. Throughout my career, I have had ups and downs. I don’t want to get accustomed to wrestling back to third. It’s no fun. But I have been able to keep my head up, thrive and get it done. You have to stay positive and have great coaches in your corner,” he said.
It was a big night for Nebraska. Not long after his perform- ance, Husker assistant coach and alumni Jordan Burroughs fol- lowed up with a gold-medal effort at 74 kg, his third World title and fourth World medal, to go along with a 2012 Olympic gold. It is hard to tell the James Green story without including Burroughs, a fellow New Jersey native who has been a mentor for Green throughout his time in Lincoln.
“Jordan and I, we were kind of wrestling at the same time. I would hear the crowd yelling for him, when he’d get a takedown, then I would get one, and they were screaming again. It was awesome, firing me up. One time he came out after me, got it done before me, then I put it to the guy. The fans were awe- some,” he said.
The opportunity to train with Burroughs and learn from him is something that Green appreciates and values. “We go at it all the time. During the college season, we can go sometimes and we drill, because I am smaller. Coming into the summer, with World Team Trials, we trained a lot. We got to be true teammates. We knew we were going into battle togeth-
30 USA Wrestler
James Green waves to the American fans after scoring a pin over Muroslav Kirov of Bulgaria in the 70 kg bronze- medal match at the World Championships. Larry Slater photo.
er. All the people in the Nebraska room, they make us better. Everyone in the room is helping each other,” said Green. While people try to compare Green to Burroughs, he under-
stands that they are different wrestlers with a different skill set and approach.
“I try to wrestle more from the ties. I am more comfortable in ties. I stand there longer than Jordan does. He shoots double legs and I shoot double legs. He shoots single legs. I prefer high crotches. There are a number of things different, little things. You have to be in the room with us every day to notice. As much as we are the same, we are really different,” said Green.
Green and Burroughs share a coaching staff, led by Nebraska head coach Mark Manning, a man who has made a big differ- ence in both of their lives.
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