and do it right. I feel I have the support here. There are so many people who have reached out in the last few days that want to help. They want to help financially. This is a very unique situa- tion that you don’t find in a lot of places.


USA Wrestler: What kind of student-athletes are you looking


for on a Troy Steiner-led wrestling team? Steiner: I want athletes who are hungry for the opportunity. I


am looking for someone who is ready for a challenge. It is going to be different than going into a program that is established and is all set up already. It is going to be a kid who comes in right away, the first few years, and wants to make history here. The program is back and I want to be the start of it, I want to be the face of it. That is going to be someone who has a lot of desire, a lot of drive and is willing to put a lot of work in themselves and can lead others and pull others in. There’s a lot of things that I will be looking for. It comes back to a lot of the same character- istics you want in all your guys: work ethic, character and lead- ership.


USA Wrestler: What are your thoughts about the quality of wrestling in “The Valley,” the state of California and the West and what will keep top talents in the West? Steiner: There has not been a program out here in California


that has had the opportunity for them. Not everyone can get into a Stanford or a Cal Poly. Now we are going to finally have a place at Fresno State that will have the resources there for them. They can come here and win championships at the col- lege level, get a great education and stay here and train post- collegiately to make a World and an Olympic Team. That is what I want to set up and that is what I plan on doing. I don’t think there has been an opportunity out here for them, so they have had to go to different areas. Now we have it. So if you have that around you, why would you want to leave the support group that you have?


USA Wrestler: Will you develop a Regional Training Center


at Fresno State, similar to the Northwest Wrestling RTC, and why is this important to the program? Steiner: It raises the level of the bar in the room. It lets your student-athletes at the college level work with guys who are looking to attain something even higher. They are great mentors and great examples for your college athletes. Obviously, it helps with the recruiting process. They know they can come here and work with guys who have been at their level and are now shoot- ing for something higher. They can see the opportunity that they can have and the growth they can have working with them.


USA Wrestler: Let’s talk about your development as a wrestler and coach. What got you and your twin brother Terry involved in wrestling, and how did having a twin help in your development in the sport? Steiner: I would like to think that I could have done what I


have done by myself, but I know there is no way that would have happened. I always had someone there who had the same vision, had the same drive and work ethic that I did. Someone who could pick me up when I needed it or knock me down when I needed it too. Having Terry beside me and along the way has helped a tremendous amount. We never had a lot of success early on in our career, so I know we never stuck with it because of that. It was because we had a passion for the sport and a determination to get it done. I am looking for the same type of kids, who maybe did not have the success but have the drive to get it done. They may not have had the success but are willing to work for it.


USA Wrestler: What led to the Steiner brothers choosing the University of Iowa, and taking the challenge to wrestle under the legendary Dan Gable? Steiner: We never saw a Div. I college match until our senior


year, so we really didn’t know much about that level of wrestling. We didn’t really know if we necessarily belonged at that level. We knew we were given the opportunity and, again, if we didn’t take that opportunity, someday we will look back and kick ourselves in the butt. It was an opportunity put in front of us, and we said, let’s go for it. We will find a way to make it work, and bust our butt trying. We are glad we had the opportu- nity and we knew a lot of it was on us.


USA Wrestler: You competed on three national champion


teams while wrestling for Iowa, where you were NCAA champi- on and a four-time All-American. Explain the culture of success that you were part of as a Hawkeye? Steiner: That is one thing that Gable and the rest of the staff


at Iowa did, they really set the environment that was conducive to winning. At that time, they had the post-graduates around that not a lot of programs had. They had a room that was very com- petitive. We had All-Americans, who were All-Americans as freshmen and sophomores, who never made the team again. It was very competitive and when you come into that situation, you know you will have to fight for your spot. You will have to earn the position, then keep the position. You will do that by continuing to develop and continuing to improve yourself. If you weren’t, you knew you would be taken out of it pretty quick.


USA Wrestler: What about the special athletes who were part


of those champion Iowa teams? Steiner: The group of guys we had on the team those years


were incredible. They had Tom and Terry Brands, Chad Zaputil, my brother and I, Tom Ryan, Mark Reiland, Bart Chelesvig, John Oostendorp, Joel Sharratt. There were so many guys who had the same vision and the same goal. There is no doubt that we were benefactors of being brought up a level to a level we were maybe not at yet. But we were brought up by the team. Later on in our careers, we were bringing other guys up. That’s what the power of a team does. You see some of the situations now with the Regional Training Centers, where there are a lot of individuals in the sport who are just worried about themselves. They don’t understand what the power of a team can do, not only for all the members, but also for themselves. If you have a team around you, you will be brought up to even another level. You want to be around that team. You want to be a team player, because it is going to benefit you too. It was a unique situation for sure. I talk to my wife, and other people as well and ask, “Why is it so hard to get 10 guys that buy in, that have total commitment?” It is hard to find. That is what you are ultimately looking for as a coach. Give me 10 guys in that lineup who have one goal.


USA Wrestler: What did you learn about yourself and the


sport during your international freestyle career, where you were a national team member and a top Olympic hopeful? Steiner: It does turn a little bit more individual, it is not as


much of a team. I still think there is a team aspect to that as well. Maybe, I never grasped it at the time, how some of these guys who were on the National Team at that time could have helped me get to the level that I didn’t get to, to make it to the World Championships or Olympic Games. I never did make it to that. Maybe it was my own fault for not watching the people around me, and growing from their experiences and learning


Continued on page 26 25 USA Wrestler


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