Former Panthers Compete for Spots at Olympic Wrestling Trials

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – As a child, wrestling was just a game for Joe Colon and his brothers to pretend they were wrestling in front of large, international crowds. However, now Colon is living out that fantasy and making it reality.

Colon and three other wrestlers with Panther ties will be competing for a shot at the Olympic trials set in Iowa City, Iowa, in April. The top seven wrestlers from this weekend's U.S. Senior Nationals and Trials Qualifier in Las Vegas, Nevada, will advance. 13204

"I haven't been on the mat since June, competing-wise," said Colon. "I'm ready to go. I have a fire lit and can't wait."

After his final year of competition with the UNI team as a student-athlete in 2014, Colon chose to make wrestling his career. His dedication landed him a spot on the national team, reserved for the top three wrestlers in the U.S.

"Being on the national team is a huge benefit and gets me more recognition," said Colon.

He's able to train at competitive camps and make connections with top coaches and athletes.

"Maybe someday I will be coaching against them or with them," said Colon.

For now, he and his fellow Panther Wrestling Club teammates Ryan Loder, Cruse Aarhus and Andrew Sorenson are drawing inspiration and taking advice from their coach Tolly Thompson. When Colon got recruited by UNI, he knew he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his coaches, Doug Schwab and Thompson. Sorenson has the same dream.

"I enjoyed watching how the guys responded to coaches here," said Sorenson. "It seemed like a good fit."

Thompson spent 12 years as a volunteer coach for the Panther wrestling team before taking on the PWC full time this year, so he's watched the teammates transition from college life.

"They are more professional. It's a job now," said Thompson. "They have grown up a lot. I guide them, but they need to do a lot of stuff on their own. They are here to flat out wrestle. And we let them know it is their job, and that's their priority."

While he always had a hand in its progress, Thompson split his time with the college team and the PWC in the past.

"Once he started, we got a program and a plan," said Loder, a former All-American for UNI. "He is making it his job to put the best wrestler out on the mat. He has done an awesome job. He wasn't distracted with a bunch of other things pulling him in other ways."

Aarhus joined the club prior to Thompson's appointment as full-time coach and appreciates the recent change.

"He took charge of it in the last couple of years, but it helps to have someone full time and invested in what we are doing," said Aarhus.

It's that kind of support that has helped all four wrestlers get closer to their dreams, they say. In addition to the Panther Wrestling Club and the national team, Colon gets assistance from Titan Mercury. The clubs help pay for travel and camps, allowing the members to focus on training and competing.

"Support is a big factor in winning teams," Loder said. "We have a lot of support through UNI, the team, the coaches, everyone around us and then Cedar Falls and Iowa in general."

The amount of time it takes to compete at this level is daunting, Colon said.

"It would be tough to go to work every day, train twice a day, to cut weight, eat the right food and have the energy to come to practice," said Colon.

Sorenson gets a taste of that as he is holding down a job with Peoples Insurance Agency in Waverly, Iowa, while training for a shot at the Olympics. However, he said his employers are supportive of his goal.

"They understand what I am trying to do, so they give me leeway," said Sorenson. "You have to make sacrifices. I don't want to do it just to do it. I want to win."

While Aarhus gets support from the PWC, he also provides a service for the club by coaching youths in the program. Thompson said that is what makes youth and college programs stronger.

"For those guys to see what we are getting ready for and see how they train and what they are putting in – the time and energy and how devoted these guys are," said Thompson. "It actually shows them where they can be in 2020 or 2024 for some of them if that is what they aspire to do – be an Olympic champion."

It's also given Loder a business model to follow for a possible post-graduate career. He will be graduating from UNI in May with a master's in business. Loder is considering starting his own wrestling camp. As an Iowa transplant from California where wrestling isn't popular, he said he loves seeing the elevated support for wrestling.

"I'm just happy to be competing. A lot of people don't have this opportunity to go out and compete. To be a professional wrestler is unheard of unless you're a WWE guy," said Loder. "So having this opportunity to do something I love and have support from the community - we can't do this by ourselves. I am thankful for having the PWC support us and have people have our back and pay for all these different things and opportunities."

Sometimes those opportunities mean competing overseas. After this weekend's tournament, Colon will be headed to Turkey and the Pan American Continental Championships in Texas. Colon has competed once in Turkey already and also in Cuba and Iran. Sorenson is planning to compete in a tournament in Ukraine.

"We have guys who are trying to make the Olympic team," Sorenson said. "We definitely have some good talent in the room. Every one of us has been to the breaking point here. And that's what you need as a team. It's more enjoyable having a few of us guys and being able to train in other places and see everyone getting better."

Right now though, the emphasis is on a top-seven finish to make sure they have a place at the Olympic trials.

"The excitement is the same as going to the NCAA tournament right now," said Loder "It's the big tournament. You're ready for it. Your body is ready for it. Your mind is ready for it. Your coaches prepare you in a way that will get you in your prime at the right time. Right now, I am mentally ready. I am physically ready. We worked all summer long. This is the first year of full training I have had for freestyle."

While collegiate wrestlers are competing nearly every week, the PWC teammates only have 12 to 15 matches a year.

"The big thing is now you focus on the process," said Aarhus "It's not so much of a grind. You don't have to give in and break yourself down for five months in a row. You have a lot more time to focus on doing everything right and recovering. You actually probably stay sharper, because you aren't as physically and mentally broken down."

Loder fought off injuries late in his college career, so he said he understands the struggle.

"Stepping back from competing every weekend and that grind makes you appreciate what these guys are going through," Loder said of the college wrestlers. "You can look back and try to help these guys accomplish what our goals were in college and give them some perspective."

Loder also said the competitions are different than college meets, because you didn't compete against the top guys every time you competed. He expects to see eight to nine former NCAA champions this weekend. Some of them won multiple national championships.

"It's nice not to have that grind. The caliber of wrestlers is better, but you have that time in between," said Loder. "It was a month since I last wrestled, so all those bumps and bruises healed up so we can compete at our highest level again."
Colon says it spreads out the training, so they have time to let off a little and not focus on making weight, but there still aren't days off.

"That's not our style," said Loder. "UNI in general doesn't have a style of taking days off. You do when you're forced to, but everyone has the same goal and to reach that goal you have to be focused the whole time."
While all agreed a lighter competition schedule helped them maintain healthier bodies, it has drawbacks.

"When you have a letdown in college, you get the next week to go prove yourself again," said Sorenson. "Now you have to wait a few months. And if you have a letdown like that again, you have to wait another few months."
For Colon, that's more time to get better.

"I look at it as motivation," said Colon. "I lost the last two matches, so I have been itching to get back on the mat. I haven't been on the mat since May, competing-wise. I'm ready to go. I have a fire lit and can't wait."

In June, Colon competed for a shot at the U.S. World Team. He dropped two matches in a best-of-three format to the top wrestler in the country, Tony Ramos. Colon is the only wrestler who pinned Ramos in college, but Ramos has had the upper hand since both started wrestling freestyle.

"I think about those losses," said Colon. I am not satisfied with what I have done yet. I want to be standing on the top, not just in the U.S. I want to be on that wall. I want to be an Olympian. I want to be an Olympic gold medalist. I want to win gold."

WATCH THEM
The freestyle matches will get underway at 11 a.m. CT Saturday. Colon and Aarhus will compete at 57K. Sorenson has dropped down to the 74K weight class. Loder will be competing at 86K.

For a fee, the event will be streamed on FloWrestling's website.

All current World Team members from the U.S. earn an automatic spot at the Olympic trials, so former Panther Jordan Holm is not expected to compete in the Greco Roman competition set for Friday.

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