Long makes U.S. Olympic Trials

CNA file photo Reunited: Dylan Long of UNI (left) shoots for a takedown against Teyon Ware of Oklahoma in the 2003 NCAA finals at 141 pounds. Ware won in overtime. The two are together again in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June in Las Vegas.

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Dylan Long has come a long way from a 170-pound wrestling coach with a sore neck last summer. The Iowa State assistant coach who helped recruit younger brother Andrew to become a Cyclone next season, captured his own piece of Creston history Saturday by becoming the community’s first Olympic Trials participant in wrestling. Long placed fourth in the U.S. National Freestyle Championships last weekend at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The top seven finishers are automatically invited to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Long won seven of nine matches in competition at 60 kg (132.2 pounds). Wrestling for the Sunkist Kids wrestling club based in Arizona, Long won three qualifying round matches on Friday, then lost in the first championship round Saturday to Teyon Ware of the New York Athletic Club. Long had to come back through the consolation bracket with four straight victories to reach the third-place match, advancing in the consolation semifinals over former Iowa State national champ Zach Roberson by injury default. Ware, a longtime nemesis, knocked off Long in the third-place contest at 132 pounds, 5-1, 1-0 in the best two-of-three rounds format. Ware, then wrestling for Oklahoma, edged Long in overtime for the 141-pound NCAA title in 2003. Ware also dropped a weight class this year, having defeated Long at 145.5 pounds in last year’s tournament in a consolation elimination bout, 6-6, 0-1, 2-2. (The wrestler with the last point scored is awarded the round in a tie in amateur freestyle competition.) “I’m right there,” Long said. “I just have to work on a few things and keep that weight.” Weight cut Over the past few months, Long made a critical decision about his wrestling future. The former 141-pound NCAA runner-up for Northern Iowa hadn’t competed in a weight class lower than 140 since his freshman year of college. As a high school senior he won a second state title at 130 pounds, but with a late growth spurt he stayed at 133 only one year in college before making the jump to 141. As an amateur competitor after college, Long competed for several years at 66 kg (145.5 pounds). He was among the top 10 in the weight class in several major tournaments, but had trouble cracking the top echelon of contenders for national team berths in world competition. “I was really between the two weight classes,” Long said about his decision to drop to 132 pounds. “It just seemed like some of the guys at 145 were huge. A lot stronger. The way I wrestle, even in scrambling situations where I would usually win, they were overpowering me. Then with my neck, I got even weaker and it was hard to move those guys.” Former Iowa wrestler and current Hawkeye assistant coach Doug Schwab won the 145.5 freestyle title Saturday to earn a spot in the championship round of the best-of-three Olympic Trials. He beat ex-Hawkeye Bill Zadick 1-0, 3-0 in the finals. Having grown to above 165 pounds over the summer while trying to get strength back from the painful disk injury in his neck, Long nonetheless decided to gradually take the plunge to 132.2. Sunkist Kids, a club that help pays expenses for national-caliber wrestlers, has a nutritionist that works with Long. Also, fellow ISU coaches Cael Sanderson (Olympic champion), Tim Hartung and Cody Sanderson all have vast international experience. “It’s nice to be around those guys,” Long said. “They have experience, and you can learn from them.” Tuneup meet Having started the process of cutting weight last winter, it wasn’t until about six weeks ago that Long was sure he’d be able to do it with enough strength left to compete at such a high level. “I went to a regional at Battleground, Washington, D.C. a month ago,” Long said. “I got beat in the semis by the guy who won (Steven Abas), but I felt pretty good. It helped me to get down to weight once before the national tournament.” Abas, a former Olympic silver medalist at 121 pounds, plans to drop back to 121 for the Olympic Trials. Long would have had to win the regional to gain automatic entry to the Olympic Trials, so it was all on the line last weekend in his new weight division. After one day of competition, he had another weigh-in scheduled for the second day and found himself eight pounds over the limit. Alternating workouts and sitting in the sauna, he shaved the required amount. “It’s all water weight,” he said. “I got it back as soon as (the weigh-in) was over.” He realizes at 27, this could be his last quest for Olympic glory, although there have been several Olympic wrestlers active into their 30s. “My dad was pretty fired up,” said Dylan, son of Matt and Debbie Long of Creston. “He’s pretty much always said that you can do whatever you want. It will take you as far as you want to go.” Matt was a third-place finisher in the NCAA Division II national tournament at 134 pounds as a collegian at South Dakota State. He has coached Iowa junior teams in national dual competitions. Dylan got one notch higher in Division I competition as a runner-up for UNI, and Andrew enters ISU with the No. 1 ranking among the nation’s preps at 119 pounds. For this family of wrestling achievers, Dylan currently carries the torch of Olympic dreams. The final field of qualifiers isn’t determined yet. NCAA champ 2nd Shawn Bunch of Colorado Springs and the New York Athletic Club won the 132.2 weight class Saturday by defeating 2008 NCAA champion Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State. The weight division’s top-ranked U.S. competitors — ex-ISU national champ Nate Gallick and former Iowa wrestler Mike Zadick — weren’t in the field. Zadick wrestled in an Olympic qualification tournament the previous weekend in Switzerland, and Gallick is scheduled to compete in the final Olympic qualifier for freestyle next weekend in Poland. “Our weight class isn’t officially qualified for the Olympics yet (from the U.S.),” Long said. Gallick needs to place in the top three to qualify the United States for the Olympics at 60 kilos. If Gallick is successful, Long still won’t know how many competitors will be in the Olympic Trials at 132 pounds. “They take the top seven from last weekend and then whoever qualifies from other tournaments,” Long said. “If you place at an international tournament, you qualify. And depending on how many different guys have won regional titles (the other automatic qualifying standard), we could have like 16 in the bracket, or as low as 10.” There’s one thing Long knows for certain. He’s in it. So don’t offer him a chocolate cookie in the meantime. Senior Nationals 60 kg/132 pounds Qualifier Tournament Dylan Long (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club) def. Travis Mercado (Titan Wrestling Club), 7-0; pin :49. Long def. John Harper (Rock Head Wrestling), 7-0; pin 1:49. Long def. Franklin Gomez (Michigan Wrestling Club), 3-2 2-0. Senior Nationals Round 6 — Teyon Ware (New York Athletic Club) def. Long, 1-1, 0-1, 2-0. Consolation round 1 — Long def. David Hoffman (Bison Wrestling Club), 3-2, 6-0. Consolation round 2 — Long def. Darrell Vazquez (New York Athletic Club), 2-0, 1-3, 2-0. Consolation round 3 — Long def. Gomez, 0-4, 1-0, 7-0. Consolation semifinal — Long def. Zach Roberson (Sunkist Kids) by injury default. Third place — Ware def. Long, 5-1, 1-0. FILA Junior Nationals 55 kg/121.25 pounds Round 1 — Andrew Long (DCI) def. Jonathan Soto (NYC), 6-0; :38. Round 2 — Demetrius Johnson (Sunkist Kids) def. Long, 2-1, 2-0. Consolation round 2 — Pat Stirzki (College Park Wrestling Club) def. Long, 1-0, 3-2. —————— Larry Peterson can be reached at 782-2141, ext. 232 or lpeterson@crestonnews.com