Catching up with Jake Herbert: Ohio Wrestling Site Talks Wrestling with the Nation's Best Collegiate Wrestler.

(above): NCAA Champion Jake Herbert plans to redshirt this year as he shoots for the Olympic Team.

In a bit of departure from our traditional Ohio focus, Ohio Wrestling Site recently interviewed NCAA Champion Jake Herbert as he prepared to make the trip to Las Vegas for World Team Trials. 

Herbert is without question the best collegiate wrestler in the nation returning next year after a season of complete domination.  Herbert has suffered just four career losses in a career where he has earned NCAA Finishes of 3rd, 2nd, and 1st.  Herbert looks as though he might be the next big international freestyle star as well, after recently defeating Lee Fullhart at the World Team Trials.  His success coupled with the fact that Herbert’s hometown of Wexford, Pennsylvania is a mere 30 miles from the Ohio border made it a no-brainer to interview him for Ohio Wrestling Site. 

Throughout the interview it was apparent that much of Herbert success could be attributed to the “Power of Positive Thinking.”  It was unmistakable throughout our discussion that Herbert has tremendous enthusiasm for the sport and belief in himself.  (Admin Note: Ohio Wrestlers can take the opportunity to learn from Herbert at the upcoming Northwestern Wrestling Camps at Mentor Lake Catholic High School, where he will be teaching all four days, June 18-21st, for more info contact Drew Pariano at: a-pariano@northwestern.edu).

Ohio Wrestling Site: The first question on everyone’s mind, is it 100% certain that you will be taking an Olympic Redshirt next season?

Jake Herbert: As long as I qualify for it.  The NCAA is trying to determine who will and won’t qualify.  The NCAA is really cracking down, much more than in 2004. They will decide if I’m qualified enough.  USA Wrestling has ok’d it but I am still waiting to hear from the NCAA.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Jake, in between your two brilliant seasons you placed third at University World Championships.  What are your thoughts on making the transition between folkstyle and freestyle?

Herbert: It’s difficult, it takes a lot of time.  I don’t think that you can do it quickly.  I didn’t feel ready at the US Open…..I was still in fokstyle mode. I’d take a guy down and instead of going into gut-wrench, I’d hesitate and start to do a folkstyle move and the opportunity would be lost.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  I understand you will be competing in the upcoming World Team Trials?  What are your thoughts on how you stack up with guys like Lee Fullhart, Andy Hrovat, and Joe Williams?

Herbert: I just got back from training camp with guys like  (2006 World Team member) Andy Hrovat, Tyrell Todd, and (2006 World Bronze Medalist) Donnie Pritzlaff at Overtime.  I feel I’m ready to compete with the best of them and there is no reason I can’t go there and win it and that’s what I plan to do.

Ohio Wrestling Site: While you take an Olympic Redshirt, will you remain at Northwestern to train or will you go elsewhere?

Herbert: I’ll be all over.  I will be at Northwestern most of the time, but I will travel also.  I will go to Russia to train a few times, I will take a few tours.  Of course I will take lots of time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  Northwestern returns every single wrestler from the  fourth-place team in the NCAA’s and will be adding some talented newcomers such as four-time state champion Mike Benefiel.  Is it tough to redshirt when you could possibly be part of a national championship team?

Herbert: Absolutely it is. But, I feel like I definitely want to try to make the Olympic team, and I feel like if I wrestle this year it wouldn’t give me enough time to train for the Olympic Games.  It’s been my plan ever since I came to Northwestern to take an Olympic Redshirt this season.

Ohio Wrestling Site: When you arrived at Northwestern I understand that they had not won a Big Ten dual in several years.  Did you even dream that there would be talk of being National Champions by your senior year?

Herbert: Absolutely, I believed that going into my freshman year we could win it all.  We had a great recruiting class with Lang and Fox.  You have to go in with that attitude every year,that the goal is to be an undefeated national champion and win the team title.  I go into every season with the mentality that I’m going to pin every single guy I wrestle for the team.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Jake, you should finish your collegiate career with one of the best winning percentages of any college wrestler this decade.  Your finishes at the high school state tournament were 6th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st, while in college you have finished 3rd, 2nd, and 1st in the nation.  That means your NCAA finishes have been higher each year than your high school state finishes.  Meanwhile, high school arch-rivals like Zac Fryling and Josh Weitzel have had relatively average careers.  What do you think has been the key to how your career has taken off?

Herbert: I think its the program here… I found a place that really fit for me, and really works for me.  Having Tom Cyszewski here, and having him bring in Drew Pariano has made a big difference, also Ryan Bertin and the other coaches.

I think really made a big jump from my sophomore to junior year in high school.  What really helped me out was joining the Angry Fish Wrestling Club and wrestling all year round.  When I started wrestling all year round my skills really took off.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Jake, you’ve lost just one match in the past two years and were never close to defeat last year in a national championship season. You beat your archrival Roger Kish 10-2 and 8-1.  Does it get tougher to stay motivated for collegiate competition?

Herbert: Absolutely not, it actually gets easier.  Collegiately, I want to dominate.  I was happy that at the NCAA this year I had all major decisions until the finals and I was disappointed I didn’t get the major (against Jake Varner of Iowa State) in the finals.  Until I have a season where I pin every single opponent I won’t be satisfied.

Ohio Wrestling Site: I’d like to talk to you about Ben Askren.  Your match with Askren was the most anticipated of the college season last year.  You took the fight to Askren right away shooting off the opening whistle.  It seemed to play into Askren’s hands as he came away with a stunning 14-2 major decision.  What was your strategy going into that match?

Herbert: My strategy?  I really didn’t have a strategy, I just wanted to see what he was made of and battle.  I got after him…..he was the better scrambler…I know if I wrestled him again I’d probably wrestle him smarter. But I left it all out on the mat and I have no regrets.

Ohio Wrestling Site: What is about Askren that makes him so difficult to wrestle against?

Herbert: I don’t know what it is.  He has a confidence, he knows what he can do, and he never gets tired.  He’s very dangerous.  And you go out there knowing that he can catch you and you hold back, and maybe he catches you because of that.  Gavin this year wrestled one of the best tactical matches against him I have seen.  If not for one flurry he maybe could have pulled an upset.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  I’d like to ask you about a couple of your Ohio teammates, Ryan Lang (Lakewood St. Edward High School) and Dustin Fox (Galion High School)  The duo finished second and third in the NCAA’s this year.  What is the key to success for each in your view?

Herbert: They’ve both been very talented since high school.  Lang had one of the most dominating seasons of any wrestler in the country and they will both start off next year ranked #1. 

Ohio Wrestling Site: Do you go up against Dustin Fox in the room?

Herbert: I try to, it’s tough because he’s got close to 100 pounds on me.  Sometimes I have to, there aren’t too many guys to go with him.  (Chuckles) Matt Delguyd (of Mayfield High School) used to hate wrestle him, used to complain about it all the time.  I try to give him a good go but it is always in the back of my mind that if Fox sprawls hard on me my career could be over.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Jake, when I saw you wrestle against Joe Dennis of St. Paris Graham your senior year at Ironman you looked untouchable.  I was very surprised, then, when you were upset in the national finals by Jason Hackett, a one-time Ohio state champion who finished third at state that year.  What do you think went wrong in that match?

Herbert: I don’t think anything really went wrong.  Hackett was really short and stocky and powerful, I used to have a lot of trouble wrestling guys like that- Zac Fryling in Pennsylvania was similar.  Hackett wrestled very smart, scored with a blast double and after that I wasn’t able to get anything going against him, and he won 3-2.  I’m sorry he doesn’t wrestle anymore, as I’ll never get to avenge that defeat.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  You had some great battles with Mark Perry, of Iowa.  Like you, Perry has finished in the top three of NCAA’s all three years, including being a two-time finalist and NCAA Champion this year. Yet, you swept Perry in all three matches and pretty much dominated.  What can you tell us about those matches?

Herbert: It was great, I felt like every match I was improving.  He’s real hard to take down because he’s so good at scrambling. He really hits the corner well when you shoot.  It’s funny, Perry is thought of as a mat wrestler primarily but in our first two matches I never scored any takedowns but won.

At the Big Ten, in the first period I shot in, Perry countered really nice and took me down.  I ended up reversing him and rode the period out.   In the second period he threw the legs in, I reversed him to his back and pinned him.  I love being in the bottom position.  I love it when guys throw legs in on me….I feel so comfortable, in fact I feel like it’s an automatic two points if not five points.  I have a very flexible back, I just start rolling around and all of the sudden they are on their back.  So his leg riding played into my hands.

Finally at the NCAA I got some takedowns on Perry, he kept the bout on our feet and I beat him 9-3 with four takedowns.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  Switching gears, what is the most common mistake that you see wrestlers making in their training or approach to the sport?
 
Herbert: I guess the only mistake I’ve ever seen is guys not dedicating themselves.  In college, it’s not a sport, it’s a lifestyle.  Some guys can make the commitment, some guys can’t.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  Jake, I read somewhere else where you said that wrestling was a lifestyle, not a sport for you.  What does a week of training look like for you in the off-season?

Herbert: Off-season? There isn’t an off-season.  I just got back from a really intense World Team Training Camp at Overtime.   I get on the mat about three or four times a week and make sure I lift every day.  I get a run or two in on the weekend.  I also watch tons of wrestling on YouTube.  I watch all I can of the Russians, they the best in the world at the sport.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Who have you looked to as heroes in the sport?

Herbert: There’s so many.  One of the first I remember growing up was Teague Moore.  He was just completing his junior year of high school when I was really getting into the sport.   I got to watch him win at Fargo, and then at NCAA and Olympic and World team trails.   His older brother Ty Moore (himself a 4x Pennsylvania State Champion) coached me at Angry Fish Wrestling Club.

Ohio Wrestling Site:  Jake, you wrestled for the Angry Fish wrestling club in PA.  Founder Ray Brinzer is known to be one of the most colorful individuals in the sport, the tales of his eccentric tendencies are legendary in wrestling circles.  Do you know him to still be the same free spirit he was as a competitor- or is he more “mainstream” now?

Herbert: (Laughs) He’s still out there.  He just named his child Yohanus (OWS Admin Note: I’m completely guessing on the spelling of this name) so they can call him “Yo Brinzer”.  I’d watch out for that child, he’s going to be a very different athlete.  Ray met his wife at the Olympic Training Center, she was there for basketball.  I look forward to wrestling with Ray’s son one day at the Angry Fish Wrestling Club and saying “I remember when your dad used to kick my a## like this!”

Ohio Wrestling Site: Does Brinzer still wrestle?
Herbert: Absolutely, I just wrestled with Ray and I will wrestle with him again at a clinic in Harrisburg.

Ohio Wrestling Site: Finally, what advice do you have for wrestlers who want to achieve the same success you have had?

Herbert: Advice…..you’ve got to love it.  It can’t be something you feel like you have to do.  You have to love it enough that you can do it every day and it’s not a grind.  At the end of the day it’s not just the number of matches you win- it’s what you get out of it!

Ohio Wrestling Site: Good talking to you Jake, and good luck at the World Team Trials and beyond.

Herbert: Thanks!  

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