Ex-Husker Vering finds motivation in hopeful run toward Olympics
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BY KARL VOGEL / Lincoln Journal Star
Less than six weeks ago, Brad Vering appeared to be well on his way to completing one of the most impressive wrestling years by any American in recent memory.
He earned his way back to the U.S. World Championships team last year after just missing in 2006. Then, in September, he earned a silver medal at 84 kilograms (185 pounds) at the World meet and led the Americans to their first team gold medal and world championship in Greco-Roman history.
For that, he was chosen a finalist for the Sullivan Award — given annually to America’s top amateur athlete — and again had the top seed for the United States Championships in May and an automatic berth in the finals. Another title there, and Vering would have a similar advantage when the U.S. Olympic Trials rolled around.
But a loss to Brad Ahearn in the finals not only cost Vering the bye into this weekend’s championship round at the U.S. trials in Las Vegas, it also cost him the top seed for the tournament. It also put a detour in his path to Beijing — a grueling one-day tournament on Saturday.
Considering all the hard work the Howells native and former Husker national champion has put in to get this far, Vering said he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I’m looking back at it as a blessing,” Vering said last week in a telephone interview from the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. “It’s caused me to work that much harder in preparation for the trials, and I know now that it’s going to push me through the trials and win the tournament and get me to Beijing,
“I lost focus at nationals, took my skills for granted,” Vering said. “But after all the work I’ve put in the past five weeks, I know I’m better now. Mentally, I feel I can break anyone down now.”
That confidence comes from an intensified workout regimen that has also included help from fellow World Team member and former Husker All-American Justin Ruiz, who won the 96-kilogram (211½-pound) class at nationals.
Together, Vering and Ruiz have pushed each other through grueling three-a-day workouts at least twice a week since they returned from nationals.
Heading back to Las Vegas for the Olympic Trials, Vering said he’s now a better wrestler than when he won the silver medal at the World Championships last year. Since then, there have been a few minor injuries that slowed down Vering and, he said, may have compromised his attention to detail.
“I’ve been on World teams before and been to the Athens (Olympic) Games, but I knew that time I wasn’t as good a wrestler as I could be,” Vering said. “I am now, though, and it’s a totally different confidence than when I was first on the team a couple years out of college. Back then, if you ended up drawing me at the World meet or the Olympics, you were in for a battle, but you had a better chance than you do now.
“What I’ve been through the last year has helped me grow in confidence and skill.
That and all the people who are doubting Vering’s ability to make the U.S. Olympic team after losing at nationals. Vering said he draws inspiration from one of his peers, four-time Iowa State national champion and Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson.
“After I lost at nationals, I was talking to a guy who reminded me that Cael got beat at nationals the year he won the Olympics,” Vering said. “Now, I’m not comparing myself to Cael in any way, except that in wrestling we all have setbacks along the way, even someone like him. You just can’t worry about the losses. If I did that, I’d be a really sad guy.”
A berth on the Olympic team wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Vering, though. A top-three finish there would make him the first native Nebraskan to medal in Greco-Roman wrestling and could put a cap on a storied career. While Vering isn’t ready or willing to admit that this is his final year as a competitive wrestler, he said he can see the end coming soon.
“Yeah, you could say I’m putting all my eggs in one basket right now,” Vering said. “I’m looking at it as ‘This is it for me, I’m done after this,’ but I’m not going to close the book right now.
“I was second place at the Worlds and second at nationals, but if I can move up one spot on the podium and go out on top, that would be my own storybook ending.
“That’s what’s pushing me now. I’m not training for anything less.”
Reach Karl Vogel at 473-7432 or kvogel@journalstar.com.
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