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Discussion Topic: Themat.com Article on Ohio RTC
Tommy Rowlands added to this discussion on February 20, 2009
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http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=20305
Olympic hopefuls… check.
World-class training under world-class coaches… check.
Giving back to the Columbus community… check.
Formerly known as the Buckeye Wrestling Club, the Ohio Regional Training Center in Columbus, Ohio has a vision. The quest is to produce Olympic champions, give back to the community, and provide world class training for talented development athletes.
Directed by 2008 U.S. Nationals champion Tommy Rowlands, the Ohio RTC was established to create an environment for freestyle wrestlers to train as they reach their goals of reaching the Olympic Games.
The year-round training facility is home to Olympic hopefuls Shawn Bunch and J.D. Bergman. Bunch was a 2008 U.S. Nationals champion and Bergman was a member of the 2006 University World Team. Both are coached by 1996 Olympian and two-time World Team Coach Lou Rosselli and 2007 World Team Member Joe Heskett.
Rowlands and his staff do not plan to stop with these two Olympic hopefuls.
“Within the next six to eight months, we hope to add at least two more Olympic hopefuls,” Rowlands said. “Our goal is to support one wrestler for each weight class for the 2012 Olympics.”
The staff also trains several developmental athletes including Ohio State stars Reece Humphrey and Nikko Triggas, both who have had tremendous age-group success in the Olympic styles. Frequent visitors of the training center include 2008 World University champion Tervel Dlagnev and 2008 NCAA champion Keith Gavin.
A typical week for the athletes consists of a vigorous workout schedule. Five days on the mat, thee or four strength and conditioning activities, and one community service activity.
The athletes have done service projects such as serving food to the homeless to reading to a kindergarten class and talking to local youth about commitment, discipline and overcoming adversity.
Bergman said being at the Ohio RTC is great for him to achieve his goals. He suffered a knee injury at the U.S. Nationals last year causing a setback in his pursuit for the 2008 Olympic Team. His sights are now squarely on making the 2012 Olympic squad.
“As soon as I am healthy, my goal is to make it to the top of the ladder in the country,” he said. “I want to win the U.S. Nationals and make the World Team. My main goal is to make the Olympic Team. Having someone like Lou Rosselli, who is a genius at putting workouts together, and Tommy Rowlands, who is a great resource to workout with and train with, is great.”
Rowlands knows the Olympic quest very well, after a successful freestyle career in the 120 kg/264.5 lbs. weight class. He placed fifth in the 2007 World Championships, and was a 2005 World University Games champion. He was also a two-time U.S. Nationals champion and placed second in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.
“The Olympic dream is very close to me. I wasn’t able to achieve mine. It was a journey and process that I will always remember and cherish,” he said. “Being the director at the RTC is something I really enjoy doing. It’s been great applying different practices to find different revenue streams so we can have more hopefuls at the training center. It’s just a matter of time before we get more people in here.”
The Ohio RTC is a non-profit organization which relies on the support of private donations. They currently have more than 200 members and are hosting a fundraising dinner April 17 to help reach their goals of having more Olympic hopefuls.
Recently, the training center became recognized as a USA Wrestling Training Center.
“It was great just to have to association. We are all about fueling the Olympic dream,” Rowlands said. “The goal is for us to be a working partner with Zeke Jones and his freestyle program. We are open for any support they might need or want for training. We are here for USA Wrestling and its freestyle program.”
U.S. National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones said this opportunity for Olympic and World hopefuls gives the entire national program an advantage.
“It will give our World and Olympic hopefuls an opportunity to train in a full-time freestyle environment which is what our guys need to do,” Jones said. “We are competing against professionals from all over the world. We have to be able to have that type of environment where they are doing freestyle daily.”
With a step in the right direction, the staff and Olympic hopefuls at the Ohio RTC are doing all the right things in order to make Olympic dreams come true.
Olympic medal… in progress.
For more information on the Ohio Regional Traning Center, visit
www.ohiortc.com.
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