| Page 2 of 2 < |
For Eagles, a Historic Takedown
"They were more interested in the parties they went to in Cancun," said redshirt junior wrestler Josh Glenn, after walking across the AU campus in near anonymity after winning the 197-pound title at the NCAA championships. "Some people don't even know we have a wrestling program."
(Bill O'Leary - The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"I had confidence that he could be very special," said Cody, a former assistant at national powers Oklahoma State and Nebraska, where he coached Olympic champion Rulon Gardner. "But, still, you're taking a big chance."
It paid off quickly. As a redshirt freshman, Glenn was named the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association's freshman of the year. Last year, Glenn advanced to the NCAA semifinals before finishing fourth at 184 pounds. After missing the first month of this season because of a rib injury, he lost to Backes and then reeled off 24 straight victories. It set up a rematch with Backes for the national championship.
With 17 seconds left in the third period, Backes grabbed hold of Glenn's right leg and contorted it in a way that Glenn could only compare to his torn labrum a year earlier. After a minute of injury time to recover, the final seconds played out uneventfully, and the match went to sudden-death overtime. Glenn wasn't the least bit nervous. He knew what to do.
"It's a situation we've trained for," Glenn said. "If there's 30 seconds left, and you're down one point, what are you going to do? If there's one minute left and you're down three points, what are you going to do? I've already done this. All I've got to do is attack him and it's over. Besides, I couldn't walk. It was so painful."
Right off the whistle, Glenn shot at Backes with a move Cody called a "low single leg." Glenn circled away from Backes's right leg, and then whipped his arm around Backes, grabbed his lower right leg, held it, and then grabbed Backes's left ankle for the takedown.
Twelve seconds into the extra session, Glenn had won his title.
As he and Cody embraced, Capone darted down the bleachers, past one security guard after another and congratulated Glenn.
"The first thing he said to me was, 'Doc, I hope this puts some closure to you losing,' " Capone recalled.
"Josh," Capone said, "you wrestle for yourself, and nobody else."
"No, it's about everyone who helped me be there, and you did."
Capone relented.
"I guess he's right," Capone said. "It came full circle Saturday night."
And it validated the gamble Cody took four years ago -- on both the athlete and his program.
"Josh is the school's first NCAA champ, first two-time all-American," athletic department spokesman Patrick MacAdie said. "In a lot of ways, he's our first-time anything around here."
