A LONG MEMORY
Inability to forget NCAA setback spurs this Panther
OMAHA - Northern Iowa’s Dylan Long will never forget.
How can he forget about the biggest wrestling match of his life; the match he had worked his entire career for; the match that would finally make the seemingly endless hours of training all worthwhile?
It was also the match he was so tantalizingly close to winning before a heartbreaking overtime setback last March in the NCAA wrestling finals before a sellout crowd of 16,436 fans at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.
Long fell, 6-4, in overtime to talented true freshman Teyon Ware of Oklahoma in the 141-pound championship bout.
Long, a senior from Creston, Iowa, said he will use that loss as motivation as he chases the national title again this year. Long is ranked second this season behind Ware.
“If I try not to think about that match, I will think about it even more,” Long said. “I try to use that match as a positive and use it as something that will help push me this year. It really drives me. It’s hard to think back about that match and replay all the different scenarios that could have taken place. You just have to focus on what’s ahead.”
Long looked
impressive in capturing the 141-pound title on Nov. 22 at Nebraska-Omaha’s Kaufman-Brand Open at Sapp Fieldhouse. He downed Iowa State’s ninth-ranked Nate Gallick, 5-1, in the finals.(To finish the remainder of this article, subscribe to W.I.N. Magazine through the merchandise section or inquire about a subscription via e-mail.)