Blue White Illustrated

had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with her individually yet, but it's on tours like this where we have 10 minutes here or there to get to know each other a little bit better. She hit the ground run- ning. She got here and has been very busy. But I was pretty spoiled with Tim Curley. Tim Curley was a guy who hired me, and Dave Joyner was on the hiring committee when I met with them in Des Moines in a hotel in a back room. It was Jan [Bortner], it was Ira Lubert and it was Dave. Those are the people I re- member. Tim Curley grew up in State College. He loved wrestling. He was in the wrestling room every week. He was just in there watching because he loves it, but that's very rare. When he was here, I was like, "You guys don't under- stand. ADs do not come into wrestling rooms very o:en, so this is rare." Then with Dave Joyner, I had a relationship with him. He's a guy I had lunch with a few times and communicated with o9 and on before he even got the [AD] job. You initiated that meeting in Des Moines? Yes, I called Curley because I knew if I were ever going to leave my alma mater – from a loyalty standpoint – it would have to be for a school like Penn State. ... I saw that the support was there. They had everything they needed with [high school] wrestling in Pa. So, yeah, I reached out. The 8rst time I called him, I just wanted to make sure I was in the right place because I wasn't super happy where I was at the time. He thought I was just messing with him the 8rst time. … Franklin talks about dominating the state, and you look at the teams that have won the nationals since I've been involved with college wrestling and their core has been based around [in-state talent]. Ohio State won this year? Well, they have a core of great Ohio wrestlers: the Stieber brothers, their '25-pounder, [Bo] Jordan. It's so important. Kids come in waves, but more o:en than not, there's always going to be a great core of Pa. talent. If not just for depth and practice room workout partners... Exactly. You can't recruit everyone from out of state and think you're going to win. That's the beauty of Pennsylva- nia wrestling. Thinking back to when you called Tim and you were sitting in the meet- ing in that Des Moines hotel, is this where you pictured yourself being six years later? I think so. I was still really young. I was the head coach at Iowa State when I was 26 years old and had a lot of weight on my shoulders. A lot of it had to do with myself because I'm saying we're going to take over the world and win national ti- tles. But at the time, when I was looking at Penn State, and still today, I've always had a quiet con8dence in the program and the system and that if we just work hard and do the right things, then we'll be successful. We're de8nitely very grateful for the success we've had. You look back, and every championship [hinged on] one or two matches the years that we won. This year, those one or two matches didn't go our way, so it gives you a real appreciation for winning a national championship. It's not easy, but that's what makes it fun. In a year when we don't win, it helps you appreci- ate it a little bit more. It keeps that 8re burning. We want to win again, and that's how you stay hungry. Win or lose, it's all over and it's next year. That's just the nature of the beast, but that's what I love about it. It's the consistency. It's those high expectations. I think there's a bigger challenge when As expected, Ed Ruth, a three-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American for the Penn State wrestling team, will pursue a career in mixed martial arts. According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Ruth has signed a contract to com- pete with the MMA promotion firm Bellator. In addition, the native of Harrisburg, Pa., will continue training for the 2016 Olympics. Ruth is currently ranked No. 1 at 86kg and is a member of the U.S. National Freestyle Team. "I've known for a long time now that after I get Olympic gold around my neck, I was going to go get some MMA gold for my waist," Ruth told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, who later confirmed the signing with Bellator. After his Penn State career ended in 2014, Ruth began his postgradu- ate training for the 2016 Olympics with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. This past winter, he moved to Arizona to continue his pursuit of an Olympic gold medal with the Sunkist Kids on Arizona State's cam- pus in Tempe. At the time, PSU head coach Cael Sanderson said he "wasn't real surprised" by Ruth's move to a different training center due to Ruth's added focus on MMA. "He's kind of been in and out of here, just training MMA, back, then going to an- other MMA gym," Sanderson said in February from the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex. "But, you know, Ed is very special to me, and he's real special to our staff and our program and obviously the fans. So, obviously, I would like to see him stay here and finish what he started, but he's a grown man and he's going to make his own deci- sions and we support it." In addition to training freestyle with the Sunkist Kids, Ruth also committed to train MMA with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque. Although he has signed an MMA contract, it is still undetermined when he'll offi- cially begin his professional fighting career. "It will be a little while until I step into the cage for the first time," Ruth told MMAFighting.com, "but when I do, everyone they put in front of me is in for a world of hurt." – T.O. Ruth signs with MMA promoter RUTH

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