UNI coach defeats Mocco
Ex-Hawkeye Williams also among World Team qualifiers
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
AMES — Throughout the first seven years of his freestyle wrestling career, Tolly Thompson collected more patience than accolades.
For years, he wore the label as the second-best heavyweight in the country.
He placed behind World champion Stephen Neal in 1999. He spent five years finishing behind two-time Olympian Kerry McCoy. He was the top guy in the U.S. at the weight in 1998, but a knee injury prevented Thompson from proving it at World Team Trials.
At last, Thompson attained his chance to represent the U.S. at the World Championships by sweeping Steve Mocco on Sunday in the best-of-three final series at the World Team Trials in Hilton Coliseum.
“It’s been a quest, “said Thompson, who was born in Ames, grew up in Janesville, and now is an assistant coach at Northern Iowa. “It ain’t always (about) winning, it’s the process in which you do it. I’ve learned a ton in the last seven, eight years on the process.”
Thompson had the partisan crowd in his favor, partly because of his Iowa roots but also because Mocco left Iowa last summer to transfer to the Hawkeyes’ archrival Oklahoma State. Mocco asked to be released from his scholarship to Iowa two days after losing to Thompson at the Olympic Trials in May 2004.
Thompson, who turns 32 on Saturday, won the first match 2-1, 1-0 and clinched his spot on the World team with a 0-3, 1-0, 2-0 win.
Thompson will be joined on the team by former Hawkeye Joe Williams (163 pounds), Sammie Henson (121), Michael Lightner (132), Chris Bono (145,½), Mo Lawal (185) and Daniel Cormier (211,½). The World Championships begin Sept. 24 in Budapest, Hungary.
Sara McMann, who moved to Iowa City during the winter, captured a spot on the women’s freestyle team. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist won both championship series matches against Alaina Berube to win the 138,¾-pound title.
Williams beat Kirk White in two matches to secure a spot on the World team for the fifth time.
McMann and Williams declined interview requests made through USA Wrest-ling.
Lee Fullhart, Iowa’s other representative in the final series, dropped a pair of matches to Lawal. A little more than a year ago, the former All-American at Oklahoma State lost a pair of matches to Fullhart by technical fall, but Lawal’s rapid improvement coupled with rule changes in the sport helped him Sunday.
“The new rules, I love them because it’s a takedown match, “Lawal said. “The more athletic person in a sense should win. … It’s all on your feet. You’ve got to take care of business on your feet, and that’s how I like it.”
Lawal won the first bout 1-1, 1-0, 1-0. He captured the second match 3-0 and won 5-0, ending the bout on a double-leg in which he lifted Fullhart in the air and slammed him to the mat for a five-point move.
“His learning curve is occurring right now, “Oklahoma State coach John Smith said of Lawal. “He’s in a great learning curve right now. You don’t get an opportunity to have them very long, and he has it right now and he’s taking every advantage of it.”
From the onset, Thompson said he was in favor of the changes in the freestyle rules that now award a wrestler one point if his opponent steps out of bounds and features more strategy than previous years.
“I’ve really trained at them, and I’ve wrestled almost 30 times already this year, “he said. “I’ve been overseas five times and been away from my family and kids half the winter. I was in an airplane or overseas more this winter than I was in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with the (UNI) team. This part right here is why it paid off.”
Thompson’s freestyle experience and Mocco’s lack of it was evident in their second bout.
Mocco won the first period by scoring three points on the 30-second leg clinch. After the second period passed without any scoring, Mocco escaped Thompson’s leg clinch, and all the Oklahoma State senior-to-be needed to do was keep from getting scored upon to force the third match of the series. But Mocco stepped out of bounds with 13 seconds remaining in the period to force a third period.
“I had to overcome some odds there to win that dang match, “Thompson said.
Thompson scored an early point in the third period by pushing Mocco out again and tacked on a late go-behind to win the match.
“It’s about learning how to wrestle when you’re winning by a point, “Smith said. “You spend your whole season wrestling collegiately, and it’s a little bit of a struggle. Steve is definitely not going to make any excuses. He had his opportunities in that match, and I think a little bit of experience and understanding what you need to do in certain situations.
“You need experience, and hopefully you experience them with positive actions, and today wasn’t real positive for him because he did the wrong thing in situations.”
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or [email protected].
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