Penn assistants wrestle for World Team spots

Brian Dolph and Trevor Lewis are heading to Vegas for their chances to advance to the World Championships. Las Vegas is known for its casinos. Visitors flock there for the opportunity to win big. Brian Dolph and Trevor Lewis will be in Vegas to win also, but in a far different manner. The two Penn assistant wrestling coaches will be competing in their respective weight classes for the opportunity to represent the United States at the upcoming World Wrestling Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. "It's not a really good place to go," Dolph said. "There have been a lot better places where the championships were held, but just making the world team is enough." Both men got to this point by placing third at last month's United States Open Nationals. The top six men from that meet advance to the World Team Trials, which will take place tomorrow and Saturday in the Thomas Mack Center on the University of Nevada's Las Vegas campus. On the first day of competition, the highest seeded wrestler receives a bye. By virtue of their third place finishes at nationals, both Dolph and Lewis are seeded third. They will square off against the four remaining wrestlers in a round robin tournament for the opportunity to face the number one wrestler in a best-of-three series on Saturday. Both coaches have been wrestling competitively at the international level for at least six years, and their experience should aid them in such a major meet. "I think it helps," Lewis, 30, said. "I have more international experience than most of the guys in my weight. I've been in more international tournaments, I've won more international tournaments, I've wrestled more international matches." Lewis noted that the winners of the World Trials typically figure prominently in the Olympic picture. Both Lewis and Dolph want to add a United States World Team spot to their already impressive resumes. Dolph, 29, just completed his third year of coaching at Penn under Roger Reina. He was a three-time All-American at Indiana University. In 1990, he became the Hoosiers first NCAA champion in 50 years. He goes into the World Trials with a lot of confidence knowing that he has defeated every one of the other wrestlers there. "I've been in the top three or four the last couple of years," Dolph said. His competition will come from John Giura, Ken Ramsey, Townsend Saunders -- the 1996 Olympic silver medalist -- and Lincoln McElravey. Dolph figures to wrestle Ramsey or Giura first. "I've beaten Ramsey about six times. If it's him, I'm not worried at all," Dolph said. "Giura is a little bit tougher in the fact that he keeps matches real close -- he doesn't really open up. Anything can happen, but I'm a lot stronger than him, and a lot younger than him." He has also beaten Saunders and McElravey each of the last times he wrestled them. "I know I can do it. If I feel good, and I'm on, I'll do it. I know I will," Dolph said. Lewis is also approaching the World Team Trials with a lot of warranted confidence. As an undergraduate, he competed at Princeton University, where he was an NCAA qualifier as a senior. His toughest competition will come from Dan St. John, the only wrestler in his weight class whom he has not defeated. Lewis was fourth in the 1996 Olympic Trials, but sees his weight class, 167.5 pounds, as much more open due to the retirement of Kenny Monday and the killing of Dave Shultz. Both Lewis and Dolph are members of the Dave Shultz Wrestling Club. "It's a great honor because Dave Shultz was a great friend of mine. [His murder] was really tragic," Dolph said. "It gives me energy and makes me stronger. Not only was he a great competitor, but he was a great person." "We're all wrestling with Dave's memory, and that's very important to us," Lewis added. "Everything we do, we're doing for Dave and for Nancy [Shultz]." Lewis and Dolph turned down the chance to go out to Stanford University to train with other members of their club because they both felt more comfortable training at Penn. "We both elected to stay here because we have each other. We had plenty of wrestling partners, and we're comfortable at home," Lewis said. He and Dolph have been training with some of the current members of Penn's wrestling team, such as NCAA runner-up Brandon Slay, senior Sean O'Hara, and sophomore Brett Matter. Lewis just completed his second year coaching at Penn, and pointed to the helpfulness of his job. "It helps you analyze your own game because you see what other people are doing...It gives me the opportunity to evaluate wrestling more. The more I see wrestling, the more I can see things I'm doing wrong or right in other people's wrestling," Lewis said. Dolph and Lewis know that they are nearing the upper end of the age of most competitive wrestlers, and they have only a limited number of opportunities like the World Trials left. The odds are good, however, that both men will do well in Vegas this weekend.