Slay's goals: Ivy title, NCAA title, Olympic gold

After missing last year's EIWA title season, Olympic hopeful Brandon Slay is eager to return to the mat. Being a two-time world medalist and a University National Champion are among the many achievements highlighting Penn wrestler Brandon Slay's career. The Quakers' junior captain now has his mind on the year 2000 and the next Olympic Games. "In the back of my head, I think of it often," Slay said. "But right now, I have too many individual goals to accomplish." Those goals include winning a NCAA individual national title. "Before I concentrate on my Olympic goals, I want to be national champion. And as a team, we have goals of placing in the top 10 in the nation, repeating as EIWA champions and Ivy League champions," Slay said. Las season, Slay was second on the team with 75 takedowns and was ranked as high as 10th in the nation. He has been a two-time NCAA qualifier and a two-time first-team all-Ivy selection. "Brandon works really hard and is a very focused individual," Penn tri-captain Clinton Matter said. "I'd be surprised if he didn't place at nationals and receive All-American status." Currently ranked No. 1 in the EIWA and No. 6 in the nation, Slay looks forward to a successful year after being sidelined last season from a stress fracture in his foot. "It was tough seeing my teammates win the EIWA championships," Slay said. "But I was happy for them. I realized that my time would eventually come, and that time is now." Slay still has two more years of eligibility. He last competed in April . "I'm not nervous," Slay said. "I'm actually very anxious." Slay holds a 47-16 career record at Penn and has never lost an Ivy League dual match. "The intensity of competition at the international level is something he's benefited from," Penn coach Roger Reina said. Slay has been competitive all his life. When he was young, his father, who also wrestled in high school and college, introduced Slay to football and wrestling. In fact, football is Slay's real passion. "Football was my greatest love growing up," Slay said. "I knew I would be more successful in wrestling. They were two sports I loved. I like to win and, luckily, wrestling is something that lets me do that. That's why I continue to compete." In high school, Slay garnered a 142-1 record. Reina attributes his success there to his abilities in international-style wrestling. "He's always competed successfully at a national level," Reina said. "He always expects to succeed." Slay was a three-time Texas state champion at his high school. "There wasn't a very competitive atmosphere," Slay said. "Because wrestling isn't prevalent in Texas, it's hard to get great coaching." It is important to Slay to be surrounded by teammates who have equally high goals as he does. "He's a great guy and is very focused," Penn tri-captain Joshua Bailer said. "He takes a lot of pride in what he does." In high school, Slay competed at the Cadet Nationals for 15-16-year-olds, where he won first place. That national win took him to Budapest, Hungary, to compete with the world team, and from that point, Slay's international career bloomed. Slay went on to win two world titles, the 1995 Espoir Championships and the 1995 Pacific World Games in Colombia. Slay's most recent accomplishment was winning the 1996 University National Freestyle Championships, which earned him a spot on the University World Travel Team. However, instead of competing in Seoul, South Korea, Slay opted to intern at Charles Schwaab in San Francisco working in mutual funds. But should the chance to compete in the Olympics arise, you can be sure that Charles Schwaab will need to find a new intern. "After Penn, I'll continue to train and get better at freestyle," said Slay. "If my body stays healthy, 2004 might be a legitimate option. "But in 2000, I'm going to make a hard run for it."