Wrestling hunts fifth straight title: All-American heavyweight Adeniyi-Bada wrestles after playing many fields

Entering high school, Bandele Adeniyi-Bada was a basketball and football player. He had never even contemplated wrestling. "To be honest, I kind of looked down on wrestling," Adeniyi-Bada said. "I thought that it was just a bunch of guys in underwear rolling around on mats." But when there was no room for the Kent, Ohio, native on the hoops team, he turned to wrestling, against the wishes of his mother. "She really didn't like it and actually tried to pull me off the team," the fifth-year senior said. "She's from Nigeria and had never seen it before and thought it was very barbaric." Luckily, for the Penn wrestling program, cooler heads prevailed and Adeniyi-Bada continued to wrestle, as well as play football, throughout high school, earning a state championship wrestling at 160 pounds. When it came to choosing a college, the future heavyweight looked for a school far from the Midwest that would be academically rigorous. Never one to shy away from a challenge, he also wanted the opportunity to continue with both football and wrestling. "Initially I thought I could play two sports the whole way through and my first two years I did," the former defensive end said. "I was never pressured to quit by my coaches, but my wrestling teammates were like, 'Would you rather just win an Ivy League title or would you rather be national champ?'" "It basically came down to programs and wrestling was on a national level and moving up the ladder. In the wrestling program, the coaches are tops in the country and nationally respected. That was a big factor in my decision." Adeniyi-Bada quit football after his sophomore year to concentrate on wrestling and has not looked back. Last year was his most impressive wrestling season by far. Named to the All-Ivy first team, he finished the season with a record of 31-6. At the EIWAs, Adeniyi-Bada suffered a fluke loss to Brown's Bronson Lingamfelter and placed third but earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. There, he finished seventh in the heavyweight division, placing high enough to be named an All-American. He also got revenge on Lingamfelter, 14-6. He now enters the 1999-2000 season ranked third nationally in the heavyweight division. While the 250-pound Adeniyi-Bada may wrestle as a heavyweight, he was recruited as a 197-pounder and continues to wrestle a more athletic style than the traditional lumbering heavyweight. "Heavyweights are usually slower and like to tie you up," Adeniyi-Bada said. "It's just a slower pace, more physical wrestling. The way I want to wrestle is like a lighterweight, just real quick and on my feet with a lot of fakes." One of Adeniyi-Bada's main advantages against bigger opponents -- who may weigh up to 285 pounds -- is his quickness. "I think Bandele is different from a lot of heavyweights in that he does have a great deal of speed," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Technically, he is able to have a wider range of options for his technique as compared to a lot of heavyweights. He also combines quickness with a great deal of strength and a very explosive athletic ability." That the heavyweight must be slow is not the only misconception the Wharton senior must deal with. People simply assume that Adeniyi-Bada, whose nickname is the "Bear," must eat everything in sight to maintain his weight. "Most people don't believe me but I am a very picky eater," Adeniyi-Bada said. "I'll come to the dining services, and not to slam those guys, but I'll lose my appetite." For all his finicky eating, the senior must be doing something right -- he has put on an average of 20 pounds each summer since he has come to Penn. "When I go home my mother is like, 'You're a monster, you don't have a neck anymore. I don't even recognize you,'" Adeniyi-Bada said. Yet, while his mother may not approve of his bulk, his roommate, senior Eric Bunn, a strong safety for the Quakers football team, does. "Until you get to know Bandele and learn that he is one of the nicest guys, people are scared of him," Bunn said. "It's very cool though -- he's kind of like my bodyguard." Whether his size is a positive or negative quality away from the mat, in competition it is a definite must. And it is his size, as well as his strength, speed and conditioning, that will aid the "Bear" as he strives for his goal of winning a national championship this year.

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