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Wrestling mom looks for more gold at Pan Am Games

Associated Press 7/11/07

Two-time gold medal wrestler and single mother Kristie Marano prepares for her first Pan American Games, which will begin next week. JOHN HARRELL: AP

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Motherhood and medals. Not exactly a common combination in sports.

Kristie Marano doesn't care.

Marano has won medals at the past eight world wrestling championships, including gold in 2000 and 2003. Nearly all of them have come since she gave birth to Kayla, now 9.

As she heads to her first Pan American Games next week and, she hopes, her first Olympics next summer in Beijing, Marano is certain that being a mom has helped her wrestling. And being a wrestler has helped her as a mother.

"It is a juggling act, really, but it's cool," the 28-year-old Marano said. "If anything, I want to be a positive role model to my daughter and to show her nothing is too much of an obstacle in life. If you really want to do something, you can."

Marano was on the verge of doing what she wanted most in her sport in 2004, but then she failed to make weight at the Olympic trials as the favorite in the 138.75 class. Instead of competing in Athens, where women's wrestling was on the schedule for the first time, she served as a training partner and cheerleader for the other Americans, including Sara McMann, who won a silver medal in Marano's weight class.

She also learned something very valuable from that disappointment.

"I think even though it was heartbreaking, I would not want to do anything else," Marano said. "So I went as a training partner to Greece and it made me want to push harder and be on the team the next time. It gave me more determination and motivation.

"And it was really cool to be at an Olympic event, even if I was not wrestling, to be able to cheer the girls on who were making history. Just watching it really helped me focus the next (three) years so far."

Focus is one of Marano's strengths, says U.S. women's coach Terry Steiner, who has worked with Marano since 2002. Steiner has seen Marano meet injuries, weight woes, relationship problems — she's now a single mom — and the challenge of combining family and wrestling with a sense of purpose that every elite athlete must possess.

Indeed, Steiner believes the bonds between Marano and her daughter have been strengthened by their involvement in the sport.

"I think she definitely wants an Olympic medal, but I don't think she'd be doing it if she and Kayla did not like the lifestyle. She enjoys the environment and the environment her daughter is around. She has, like, 20 big sisters.

"I have a daughter of my own and it is the same for her in that atmosphere. If a situation is not good for Kayla, I don't think Kristie would be doing it. She has to look at everything; she can't be selfish and just do what she wants."

What Marano most wants is a balanced life for herself and Kayla. So they enjoy watching movies and ballgames together — Kayla spends part of the summer in Kristie's hometown of Albany, N.Y., where her uncles take her to New York Giants' training camp. Kayla also has played soccer and now is a wrestler, too.

She's participated in three tournaments, winning in Missouri and placing second in New Mexico with mom as her coach. That was an eye-opener for Marano.

"It was fun, and definitely one of the things you think about is, 'Wow, this is what my parents did?' My dad was always in my corner, whether I was in judo or wrestling. And there were times when he told me to do something and I did the opposite."

Marano laughs at the long-ago memories — and the more recent ones when she was helping her daughter.

"You see things she's not doing and it almost made me want to call my dad and say, 'I'm sorry for all those times I didn't (listen),' " she said.

Steiner describes Marano as one of the most coachable athletes he's had. Now that she has settled as a heavyweight and doesn't have to worry about poundage, he believes she will be even more of a factor on international mats.

Including in Rio.

"The cards have been stacked against Kristie so many times, and you can count on her to find a way to come out of it shining," Steiner said. "I think she definitely adapts to who she is wrestling, what level she is wrestling. Some people get caught in the game plan and style of wrestling and that can hinder them. She is very resilient.

"I think as far as a pure competitor, she is the best I have ever been around, male or female, and her record says that. She competes so well, goes with the flow, is easy to be around and to coach. Kristie just finds a way."

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A whole new kind of wraslin'

By Jenny Elder 7/18/07
Register Sports Writer

The word wrestling conjures up an image of men in colored tights running around and bouncing off roped rings. Some have masks, some do not. Some enter in capes, some do not. But, all have a “flare” and a role to play out in front of audiences across the country.

And maybe Madison County citizens have seen signs promoting the starting of a wrestling club.

But, the entertainment-only form of “wraslin” is not what coach Gene Wolfe is promoting.

On the contrary, his wrestling consists of six minutes of physically tasking, sheer-will displays of two athletes on a mat of amateur wrestling.

Madison Central junior Jordan Shanks is a member of the football team, but this past November when Wolfe finally got the Madison County Wrestling Club going, he wanted to try that out, too.

“Training for wrestling is more endurance-wise. In football, in the second and third quarter you can be taken out for a break,” Shanks said. “You get in the second or third period in wrestling and you are still in. You’ve got to go through it. Football is short spurts. You’ve got to look at the long run in wrestling.”

Wolfe, who has coached wrestling at Franklin County High School, is not new to trying to start a wrestling program. Several years ago he started a high school team in North Carolina.

He then coached the FCHS Flyers before moving to Madison County. Wolfe first taught a class for several years at EKU, but having a mat was the key component holding back the start of a club team.

“Last year, I purchased this mat and we were able to get things started,” Wolfe said. “And the schools have been good to let us have our club.”

Building process

Workouts are generally conducted at Bellevue Education Center on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. This summer, attendance has been down some because of other sports and camps going on, but Wolfe said he had a good mix of high school and middle school kids from all over the county during the school year.

A team can have as many as 14 wrestlers in weight classes ranging from 103 to 285 pounds.

“This is a great opportunity for some of our smallest kids in the school building,” Wolfe said. “I’m looking for 103-pound juniors and seniors.”

However, it is not necessary to have every class filled in order to be a team.

And the team is not just a guy thing. Girls are welcome to come, train and compete. Various teams throughout the state have female wrestlers and the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg has an all-girls team.

The Lady Patriots have been successful at the collegiate and world levels. They also host an all-girls tournament every year to scout high school talent.

“I put out a note in one of my newsletters that said if any girl wanted to train and go to that tournament and compete, I’d be glad to instruct and prepare them,” Wolfe said.

The year was not only full of training, but the middle school athletes got a chance to compete as club teams are welcome at that level.

Ultimate goal

However, the ultimate goal is to create a Kentucky High School Athletic Association accredited team.

“We are pursuing, through the avenue of (Madison Central) Principal (Gina) Lakes and the site-based council, getting a team to compete next year,” Wolfe said.

He added that he is not sure if he needs to get one team started at Central and start another team at Madison Southern in the next coming years or if it is best to get both teams started at once.

“Whatever it takes, we’ll do,” the veteran coach said. “I do want to get more teams and I want to keep real good wrestling in the state of Kentucky. ... There is a lot of support out there from other coaches.”

One such coach has been former Woodford County High School coach Rusty Parks, who helped to guide the Yellow Jackets to eight state titles with 38 individual champs in his 27 years.

Along with Parks, Wolfe has heard from Region 7 representative and Lafayette High School coach Chris McCoy, who wants to help get things going.

Region 7, consisting of Bourbon County, Bryan Station, Franklin County, Harrison County, Henry Clay, Lafayette, Montgomery County, Paul Dunbar, Tates Creek, Western Hills and Woodford, is the most likely spot for any Madison County team.

Road blocks

One hindrance that may keep Central from being able to add a program is the cost.

“It’s not a cheap sport,” KHSAA assistant commissioner and director of wrestling Julian Tackett said. “The sport is growing, but it seems like everything here is growing. It is something that has a very passionate audience behind it. ... But its cost scares a lot of people away. You are looking at $7,500 for one competition mat.”

If Madison County should decide to add a team, Tackett says he can be notified as late as Nov. 1 for this year’s competition.

Tackett has been in contact with Wolfe, Lakes and Athletics Director Gary Fritz and sees an interest, but also noted that MCHS has a lot of “inside issues” that will need to be cleared up before Central can approve a wrestling team. But he said he did not know what the specific issues were.

Attempts to talk with Principal Lakes were not returned at deadline.

But, Wolfe, Shanks and all the other athletes are hopeful that soon Central will have a team.

“I just want to compete. I want to go up against some other people if the school will let us continue,” Shanks said. “My goal is to go to state, like on any team, you want to go the distance.”

Morgan Wolfe is Gene Wolfe’s son and one of his middle school athletes.

The young protégé has been living and breathing the sport since he was born.

“In our spare time we wrestle in the basement and work on technique whenever,” Morgan Wolfe said. “My goal is to be able to be a contender when I’m older in some kind of tournament and being able to go to the state tournament when I’m a junior or senior.”

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PAN AMERICAN GAMES JOURNAL (Updated July 17): No bus trips for me when I get back home from Rio

Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
07/17/2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – One of the things I know I am definitely not doing when I get home is booking any bus trips anywhere.

Part of covering numerous sports in a huge event like the Pan American Games is riding the shuttle buses that take athletes, coaches, officials and media to various venues in Rio, a city of 11 million people.

And like any big city, there is rush hour and traffic jams. We discovered that first-hand last night when I rode with the USA Squash Team to their venue for the gold-medal singles finals for women and men.

It took us a full two hours to ride from the Athletes' Village to the Squash venue as traffic slowed to a crawl for much of the trip. We left at 5:40 p.m. and arrived at the venue at 7:40.

Gold-medal Squash winner Natalie Grainger of the U.S. almost missed her match. She arrived just before the scheduled bus departure time of 4:40 at the Village, but the bus had already left. Grainger, Coach Chris Walker and Team Physician Andrew Hunt were left scrambling to get to the venue.

They called the U.S. Olympic Committee, who then sent a car to the Village to drive them to the venue. After getting stuck in rush hour, the driver accidently took them to the Field Hockey stadium. The driver spoke only Portuguese and he finally figured out how to make it to the Squash venue. Grainger arrived at the venue at 7:15, and ran into the arena just 15 minutes before her match.

American Julian Illingworth won a silver medal in Squash on Monday night and then had to turn right around Tuesday morning to play in an 8 a.m. team match. The team did not make it back to the Village until midnight and then had to get right back up for a 5:40 a.m. bus.

The countdown now stands at four days until the first wrestling team arrives in Rio. The Greco-Roman team is scheduled to arrive here on Saturday.

I've already been here eight days and just had my first batch of laundry done in a little strip mall about half a block away from our hotel. It was reasonably priced and saved me a lot of time.

I had a great lunch today at Outback Steakhouse. The Coconut Shrimp was outstanding. They have a ton of American franchises here, but no Starbucks. They are known for their coffee down here, but there aren't a ton of coffee shops here like in the U.S.

Monday, July 16

World bronze medalist Justin Ruiz has agreed to write a journal for TheMat.com on his daily experiences at the Pan American Games.

We hooked this up through e-mail. Justin responded to my request that he write a journal for us and he said that he is interested in writing about his daily experiences before, during and after he competes in the Greco-Roman competition here at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

Justin will compete in the World Championships for the fourth time after winning the U.S. World Team Trials last month in Las Vegas.

I covered Justin for two years when he wrestled for the Nebraska Cornhuskers - where he was a two-time All-American - and I was a sportswriter for the Omaha World-Herald newspaper. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever dealt with in my career and he's also one of the most intelligent. I look forward to working with him and seeing what he has to say about his experiences in Rio.

Greco-Roman wrestler Jacob Clark wrote a journal for TheMat.com during the World Championships last year and did an excellent job for us.

The Greco-Roman competition kicks off the five-day Pan American Games wrestling event in Pavillion 4 of the Riocentro Sports Complex. Greco-Roman will compete July 24-25, women's freestyle on July 26 and men's freestyle on July 27-28.

Sixteen of the 18 American wrestlers who will compete here also will compete for the U.S. at September's World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Greco-Roman team is scheduled to arrive in Rio on July 21.

Trying to cover three sports down here has not been an easy task. I'm taking the 90-minute bus ride from the Athletes' Village to the Squash venue later today as two Americans - Natalie Grainger and Julian Illingworth - play in the women's and men's gold-medal matches.

I also met with the three members of the U.S. women's tennis team who will be competing here. NCAA champion Audra Cohen of Miami leads a strong group of college players who start competition Wednesday on the red clay of Marapendi Country Club. Luckily, that venue is within walking distance of my hotel.

Sunday, July 15

The compelling story of Henry Cejudo continues to draw the attention of the heavy-hitters in the sports media market.

Cejudo, who overcame numerous hardships while growing up as his mother struggled to support their large family, was the subject of an excellent Sunday feature story by reporter Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times.

Baxter, who normally covers the Los Angeles Dodgers for the Times, speaks both English and Spanish and is in Rio de Janeiro to cover the Pan American Games. I received an opportunity to work with Baxter on the story. While we chatted in the Pan Am Games media center on Saturday, Baxter raved about how impressed he was with Henry when he interviewed him over the phone.

The 20-year-old Cejudo, as many of you know, was the subject of a superb four-page feature story in Sports Illustrated that ran just prior to the U.S. World Team Trials.

Click here to read L.A. Times story on Cejudo

Publicity like this is priceless for our sport. I'm excited to see Henry compete down here. Hopefully, he can use this as a springboard to a strong performance in his first World Championships in September in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Henry is scheduled to arrive in Rio on July 24 to compete in the Pan American Games. The men's freestyle competition is set for July 27-28.

Saturday, July 14

In nearly 20 years as a sports journalist, I have seen my share of big sporting events.

I have covered the Rose Bowl, the Indianapolis 500 and the College World Series, and also been to 11 NCAA Wrestling Championships, two U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials and the World Championships last year in China.

I added another big one to my list on Friday night.

The Opening Ceremonies for the XV Pan American Games were nothing short of spectacular, complete with a phenonmenal fireworks display, great music, eye-popping colors and dancing on the arena floor, and an amazing lighting-of-the-torch ceremony that was done by past Brazialian track legend Joaquim Cruz.

An enthusiastic crowd of more than 90,000 fans packed the gigantic soccer stadium. It's the biggest stadium I've ever been in. The Rose Bowl and Michigan Stadium, places I've been, do seat more. But the floor area of Maracana Stadium is bigger and the seats aren't as close together as those in a football stadium.

Bob Condron, director of media services for the U.S. Olympic Committee, was able to pick up some tickets for the USOC press officers at the last minute and we are greatly indebted to him. This is Bob's sixth Pan American Games and he said this was the best Opening Ceremonies he has seen by far. Many said the event was of similar caliber to that of an Olympic Games.

The ceremony was upbeat, energetic and exciting to be a part of. As many of us expected, the U.S. team received a few boos when it walked into the stadium but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few cheers as well. I interviewed a few members of the U.S. Squash Team and they were blown away by how impressive the ceremony was.

When the Brazilian team entered the stadium to a thunderous ovation from the massive crowd it gave me goosebumps. It was very special to see.

It was quite a spectacle and an experience I will never forget.

Our bus driver twice got lost on the way to the stadium, and it took us two hours to get from the Main Press Center to Maracana Stadium, but it was more than worth it.

Friday, July 13

The President of Brazil made an appearance at the Athletes' Village early Friday afternoon, signaling the start of a huge day for the Pan American Games.

The Opening Ceremonies are set for tonight and a sold-out crowd of 80,000 fans is expected to greet the athletes who will take part in the massive athletic festival among countries from North, Central and South America.

A number of athletes are expected to walk in the Ceremonies and then possibly duck out of the stadium a little early as they are scheduled to begin competition the following morning.

With competition and long days approaching, a large group of USOC press officers took advantage of one our last free evenings to make a trek to the Hard Rock Cafe in Rio. I've been to numerous Hard Rock Cafes in the U.S., but this one blows them all away.

The place is really impressive, or "fantastico" as they say here in Portuguese, complete with a huge dance floor and a live band playing. Before the band took the stage, the Village People's "YMCA" came on and people in the Hard Rock flooded the dance floor and started spelling out the letters as the music blared.

A short time later, the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" came on and the crowd launched into a little dance routine. A number of us, including Lindsay DeWall and Diana Wright of the USOC, and Nicole Jomantas from Judo, ventured out there and tried to follow the steps the people from Brazil were doing on the dance floor. It was an enjoyable evening.

We had our cab driver laughing on the way to the Hard Rock. I was sitting in the front and have been known to have a little good-natured fun with these guys. He was telling me he didn't speak any English and I asked him if he knew where he was taking us. He said, "Yes, Hard Rock Cafe." I told him that he did know how to speak English and then he says, "Yes, I know English. New York City, Chicago and Dallas, Texas." We all broke up laughing.

The countdown now stands at eight days before our first team arrives in Rio. The Greco-Roman wrestlers are scheduled to fly into Rio late on the morning of July 21. The women's freestyle team is expected to arrive the next day and the men's freestyle team is due in here July 24, the day the wrestling competition starts.

Thursday, July 12

The city of Rio should be commended for its efforts in preparing for a massive event like this.

Many of the facilities are outstanding and they have promoted this event like crazy. Rio is in the running for the 2016 Olympics and obviously wants to put on a good show for everyone that is visiting their spacious, diverse and scenic city.

I received a chance to see where our wrestlers will be housed during this event after making a trip to the Pan American Games' Athletes Village on Wednesday afternoon. The Village is massive and received favorable reviews from a few of the American athletes and coaches I spoke with yesterday.

We had our first big wrestling story come out from the Pan Am Games. Barry Wilner of The Associated Press wrote an excellent feature on two-time World champion Kristie Marano that went out around the U.S. on the AP news wire. Among the papers picking it up were the Houston Chronicle and the Albany Times Union. The story is posted on our Newsstand on TheMat.com. Kristie will compete at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in Rio on July 26.

The hospitality here has been outstanding. We've got a great setup at our hotel and all the workers here are extremely helpful and friendly. The USA women's gymnastics team is staying in our hotel. They have a dining area right next to our media workroom in the lower level of the hotel. A lot of their team members look younger than my 14-year-old daughter.

I met the USA Squash team and head coach, and did an interview session with them at the Village. I'm covering Squash and Women's Tennis as part of the USOC media services staff. The athletes from Squash were very charismatic and upbeat, and looking forward to the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. The only complaint the Squash people had was their venue was about an hour and a half drive from the Village. Luckily for the wrestlers, they are only a short drive away from their venue.

Two of the Squash team members are graduates of Yale University, the same school where top U.S. women's freestyle wrestler Patricia Miranda recently graduated from Law School.

I had planned to check out the Flag Raising Ceremony at the Village late Wednesday afternoon, but a light drizzle turned into a downpour as we headed outside just before 5 p.m. local time. I instead made a quick dash to the long row of buses at the Village and caught a ride back to our hotel.

I was interviewed by phone this morning by reporter Andrew Logue of the Des Moines Register, who is doing a story on the record-setting 1997 Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team. I did a short interview with Andrew and provided him with contact information for Lee Fullhart, who was an NCAA champion on that team. I covered that event when I was sports editor for the Burlington (Iowa) Hawk Eye newspaper. Andrew is one of the top writers at the Register, so I'm looking forward to his story.

I have fond and vivid memories of that event after Iowa went on an amazing run on Friday en route to beating No. 1 Oklahoma State in what turned out to be Dan Gable's 15th and final NCAA title. The event was held in Gable's backyard of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and it was as emotional as I've ever seen him. Gable retired as Iowa's head coach shortly after that tournament.

Seeing Iowa 118-pounder Jesse Whitmer - aka "The Strongest Man in the World" - go on an improbable run to win the title was something Hawkeye fans still rave about. A three-year backup to four-time All-American Mike Mena, Whitmer won an NCAA title in his only year as a college starter.

It was nice to be able to talk a little bit of wrestling after preparing to cover two other sports.

The U.S. won 17 medals - eight gold, five silver and four bronze - at the most recent Pan American Games in 2003. 2003 Pan Am medalists Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann, Stephen Abas, Jamill Kelly, Rulon Gardner and Cael Sanderson followed by capturing medals at the 2004 Olympics. It is intereting to note that Sanderson won a bronze medal in the 2003 Pan Ams before collecting a gold medal at the Olympics a year later.

The Opening Ceremonies are set for tomorrow night and everybody is talking about how excited they are to be a part of it.

Wednesday, July 11

It's still two days until the Opening Ceremonies and 10 days before our first wrestling team arrives here, but our wrestlers already are gaining plenty of interest and attention from the media who are covering the Pan American Games.

The Los Angeles Times is working on a feature on American freestyle phenom Henry Cejudo. Reporter Kevin Baxter spoke with Henry and Resident Freestyle Coach Terry Brands by phone on Tuesday. Henry is only 20, but he's become very good at dealing with the media. He has a very compelling story, as most of you already know.

Associated Press reporter Barry Wilner, who is here in Rio, is working on a story on two-time World champion Kristie Marano. Wilner talked with Kristie by phone on Tuesday. Kristie is wrestling very well again after coming off an injury. She is very determined to make a splash next year in the Olympics. Looking forward to seeing her wrestle down here.

AP also is hoping to do something on Cejudo prior to the competition.

Henry and Kristie both will be competing in Rio as they continue preparations for September's World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Our wrestlers received high praise for being great to deal with from the news media who covered the U.S. World Team Trials last month in Las Vegas. Expect that to continue as we move closer to next year's Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The U.S. Greco-Roman team is scheduled to fly into Rio on July 21 with the women coming in the next day. The freestyle team rolls in here July 24. The Greco-Roman competition is set for July 24-25, women's freestyle is July 26 and men's freestyle is July 27-28.

This trip continues to offer its share of interesting moments. A group of us went to a steakhouse last night where waiters continually keep coming by with new cuts of beef for you to sample. They cut off a small chunk of meat and then there is a brochure you look at to see what kind of beef you are tasting. It was very good and very reasonably priced.

Even though we are a long way from home, we were able to watch the Major League All-Star Game last night and we even got the broadcast in English from our hotel. It was fun watching the game and talking baseball with Nicole Saunches and Lisa Ramsperger of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Nicole did P.R. for the Milwaukee Brewers and Lisa worked with the Houston Astros before they joined the USOC.

I'm a huge baseball fan and have spent a majority of my professional career covering Triple-A, Double-A and Class A baseball as a sportswriter for various newspapers.

I'm impressed with Rio. Everywhere you look there are billboards, posters and information pumping up this event. I've seen quite a few of the venues, and I think the athletes and fans will like what they see.

This city has a lot to offer. Some of the views with the ocean and the mountains are breathtaking.

Tuesday, July 10

You can’t fully appreciate how grueling a travel schedule our athletes endure until you experience it yourself.

My journey from Colorado Springs to Rio de Janeiro to work as a press officer at the 2007 Pan American Games was relatively smooth. But a quick snapshot of the schedule for this trip gives you an idea of the long road our 18 Pan Am Games participants, our coaches and our team leaders will follow on their way here in a couple of weeks.

I am serving as one of 17 press officers for the U.S. Olympic Committee for the Pan American Games. I arrived in Brazil late Monday morning, four days before the Opening Ceremonies kick off the 16-day athletic event that involves 42 nations from North, Central and South America.

I started my long journey Sunday morning by catching a quick 20-minute flight on United Airlines from Colorado Springs to Denver followed by a three-hour flight from Denver to Washington, D.C.

We were then delayed two hours in D.C. when the flight in front of us to Frankfurt, Germany, was delayed. The toughest part of the journey followed with the marathon, 9-hour, 19-minute flight from D.C. to Sao Paolo, Brazil. Luckily for us, we didn’t leave D.C. until shortly before midnight and a lot of people in the weary traveling party were able to at least grab a little bit of sleep on the plane.

I tried to watch this bizarre Sandra Bullock movie where she kept having a recurring dream that her husband had been killed in an automobile accident, but I finally gave up on it and went to sleep.

Among the people on our flight was the USA Men’s Soccer Team, a group of Under 19 players who don’t look any older than our kids who will be wrestling up in Fargo in a couple of weeks. One of their players sat next to me and said he just graduated from high school.

After arriving in Sao Paolo, we had to get off the plane and go through a long line in security again before getting back on the same plane for the short 35-minute flight from Sao Paolo to Rio.

This is only my second overseas trip, but I definitely can relate to what our athletes go through as they travel around the globe to find top competition. It is a grind and being able to become acclimated and ready to compete after a long trip takes some getting used to.

After nearly 24 straight hours of travel - when you factor in layovers and delays - our group arrived at the hotel. We barely had time to unpack before we turned right around for a quick bus ride and tour that included stops at the Athlete Village and the Main Press Center.

We spotted a Sam’s Club, two Wal Marts, a Ford dealership, a couple of McDonald’s and a TGI Friday’s on our way. A mall area dedicated to New York City had a large replica of the Statue of Liberty situated out front. This city is huge, with a population of more than 11 million people.

A shopping mall is located right across the street from our hotel and a group of us found a great little pizza place for dinner. Our waiter was a friendly, energetic guy who spoke no English at all, but bent over backwards trying to help us. He had a huge smile on his face seemingly the whole time. He had a big bandana on and I mentioned he looked kind of like Gerardo, the fun-loving entertainer who sang “Rico Suave” in the early 1990s.

The highlight of the day for me came when a group of us stopped in the hotel lounge and we were entertained by the bartender there. He spoke very little English, but he made great efforts to communicate with us. When one of his co-workers came out from the back dressed in royal blue virtually from head to toe, the bartender pointed at him and said “Blue Man Group” and acted like he was playing the drums. We all broke up laughing. It was a good way to end a long couple of days.

When I woke up this morning, I had a chance to sit out on the terrace of my hotel room. My view of the city from the 24th floor balcony at our hotel is spectacular. You can see Copacabana Beach and the Atlantic Ocean just a couple of blocks away. Hopefully, we’ll have some time to walk over there and check it out. There haven’t been any Barry Manilow sightings at the beach – he must still be singing his trademark tune "Copacabana" at the Las Vegas Hilton.

One of the big myths here concerns the language the natives speak here. They don’t speak Spanish, they speak Portuguese. Not many speak English. The people have been very nice, very friendly and very helpful. At times, it’s a constant game of charades to try and communicate, but we usually end up understanding each other.

The weather here has been almost perfect. It's Winter in Brazil right now and temperatures typically stay in the 70s this time of year. Since it is Winter, it also is dark here by around 5:30 p.m.

We’re only three hours ahead of Mountain Time, so the time change hasn’t really been a factor for us. It also helps the American journalists with their deadlines, since it's earlier back home and they have more time to file their stories.

The currency here is called Reais. One dollar in U.S. currency translates to about 1.8 of the money in Brazil, although we’ve found the exchange rate fluctuates quite a bit. One of our press officers actually exchanged $40 U.S. and got 34 Reais before we went out to eat. The exchange rate seems to be the best in the airport.

I am rooming with Bill Kauffman, who works for USA Volleyball. Bill and I both attended small Division III colleges in the Iowa Conference. He went to Buena Vista and I went to Wartburg. We both agreed it was pretty cool to see how a couple of small-college guys from Iowa both ended up working with the USOC at a big event like the Pan Am Games.

My first task here is to serve as the press officer for USA Squash, a game similar to racquetball, for the start of the Pan Am Games. It is a sport I know little or nothing about, and have never seen in person.

I met the squash team leader and one of the players in the airport when we were searching through the mass of black Rio 2007 travel bags after landing here. I am meeting with the Squash team tomorrow morning at the Athlete Village. Their venue is one of the farthest away from the Village, located about an hour’s drive away.

A number of the press officers here will be covering the sport they work for, in addition to picking up a couple of other sports.

I will then oversee USA Women’s Tennis. Wrestling starts two weeks from today, with Greco-Roman competing July 24-25, women’s freestyle July 26 and freestyle July 27-28.

While a lot of sports are sending younger, less experienced athletes, wrestling is sending its top guns to the Pan Ams with most of our World Team competing down here. A good medal haul near the end of the Pan Am Games would be great to see for the U.S.

The wrestlers will compete at the massive Riocentro Sports Complex, where a number of sports will be contested at a handful of venues at the Pan Am Games. The Main Press Center also is located in the complex. Taekwondo and Judo will compete prior to wrestling in the same venue. The venue provides a small, intimate setting with not a bad seat in the house. It seats just over 3,000 people for wrestling.

I’ve already had a couple of press officers from foreign countries ask me when young U.S. stud Henry Cejudo is rolling into town. They read the recent article about Henry in Sports Illustrated. He’ll be arriving here in a couple of weeks. The Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press also are interested in writing about Cejudo. Barry Wilner of The Associated Press plans to do a story on two-time World champion Kristie Marano.

On our way to the press center this morning, we passed a group of cyclists from Argentina who were pedaling as a pack down one of the main streets in Rio. It’s interesting to see all the teams rolling in here as the start of the Pan Am Games approach.

This city is very excited about this event as they try to put on a good show in their quest to land the 2016 Olympic Games. It should be a fun and exciting event. A number of the sporting events already are sold out. A number of the venues look virtually brand new.

I’m looking forward to our head-to-head battles with Cuba in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling along with our matches with Canada in women’s freestyle. This could be our best Greco-Roman team ever and a strong performance here could serve as an excellent springboard for September’s World Championships in Azerbaijan. Our freestyle team has a lot of new faces and it will be good for guys like Doug Schwab, Joe Heskett and Tommy Rowlands to gain more experience and mat time.

I will be here for 23 days, so this will be a great opportunity for me to work an event like this and gain experience heading into next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Looking forward to seeing how the Women’s Special Wrestle-Off turns out today in the Springs and looking forward to seeing who the last three members of our U.S. World Team will be. This could be a big year for our women's team as well.

It should be a great month of wrestling with Junior and Cadet Nationals coming up in Fargo along with the big event set to take place here in Rio.

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