Rulon Gardner at YHS

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Rulon Gardner shows some of his wrestling moves with his training partner Matt Lamb.

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Rulon Gardner thanks Yosemite High School Principal Steve Raupp for allowing him to work out in the school's wrestling room.

 

Earlene Ward – SPECIAL TO SIERRA STAR

 

Yosemite High School wrestlers turned out at noon Tuesday, October 22, to see the 2000 Olympics gold medal winner in Greco Roman wrestling, Rulon Gardner, work out in their wrestling room.

Instead of watching him practice, they got a pep talk from the champion, urging them to always give 100 percent and never give up on their dreams.

He showed them a few moves with his training partner, Matt Lamb, but he was more intent on inspiring them with his words than with his physical prowess.

Mr. Gardner and several other athletes were staying at the Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp this week to participate in a photography session for Sports Illustrated.

The farm boy from Afton, Wyoming, caught the world's attention in 2000 when he defeated the Russian wrestler, Aleksandr Karelin, handing him his first defeat in 13 years.

Mr. Gardner hopes to represent the United States in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. However, he lost several months of training this year after he was stranded on a snowmobile trip in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near his hometown in Wyoming in February. He spent 17 hours in sub-zero weather before he was rescued. Now he has to work harder than ever to make up for those lost months.

The middle toe on his right foot had to be amputated because of damage from frostbite. He had four skin grafts on his feet as the doctors fought to save them. Mr. Gardner spent two and a half months in the hospital.

He told the YHS students and staff that he feels lucky to be alive after his ordeal. Mr. Gardner told YHS wrestling coach Kent Lincoln that "it was not a fun night" when he was stranded and, he said, it was the hardest individual journey he had ever taken, but he learned valuable lessons from it.

Mr. Gardner told the students it is important to do anything you do 100 percent and to enjoy it. He said he wants to always be 100 percent. "I live life to the fullest," he said.

Mr. Gardner had a learning disability as a student and his counselor told him he would never make it in college. He said his mother believed in him and fought for him. She said "how dare someone try to decide your life for you." With hard work and determination, Mr. Gardner completed high school and went to Ricks College in Idaho on a wrestling scholarship. He then received a scholarship to the University of Nebraska where he earned a degree in physical education.

Mr. Gardner said he got involved in athletics as a youngster to get off the farm. He grew up on a dairy where he "milked cows every day of the year."

He started Greco Roman wrestling in 1994, saying he found it more challenging than freestyle. He made the world team in 1997. He didn't go to the world competition this year because of his injuries.

Leading up to his Olympic gold medal in Sydney, Mr. Gardner was the USA University Freestyle champion twice, the USA Senior Greco-Roman champion twice; the 1993 NCAA Division I all- American; and the 1995 USA University Greco-Roman champion.

He is just now starting to wrestle again; his first match will be Friday night, October 25, in Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, he said he had to lose 10 pounds by Friday to meet his weight limit. He weighs 280 pounds. He said he doesn't starve to lose weight but goes about it in a planned way. He told the students he can lose three to four pounds in water if he sweats hard enough in practice.

"I work out hard enough to sweat it off," he says. If he finds he still needs to lose more, he will start to limit what he eats. He said he has lost 20-25 pounds in the last two months.

"If you don't take care of your body, it won't perform," he cautioned the students.

Mr. Gardner said many of the skills one learns in wrestling carry over into life out of the ring, including mental toughness, determination, knowing your weaknesses and working on them,

"Wrestling is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental," he said. Mr. Gardner says he always wants to finish a match stronger than he started it. He works ahead as he wrestles, planning for the move he wants to win the match.

He told the students to "fulfill every dimension of your world and make it complete."

Besides the YHS wrestlers, several staff members came to listen to the champion, many of them bringing their young sons with them. Students from the special education program stopped by to meet him as well.

In closing, he told those listening to him that "It doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, it's what you've got here and here" he said as he pointed to his heart and his head.