Second Match: Chase Scene

Many of Alex Blank's friends and supporters were unable to watch his second-round match at the NCAA Championships.  For these people, there is a simple solution.  Look at the still photo above, taken from that match.  Note that the opposing wrestler appears to be running away from Blank, who is chasing him unrelentingly.

You're all caught up.  You have now seen the entire match.

In a frustrating bout that deviated from the National tournament's usual policy of penalizing stalling aggressively (or at all), Blank fell to Springfield's Joe Grippi by a score of 3-0.  Two periods of offensive wrestling by Blank bookended the only one in which scoring took place.  Blank was the aggressor throughout the first period, maintaining strong position and controlling most of the tie-ups.  However, in the second period, Grippi demonstrated the scrambling ability that has allowed him to succeed at such a high level, and earned a quick escape-and-takedown that looked, at first, like a reversal.  He carried that 3-0 lead into the third period.  Coaches Racich and Curry elected to put Blank on his feet, where he continued to take the action to Grippi, only narrowly missing out on several key takedown opportunities.  Grippi wrestled shrewdly on the edge of the mat, preventing Blank from making the best use of his potent offense by steering the action out of bounds.  Although Blank was the only wrestler to physically take a step forward during the third period, Grippi was able to avoid being called for stalling, and maintained his lead through the end of the bout.

Losing the bout ends Blank's bid for All-American status.  It also ends Blank's senior wrestling season, during which he posted an impressive 26-11 record.  He owns 90 career wins as an Ursinus Bear.  However, it might be better to say that he registered 90 wins of his own, 90 personal wins; he can rightly claim a share of countless dual meet victories Ursinus has earned over the past four years, and as a leader, a captain, and a role model, he has shaped the character of this team through his own dedication and irrepressible will to succeed.  Ursinus Wrestling is a better, stronger, and nobler team for having had Alex Blank as its captain, and the walls of the wrestling room are more decorated for his having succeeded as completely as he has.

Congratulations to Alex Blank on a career of which he can and should be forever proud.  And from everyone who was inspired and encouraged by his example, he has our gratitude.  There will not be another wrestler like him, at Ursinus or anywhere else.

First Match: A Minor Setback

Competition opened up today at the La Crosse Center, where Alex Blank joined the top wrestlers in Division III and the championships began.  After the Opening Ceremonies, the tournament was underway, and Blank's first bout was called within a few minutes.  He wrestled third-seeded Adam Sheley of University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (above right) and suffered an unfortunate loss by technical fall in the second period.

Sheley, who earned All-American honors at this tournament last year, was able to score the bulk of his points with a bar tilt on top, a move for which the junior from Geneseo, IL is rightly renowned.  Although Blank fought well in all positions, he wasn't able to create scoring opportunities and suffered his first defeat in nearly a month.

Blank will return to wrestling in the second session of the NCAA tournament, which begins tonight at 7p.m. (6p.m. local time).  He'll oppose Joe Grippi of Springfield College.  Keep following along with all the action by watching the NCAA live feed and by following @BlankGoes2NCAAs on Twitter (links below).

NCAA live feed:
http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2012/03/09
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/BlankGoes2NCAAs

A Guest Post from Jared Ellis

Jared Ellis is an alumnus of Ursinus (class of '11), a former wrestler for us, and a close friend of Alex Blank's. He wrote a short piece about Blank's win at the Centennial Conference tournament, and I'm posting it here because it's probably the best thing you'll read all week. Thanks, Jared.

I cried when Alex Blank won his first Centennial title. I know, I know, men don’t cry and all that jazz but I cry a lot when it comes to wrestling. I cried when I lost, I cried when I won, I cried when I practiced. I cried all the time. Call me a baby. Call me whatever you want, but I’ll gladly defend those tears.

I recruited Alex. The first time that he stepped on the Ursinus Campus, I was there waiting for him. I shook his parents' hands, I toured him around campus, he slept in my room that night. I took him out that night and he refused to do anything “bad.” It was a fast forward to everything to come.

The saying goes that character is what you do when nobody else is watching. Blank has done the right thing every minute of every day for the last four years just to win a title. I know hard workers, and I know talented wrestlers but none of them can compare to the consistency that Blank has brought to the sport. If it is possible to deserve anything, Blank deserved his Centennial title and his ticket to nationals…But if you ask him it isn’t about deserving anything.

Tom Brands, an Olympian, once said that it isn’t what you deserve. It’s what you earn. Blank has earned this bid to the big show, the finals, the big house. He has done the right thing since he was in grade school. Day after day, he was in the gym, or running, or eating right, or studying hard. I’ve never seen anybody earn a title like Blank did.

So when I saw him come into his own as a wrestler, as an adult, as a man, I cried. I saw him come to life on a mat during a single match and wrestle like I had never seen him wrestle before. He opened up, let emotion take over his wrestling rather than technique or habit. I watched him push his opponent to the mat instead of letting himself be pushed around and I couldn’t even cheer. I walked behind the bleachers to compose myself because I had never been more moved by wrestling than I had during his finals match. It’ll be hard for any sport to move me as much as that match did.

Blank hugged me after he won and I had never felt so important for doing nothing, ever. Anybody can say they were there, or they helped him train, or they helped him cut, but the fact is that Blank earned it. Nobody else did.

Inside the Wrestlers Studio: An Interview with Alex Blank

Day 2: Rise and Shine

Blank's morning workout... one of them, anyway.

What were you doing at 6:30 this morning?

Most of us were probably sleeping. Some were working. A solid number were likely somewhere in between - shaking off the last bits of sleep and waiting for the coffee to cut through the morning grogginess. It is almost nobody's finest hour.

Alex Blank was running.

He didn't need to lose weight; his body has long since settled into the 133lb. weight class. He did it because his body's used to it, because he has made himself one of the premier wrestlers in the country by working harder - and often at odder hours - than anyone else. Most wrestlers try to keep their physical workload as light as possible the day before a meet. This actually was a light day for Blank; he and the Ursinus coaches made the wise decision to split his training up over the course of the day to avoid wearing him out. After the aforementioned morning run, he drilled, as in the video above, with two of Rhode Island College's star wrestlers. (It's not uncommon for wrestlers from different schools to work together at Nationals if they are at neighboring weight classes; they're a good physical match, don't stand any chance of competing against each other, and few schools are able to qualify a viable practice squad for this meet.)

In the afternoon, he repeated the process, this time working out with a top-ranked wrestler from Lycoming. After another short but productive workout, Blank completed his last practice ever as an Ursinus wrestler. He enters the tournament tomorrow healthy, fit, and, most importantly, hungry to prove that he belongs atop the podium at this highest level of competition.

Wrestling begins tomorrow at noon (11a.m. here in Wisconsin). Blank's first match will be against Adam Sheley, a junior from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. Sheley is the third-seeded wrestler at this weight class, but he's never had an opponent like Blank before, and when the tournament starts, it won't matter where anyone is seeded: it will matter who shows up ready to wrestle.

Day 1: A Long-Delayed Flight

Most people can't stand it if their flights are delayed an hour. Ursinus Wrestling captain and senior standout Alex Blank has been waiting four years for his chance to fly out to the Division III NCAA tournament. He placed in the top three finishers at his weight class at the Centennial Conference tournament three years in a row, including two finals appearances. Unfortunately, only the champion at each weight earns the right to wrestle for All-American status and a national title.

At long last, in his senior year, Blank captured the title he'd been seeking so long. Entering the tournament as the fourth-seeded wrestler at the 133lb. weight class after a regular season in which he'd posted a 23-9 record - including a 6-2 mark in Conference bouts - Blank began his run to a championship with a 3-2 win over Stevens Institute of Technology's Andrew Boehm. He followed that with another 3-2 decision, this time in triple overtime, against first-seeded Sam Campbell of Washington and Lee. In the finals, he avenged a loss from earlier in the season and defeated McDaniel's Mike Tancredi 5-2 to win the title he'd worked so hard and so long to earn.

"To be denied for so long and for those defeats in the past Conference finals, it just made that win so much sweeter in my mind. I had everything pay off for everything I've ever worked for," Blank said of his win.

So for the past week and a half, Blank has been preparing for the NCAA tournament as the sole representative for Ursinus College's nationally-ranked wrestling team. On Wednesday, Blank, along with Head Coach Bill Racich and volunteer coach Pat Curry, traveled out to La Crosse, Wisconsin to get acclimated and enter the last stage of preparation for the tournament.

Those familiar with Blank's fitness level know there's not much left to do to get him ready. "Blank's always in great shape, so now it's just about keeping him healthy and keeping his weight where it should be," commented Curry. Upon arriving at the La Crosse Center, Blank warmed up and drilled for about thirty minutes, then stretched. He'll only need to maintain that level of work tomorrow, and rest up for the tournament, which starts Friday.