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.