August 4, 2025 • 15 mins
Clete Hanson, newly appointed head coach at Simon Fraser University, talks about his return to the program that shaped much of his wrestling and coaching career. A Washington native and former nationally ranked high school wrestler, Hanson chose SFU for its unique blend of high-level international freestyle influence, academic excellence, and its rare status as a Canadian institution competing in the NCAA.
Now, as only the third head coach in program history, he steps into a role once held by coaching legends Mike Jones and Justin Abdou—both of whom played pivotal roles in Hanson’s development.In the interview, Hanson outlines the complexities of recruiting American athletes to a Canadian school, navigating dual academic and athletic standards, and the constant balancing act between freestyle and collegiate folkstyle wrestling. With about 70% of his roster made up of Canadian athletes—most of whom have never competed in folkstyle before—Hanson speaks candidly about the learning curve and the coaching strategies used to bridge that gap. Still, he emphasizes that “wrestling is wrestling,” and believes the transition can be streamlined with focused training and communication.Looking ahead, Hanson’s vision is to elevate SFU’s presence on both the NCAA and Canadian wrestling landscapes.
While winning a national team title is an ambitious goal, he sees success in building a program that mirrors the developmental excellence of institutions like Cornell and Lehigh. With deep ties to the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club and a role as one of Canada’s national training centers, SFU is uniquely positioned to continue producing world-class talent—both on the mat and beyond it.
Now, as only the third head coach in program history, he steps into a role once held by coaching legends Mike Jones and Justin Abdou—both of whom played pivotal roles in Hanson’s development.In the interview, Hanson outlines the complexities of recruiting American athletes to a Canadian school, navigating dual academic and athletic standards, and the constant balancing act between freestyle and collegiate folkstyle wrestling. With about 70% of his roster made up of Canadian athletes—most of whom have never competed in folkstyle before—Hanson speaks candidly about the learning curve and the coaching strategies used to bridge that gap. Still, he emphasizes that “wrestling is wrestling,” and believes the transition can be streamlined with focused training and communication.Looking ahead, Hanson’s vision is to elevate SFU’s presence on both the NCAA and Canadian wrestling landscapes.
While winning a national team title is an ambitious goal, he sees success in building a program that mirrors the developmental excellence of institutions like Cornell and Lehigh. With deep ties to the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club and a role as one of Canada’s national training centers, SFU is uniquely positioned to continue producing world-class talent—both on the mat and beyond it.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Whoa now here going north of the border, north of
(00:22):
the forty ninth parallel the new head coach at Simon
Fraser University, Cleet Hanson, Washington native. But interesting enough, you
went to Simon Fraser right out of high school, which
is at the time it's unique.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You get the.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Freestyle side you got at the time, you know, moving
from to Division two and what was the first of
all the opportunity to go to Simon Fraser. Why did
you choose there's a college wrestling choice.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, it's obviously very local in the Washington context. We
are still fighting to add more programs at the college
level and hopefully we'll see someone come on board in
the future, but it's a great local option.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Vancouver is an absolutely amazing city.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
In twenty ten was there we got to host the Olympics,
so there was a lot of tension on it. Very
desirable place to live and a really strong academic institution.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
NOTES put a big priority on that side of things.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And one of the bigger things.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Is I had met and been coached by some alumni
from that program. They were part of our national team staff,
and I had met Justin at camps locally and just
knowing about that program that when I walked in there there.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Was four Olympians kind of in the room still all
the time. A really unique contacts.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Right that it is a major national training center while
still competing in the NAIs and then the U Sports
and so all this kind of international kind of flavor combined,
like I said, with this amazing place to live in
great quality education just really pushed me towards there, and
I was happy I went and here I am. Still.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, at the time, you were probably the biggest American
recruit they had in a while.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You were national rank come out of high school.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You'd do a lot of credentials, and you know, people
knew Simon Fraser because you know, Daniel Lagalli in that
that crew there and that's like that guy wrestling in
the ANAI in that era was terrifying for some people,
but more more recently most people are you know, Hellen
went through. There's a lot of the US women that
which are the freestyle program there. But what is one
of the things you have to do to educate, you know,
if you're going into the United States to pull kids
(02:17):
in about Simon Fraser as an option to wrestle.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I think The.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Biggest thing is just letting them know that, yeah, internationally,
there is a place that exists that competes in the
NC double a's and so that's really important.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Also really just good to know that it's not also
that much different.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
You just got to give a student visa, which is
an online process, pretty straightforward, and after that it's more
or less like you just went out of state. And
that's usually where I communicated if you know, if you're
from Washington or somewhere else to say, it's like if
you went to Oregon. But you just have to file
for this one piece of paperwork and that's about it.
And so so that's one of the biggest things is
just letting people know, like I said, that this opportunity
(02:54):
does exist. And one of the challenges really high academic standards,
very research in tents institution. So you know, that's the
other big part of it is making sure it's going
to be a right fit. Really getting somebody who wants
to greatly invest in that educational piece while attending this institution.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You've kind of got a tall order.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You've got two very notable guys you've been following, Mike
Jones and Justin abdo, So you know what was was there?
What was what was the process like of saying, you
know what, I might be the guy for this. I
mean the application or the you know, the interview process,
and you know, why did you think you were ready
for the head coaching job?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean long mentorship with those two and yeah,
kind of the third program coach. And in this history,
it feels like I've been telling people somewhat like the Pope.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Job, you know you're going to go all the way
and tell you you know you're going.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
To run it through for your whole career, right, and
so there's not a lot of turnover, and that I was,
I mean I really appreciated that as an athlete. And
and I've been attached to this program now for the
last decade actually coaching and volunteer coaching, doing other things,
but had the ability to step away and do some.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Other professional work.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
And I think those experiences really drove me back into
wanted to coach and coach full time beyond kind of
the assistant level and kind of alumni kind of volunteer
type of role. And I think, like I said, having
those professional experiences justin was very keen on me. And
I still speak with Mike all the time when when
(04:22):
I have any coaching questions, and so it's a really
supportive group and I just feel exceptionally blessed that, you know,
I got the opportunity for me to take the helm
of this thing, and it is unique, right, I mean,
I'm dual citizen now, and so it makes it easier.
And I have knowledge on the freestyle side and knowledge
(04:45):
on the collegiate side, because you have to do both
because we're constantly in both domains. I know that's pretty common,
but you don't just focus in on one because you're
going to be heavily involved on that international scene. If
you take this job, it's just going to happen. You're
gonna have people making world teams at for Canada and
so so you got you got a flexible ways and
(05:05):
it's kind of what brought me up there in the
beginning was to wrestle a bit more international with some
collegiate wrestling, and ultimately it's a skill set that's still
paying awfully.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
How much from a coaching perspective, or maybe it's an
athlete to go from freestyle to folk style like fairly
close together.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I mean Dustin would always tell.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Be like, not that first tournament out of the way,
for stop locking my hands. But you know what's that
like as a coach to get those American athletes that
are that are you know, they've used to freestyle them
back and forth, or then the Canadians who didn't typically
do the American college style.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, so about I would say about you know, probably
about seventy percent of our team is Canadian, and of
that group, probably seventy to eighty percent have never wrestled
a collegiate match, and so so I will say a
lot of learning in terms of how to coach it
and get people up to speed.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And there is that quick switch, like you mentioned.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Our first tournament is is an International Open SF you
and one of the major Canadian tournaments. And so we
start week one, November first, and we're wrestling freestyle and
then we flip it around that next week, you know,
we're in a duel meet or out in oorg and
competing or something like that and collegiate and it's you know,
then collegiate the rest of the way and so.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So yeah, so definitely a challenge.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
But what I like to always say is wrestling is
wrestling and you know, your your gut wrench just turns
into a tilt and and you've always got to be
squaring your hips and fighting in the people and doing
doing those kind of basic things. And so the sport's
as different as it can be. It's just some small
adaptations here and there. I think the switch is actually
goes a little faster than people think.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
The full nuance of collegiate and the mastery of that,
that's a big challenge.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
But some of those initial positional work I find we've
gotten really tuned to help them want to accomplish that
and and communicate and coach those type of things with
our athletes, and we're getting quick re adit, which so
that's good.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
I used to say it takes about three years. By
I final we got it down.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To a year of a lot of lessons and you know,
then those people are ready to roll.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
So there were strong history back in the ANAI years,
I mean contending for national titles, the battles between Central
Oklahoma and Simon Fraser. I mean you go back and
look at the old scores A while they were they're
a monster. Challenges now are a little different. So what
are the program goals like when when you know, a
team title probably obviously a goal, but probably less attainable
given the way your your situation works with a lot of.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The not folk stylers. So how do you set your
program goals? Do you where? Do you where?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Do you want to shoot for the stars? And what
do you think is what's considered successful for you? At
Simon Fraser, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Like I said, a heavily research intensive institution. So we
really strive to kind of push ourselves.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's like I really want to emulate those big years
that Lehigh had, you know, when I was coming up
to the system and watching the divisions like John Trange
and Great Stroll and stuff and so those years and
then also those Cornell years and still going with Cornell,
and so we're trying to think of ourselves. It's like,
how can we elevate within the division two seam and
(08:03):
try to put ourselves in a position where, uh, you know,
each athlete that touched that program build it in a
way that they're going to have an opportunity for some
high level success a part of a team uh that
can make a push, you know for a trophy. And
so so yeah, there's definitely major challenges for us to
accomplish that national title. And that's a tall order, but
(08:26):
we're not shying away from that, from that task and
UH and so the beginning right now is going to
be on really asserting ourselves across the Canadian landscape and
trying to pull that best talent we can from from
Canadians across UH, across our wrestlers across Canada.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
And the other thing we'll say, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Sure it's gonna end up, but we get Americans who
have dual citizenship and it's a great option because you
get domestic tuition. It's we can really offer a great,
great opportunity for you if you're a Canadian living in
the States, know and want to look into this opportunity.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
So and we find that too.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, one of.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The more challenging things obviously post COVID is border crossings
and you're getting getting back and forth across the border.
It's not necessarily problem for you you guys as much,
but its opponents. So how difficult was scheduling you know
post COVID going out you know, going into Canada. You
know there was I don't know what was it like,
I mean, you had quarantine times when you came back
or how did that situation work?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah, we got we got pretty lucky that we didn't
have to run anything major, but it was we had
to always, you know, naturally have multiple coaches going to
have a trip, but you basically had a designated code.
You had to check their schedule because if during that
time it's in the recessive of mind now, but yeah, ye,
(09:43):
but during that time, if somebody tested positive on the
way back, because we're flying, you could drive over the border,
but we're in Colorado or somewhere else. If you tested positive,
the policy was that we had to stay in a
hotel for uh seven to ten days and can so
you were just done there. So we are very very
lucky that we never tested positive on a trip and
(10:05):
so that.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Was really beneficial. But that was hard.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, and we lost a lot of competition that year,
and and the Pacific Northwest and Canada's rule sets, they
were very tight on it, very conservative with their approach,
and so so we lost about a season and a half,
it felt like, overall.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And so so.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
We're definitely coming out of that, but it was tricky,
and you know, and that border thing is still real
now and and and definitely there's a you know, a
travel element to coming up to seeing us. But having
said that, there is misconceptions too. You can't actually get
over the border. We can almost have anybody can get
over the border even if you do have a passport.
You can fly into Seattle at Bellingham and then drive
(10:45):
over just with your birth certificate and so so there's
definitely we can get every team up and have those opportunities,
but there are some more hurdles with that international aspect.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
That's that's that's a.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, I live in a border state, so I'm I'm
in Minnesota, so I know we we got to Grand
Portage and well we forgot the passports.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But as far as again following Mike Jones and justin Abby,
for those who don't know what, you know, what do
those guys mean to to not just Simon Frazer wrestling,
but Canadian wrestling as a whole.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, I mean I think, uh, I mean, Mike Jones
is one of the greatest uh just wrestling coaches in
my opinion, like of all time and within the Canadian landscape,
like helped really make really developed wrestling in Canada. And
and you know, during that time. There's a lot of
great coaches across across the nation. But uh, but he
(11:38):
did so much in terms of you know, being somebody
who like myself, you know, he came from Oregon, uh
uh and and build something great here and did it
in a way that's really strong. Lots of endowments, understood
the task at hand to make a resilient program.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And so I'm just immensely grateful for all of the work,
you know, that he's put in to that and establishing,
like you mentioned, like a really strong and kind of
a powerhouse. I think for the longest time, they had
the most division, sorry, the most national champs out of
any program. And I'm sure Grammy were Life or somebody
is going to take over that fairly soon here, but
(12:16):
that was a record that lasted quite a long time.
And uh and so.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So that was my communit. He did a really amazing
job with that.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And in terms of Justin, I mean, you just have,
if anybody's ever been around, Justin one of the most
uh just enjoyable people and uh and.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So so to have you know, kind of this legacy
with Mike and this wisdom and.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Having worked with them, and then you know, kind of
a larger than life character with Justin. Uh. Yeah, they've
they've meant a lot to wrestling in Canada. Uh, they've
done an amazing job of the promotion and you know,
putting s Fu into this North American space and something
that's respected and and yeah, it's just my goal to
(13:01):
just kind of carry that forward and kind of help
us keep on marching along and you know, you know,
build our resiliency and maintain a competitive edge while doing that.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Lastly, you know, Vancouver and Burnaba areas is one of
the hotbeds of wrestling in Canada. But the relationship between
the wrestling clubs and the college teams, Like you look
at the Canadian rosters you're seeing Burnham Mountain Wrestling Club
and they're usually the Simon Fred Theer they're they're they're
kind of co located or co together.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
How does the clubs work with the college system up there?
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, so essentially just the same as like our RTC's
down here at work. So only I guess the difference
is like for us as a National Training Center, so
we're one of three designated National Training Center sites and
so and so. Yeah, so and we this year we
had the benefit of kind of sweeping the men's categories
(13:52):
in terms of U nineteen, you twenty three, and then
seniors for the club side and so so yeah, so
those things go really hand in hand. But having said that,
it is a full kind of regional club and we
definitely it attracts athletes you know, not associated with our
our university. So yeah, so separate entities, but very hand
(14:14):
in hand given that worthy uh one of the worth
the major player within on the West coast for wrestling Canada.
So so everything kind of drives through recipe you to agree,
but but it operates very similar to your guys RTC structure.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Give me a good Dave McKay story. Actually we don't
have that ton of time.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
I will say I still work with the every day.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Uh and so so he's still around and his technique
still sharp.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So good luck. Thanks a lot, man, Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
The Short Time Wrestling Podcast has been outfitted by Compound Sports,
whereas since ever since you need something, shirts, hats, gear, teamwear,
you need it, They've got it. Call up clipping the
crew at CMP sportswear dot com.
Whoa now here going north of the border, north of
(00:22):
the forty ninth parallel the new head coach at Simon
Fraser University, Cleet Hanson, Washington native. But interesting enough, you
went to Simon Fraser right out of high school, which
is at the time it's unique.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You get the.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Freestyle side you got at the time, you know, moving
from to Division two and what was the first of
all the opportunity to go to Simon Fraser. Why did
you choose there's a college wrestling choice.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, it's obviously very local in the Washington context. We
are still fighting to add more programs at the college
level and hopefully we'll see someone come on board in
the future, but it's a great local option.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Vancouver is an absolutely amazing city.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
In twenty ten was there we got to host the Olympics,
so there was a lot of tension on it. Very
desirable place to live and a really strong academic institution.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
NOTES put a big priority on that side of things.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And one of the bigger things.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Is I had met and been coached by some alumni
from that program. They were part of our national team staff,
and I had met Justin at camps locally and just
knowing about that program that when I walked in there there.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Was four Olympians kind of in the room still all
the time. A really unique contacts.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Right that it is a major national training center while
still competing in the NAIs and then the U Sports
and so all this kind of international kind of flavor combined,
like I said, with this amazing place to live in
great quality education just really pushed me towards there, and
I was happy I went and here I am. Still.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, at the time, you were probably the biggest American
recruit they had in a while.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You were national rank come out of high school.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You'd do a lot of credentials, and you know, people
knew Simon Fraser because you know, Daniel Lagalli in that
that crew there and that's like that guy wrestling in
the ANAI in that era was terrifying for some people,
but more more recently most people are you know, Hellen
went through. There's a lot of the US women that
which are the freestyle program there. But what is one
of the things you have to do to educate, you know,
if you're going into the United States to pull kids
(02:17):
in about Simon Fraser as an option to wrestle.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I think The.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Biggest thing is just letting them know that, yeah, internationally,
there is a place that exists that competes in the
NC double a's and so that's really important.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Also really just good to know that it's not also
that much different.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
You just got to give a student visa, which is
an online process, pretty straightforward, and after that it's more
or less like you just went out of state. And
that's usually where I communicated if you know, if you're
from Washington or somewhere else to say, it's like if
you went to Oregon. But you just have to file
for this one piece of paperwork and that's about it.
And so so that's one of the biggest things is
just letting people know, like I said, that this opportunity
(02:54):
does exist. And one of the challenges really high academic standards,
very research in tents institution. So you know, that's the
other big part of it is making sure it's going
to be a right fit. Really getting somebody who wants
to greatly invest in that educational piece while attending this institution.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You've kind of got a tall order.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You've got two very notable guys you've been following, Mike
Jones and Justin abdo, So you know what was was there?
What was what was the process like of saying, you
know what, I might be the guy for this. I
mean the application or the you know, the interview process,
and you know, why did you think you were ready
for the head coaching job?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean long mentorship with those two and yeah,
kind of the third program coach. And in this history,
it feels like I've been telling people somewhat like the Pope.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Job, you know you're going to go all the way
and tell you you know you're going.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
To run it through for your whole career, right, and
so there's not a lot of turnover, and that I was,
I mean I really appreciated that as an athlete. And
and I've been attached to this program now for the
last decade actually coaching and volunteer coaching, doing other things,
but had the ability to step away and do some.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Other professional work.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
And I think those experiences really drove me back into
wanted to coach and coach full time beyond kind of
the assistant level and kind of alumni kind of volunteer
type of role. And I think, like I said, having
those professional experiences justin was very keen on me. And
I still speak with Mike all the time when when
(04:22):
I have any coaching questions, and so it's a really
supportive group and I just feel exceptionally blessed that, you know,
I got the opportunity for me to take the helm
of this thing, and it is unique, right, I mean,
I'm dual citizen now, and so it makes it easier.
And I have knowledge on the freestyle side and knowledge
(04:45):
on the collegiate side, because you have to do both
because we're constantly in both domains. I know that's pretty common,
but you don't just focus in on one because you're
going to be heavily involved on that international scene. If
you take this job, it's just going to happen. You're
gonna have people making world teams at for Canada and
so so you got you got a flexible ways and
(05:05):
it's kind of what brought me up there in the
beginning was to wrestle a bit more international with some
collegiate wrestling, and ultimately it's a skill set that's still
paying awfully.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
How much from a coaching perspective, or maybe it's an
athlete to go from freestyle to folk style like fairly
close together.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I mean Dustin would always tell.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Be like, not that first tournament out of the way,
for stop locking my hands. But you know what's that
like as a coach to get those American athletes that
are that are you know, they've used to freestyle them
back and forth, or then the Canadians who didn't typically
do the American college style.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, so about I would say about you know, probably
about seventy percent of our team is Canadian, and of
that group, probably seventy to eighty percent have never wrestled
a collegiate match, and so so I will say a
lot of learning in terms of how to coach it
and get people up to speed.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And there is that quick switch, like you mentioned.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Our first tournament is is an International Open SF you
and one of the major Canadian tournaments. And so we
start week one, November first, and we're wrestling freestyle and
then we flip it around that next week, you know,
we're in a duel meet or out in oorg and
competing or something like that and collegiate and it's you know,
then collegiate the rest of the way and so.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
So yeah, so definitely a challenge.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
But what I like to always say is wrestling is
wrestling and you know, your your gut wrench just turns
into a tilt and and you've always got to be
squaring your hips and fighting in the people and doing
doing those kind of basic things. And so the sport's
as different as it can be. It's just some small
adaptations here and there. I think the switch is actually
goes a little faster than people think.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
The full nuance of collegiate and the mastery of that,
that's a big challenge.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
But some of those initial positional work I find we've
gotten really tuned to help them want to accomplish that
and and communicate and coach those type of things with
our athletes, and we're getting quick re adit, which so
that's good.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
I used to say it takes about three years. By
I final we got it down.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To a year of a lot of lessons and you know,
then those people are ready to roll.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
So there were strong history back in the ANAI years,
I mean contending for national titles, the battles between Central
Oklahoma and Simon Fraser. I mean you go back and
look at the old scores A while they were they're
a monster. Challenges now are a little different. So what
are the program goals like when when you know, a
team title probably obviously a goal, but probably less attainable
given the way your your situation works with a lot of.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The not folk stylers. So how do you set your
program goals? Do you where? Do you where?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Do you want to shoot for the stars? And what
do you think is what's considered successful for you? At
Simon Fraser, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Like I said, a heavily research intensive institution. So we
really strive to kind of push ourselves.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's like I really want to emulate those big years
that Lehigh had, you know, when I was coming up
to the system and watching the divisions like John Trange
and Great Stroll and stuff and so those years and
then also those Cornell years and still going with Cornell,
and so we're trying to think of ourselves. It's like,
how can we elevate within the division two seam and
(08:03):
try to put ourselves in a position where, uh, you know,
each athlete that touched that program build it in a
way that they're going to have an opportunity for some
high level success a part of a team uh that
can make a push, you know for a trophy. And
so so yeah, there's definitely major challenges for us to
accomplish that national title. And that's a tall order, but
(08:26):
we're not shying away from that, from that task and
UH and so the beginning right now is going to
be on really asserting ourselves across the Canadian landscape and
trying to pull that best talent we can from from
Canadians across UH, across our wrestlers across Canada.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
And the other thing we'll say, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Sure it's gonna end up, but we get Americans who
have dual citizenship and it's a great option because you
get domestic tuition. It's we can really offer a great,
great opportunity for you if you're a Canadian living in
the States, know and want to look into this opportunity.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
So and we find that too.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, one of.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The more challenging things obviously post COVID is border crossings
and you're getting getting back and forth across the border.
It's not necessarily problem for you you guys as much,
but its opponents. So how difficult was scheduling you know
post COVID going out you know, going into Canada. You
know there was I don't know what was it like,
I mean, you had quarantine times when you came back
or how did that situation work?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yeah, we got we got pretty lucky that we didn't
have to run anything major, but it was we had
to always, you know, naturally have multiple coaches going to
have a trip, but you basically had a designated code.
You had to check their schedule because if during that
time it's in the recessive of mind now, but yeah, ye,
(09:43):
but during that time, if somebody tested positive on the
way back, because we're flying, you could drive over the border,
but we're in Colorado or somewhere else. If you tested positive,
the policy was that we had to stay in a
hotel for uh seven to ten days and can so
you were just done there. So we are very very
lucky that we never tested positive on a trip and
(10:05):
so that.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Was really beneficial. But that was hard.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, and we lost a lot of competition that year,
and and the Pacific Northwest and Canada's rule sets, they
were very tight on it, very conservative with their approach,
and so so we lost about a season and a half,
it felt like, overall.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And so so.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
We're definitely coming out of that, but it was tricky,
and you know, and that border thing is still real
now and and and definitely there's a you know, a
travel element to coming up to seeing us. But having
said that, there is misconceptions too. You can't actually get
over the border. We can almost have anybody can get
over the border even if you do have a passport.
You can fly into Seattle at Bellingham and then drive
(10:45):
over just with your birth certificate and so so there's
definitely we can get every team up and have those opportunities,
but there are some more hurdles with that international aspect.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
That's that's that's a.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, I live in a border state, so I'm I'm
in Minnesota, so I know we we got to Grand
Portage and well we forgot the passports.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But as far as again following Mike Jones and justin Abby,
for those who don't know what, you know, what do
those guys mean to to not just Simon Frazer wrestling,
but Canadian wrestling as a whole.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, I mean I think, uh, I mean, Mike Jones
is one of the greatest uh just wrestling coaches in
my opinion, like of all time and within the Canadian landscape,
like helped really make really developed wrestling in Canada. And
and you know, during that time. There's a lot of
great coaches across across the nation. But uh, but he
(11:38):
did so much in terms of you know, being somebody
who like myself, you know, he came from Oregon, uh
uh and and build something great here and did it
in a way that's really strong. Lots of endowments, understood
the task at hand to make a resilient program.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And so I'm just immensely grateful for all of the work,
you know, that he's put in to that and establishing,
like you mentioned, like a really strong and kind of
a powerhouse. I think for the longest time, they had
the most division, sorry, the most national champs out of
any program. And I'm sure Grammy were Life or somebody
is going to take over that fairly soon here, but
(12:16):
that was a record that lasted quite a long time.
And uh and so.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
So that was my communit. He did a really amazing
job with that.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And in terms of Justin, I mean, you just have,
if anybody's ever been around, Justin one of the most
uh just enjoyable people and uh and.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So so to have you know, kind of this legacy
with Mike and this wisdom and.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Having worked with them, and then you know, kind of
a larger than life character with Justin. Uh. Yeah, they've
they've meant a lot to wrestling in Canada. Uh, they've
done an amazing job of the promotion and you know,
putting s Fu into this North American space and something
that's respected and and yeah, it's just my goal to
(13:01):
just kind of carry that forward and kind of help
us keep on marching along and you know, you know,
build our resiliency and maintain a competitive edge while doing that.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Lastly, you know, Vancouver and Burnaba areas is one of
the hotbeds of wrestling in Canada. But the relationship between
the wrestling clubs and the college teams, Like you look
at the Canadian rosters you're seeing Burnham Mountain Wrestling Club
and they're usually the Simon Fred Theer they're they're they're
kind of co located or co together.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
How does the clubs work with the college system up there?
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, so essentially just the same as like our RTC's
down here at work. So only I guess the difference
is like for us as a National Training Center, so
we're one of three designated National Training Center sites and
so and so. Yeah, so and we this year we
had the benefit of kind of sweeping the men's categories
(13:52):
in terms of U nineteen, you twenty three, and then
seniors for the club side and so so yeah, so
those things go really hand in hand. But having said that,
it is a full kind of regional club and we
definitely it attracts athletes you know, not associated with our
our university. So yeah, so separate entities, but very hand
(14:14):
in hand given that worthy uh one of the worth
the major player within on the West coast for wrestling Canada.
So so everything kind of drives through recipe you to agree,
but but it operates very similar to your guys RTC structure.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Give me a good Dave McKay story. Actually we don't
have that ton of time.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
I will say I still work with the every day.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Uh and so so he's still around and his technique
still sharp.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So good luck. Thanks a lot, man, Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
The Short Time Wrestling Podcast has been outfitted by Compound Sports,
whereas since ever since you need something, shirts, hats, gear, teamwear,
you need it, They've got it. Call up clipping the
crew at CMP sportswear dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.