5PME59: Northern Michigan assistant coach Parker Betts

Episode 59 of the Five Point Move Podcast brings back Northern Michigan University assistant coach Parker Betts, who discusses Payton Jacobson's rise to the 2024 Olympic Team, what the impact of that has been, as well as the performances of several other NMU top athletes including National Team member Max Black. 

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'll look for on app. Stopworrying about stupid procedures and to pull up
its sporting of balls aking self giftcree. Why are we had a a
podcast, the one you call thefive Point Move. I'm frustrated with the
way our GRECA guys for the UnitedStates are true because we are good athletes
are good hany boes that that Ronawent. We gotta help we get that

(00:26):
what I want people know me fromall of our results where everything comes from
five point Move. Hello and welcometo episode fifty nine of the Five Point
Move podcast. I'm Tim Hands,founder and senior editor of five point move
dot com. And similar to episodefifty eight, which featured the One the

(00:49):
Only Elis Coleman, Episode fifty ninebrings to you just a single solitary guest,
and that is Northern Michigan University NationalTraining Site System and coach Parker Betts.
My good friend Parker Betts. Andeverybody knows what's going on with NMU
eighty seven kilograms olympian Peyton Jacobson,who won the Olympic trials just a month

(01:15):
ago, and he's been the storycome kind of a celebrity has won.
Mister Peyton, Venmo Jacobson and Northernalso had four other guys competing at the
Olympic Trials. They put five inthe tournament. Max Black at sixty kilograms
made the national team, David Stapanyonsixty seven kilograms, George Sykes ninety seven

(01:38):
kilograms, and of course mister fantasticBenji Peak, And we go over Benji
a little bit seventy seven kilograms.Everybody knows Benji as well. And Benji
made it to the semi final ofthe trials, and what a match he
had against Alexander Keikanoff. And yeah, we go through all of it.

(02:00):
We go through the Olympic Trials,Parker and I and covering pretty thorough detail
the surrounding matters of mister Jacobson,and yeah, let's go through it.
Parker's here to talk about it.Okay, although it is nearly a month

(02:22):
since the Olympic Trials, it's stillfresh. It's still on everybody's minds.
It's certainly still on your mind becauseyour room actually produced an Olympian. But
the Olympic Trials for Northern Michigan wasa success, and the keynote to all

(02:44):
of it, perhaps anyway, isnot just the fact that Peyton Jacobson made
the Olympic team and is an Olympian. But he's also Northern Michigan's first Olympian
since two thousand and eight Beijing,which was Spencer Mango. And before we
hone in on the individual athletes themselvesin the aftermath of the trials, being

(03:09):
that your program now has its firstOlympian in sixteen years or whatever it is.
How has that reverberated not just aroundyour program but around campus, Like,
has there been a response in generalthe fact that your school has an
Olympian. Yeah, the response isgreat. I mean we knew, we

(03:36):
knew him making the team was hugefor him obviously, I mean it's a
dream of his and for our program. It's just it's blown up. I
mean he's getting interview call TV stations, radio stuff like that. The campus
has done a great job promoting him. They brought him up on stage during
the Athletic Award ceremony and he gota standing obey from all the athletes and

(04:00):
everyone was chanting the USA and youknow him, I'm so happy to see
that because he works so hard andso tire sly to make this team and
he did it, and you knowhe deserves everything he's getting now. So
and you know, as far asour program, you know, I think
it's going to shine a new lighton us and give us a lot of

(04:24):
a lot of exposure going forward andshowing people that, you know, this
is what we do. You know, we train graca, We put guys
on these teams and they have theconfidence that they're going to go over season
and win us a medal. Sowell, let's go with your sixty kilogram
national team member Max Black. Notsurprising insofar as everyone who pays attention to

(04:45):
the program could see that Max wason this sort of trajectory even if Parker,
even if we don't dial it backto you know, twenty twenty two,
which was that was kind of likehis coming out party that US Open.
But just this past December, hemakes what was essentially the Challenge Tournament
final of the Nationals, right,I mean, so Max goes into this

(05:12):
tournament having placed third bronze at thorMasters, which that was a great performance
for him. That was an importantone for him because he had been to
that tournament prior. He knew whatit was about, and it was also
the timing of it it was onlygive or take a month, I want
to say, before Penn State.Yeah, that sons right right around there.

(05:40):
The Olympic Trials, every opponent's atough opponent. He has a really
tough opponent, a strong opponent inthe first round, Dylan gregorson. He
has a really good match against DaltonRoberts in the semi final. And then
he's on the backside of the bracket. He goes and he gets a big
win over Philled with whom he's hadtrouble in the past a couple of times,

(06:02):
right, and then he defeats TaylorLamont for the national team spot.
So with Max, obviously he's apersonality. He's a hilarious character, but
he's also like a very very hardcorecompetitor. Let's go before and after.

(06:23):
Before the tournament, let's say aweek before, what was your feeling about
Max? What did you like aboutwhat Max was bringing into the tournament before
you guys left for Penn State.I'd say, honestly, it's the same
thing. I had the same fealingabout him that I do before every tournament.
You know, he's, like yousaid, he's a competitor and you

(06:44):
know he's a gamer. He lives. He lives for the competition and he
loves it. And I mean wedidn't say that about a lot of our
guys right now, but he justloves competing and he's ready to fight,
and he's ready to put on ashow and he's ready to celebrate and live
live that. You know, thatshowmanship that he puts on, and you
know, more power to him.You know he earns it and he deserves
to show off a little bit.So you know, he's a man.

(07:10):
And with how young he is,still got a big goals for him.
I know he's got big goals.So it's a I'm looking forward to it.
I'm sure that this is giving hima surge of some sort of confidence.
I'd have to imagine that it does. But like, does he get
the gravity that he didn't just makethe national team. I mean making the
national team is making the national team. It's always a huge accomplishment. He

(07:34):
made it at the Olympic trials,that's a little different for sure. I
mean, it's Olympic trials is insane, man. I mean it's just the
pressure these guys feel. I meanthat's cloes for everybody, and you know,
the error is just different, youknow, when you're back in the
warm up room and if it's eventhe US Open or New York or it's

(07:57):
completely different. In for him tobe able to make mash team Olympic trials
was incredible and he was just sohappy for him. And you know,
I think obviously he's very excited andhe's pumped up, and you know,
he's enjoying the moment for now.And but on the other side of that,
you know, he and I playingon winning. You know, he

(08:20):
believes he can win. He believesthat he should have been the guy to
qualify the way. You know,that's how he thinks. And so him
taking third, it's just like,yeah, okay, well I'm made a
national team, all right, WellI'm gonna win it next year, you
know. So I think he's happyand excited, but he believes in himself
that he's gonna he's gonna be theman coming up. So one more about

(08:43):
Max. Is he taking the Utwenty three spot World team spot? Yeah,
yeah, he'll be taking that,okay, And you know, so
that's I was thinking about that earlier. You know, that's three three age
group world teams for him in arow. You know, he made too
U twenties and an U twenty three, and you know, with all young
he is, he's he's gonna breakout. He's going to do big things

(09:05):
for himself and for our program andfor this country. So you had a
good crew, like we just talkedabout, and David Stepanion is you know,
first off, David Stepanion is awrestler who a lot of the other
wrestlers really appreciate, you know,like you'd refer to that kind of like

(09:31):
let's say, uh, you knowin baseball you refer to someone as like
a hitters hitter. Yeah, DavidStepanion's like a wrestler's wrestler. A lot
of people, you know, whetherthey're in his weight class or not,
they they seem to really appreciate,like his style, his way of going
about it. He's another one whois an intense competitively driven individual. He

(09:56):
totally is his competitive schedules since thelast quad. I wouldn't call it spotty
or something, because in twenty twentyone, right off jumping, well he
made national final, World team trialsfinal. But you know he also has
a career oriented academic. I don'tknow how you say this, How do

(10:22):
I even say this, you know, with the nursing program and his studies,
it's not like he's majoring. Hewas majoring in basket weaving or something.
So it's like, we actually dohave underwater basket weaving. So are
you really serious in case someone's interestedin that. I know we used to
when I was going to school.I don't know if we do anymore,
but yeah, that was a classhe could take, underwater basket weaving.

(10:46):
Yeah what is that? You know? I don't know. I never looked
into it, but I know someguys have talked about possibly taking it during
an elective, so but I neverknew anybody that actually did. So.
Oh all right, well I digress. How David is handled like, how

(11:09):
David has handled his education along withbeing a national level competitor, to me
is like just super impressive the wayhe's gone about it. And like I
said, he's just he's a reallyfun wrestler to watch. He comes into
this tournament. I know that hehad trained a bid overseas, I think

(11:31):
in Armenia in January, if I'mnot mistaken, he at the Nationals seemed
to have momentum. One part ofthat reason is because at the Nationals he
had defeated Pat Smith. We getto the Olympic Trials and he draws path

(11:52):
first round and it's a close match. It's a tough match, it's a
grueling match. There's really only somany different types of matches. Pat is
going to wrestle. Is a toughloss for David, particularly because there were
after effects. You were there,you saw this happen obviously up close and

(12:13):
personal. Same thing as we talkedabout with Max Black with David year before
and after impressions. Yeah, Imean, just like you said, I
mean, like Max, I'm tellingyou, we got a group of guys
that are just so competitive and justgamers and they just want to win.
And it doesn't matter if it's wrestling, if we're playing soccer. For foremost,

(12:39):
it doesn't matter, dude. Theyjust want to win. And that
competitive nature is so huge, andI think a lot of guys don't have
that. So it gives gives ourgroup of guys that edge, and you
know, it shows the tournaments andyou know Pat, Pat Smith is tough.
He's been around for a long time, a lot of experience, and

(13:01):
you know he's got a motor andhe can go and you know, like
I said, like you said,there was some matter effects stuff, and
you know, David took a prettygood blow to the head and wasn't able
to finish off the tournament. Butyou know, it's not fun, but
it's wrestling, and you know,he was in he was in good spirits.
You know, he wasn't obviously happyabout the situation, but he's a

(13:22):
guy who he handled his losses verywell for how competitive he is. You
know, we just kind of satdown and just you know, the decision
was that he's not going to continue, and we were there for him.
His dad, I mean, hisdad's awesome, great supporter of him in
our program, and he was backthere with us and kind of talking with
him, and you know, justmade the decision not to continue. But

(13:46):
yeah, he's uh, he's goingto go on and do great things too,
like he said, with the nursingprogram here at Northern, we have
a few few guys in that programand that's for sure the toughest major you
can do here at Northern. Imean, those guys on the classes clinic
called all this stuff, and youknow it's him being able to do that

(14:07):
and still rustle at this level it'sit's very impressive. Indeed, Okay,
we'll pivot to two more of yourguys and then we'll shine a spotlight on
your Olympian. Go with George realquick, George Sykes, I thought I

(14:28):
wasn't alone. George Sykes really impressedme in November at Bill Ferrel Memorial in
New York. Hate to overuse theword here, but it's a constant theme.
The reason why George has been Georgesince twenty eighteen or whenever is because
he knows how to compete. Andin New York he went and he got

(14:52):
a big win over Nick Boykin.That was basically respond in effect for him
qualifying for the Trials. And itwas so gritty the way he wrestled in
that tournament. The one thing Iwas wondering, and this isn't I'm not

(15:13):
trying to Monday Morning Quarterback, isif you know he had Bulgaria in March,
I was almost wondering if he shouldhave had something earlier, if that
were an option for him. Wasthat an option for him to do something,
let's say in January a month afterWell he didn't wrestle on the Nationals
anyway, but like something before Bulgaria, if only because I just figured for

(15:39):
him, like, you know,if he was going to commit to ninety
seven the way he's kind of hardcorecommitted to ninety seven, a little bit
more of a variety of looks mightnot hurt just given his style. Was
that an option for him? Youknow, I think he had There were
a few different options. I knowhe talked about going to Turkey. He

(16:00):
knows a few guys over there,he's been there a couple of times.
But the Bulgaria trip, just withmusic going there and a few of our
guys going there, kind of madesense for him, I guess. And
you know, I think maybe somethinga little earlier. I mean, you
can never predict this kind of stuff, but I know he got pretty stick
over there, you know, notjust regular stuff, but when you're over

(16:22):
there throwing off the whole works,all that stuff. So you know,
it's it's hard to say if itwas actually beneficial, just because you know,
and stuff like that happens. It'snever ideal. But you know,
maybe something a little earlier because coulddefinitely helped. So okay, we have
no choice, not that we wouldn'twant to anyway, you know, if

(16:49):
there's anybody who should have their ownshow, it would be your seventy seven,
but like, yeah, it shouldn'tbe audio would be like I could
picture Benji hosting like like a latenight talk show. Yeah, for sure,

(17:12):
Benji Peek is not going to beconsoled by my saying this. I'm
sure there were other people who saidsimilarly. The match with keeking off,
like I said, he's not,This isn't gonna come for Benji, and

(17:34):
I understand why. My gosh,Parker, I mean, it was the
same thing when he lost to Patin twenty twenty one. The way Benji
just he gives all of himself tothe match. So many people say they
do it. I'm sure they thinkthey do. You know, Benji totally

(17:59):
does, and he really did inthat match, especially like once he you
know, once he got the picturethat he was he had more reserves,
right, and it was like,hey, don't even stay on top of
him. If you take him down, try to take him down and let
him up if you could. It'seasier said than done it Gregor Roman Wrestling

(18:21):
for crying out loud, but Imean, yeah, either way, and
I look, he had the footthing, the toe thing. Even with
that I thought it was a Iknow he was crushed. I understand,
I know it. I know whatI know, and I know and I
know it. But my goodness,man, I'm sure you guys were If
I were as coach, I Igrab him, tell him I couldn't.

(18:45):
I couldn't possibly be proud of theway someone competed, Like, there's just
no way. Yeah, you know, honestly, I think for me and
Music feels the same way too,because he's been there for a long time
too. You know, I wasstill wrestling on this team when Benji first
came up, so I've known himfor a long time, and you know,

(19:06):
he's always he's always talked to talk, but he walks the walk too,
so you know he can back itup. And so a loss like
that is, I mean, it'scrushing because I know how much and how
much effort he puts in into thesport of wrestling, and he cares so
much. And it's it's a trendwith all these guys that we're talking about

(19:27):
right now that he's so competitive andyou know, he just wants to win,
just wants to win, and youknow, seeing him take that loss
and seeing them him, man,he's not laying on their backs afterwards.
It's just like, man, justwant to go get that guy a hug.
You know, he feels so badfor him, and you know he

(19:48):
did. He was all out thereand he's a leader for our team.
You know, he's an older guysguy. He's a guy that our younger
guys look up to, even ourolder guys look up to. You know,
he with everything he has into thissport and he built with a lot
of stuff, a lot of injuries, you know, off the mat stuff,
and you know he just kept pushingthrough. And you know that that

(20:11):
loss was tough for sure, butyou know he tried to console him.
But those guys who aren't so competitivelike that, sometimes you just gotta let
him be, you know, theyneed. You know, he's old enough
to where he can be by himselfand kind of calm down on him on
his own, and so I tryto tend to give him some space,

(20:32):
you know, after all off likethat, and you know, kind of
let him figure it out. He'sat that age now. So but on
the other side of that, Imean I remember this like it was yesterday.
I mean when Peyton was wrestling inthe finals and there was like five
seconds left and I'm looking across themat and I see Benji sitting with Peyton's

(20:53):
family, and he's standing up andhe's got his hands on his head and
he's crying. You know, he'sput a supporter for our guys. It's
insane. He's such a leader andsuch a good guy. So hmmm.
I mean Benchi seemed almost more pumpedand overcome with emotions certainly than even Peyton

(21:17):
did. And you know Peyton's usuallystonefaced, Yeah for sure. Yeah,
and he brought it out of me, you know. And just seeing how
he he went from where he wasat after the loss, and how the
stadium it was to him, andto see him come back and support Peyton.

(21:37):
You know, they're you know,their best friends, you know,
wrestled together, they've been wrestling togetherfor a long time. So to see
him step up and do that aftera loss like that speaks so much about
his character that you know, youcouldn't be prouder of the guy. Oh
yeah, well yeah, I meanParker, I was sitting in the you

(22:00):
know where I was sitting in thepress table thing. Yeah, and a
few minutes after match, ree forJacobson and Woods Peyton was like signing some
kids stuff or whatever, and Benjiwas like by himself, like walking past

(22:21):
me, and he was like like, what do you call it? Like
kind of like like pumping his fistto himself, like there was no one
around him. Yeah, for sure. So the interesting part about Peyton Jacobson
is it is not just that he'san Olympian at such a young age.

(22:45):
It's also the fact that his weightclass was kind of a question mark for
a minute there. I guess itwas. Look, I mean, these
are things that can be discussed alittle bit more now. For sure.
They can be discussed now. Theyweren't discussed at the time. Openly.
Peyton had originally considered moving up fromseventy seven, where he had been a

(23:07):
national team member in twenty twenty two, which by the way, was his
first full legit year as a senior. It was close to national team last
year at seventy seven. And weget to the fall, it's like,
well, he he might move toeighty seven. He's thinking about moving to

(23:29):
eighty seven. It's like, really, because he's fairly well in the argument
here at seventy seventh, I mean, and then he goes and wins New
York at seventy seven, then goesto Nationals and like we were talking about
with Max Black, that pseudo sortof challenge tournament final in a way that
you'd call it, and he obviouslywrestles Benji and so I thought that issue

(23:56):
was dead and gone until right beforethor Mass and there no, he's on
the entry list at eighty seven,which thorm Masters is to Kila allowance,
and it's like, Okay, let'ssee what happens here. I mean,
if it doesn't work out great orif he doesn't like the way he feels,

(24:18):
yeah, it might not be theeasiest thing in history. But if
he needs a taper back down forseventy seven before the trials, he's got
a month to kind of figure outhow to do that if he wants.
And instead he looked fantastic at Doormasters, and he wrestled tough Farner after tough
Farner after tough foreigner, closing outwith Takic from Hungary, who's a beast,

(24:41):
and in ninety five percent of thecountry is on planet Earth, he'd
be the number one guy. AndI guess I'll, you know, not
alone. But I watched his dormI watched doormasters wats happening obviously, and

(25:03):
you go back and watch it andit's like, gosh, he fits really
well at this weight class, scarywell at this weight class. Even though
he's not the tallest eighty seven inhistory. That probably works to his advantage
anyhow, But I just I don'tknow. It blew my mind that he

(25:27):
fit that well. Didn't surprise methat he could be eighty seven. It
surprised me that it would come tohim naturally the way it did. I
think he brings certain advantages at eightyseven as well, now that we've had
some sort of a sample size onit, yours, coach, at the

(25:49):
very least one of what was yourthought process on the decision to go from
seventy seven to eighty seven. I'mtrying to remember exactly when it was,
but I'm pretty sure it was rightafter Christmas break. Guys were coming back
and me and Besick were sitting inour office and he came in and it

(26:10):
was just like, Hey, Iwant to talk to you guys and thoughts
about going eighty seven, And youknow, it was a conversation and this
and that, and you know,at the end of the day, we're
going to support him, you know, wherever he goes. You know,
it's it's his career. We're goingto guide him to what we think he
should do or where we think hecould be better at. But at the
end of the day, it's hischoice. And you know, it didn't

(26:33):
it didn't take long, maybe aweek or two, and he decided he
was going up and started putting onlate, you know, and eating good
and lifting heavy and still seeing inthe the conditioning that he had, which
is crazy that his condition at eightyseven is better than well at seventy seven.
And you know it just I'm nota big fan of cutting weight,

(26:55):
you know, well I never hadto, but I see what it does
to guys from high school all theway up to this level. I know
what wake Kep does and I'm nota big fan of that. I don't
push it. But so I waspersonally. I was happy to see him
go up because I think that eliminatesa lot of stress that got carry in
the sport, you know, Imean, the scale is your first opponent,

(27:18):
obviously, so you take that outand now all you got to do
is rustle and enjoy the sport andyou know him him going up obviously laid
off. So yeah, I meanit seems like a slamm duck looking back.
And the one thing he said inhis interview to the press pool after

(27:41):
match three is that he said goingto eighty seven allows him to eat to
his full potential. And I've neverheard that before. Yeah, I love
it. I love it. Gosh. It's like you hear the phrase full
potential in myriad ways, but whensomeone says it like talking about like how

(28:07):
they're eating, like even that's likegoal oriented for him for sure. For
sure, man, that's how heis. Goal oriented. Oh gosh,
yeah, it made me laugh.But uh, okay, well, let's
let's give Peyton the same treatment here. Rich Carlson good friend of mine.

(28:34):
So he opens with Rich Carlson,if we're going to talk about seeds,
and I'm not listen to my leftshoulder will never become warm from me patting
myself on the back. I toldanyone who had half of a brain that's

(28:56):
not only the seating not matter,but that it certainly did not matter in
eighty seven kilograms for sure. Okay, Rich comes in second seed. Peyton
kept his foot on the pedal theentire time gets out of match one.
Of course, it's not going toget easier. How could it possibly get

(29:19):
easier in that bracket? And itsaid he has a reigning World team member,
Yeah, yeah, okay, andZach Braunegel, who when he did
what he did last year, whichis take third at the Open, win
the World Team Trials tournament, andthen make the World team at Final X.

(29:42):
How does he do that? Hedoes that by of course bringing a
big pace, super terrific pressure,release, great arm, drags, quick
to get behind guys and get takedowns, a really really challenging opponent. And

(30:02):
it's a great match. They hada really had a really good match.
It was a highlight of that bracket, I think, certainly for that round.
But and then he gets past Braunegleokay, so reigning World team member
okay, and now he has Stefanowitz, reigning Olympian in the weight class.

(30:22):
By the way, you tell me, Parker, I mean, you're letting
me talk. He's your guy forcrying out loud. But once he gots
midway through that first period, it'salmost like a switch turns yeah, and
he's like, yeah, I'm gonnawin this one. Too, Yeah for
sure. Okay, we have RichCarlson, that's your first opponent. Doesn't

(30:42):
get harder than Rich. Your secondopponent is Zach Brounegle, doesn't get harder
than Zach. Your third opponent isJohn stefan Witz. Doesn't get harder than
stefano Witz. And now you've gotto go against the guy in the finals
who, on February twenty eight heroicallyqualified the weight class, going up against
a Cuban who, by all accountsis World Olympic medal material, even though

(31:07):
he doesn't have a senior medal yet. And if anybody's known for bringing heat
at Spencer Woods, he's a littleunorthodox in spaces, but he's a brawler.
Spencer's a brawler. And I mean, gosh, you want to talk

(31:27):
about like this is a cruel sport. It's just a cruel sport. We're
in the aftermath right now, Parker, of three guys having their hearts broken
in Turkey. It's so difficult toqualify weights. Spencer Woods goes and qualifies
a weight class. Of course,World Team member two. Right when Peyton

(31:49):
goes and takes match one, whatis his demeanor? What is he saying
after match one. I don't thinkhe was surprised he took match one at
the same time taking match one isthat's that's the prime position you want to
be in. Of course, itis the way he took match one though,

(32:10):
the way he got that match Peyton. There was a lot of that
match where Peyton was in control andhe knew it, and you both in
the corner knew it. So whatdid he say after match one? Because
you have obviously a big gap beforeyou have to wrestle again. Yeah,
I think he just stuck to hisusual routine. You know. We I

(32:35):
think we gave him a high five, and you know, kind of just
like just gave him a high five. You know, that's kind of me
and his thing. We are flaphands pretty hard and whatever, and you
know, and we got back tothe warm up area and he got back
there before us, before me andmusic, and then we walk in there
and he's running around the mat thewarm up match for his cool down,

(33:00):
as if he didn't just wrestle OlympicTrials funnels and he hasn't wrestled how many
matches already, you know, he'srunning and it's just like, man,
this dude, this dude is onfire right now. And you know,
we joked about it, like Isaid, you know, I won't go
into the sitting out to the finalsand stuff because some guys like it.
Whatever, but it's like, yougotta some guys sit out. But Peyton's

(33:24):
just rolling right now. Like Itexted you, it's like he's clicking infinity
stones and he's only getting stronger everytime he wins. And it's really tough
to go out your first match Russell, a guy who's just beat all the
guys you just named off and he'son fire. You know, it's really

(33:44):
tough to rustle somebody like that.And you know, Peyton was just feeling
it and just pulled down and likeI said, he's running around and then
he cooled down and we kind ofsat there for a few minutes and joked
and laughed, and you know,I think that was the biggest thing that
I noticed about him in that tournaments, how he how he carried himself.

(34:07):
You know, he's been on thesenior level for a couple of years now,
but he acts like a veteran,you know, like there's no pressure.
I'm doing this because I enjoy it. I'm doing it because I want
to win, you know, andhe enjoyed. He literally enjoyed every minute
of it. And I couldn't beprouder of him, you know, to
see him at his age to hackthat mature in that level and that spot

(34:32):
in the tournament, it was justit was incredible to see. So Yeah,
not to not to be pretentious,we might as well just skip.
We've talked enough about it. Wemight as well just skip, like running
through matches two and three. Well, you know what, Well, let's
go to to this is that you'rebringing up something pretty pretty important, is

(34:57):
the Yeah, there's the maturity aspectto it. And there's different types of
maturity. It's not just any onething, and they're there. They can
be mutually exclusive depending on the individual. He's certainly mature all around, but
competitively mature, he certainly is.And I've gotten to know Peyton myself.

(35:17):
Yeah he could, I guess ifhe is so compelled, he can talk
a little bit. But look,whatever room Peyton Jacobson walks into, he's
not going to be the loudest guyin that room. Let's put it that
way. Yeah, for sure,for sure. And the way he conducted
himself, the way he handled himselfimmediately after dealing with the presspool. I

(35:40):
gotta say it was. It wasreally quite some. It really was.
And I don't usually make a huge, huge thing about that. It depends
on who it is, I guess. But the reason why for him is,
yeah, okay, there's there's Beforehe wins the Olympic Trials, there

(36:00):
have been a couple of times whenyou know, he's had to deal with
a little bit of wrestling media orsomething. But we're talking about a twenty
one year old Okay, Yeah,all of us who are like involved in
the sport understood that he was alegitimate candidate to win the Olympic Trials,
but no one outside of our spheredid because they only know who been provisor

(36:23):
Spencer woods Are and Stefano Witz andwhomever else, you know what I mean.
Braun Agel yea being on the teamlast year, you know. And
Jacobsen goes and holts court after winning, and the way he did it,
the way he was answering questions,there was nothing about it by which he

(36:44):
was awestruck. The way he behaved, the way he answered questions was like
he expected to be there, Likenothing about it was surprising as if he
had done it before. Like Isaid, I don't normally go nuts about
these things because it's like, ah, you know what, you're sticking cameras
and microphones and guys faces before they'veeven had a chance to properly cool down.

(37:07):
They've still got adrenaline course and throughtheir veins, you know. And
he was completely comfortable. And lookdoes that speak to his wrestling And I
think it totally does. There's thinkingyou can win, and there's knowing that
you can and probably will. Andthen there's Peyton Jacobson who's absolutely convinced he's
going to win. So like,yeah, just terrific. And look we're

(37:34):
gonna talk again, so we'll havemore ground to cover in the interim.
Peyton's been on the Peyton Jacobson celebritytour lately, as you mentioned at the
outset, and you know he's uh, all of a sudden become Drake.
Of course, there is the Olympicteam training stuff that's going to start unfolding

(37:59):
sometimes semi soon. But as faras one of you guys getting him back,
I know he's coming back. Idon't know, it's stuff to say,
actually I know he's coming back nextweekend, just really quick. So
it's not like he's going to betraining full time with us. But I
kind of looked over their schedule andstuff and Andy was telling me about it,

(38:21):
and he's going to be gone mostof the summer now, you know,
whether it's training overseas or training OlympicTeam camp all that stuff. So
I don't think we're gonna have I'msure vehicle will be going to the Olympic
Team camp, but as far asbeing up here, you know, I
don't know how much time he'll beup here. I'm guessing it's not gonna

(38:42):
be a lot. So all right, to close off, you have the
camp next month middle of June,late June whenever. It is not to
just make this a giant plug,but we do want interested eligible athletes to
pretend if there is still a spaceavailable. So if you could real quick,

(39:07):
can you run down the particulars involvingthe camp so far as dates,
what potential athletes who come should expect, what the goal of the camp is
and so forth. Can we justrun through that really fast for sure?
So we'll be doing our Enemy EliteDireco camp again this year. It's for

(39:31):
high schoolers up to you twenty threeage group guys will be staying either in
the dorms or you can do thecommuter option too, so you can stay
in a hotel and get your mealsstuff like that. That's all included in
the cost. And we'll have myselfand Coach Busick obviously we'll be there,

(39:52):
and then we have some of ourresident athletes will be staying up to So
usually we do two practic This isa day. You know, Technique is
usually one session and then live isthe next. And you know, I
think it's it's great for guys tocome up and see what our program is
and see how you know, fulltime greco athletes train and they see our

(40:16):
facilities and they see campus and theysee Marquette. You know, they're up
there at the best time of theyear. So it's it's good for them,
it's good for us. And youknow, you have some of the
best up and coming athletes in thecountry that you're gonna be able to be
coached by and wrestle with and hangout with. And you know, I
think it's great for the campers andfor our guys too. You know,

(40:39):
they get to wrestle with them andthen they go you lunch with them and
hang out at the beach or golook at campus and all this kind of
stuff. So it's it's a greatexperience for everybody. Are you getting sent
to Fargo? Yeah, I thinkso. I think coach Music and myself
will go again or maybe just meagain. I know I just went last

(41:00):
year, but you know, Ilike the trip. I like making it
up there, and you know,it's close to home, so usually get
to go home and see the familyfor a couple of days as well.
So yeah, it'd be good tobe up there and you know, retreat
some athletes and you know, it'swe're trying to gain exposure for our program,

(41:21):
which is weird to say because ofhow long it's been around and the
amount of athletes that have come throughand made teams, you know, not
world but not only world teams,but Olympic teams, and you know,
we're still fighting that fight to showpeople who we are and what we do.
So I like, I enjoy goingto those tournaments and talking with these
guys and you know, letting themknow that there is an option to be

(41:44):
full time GRECO and you know,you got to start early. You know,
there's there's guys around the country thatare doing a great job with that.
You know, some people Cigaretto's dying, But you know, I don't
agree with that. I think withthe projection that these guys are on.
I mean the guys in Wisconsin,Lucas Stell, Bill Coley, these guys

(42:04):
that are just focusing on direco Imean, they had a great showing at
you points. Your twenties is somuch tougher now than it used to be.
It's these guys are developing so muchyounger and so much better. They
wrestle like seniors, you know,So I think going forward protection looks great.
You know, I'm I'm happy withwhere it's at. And you know,
big shout out to those guys whoare helping out the program, all

(42:31):
right. And that was Parker Betts, Northern Michigan University National Training Site assistant
coach, discussing Peyton Jacobson eighty sevenkilograms olympian Yon Jacobson from Northern Michigan University
as well as before other Olympic Trialscompetitors. Northern Michigan had Max Black making

(42:52):
national team sixty kilos. Benji Peak, I mean we talked, We talked
about it. That's not an armoraround the shoulder thing that Benji would probably
want to hear, I imagine anyhow. But you know, twenty twenty one
when Benji Peak made the senior WorldTeam trial finals for the first time and

(43:12):
he gave it was all versus PatSmith, and like I never forgot about
it, Like I couldn't get itout of my head for a while.
And you know, of course hedid assent to the World team the next
year. But his match versus AlexanderKekanof, who's excellent. I don't care
about whatever his age is, He'sexcellent. But his match again is kicking

(43:37):
off in the Olympic Trials semi final. Again, It's like, what can
you say? Also, what hasbeen going on with Northern Michigan is the
commitments athletes committing to attend Northern MichiganUniversity for the Grecord Roman program. And
Parker and I recorded this just priorto the announcement that they had Land and

(44:02):
Jury committing Land and Drury sixty threekilogram you twenty World team member last year,
lived or still lives with Joe Betterman, trains with Joe Betterman, Max
Snary was one of his coaches,is one of his coaches, or however
that works. Land and Jury iswhat you who you would refer to as

(44:23):
a blue chip Greco prospect. That'show I refer to Land and Jury.
And then in short order and thenyou announced that Anthony Santana from New York
has committed as well. And thena day later it's gunnerham Ray officially committing
to Northern Michigan. And Gunnarhamray hasbeen training full time Greco for a few

(44:45):
years, has got more overseas experiencedthan three quarters of the senior base probably,
and he was good anyway, buthe's really started to turn a corner.
And I just can't wait to seewhat happens to all three of these
guys at Northern Michigan University. Icongratulate them. I congratulate their soon to
be coaches, Andy b Sick andParker Vets, and Northern Michigan is well

(45:10):
just on fire, all right.Social media concerns, Social media concerns to
follow Parker Bets on Instagram, SoI guess we have to mix it up
because we have Parker and then there'sobviously want to follow Northern Michigan, right,
so to follow Parker Bets on Instagram, it is Jurassic Parker one thirty.

(45:34):
I think I've remarked before how cleverthat is Jurassic Parker. That's one
word, Jurassic Parker one thirty.And to follow Northern Michigan University's Greco page
on Instagram, it is NMU UnderscoreNts Wrestling NMU Underscore Nts Wrestling, and

(45:58):
on Twitter, Northern Michigan is atNMU creco nice and easy at NMU Greco.
If you would like to follow DennisHall on Twitter, you can do
so at Dennis Hall WGW. Andif you want to follow him on Instagram,
which is where's more active relatively speaking, that's Dennis Hall Underscore UD.

(46:23):
Dennis Hall Underscore UD. That's youruniversity dubuque. And for USA Greco Roman
news and athlete perspectives, please goto five point move dot com and as
always, follow along on Twitter atfive the number five pt Move. That's
it for episode fifty nine. Everybody, thanks for listening, and we'll see

(46:45):
you soon.