At the Tokyo Olympics, Thomas Gilmans chase for wrestling immortality continues – Hawk Central

Former Iowa wrestler Thomas Gilman won the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday night

Former Iowa wrestler Thomas Gilman won the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday night in Fort Worth.

Cody Goodwin, Des Moines Register

Thomas Gilman settled into a media room and put on some headphones. An interview moderator began speaking All right, congratulations, he began then teed up a question that caused Gilman to consider himself.

Tell me about the match, the moderator continued. Do you feel like you came out of nowhere?

Came out of nowhere? Gilman responded with a chuckle. Ive been around since 2017, when I won a silver medal at the world championships.

Gilmans eyes opened wide, and the chuckle became a laugh.

No disrespect, hecontinued. That kind of sounded a little arrogant, maybe even a little offensive for me.

The exchange, from April at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Texas, revealed both parts of Thomas Gilman: the fiery competitor who willed himself into one of the worlds top freestyle wrestlers, and the calmer, grateful off-the-mat alter-ego. One was instilled at the beginning of his wrestling career, and the other has only recently revealed itself.

Gilman, now 27, believes the combination of the two is the reason hes competing at the Tokyo Olympics, the United States mens freestyle rep at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). He will wrestle late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning (local time) and, if he wins, again early on Thursday morning.

Im doing the same things Ive always done, Gilman, a Council Bluffs native,said earlier this spring. Its just got a little different flair to it.

Thats what makes Gilmancompeting at these Olympics so fascinating, because the same things hes always done have only ever gotten him near the top.

More Olympics coverage:

A brief history:

His Iowa career was decorated, a three-time All-American and 2017 Big Ten champion. But he lost twice in the NCAA semifinals, as a sophomore (by fall, to West Virginias Zeke Moisey) and a senior (when he was previously undefeated). His lone trip to the national finals resulted in a 6-3 loss to Penn States Nico Megaludis.

Near the top, but not at the top a track record that followed him in the early years of his Senior-level freestyle career.

Its been a while now, but Gilman actually won his first 15 Senior-level matches in 2017: twice at the Last Chance Qualifier, six more at the world team trials to make the team, three wins for gold at the Spanish Grand Prix, then four to make the finals at the world championships in Paris.

Then … a 6-0 loss to Japans Yuki Takahashi in the world finals.

Again, near the top, but not at the top.

Gilman made the U.S. world team again in 2018, and reached the semifinals again, but fell to Kazakhstans Nurislam Sanayev in a stunning 11-0 technical fall. That sent Gilman to the bronze-medal match … where he stumbled again, 5-4 to Turkeys Suleyman Atli.

Again, near the top, but not at the top.

The next year, 2019, Gilman failed to make the U.S. world team altogether, losing to Oklahoma State star Daton Fix, two matches to one, in the best-of-three finals.

To be fair, its not like these guys Gilman lost to are scrubs. Takahashi, Sanayev and Atli are all two-time world medalists in Senior mens freestyle. Fix has twice reached the NCAA finals, won the U.S. Open in 2019 and has won four age-level world medals, including a Junior world title in 2017.

But the fiery competitor inside him burned. The goal has always been to win an Olympic gold medal, not just compete with the best guys in the world.

I forgot how to win, Gilman said. Im always in those matches against the best guys in the world. But for a long time, I had a hard time figuring out how to win. At the end of the day, thats what history remembers, winning.

More wrestling coverage from the Des Moines Register

The changes started small, then grew. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Olympics back a year, forcing athletes in all sports to pause.

For Gilman, it allowed him to reflect.

I got to a point in my wrestling career where, quite frankly, I wasnt sure how much fun I was really having, he said. It felt like a job, and of course it is a job, but that doesnt mean it cant be fun. Theres a certain point where you just need change.

Change isnt bad. Change is good. You need to be uncomfortable to grow. I was in a rut, mentally and physically, and thats not on anybody but myself.

So he left Iowa.

After nearly eight years in Iowa City, Gilman joined the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, housed at Penn State. His wife, Melissa, is from Pennsylvania, the younger sister of former Iowa wrestler Mike Evans, a three-time All-American. They were marriedlast October, and recently announced that Melissa is pregnant, a girl due in December.

As it pertains to his competitive career, training in State College allowed Gilman to pick new wrestling minds,likeCael Sanderson, a four-timeNCAA champ at Iowa State who has coached Penn State to eight national team titles since 2011;David Taylor, a fellowOlympian;Roman Bravo-Young, an NCAA champ;and so many others.

So the move made sense, much to the chagrin of diehard Iowa wrestling fans.

But the first changes Gilman made had almost nothing to do with wrestling.

I learned that I needed to watch my mouth a little bit, Gilman said and laughed. Ive always expressed myself differently than others, but I just curse too much sometimes.

Cael and them, they dont. Its not that its not allowed, but they just dont.

Its a small thing, but also illustrative of a larger point. Gilman humbled himself as a struggling wrestler, for one, but also as a man building a new home and life. He looked inward and discovered the calmer, grateful off-the-mat alter-ego in the process.

Gilman said those changes ultimately helped his wrestling. The results back that up. At the Olympic Trials, his bracket included a Senior world bronze medalist, another world team member, a Junior world silver medalist, two NCAA champs and three other All-Americans.

He stormed to first, and won his four matches by a combined 34-6.

Looking at the big picture, Ive grown in this last year more than just a wrestler, Gilman said afterward. I became a better man, a better person … and I found a love for the sport again.

People say, Well, youve been at Penn State for a year and youre still doing the same dang things. Maybe, but my mind is different. Im more confident in the things Im bringing to the mat.

That newfound love for the sport, and the confidence that came with it,is the different flair that Gilman's competed with. He's added it to the things he's always done,and it will be perhaps the mostimportant ingredient if he wants to win in Tokyo in the coming days.

The 57-kgfield is among the deepest in the competition. Seven of the eight world medalists from the last four years are expected to compete: Takahashi, Sanayev and Atli, plus Russias Zaur Uguev, the two-time defending world champ, Indias Ravi Kumarand Mongolias Erdenbat Bekhbayar, both bronze medalists and, of course, Gilman.

The Olympics is the biggest stage of all, but its really no different than any other high-level competition, said Bill Zadick, USA Wrestlings mens freestyle coach, so we remind them of that and keep focused on the details and what we need to do.

That helps keep them grounded and allows them to step on the mat feeling open-minded and free so they can wrestle and perform their best.

History has shown that Gilmanis at his best when hes the fiery competitor on the mat.It often made appearances offthe mat while in college, and still sometimes shows up now.

At the Olympic Trials, for example, Gilman chuckled at the moderator for saying he came out of nowhere, dropped a military analogy to describe onewin You open up the battle with some artillery to loosen up the infantry, then you storm the trenchesand alluded to a quote fromPenn State wrestler Nick Lee after another.

Chop wood, carry water, Gilman said. And whats that mean? I dont know, Google it.

He paused.

Essentially, for me, its back to work tomorrow, Gilman said.

Then he smiled. Even afterall the maturity from the last year, hecouldn't help himself.

Im still a little ornery.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

Read the original:

At the Tokyo Olympics, Thomas Gilmans chase for wrestling immortality continues - Hawk Central