As part of his larger examination of traditional wrestling worldwide, InterMat senior writer T.R Foley has entered the 49th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.
T.R. Foley"I'm excited to compete," said the 30-year-old Foley, a 2004 All-American for the University for Virginia. "I guess what's different about this is that I'm not looking to compete for an Olympic spot or fulfill some goal I never achieved. I feel great about my wrestling past, but I want to see what's really out there now, as a journalist and lifelong student of the sport."
Though he hasn't competed since 2005, Foley says that he is in-shape from practicing jiu-jitsu and teaching wrestling from his home in Chicago. The former Columbia University assistant wrestling coach won the blue belt absolute division of the 2011 IBJJF Chicago Open. He has been working as a freelance magazine journalist since graduating from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 2009 and says he hopes to combine his writing and wrestling to give American readers a new perspective on the sport of folkstyle wrestling.
"I want to report on the myriad emotions these guys feel before, during and after they wrestle," said Foley. "It's so easy for fans and writers to critique these kids, and I wanted to reconnect with the experience, and re-gain some insight into what makes our traditional wrestling style one of the most popular on the planet."
Foley will be competing at 184 pounds, which he says is his natural body weight. He wrestled 165 pounds his senior season at the University of Virginia.
Northwestern head wrestling coach Drew Pariano welcomed Foley's application to Midlands at the beginning of November, "We have one of the biggest and most competitive tournaments we have ever experienced. Post-graduates are a vital part of Midlands history and I'm confident he'll go out there and compete hard. Wrestling continues to evolve and Foley will give the Midlands fans an inside look as to what it's like to compete at one of the premier events that our sport offers."
T.R. Foley performing a traditional Mongolian wrestling celebration after defeating his first opponent during the July 6th Naadam festival in Tsetserleg, Arhangai, MongoliaThe Midlands could feature as many as five of the nations top ten 184-pound wrestlers, including top-ranked Lehigh junior Robert "The Vermonster" Hamlin.
"I love folkstyle," said Foley. "I'm mostly healthy I can't wait to get back on the mats to compete. Still, looking at the possible opponents I've gone ahead and looked into re-upping my health insurance."
Foley will be posting three tournament articles for InterMatWrestle.com. Starting this week readers can also find more entries, photos and videos on his website, WrestlingRoots.org.
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