University Wrold Games ·
Getting ready for the University World Games is not what I had in my plans right now. I was planning on getting ready to wrestle in the Olympics but life does not always go as you plan. So my back up plan is now what I am working for. All the training I have put into getting ready for the Olympic Trials will now carry over into the University World Games. We leave July 4th for Greece and I am really excited. I am still wrestling for a World Championship and still will be very happy and proud to win a University gold medal. Our team seems set and I am excited for the whole trip and experience. My first time overseas was the 2006 University World Games in Mongolia. I came away there with a Bronze Medal and I will settle for nothing less than Gold. I got my body feeling better; I have recovered from my illness and I am back ready to go wrestle my best. I will have more for everybody later as the time gets closer thanks again for checking in.
After the Olympic Trials ·
Olympic Trials are over… and I am sad to say, I did not achieve my goal of making the 2008 Olympic Team. For some reason, that only God knows, it just wasn’t my time. The best wrestler doesn’t always win. Its who ever has the best day. I am happy to say that my great friend and one of my training partners Andy Hrovat is going to be representing the USA at my weight class. I could not be any happier. Andy is one of the best all around men I know and he has worked hard to achieve his goal. I wish nothing but the best for him. He was the best wrestler that day. I hope he brings back gold and we continue to train and push each other for the next 4 years. I would love to have him in my corner coaching me when I make the 2012 Olympic Team. But now I need to turn my attention and get ready to wrestle in the University World Championships in Greece. It’s coming up July 8-11. Its not the Olympics like I wanted, but it is a World Championship for students under 27. I can still be a world champ and I plan on it.
Olympic Trials ·
Olympic Trials
The NYAC training camp was a great success. I feel as a team the other member’s of NYAC and I are ready for the Olympic Trials. The training for the trials did not just take place this week, or this month; this is something I have been training for even before I knew I was training for it. When I was in high school, I never knew wrestling would take me to where I am today. I never knew I would be good enough to travel the world and be considered one of the best wrestlers in the world. But I am… and all those extra practices and tournaments I did in high school was preparation for this weekend. All the training I have done in college and this year has all been for not just this weekend but for my ultimate goal which is to be an Olympic Champion. Only 12 people have qualified at my weight class and out of these 12 any given one (on their best day) can make the Team. Now that all the training is done, all I need to do is to relax, get my body feeling good, my mind set and ready, and just go wrestle. I have been wrestling for years. I have won many tournaments, and can beat anyone that steps out there on the mat against me. This weekend is just one more tournament for me to win, and I am going to have a blast doing it in front of all my friends and family.
Jake Herbert
University Wrold Team Trials ·
Well I did it. I have achieved one of four goals that I have made for this year. I made the University World Team. This means I am going to Greece in July to wrestle for the University World Championship. I made the University World Team in 2006, and went on to receive the Bronze Medal at the University World Games in Mongolia. I am confident I can get gold this year.
I have already gotten revenge on the same Russian who beat me at the University World Games in 2006, by beating him in a duel meet last March when I was in Belarus. Making this team is my back up plan in case I do not win the Olympic Team Trials. Either way I will be competing to prove that I am the best in the world this year, however, I would rather it be in Beijing than Greece. My four goals were to qualify for the Olympic Trials (check); qualify for the University World Championships (check); win the Olympic Trials (soon to be check); then win an Olympic Gold Medal (further away check).
It has been a great week. It started off with my buddy and training partner, Keith Gavin, coming to Chicago from Pittsburgh, so the both of us could get ready for the University World Team Trials. Keith and I have know each other since high school, and he and I were assigned to be roommates out in the infamous Fargo trips where both of us had great success in our freestyle wrestling. Keith is a very tough wrestler and always has been. He and I are both PA boys – “the best wrestling state in the country.” But surprisingly Gavin never won a State Title in high school, so you wouldn’t expect him to be as good of a wrestler as he is, but let me tell you he is. PA is just that tough. (I only won one State Title my Senior year of high school) But just like me, Keith finished 2nd in the NCAA’s at 174 the year I won it at 184, then he went on to win his NCAA title the following year. Both of us won University Nationals, so both of us were able to sit out of the University World Team Trials early “mini tournament”, and the winner of that got to wrestle Keith and I in a best two-out-of-three match series to make the University World Team. We worked out all week at Overtime in Chicago then flew out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to get ready for the trials. Keith was wrestling 74 kilos and I was wrestling 84 kilos. We made weight and both of us were to wrestle opponents from the University of Iowa. Keith and I did what we do best and won our first two matches, winning the best out of three series. Both of us are excited to go to Greece to represent the United States in the University World Games. Over the next two weeks we will be preparing and focusing solely on the Olympic Trials.
Very soon I will detail you about the Training Camp that myself and the other members of the NYAC team are participating in to get ourselves trained and ready to win the Olympic Trials and make The Team.
Trip To Missouri ·
I took a week off after nationals to rest, recover, and get my body and mind off wrestling for a week to prepare myself for the last final push coming up. I went to Florida to visit my girlfriend, Kayla, and to get my mind off one of the worst performances of my life. It was very nice to see her and she helps me relax and refocus on the positive. Kayla (besides my family and coaches) is one of my biggest supporters and shares my drive to do the best that I can at everything I do. She also helps to edit these blogs so she gets a double thank you for that.
After that nice rest I was ready to get back on the mat but one of my main training partners, Mike Tamillow, was injured at Nationals and could not be on the mat for a while, so I needed to go somewhere else and train and boy, did I pick the right place. Ben Askren had a fantastic Nationals performance, so I decided to head down to his place and train with him at Missouri. Missouri is a great and beautiful campus and a great college. It was a great set up. Ben is great on and off the mat and let me crash at his place and work out with him, his brother, Max Askren, and a new addition to the Missouri staff which will help out their program tremendously, Kurt Backes. It was more than I could have asked for to wrestle those three. Our daily routine consisted of the following: We would get up early and either drill, working on our par tar in the morning or I would go to Kurt Backes’ new house. Kurt is done with college and married so has a nice “grown-up house” – no 2pac or biggie posters, just matching pillows, fake fruit, and a big fancy mirror, and strange pictures that he and his wife picked out. But the place was sweet and Kurt has all the lifting needs in the garage. It was great lift, very different from what the normal human does. It involved lifting a very heavy keg filled with sand. I was only able to lift and do the full reps once, Kurt could do it every time the animal he is and Ben, well Ben isn’t very strong and the keg is very heavy. He got like ¾ of one but it was tough. Then came some tire hits with a sledge hammer and my favorite training with the reaction ball. I was like the fastest dog ever getting after that ball. Then generally in the afternoons we go live most of the time. It was a group of three or four: me Kurt, Ben, Max and others warmed up and got after it. The last day Ben and I went a full 20 minutes live and it was great because Ben has phenomenal endurance and to wrestle someone like him that hard for a full 20 minutes was great for my shape and skill. We both scored tons of points and got a really good blow in. I was there until Thursday, waking up and lifting with Kurt one last time, and then was back on the road home to Chicago. That was a great training week for me and I will have another one this week. Keith Gavin comes in Wednesday May 14th, and we are training here until we leave for the Olympic training center. Both of us are the finalists for the University World Team Trials. Both of us will work with one another to make that team and then continue to get ready for the Olympic Trails. I will be back next time to tell about how our week goes and how our training went. Thanks for reading and checking out how I’m doing. Take care everyone and God bless.
2008 US Open ·
April 29 2008 After the US Open.
I went into the US Open seeded 3rd knowing I have never placed in this tournament before. I knew that I was the best wrestler in the bracket. I knew that I could beat everyone in the bracket. Before the tournament I was coming off a win at University Nationals – being named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. I also had 2 weeks of training down in Naperville, IL at the Overtime School of Wrestling with the best men from the NYAC freestyle wrestling club. I was physically prepared and ready to go. However I learned that being physically ready is not everything. Wrestling is a lot more mental than one would think. I won my first match 3-3 and 3-0 and felt great. I moved really well my shots were on… I was ready to go. My next match was against a guy I have never lost to before. Unfortunately, I played into his game of not wrestling – making it a one shot match and lost. Poor move on my part. All I needed to do was turn it into a wrestling match and I would have won. The next match I did the same thing – wrestling a guy that I have beaten before. It took me a period to get warmed up, but when I did – I attacked and scored. I was winning the final period 1-1 with 13 seconds left and that when I made the mental mistake of taking a bad shot and my tournament was over. Here is my record against the top 8 finishers
1 0-0
2 2-1
3 3-1
4 0-2
5 1-0
6 1-0
7 2-3
8 3-1
My past shows that I have the ability to beat all these wrestlers, but I have to be in the right mind set. I have to step out there and out-wrestle my opponents. Making it a wrestling match and not falling into their plans of just standing around and making it a one point match. I have nothing to lose at this point. If I choose to and wrestle my best I will be wrestling in the Olympic Games. I do not look at my performance at the US Nationals a failure. I am disappointed in it, but I know I did not get beat by people who were better or out-wrestled me. I beat my self by holding back and not going after my goal. These next few weeks in my training I will be getting ready to let loose. And to train my self for when I wrestle that it be with everything I have. And finally, to wrestle to reach my goal which is to be on the Olympic Team. Until next time, take care everyone.
Jake
Iran Amateur Wrestling Federation - World Rankings (March 3, 2008) ·
84kg
1.Georgi Ketoev/RUS
2.Yusup Abdusalamov/TJK
3.Serhat Balci/TUR
4.Reza Yazdani/IRI
4.Zaurbek Sokhiev/UZB
5.Soslan Kachoev/RUS
6- Joe Williams/USA
7.Hamed Tatari/Iran
7.Jake Herbert/USA
7.Sazhid Sazhidov/RUS
7.David Bichinashvili/GER
7.Taras Danko/UKR
12.Adam Saitiev/RUS
12.Navruz Temrezov/AZE
12.Ali Imamoglu/TUR
12.Revaz Mindorashvili/GEO
12.Bruce Hasseman/USA
12.Clint Wattenberg/USA
12.Ludvig Alborov/RUS
19.Anzor Urishev/RUS
19.Willy Parks/USA
19.Ivan Yankovski/BLR
19.Gagnadorz Ganzorig/MGL
19.Niko Ganidze/GEO
19.Ermek Baidashov/KAZ
Click Here For Link To Rankings Website
Week One Done ·
Today is Sunday, our off day. I am just resting and recovering. We had our first week of training, yesterday we went five full matches. It was great, the foreigners get so tired by the 3rd period. I am all over them, and out hustling, and out wrestling them. It is awsome. Just the experience of drilling and wrestling with all these different people, from different countries, is worth the trip. This week we are going to tapper down, and get some hard workouts in before Friday’s weigh-ins. Saturday will be the tournament.
Hello From Belarus ·
First, just let me say ‘wow’. It has been three days since we were able to find an internet connection. We are staying at the Belarus Olympic training center. It was built in the 1970’s, and I don’t think it has been updated since. We get fed three times a day, but we get all the left over’s from the Belarus team. It’s not too bad, and the two Canadian teams that are here got treated the same way. We get enough bread and some meat and fruit. So, basically, the living facilities are not too good. But, the wrestling is AWSOME. It is totally worth it. Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, France, and Canada are some of the teams represented here. There are nine mats for us to wrestle on. Yesterday I went two matches during the night session. I wrestled Travis Cross, a 5-time Canadian National Champion at 84 Kilos, and I whooped him really good. I beat him 3-0 with three takedowns in the first period, 9-2 in the second period, then 3-0 with three takedowns in the third period. It was awsome. For my second match, I got to wrestler the Russian who beat me in Mongolia at the 2006 University World Championships (He ended up winning Gold, while I took Bronze). It was a great three periods with both of us scoring lots of points on each-other. We run everyday at 7:45am, eat, then wrestler at 12pm and 6pm. Some days we have off the mats to rest our body, and we lift instead. Cross and I have gotten some extra drills in when we have off to work on our technique. Even though the living conditions here suck, none of that matters to me. The wrestling is great, and the training is great. I expect to win the Minsk tournament without losing a period. Till next time I come 40 miles into town just to get the internet…..
Results From Kiev ·
Hello Everybody,
Well, I am finished with my first international tournament. I didn’t get the results that I wanted, but picked up alot of great things. I know that I can win an Olympic gold medal this year, and I know that when I wrestle my best no one in the world can beat me.
Match #1
My first match was against a man from Kazakhstan, it was a great first match for me. I won the 1st period with two single leg takedowns. My opponent was not even close to scoring at all. The 2nd period I took him down again right away, I was winning 1-0 and wanted to build my lead. I took a bad shot, and he scored a takedown to take the lead 1-1. I then took another shot at the end of the period and got turned for two points, losing that period 3-1. The 3rd period was all me. He took a bad shot and I countered with a takedown and cradle for three points. I then took him down at the end of the match, to win 4-0. Overall, I was wrestling great.
Match #2
Next round I wrestled a Russian, one of five that was in the tournament. I got over-aggressive the first period and ran into an arm throw for 3 points. I scored a late takedown, but lost the period 3-1. After this, we was unable to score on me. I beat him the 2nd period 2-0 with two takedowns of my own. In the 3rd period we got into some good scrambles, I took him down for the win with 20 seconds left on the clock. I tried to ride out the time on tope and score some more points with a high gut, and got the count. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the count I wanted. Apparently the referee was counting for him, and he was awarded the points. I lost the period 3-1, and lost the match. I didn’t know I could get scored on from being on top in freestyle, but I guess you learn new things everyday. The Russian went on to take bronze, losing a very close match in the semi-finals. Since he did not make the finals, there was no wrestle-backs for me, and that was the end of my tournament.
This was the first tournament I have wrestled in and did not place. Understandably, I was very disappointed. Watching the finals, I know if I had my chance I could beat them both. But it is good for me, and I learned from my mistakes, and I know that I was the best wrestler in that tournament. Overall, Trent Paulson was the only American to win gold. Me, him, and his brother, are taking off to Minsk, Belarus tommorow. We will join the Belarus team at their two week national camp. Apparently the training facilities are very nice and the food is really healthy. They will have their best wrestlers there. I am excited for the camp, and to prepare for the Belarus tournament on March 6.