Fanthorpe plays the waiting game

EVANSTON, Ill. – For 133-pound Nate Fanthorpe, Monday was a long, long day.

Fanthorpe and his ISU teammates left their hotel at 6 a.m. for the 10- to 15-minute trip to Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern University campus, site of the Midlands Wrestling Championships.

But unlike his teammates, Fanthorpe drew a bye in the first round and didn’t wrestle until the 294th bout. He took the mat at approximate 2:50 p.m. for his first legitimate competition since Dec. 13. By: Dick Kelly (Original here)

“That’s just something you’ve got to kind of prepare for,” Fanthorpe said. “Nothing’s going to be perfect and things don’t always go as planned so you just have to relax and just be ready when the time comes.”

Fanthorpe said he tried not to watch too many matches, adding that he did watch a few ISU matches prior to his match.

“I got a good warm-up in this morning and took a nap (in the warm-up area),” Fanthorpe said. “I just hung out and kept up with or guys and just concentrated on getting ready for that first match. After three weeks and 8 ½ hours, I was ready to go.”
Growing up: Jon Reader, ISU’s 165-pound sophomore, is in the semifinals for the second straight year and says he’s matured a lot from 2007.

“Last year I was a little immature going into some of these matches,” Reader said. “I wanted to get out there three hours before the match and tear it up. That’s not how it’s got to be. You can’t do anything until the whistle blows.”

Reader said his approach this year is “relaxed aggressive.”

“There’s no need to be bouncing around before my matches,” he said.
Bono beat goes on: Former Iowa State national champion and three-time All-American Chris Bono may never give up wrestling.

Bono, the head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga, was the No. 2 seed behind 157-pound defending champion Mike Poeta of Illinois, but Poeta opted not to compete in the tournament, making Bono the No. 1 seed.

Spotting the competition a good 12 years and in some cases more, Bono moved into the quarterfinals with victories against Phil Sorrentino of Pittsburgh (9-3), Mike Swigert of Arizona State (15-2) and Nick Bertucci of Perdue (9-5). Monday night Bono beat Michigan State’s Anthony Jones 4-1 to advance to today’s semifinals.

“I’m going to try to make the World Championships (in 2009) and then I’m done,” Bono said. “It’s still fun for me and I want (the UTC team) to see it. I have a young group of kids and I want to let them see what it takes to win and train at that level. They’re enjoying me being one of the guys this weekend. It’s been nothing but positives.”

Gallick still competing: Speaking of UTC, Bono’s assistant coach is former ISU national champion and two-time All-American Nate Gallick. He also still competes internationally along with assisting Bono in building the program at UTC.

And Gallick says coaching is tougher than wrestling.

“When you’re done wrestling, you can go lie down and get ready for the next match,” Gallick said. “When you’re coaching, you’re in the gym for 12 hours, walking around on your feet and trying to sneak a meal here and there. It’s a little more wearing mentally.”

Gallick says he’s headed to Russia in January for a meet and, like Bono, plans to compete in the World Championships in 2009. His weight class is 60kg and Bono is at 66 kg.

“I’m pretty excited to go to Russia and get a chance to wrestle,” Gallick said. “Everything right now is getting ready for the World Team Trials and hopefully, I’ll make the world team and go to Denmark.

“Chris does a good job. He lets me get away to compete. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. He’s definitely accepting of my wrestling.”