SCHULTZ MEMORIAL FEATURE: Ruiz sharpens his game with focus on Olympics

Justin Ruiz of the New York AC enters the Dave Schultz Memorial International as the No. 1-ranked Greco-Roman wrestler in the U.S. in the 96 kg/211.5 lbs. weight class.

Ruiz has been successful in international competition, winning a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships. He just missed traveling to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens after finishing second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

With the No. 1 ranking and a tournament held on his home turf, Ruiz feels good about his performance so far and will continue to work towards the gold medal match Saturday evening.

"I've got it off to a good start with the two wins," Ruiz said. "I am trying some new stuff out and trying to push the pace more. I am experimenting with some stuff, new techniques."

Ruiz started out the tournament with wins over Katsuya Kitamura of Japan and Timoncini Diagoro of Italy to put himself into the semifinals.

"It's a great chance to get more experience," said Ruiz. "I am working on trying to score more from my feet. Getting a little more competition in is always good."

The Dave Schultz Memorial not only provides a great opportunity for international competition, but also a chance to scout some of his opponents standing in the way of an Olympic berth.

"He needs to be ready to beat those guys," U.S. National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser said. "This is a great tournament to prepare and scout some of his opponents. You can't take anyone lightly."

The Pan American Championships will be held in Colorado Springs, Colo., February 28-March 2. There, Ruiz will have a chance to qualify the 96 kg/ 211.5 lbs. weight class for the Olympic Games. In order to have a chance to pursue his Olympic dream, the first step has to be getting the nation qualified to compete

Ruiz will have to stay focused at the Pan American Championships as he goes against top wrestlers, including archrival Cuba.

"I need to have a set strategy and really stick to it," said Ruiz. "I want to score points from my feet and in par tarre. Really, I need just need to score points. I don't want it to end up tied 1-1 and have the match decided by coin flip."

In addition to international opponents, this year's Dave Schultz Memorial contains three other American wrestlers ranked in the weight class, No. 2 R.C. Johnson, No. 3 Adam Wheeler, and No. 6 Justin Millard.

"Everybody wants the same thing and has the same goals," Ruiz said. "They are all good athletes, and they are training hard. We all want to beat each other. I think that makes all of us tougher. They push me to be better."

That competition here at home has only served to motivate Ruiz and strengthen him as he works towards making the Olympics.

"Iron sharpens iron," said Fraser. "All of those guys are able to push each other as teammates. I think that's going to help us win a medal in the Olympics."

Whoever ends up wrestling for the U.S. in this weight at the Olympics should do well, but Ruiz wants to make sure that he is the one with the shot at the medal.