Challenges give Erickson the chance to advance his wrestling career
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by Alexandra Pernice
Toby Erickson (left) battles Robby Smith in the 2014 U.S. Open finals. Robbert Wijtman photo.
For 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Toby Erickson, wrestling was never something he wanted to make easy for himself.
Even as a young wrestler, he was willing to make an effort to grow and learn. His commitment to the sport was very apparent and promising.
“I started wrestling when I was five. Growing up, I was a big guy. As I got older, it became harder for me to find matches. I remember having to bump up age classes to wrestle guys. Sometimes I would bump up two age classes and give up several pounds just to wrestle someone every now and then,” said Erickson.
He started to enjoy the challenge of wrestling older athletes, and it eventually made a permanent mark on his career. Other athletes may have been discouraged by the situation, but he chose to thrive instead.
“It built on my confidence, wrestling up in age. When I’m eight years old and I’m beating a guy that’s 11 or 12, it really helps my confidence as an athlete. I knew what I could do to beat older wrestlers. When I was young I just tried to keep that confidence. Honestly, I started seeing it less as a challenge and more as just fun,” said Erickson.
During his youth career however, his life did not revolve solely around wrestling. When the time came to move on to the collegiate level, he had to make a decision.
“I was an All-American wrestler in high school. I was an All-State football player too, but I liked wrestling more. I could have gone to college to play football, there’s no doubt about that. I wanted to wrestle though. I loved it, and I’ve always had this Olympic dream in my mind,” said Erickson.
That decision took him to Boise State for his first two years of college. Despite finding himself being challenged more than ever in his wrestling career, he made the most out of his opportunity to wrestle at the Division I level.
“I wrestled at Boise State for my first two years and didn’t find too much success. I absolutely loved being there, though. That team is probably the closest group of friends I have. While we’ve grown apart, I still have buddies I’ll still call. Boise State was two of the best years of college I ever had. Although I wasn’t doing so well at the Division I level, I had the chance to train at Boise when we were in our heyday. Preseason we were ranked No. 2, and we were just gunning, just working hard. It still helped me grow a lot, because our entire team was devoted to working towards one goal. When you have that, it’s easy to work hard,” said Erickson.
Although he enjoyed the team dynamic that Boise State had to offer, he realized that his love for wrestling was rooted in the Olympic styles rather than folkstyle. He decided it was time to move on, and taking his talents to the United States Olympic Education Center program at Northern Michigan University was what he wanted to do.
“The summer I decided to go to the Olympic Education Center, I was training with Ivan Ivanov and several of the senior Greco guys. I got to practice with Justin Ruiz, Jordan Holm and Cheney Haight. After I made the Junior World team for Greco and I took second in freestyle at the FILA Junior Nationals, I just decided I wanted to stick with Greco,” said Erickson.
With a Junior World bronze medal in his pocket, he headed to Michigan and became a resident athlete of the USOEC. There, he realized that in order to find success he needed to make ‘challenges’ a major theme in his training. It eventually became something he would strive for every day as he stepped into the wrestling room.
“I found success by challenging myself. I had coaches there to push me, but the biggest thing I had to do was find ways to challenge myself. I had to go into practice every day and say ‘Okay, I’m going to get so many takedowns today, or I’m going to turn this guy so many times in this round.’ Whether I’m wrestling someone who isn’t as technically good as I am, or somebody that is better than me, I had to find a way to challenge myself. I wanted to constantly better myself, and help better my opponent as well,” said Erickson.
While training at the USOEC, he realized that bettering himself athletically was not the only way he would benefit his wrestling career. Erickson excelled in the classroom as well, which ended up contributing to his abilities on the mat.
“I found that it all started in the classroom, being victorious on the mat. Once I started doing better in school, I realized that I was doing better in my training. I want to say that it was three or four straight semesters that I made the USOEC academic team. It made me feel great. Even though I was a high GPA student in high school and Boise State, I raised my GPA even more at the USOEC and it made me feel awesome. My success in class directly affected my performance in wrestling, and ultimately determined how I performed in competition. I realized that once I started succeeding outside of the wrestling room, I’d start succeeding inside as well,” said Erickson.
Erickson showed his potential on the international level when he won a Junior World bronze medal for the United States in Bucharest, Romania in 2011.
His motivation from both classroom and athletic success motivated him to continue down the path to his Olympic dreams. In September 2014, he made the move to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to keep working on his ultimate goals.
“Training here has been a one of a kind experience. I get to compete against all of these foreign athletes, something I never really got the chance to do at Northern Michigan. Here, I have been training with guys like the Swedish wrestler Johan Euren and the Kazakhstani wrestler [Nurmakhan Tinaliyev] that just won the Dave Schultz Memorial. It’s just awesome to get that kind of exposure. Working with Coach Matt Lindland and Coach Momir Petkovic has opened up my style a little bit, helped me flow a little more,” said Erickson.
Currently, he claims that the aim of his training is to become a more aggressive athlete on the mat.
“I think my training and experiences here at the OTC are adapting my style. I’ve got my style and I’ve got what I like to do, but it’s adapting my style to open it up so I can become a better, well-rounded wrestler. Before, I was the kind of guy who would just beat up on people and get my two-point takedowns. If I didn’t get it, we were going to par terre anyway, and that’s where I would try to score. Now, especially with the new Greco-Roman rules in place, I’ve got to be the one to score. I can’t wait for par terre, I’ve got to go out there and earn my points. I need to make sure that I’m leaving no doubt out there,” said Erickson.
Erickson had his best Senior season to date in 2014, placing second at both the U.S. Open and the World Team Trials behind Robby Smith.
With his work-hard attitude, he is looking forward to gearing up for the coming Olympic year in 2016. Again, with a theme of ‘challenges’ on his mind, he continues to stay optimistic about his chances to make the Olympic team.
“It will be the most important year of my career. The Olympics happen every four years, and it is such a hard team to make. You’re getting guys coming out of retirement who just want to make one last team. Robby [Smith] is the big gun, and sure, I’ll be coming for him. But at the same time, I’m here training with him because he is number one in the country. That’s part of the reason why I moved out here. I wanted to train with the best. Sure, I could surprise myself this year like I did in 2012 when I made the National team. But while I expect to do well, I just want to grow in the end. If it doesn’t happen this year, sure I’ll be upset. It’s just further motivation for future opportunities though,” said Erickson.
He continues to search for those ‘challenges’ that have fueled him through his life as he furthers himself in his senior career. Confident, yet unassuming about his future, he looks to do something else with his wrestling other than simply win-he desires to inspire and change lives.
“I want to continue wrestling as long as my body will let me. My goal is to enjoy the ride, and then continue my involvement by coaching others. I want to teach the sport that has helped me throughout my life. Wrestling truly saves lives. It teaches people how to work hard for what they want, how things will get better in the worst of times. It’s an outlet for negative energy. Nothing teaches you to be a better person than wrestling,” said Erickson.
For 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Toby Erickson, wrestling was never something he wanted to make easy for himself.
Even as a young wrestler, he was willing to make an effort to grow and learn. His commitment to the sport was very apparent and promising.
“I started wrestling when I was five. Growing up, I was a big guy. As I got older, it became harder for me to find matches. I remember having to bump up age classes to wrestle guys. Sometimes I would bump up two age classes and give up several pounds just to wrestle someone every now and then,” said Erickson.
He started to enjoy the challenge of wrestling older athletes, and it eventually made a permanent mark on his career. Other athletes may have been discouraged by the situation, but he chose to thrive instead.
“It built on my confidence, wrestling up in age. When I’m eight years old and I’m beating a guy that’s 11 or 12, it really helps my confidence as an athlete. I knew what I could do to beat older wrestlers. When I was young I just tried to keep that confidence. Honestly, I started seeing it less as a challenge and more as just fun,” said Erickson.
During his youth career however, his life did not revolve solely around wrestling. When the time came to move on to the collegiate level, he had to make a decision.
“I was an All-American wrestler in high school. I was an All-State football player too, but I liked wrestling more. I could have gone to college to play football, there’s no doubt about that. I wanted to wrestle though. I loved it, and I’ve always had this Olympic dream in my mind,” said Erickson.
That decision took him to Boise State for his first two years of college. Despite finding himself being challenged more than ever in his wrestling career, he made the most out of his opportunity to wrestle at the Division I level.
“I wrestled at Boise State for my first two years and didn’t find too much success. I absolutely loved being there, though. That team is probably the closest group of friends I have. While we’ve grown apart, I still have buddies I’ll still call. Boise State was two of the best years of college I ever had. Although I wasn’t doing so well at the Division I level, I had the chance to train at Boise when we were in our heyday. Preseason we were ranked No. 2, and we were just gunning, just working hard. It still helped me grow a lot, because our entire team was devoted to working towards one goal. When you have that, it’s easy to work hard,” said Erickson.
Although he enjoyed the team dynamic that Boise State had to offer, he realized that his love for wrestling was rooted in the Olympic styles rather than folkstyle. He decided it was time to move on, and taking his talents to the United States Olympic Education Center program at Northern Michigan University was what he wanted to do.
“The summer I decided to go to the Olympic Education Center, I was training with Ivan Ivanov and several of the senior Greco guys. I got to practice with Justin Ruiz, Jordan Holm and Cheney Haight. After I made the Junior World team for Greco and I took second in freestyle at the FILA Junior Nationals, I just decided I wanted to stick with Greco,” said Erickson.
With a Junior World bronze medal in his pocket, he headed to Michigan and became a resident athlete of the USOEC. There, he realized that in order to find success he needed to make ‘challenges’ a major theme in his training. It eventually became something he would strive for every day as he stepped into the wrestling room.
“I found success by challenging myself. I had coaches there to push me, but the biggest thing I had to do was find ways to challenge myself. I had to go into practice every day and say ‘Okay, I’m going to get so many takedowns today, or I’m going to turn this guy so many times in this round.’ Whether I’m wrestling someone who isn’t as technically good as I am, or somebody that is better than me, I had to find a way to challenge myself. I wanted to constantly better myself, and help better my opponent as well,” said Erickson.
While training at the USOEC, he realized that bettering himself athletically was not the only way he would benefit his wrestling career. Erickson excelled in the classroom as well, which ended up contributing to his abilities on the mat.
“I found that it all started in the classroom, being victorious on the mat. Once I started doing better in school, I realized that I was doing better in my training. I want to say that it was three or four straight semesters that I made the USOEC academic team. It made me feel great. Even though I was a high GPA student in high school and Boise State, I raised my GPA even more at the USOEC and it made me feel awesome. My success in class directly affected my performance in wrestling, and ultimately determined how I performed in competition. I realized that once I started succeeding outside of the wrestling room, I’d start succeeding inside as well,” said Erickson.
Erickson showed his potential on the international level when he won a Junior World bronze medal for the United States in Bucharest, Romania in 2011.
His motivation from both classroom and athletic success motivated him to continue down the path to his Olympic dreams. In September 2014, he made the move to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to keep working on his ultimate goals.
“Training here has been a one of a kind experience. I get to compete against all of these foreign athletes, something I never really got the chance to do at Northern Michigan. Here, I have been training with guys like the Swedish wrestler Johan Euren and the Kazakhstani wrestler [Nurmakhan Tinaliyev] that just won the Dave Schultz Memorial. It’s just awesome to get that kind of exposure. Working with Coach Matt Lindland and Coach Momir Petkovic has opened up my style a little bit, helped me flow a little more,” said Erickson.
Currently, he claims that the aim of his training is to become a more aggressive athlete on the mat.
“I think my training and experiences here at the OTC are adapting my style. I’ve got my style and I’ve got what I like to do, but it’s adapting my style to open it up so I can become a better, well-rounded wrestler. Before, I was the kind of guy who would just beat up on people and get my two-point takedowns. If I didn’t get it, we were going to par terre anyway, and that’s where I would try to score. Now, especially with the new Greco-Roman rules in place, I’ve got to be the one to score. I can’t wait for par terre, I’ve got to go out there and earn my points. I need to make sure that I’m leaving no doubt out there,” said Erickson.
Erickson had his best Senior season to date in 2014, placing second at both the U.S. Open and the World Team Trials behind Robby Smith.
With his work-hard attitude, he is looking forward to gearing up for the coming Olympic year in 2016. Again, with a theme of ‘challenges’ on his mind, he continues to stay optimistic about his chances to make the Olympic team.
“It will be the most important year of my career. The Olympics happen every four years, and it is such a hard team to make. You’re getting guys coming out of retirement who just want to make one last team. Robby [Smith] is the big gun, and sure, I’ll be coming for him. But at the same time, I’m here training with him because he is number one in the country. That’s part of the reason why I moved out here. I wanted to train with the best. Sure, I could surprise myself this year like I did in 2012 when I made the National team. But while I expect to do well, I just want to grow in the end. If it doesn’t happen this year, sure I’ll be upset. It’s just further motivation for future opportunities though,” said Erickson.
He continues to search for those ‘challenges’ that have fueled him through his life as he furthers himself in his senior career. Confident, yet unassuming about his future, he looks to do something else with his wrestling other than simply win-he desires to inspire and change lives.
“I want to continue wrestling as long as my body will let me. My goal is to enjoy the ride, and then continue my involvement by coaching others. I want to teach the sport that has helped me throughout my life. Wrestling truly saves lives. It teaches people how to work hard for what they want, how things will get better in the worst of times. It’s an outlet for negative energy. Nothing teaches you to be a better person than wrestling,” said Erickson.
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