WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Williams College rising senior standout wrestler Ryan Malo (Georgetown, MA) has a busy summer lined up as he prepares for his final season of competition at Williams.
Malo a two-time All-American for the Ephs owns a record of at Williams and has been the national leader in all of NCAA wrestling in pins the last two years (2009/24 and 2010/38) was named to the 12-member National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All Star team that traveled to Siberia June 15-27 to represent the USA in international freestyle matches. Malo was one of two NCAA Division III wrestlers on the US team, which was mostly made up of Division I competitors, but did have representatives from Division II and one from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
“Freestyle is more like regular collegiate style wrestling, which is called folkstyle,” noted Malo. “Greco-Roman is all upper body. I only wrestle freestyle, and that is the style we were wrestling in Russia. I just really started wrestling freestyle this year and I'm really liking it.”
Each three round international freestyle match is scored at the end of each round. The winner is the wrestler who wins two of the three rounds, all three rounds or pins his opponent.
Malo went 7-1 on the trip and according to the NWCA blog of the event . Malo was the victim of a bad call in his loss. “Ryan was dominating second match when he got called for a phantom fall,” is how the NWCA blog recorded the match. Malo competed at 100kg. See the NWCA blog on the trip for more details and to access the photo galleries.
One of Malo’s biggest victories came early in the trip over a former World University champion by the name of Kevelov who previously had been a World Cup runner-up.
“The trip was long, but good,” noted Malo. “Definitely my favorite part of the trip was being able to experience a new culture through wrestling. Wrestling has been very good to me and given me the opportunity to travel throughout the United States and now the world. I owe a lot to the sport and appreciate any opportunity I can to wrestle in a new place against new people.”
"Siberia will definitely be the most interesting place I ever travel to,” continued Malo. “Not many people ever feel the need to travel to Siberia, so I got to meet a lot of Russians who have never met Americans. Wrestling is a great way to meet and work with tons of new people, whether they speak English or not. One of the best parts of wrestling in Siberia was the crowd at our matches. Wrestling is so much bigger in Russia and the crowds really get into the matches, screaming for their hometown guys. Being able to wrestle in an arena like that is definitely something I won't forget.”
The trip to Siberia is only one of the ways Malo is staying in shape for his final season at Williams. Prior to the trip he spent two weeks at the US Olympic Training Center Colorado Springs, CO, in late May into June. “Being at the Olympic Training Center was something I have always dreamed of doing, and getting the opportunity to train out there was awesome,” said Malo. “I was there from May 24 to June 7.”
Malo will return to Colorado Springs again in August for an additional two week this August before returning to Williams. “I'll be going back out there August 2-11 for a training camp,” Malo stated. “There should be a lot of guys there working out so it'll be a great situation to learn. There are always a lot of college wrestlers going in and out of the Olympic Training Center. They host different camps and different guys come in to work with specific people. My goal in the future is to hopefully become a resident athlete and live there, where I can train year round with everyone that comes in.”
Malo’s wrestling goals are to have a great senior year at Williams and represent the USA at the Summer Olympics. “Going to the Olympics and representing the United States is the goal,” Malo stated. “Even though I've been wrestling for a while I am still new to freestyle wrestling and need more practice to get comfortable. I am still young and I know have a lot of potential, I just need to keep doing the right things and challenge myself to get better.”
“My first couple freestyle tournaments did not go the way I planned, but I know that as long as I keep grinding away I will get to where I want to be. I love wrestling and never get tired of being around the sport. I know in the future it will all pay off.”
When not traveling to train Malo works wrestling camps. “I coach at my club at home, Doughboy Wrestling Club and I'll also be working Ken Chertow's camp for a little bit and the Army wrestling camp,” said Malo. “I really like coaching and being able to teach the sport that has been so good to me.”
Malo’s Williams career record stands at 85-7 and features an incredible 62 pins.
