Post by Wiltz on Jan 16, 2007 10:20:25 GMT -5
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Is Zito taking up new sport?
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Reader services
Post your own news at MyP-C...
E-mail this story...
Print this story...
Subscribe to newsletter...
Comment on this story...
Subscribe to newspaper...
ADVERTISEMENT
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
• San Francisco Giants
• Sports
• Oakland Athletics
• Major League Baseball
• Olympics
Powered by Topix.net
CEDAR FALLS -- He probably caused a few double takes Saturday inside the UNI-Dome, if for no other reason than standing 6-foot-4 in a wrestling crowd.
Maybe a few people in the crowd recognized his face and thought he looked familiar. But what would Barry Zito -- a guy with 102 career victories, a Cy Young and now the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history -- be doing at the National Duals?
"Just to get into the atmosphere of a totally different sport, but an intense sport, physically demanding and intimidating and all those things that all the great athletes go for," he said.
Zito has spent his first weekend in Iowa picking the brain of legendary Hawkeye coach Dan Gable and Oklahoma State coach John Smith. He hopes some of their expertise in wrestling might pay dividends on the mound with the San Francisco Giants after their seven-year, $126 million agreement pried him away from the Oakland Athletics in December.
"I wasn't real familiar with wrestling until recently," Zito said Saturday afternoon. "I jumped into the whole thing about Gable in his day and his Olympic dominance, and then more recently John Smith.
"I have a friend who helps me with some of my mental stuff, and we were just talking about different athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, and then Dan Gable and John Smith came up in that elite classification."
Zito attended Oklahoma State's practice Friday afternoon and then spent time with Gable on Friday night at the opening of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo.
"We just got in their heads a little bit and tried to see what makes them tick," Zito said. "Seeing the fire and passion those guys have, and their determination to win and what they want to accomplish, is something I can draw off."
Zito watched some of the action Saturday from matside and spent time chatting with Missouri's top-ranked 174-pounder Ben Askren. The lefty said he hoped to get down on the floor again for today's matches.
"I feel like I've really been taking a crash course in all this stuff, so I'm becoming a little more savvy with the names and the terminology and all that," Zito said.
• ANSON RECOVERING: Kyle Anson spent the early portion of the season trying to keep his weight down to make 125 pounds. But now the challenge for the City High grad is adding pounds.
Anson, a freshman at Northern Iowa, bumped up to 133 after he said doctors discovered a bladder infection and kidney stones were causing back pain and dizziness in December.
"I don't know exactly when I got the infection," Anson said. "Right around Christmas time, I was feeling really bad like I was going to pass out and I was dizzy all the time. I went and got it checked out."
Anson went 1-2 Saturday at 133. He lost by fall against Oklahoma State All-American Coleman Scott, won by major decision against UC-Davis' Kyle Bank and then dropped a 9-6 decision against Hofstra's Lou Ruggirello.
"I've just got to work on getting bigger," said Anson, a three-time state champion at City. "All these guys, like Scott is huge. I couldn't really do much."
Anson was having success at 125 early in the season.
"I was (making the weight), but it wasn't healthy, I guess," he said. "Some guys can cut a ton, but it wasn't working out for me. At the beginning of the season, I was good and then I kept getting worse."
• BACK POINTS: West High grads Mitch Mueller and Omar Maktabi each went 1-1 Saturday. Mueller, a freshman 141-pounder at Iowa State, won a 10-3 decision against Michigan's Justin Chrzanowski and lost 16-11 against Hofstra's Charles Griffin after falling behind 8-0 after one period. Maktabi, who wrestles heavyweight for Michigan, dropped a 6-1 decision against Iowa State's David Zabriskie and beat Nebraska's Cameron Browne, 2-1. ... Missouri will wrestle Oklahoma State, and Iowa State will take on Minnesota in today's semifinals.
Is Zito taking up new sport?
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Reader services
Post your own news at MyP-C...
E-mail this story...
Print this story...
Subscribe to newsletter...
Comment on this story...
Subscribe to newspaper...
ADVERTISEMENT
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
• San Francisco Giants
• Sports
• Oakland Athletics
• Major League Baseball
• Olympics
Powered by Topix.net
CEDAR FALLS -- He probably caused a few double takes Saturday inside the UNI-Dome, if for no other reason than standing 6-foot-4 in a wrestling crowd.
Maybe a few people in the crowd recognized his face and thought he looked familiar. But what would Barry Zito -- a guy with 102 career victories, a Cy Young and now the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history -- be doing at the National Duals?
"Just to get into the atmosphere of a totally different sport, but an intense sport, physically demanding and intimidating and all those things that all the great athletes go for," he said.
Zito has spent his first weekend in Iowa picking the brain of legendary Hawkeye coach Dan Gable and Oklahoma State coach John Smith. He hopes some of their expertise in wrestling might pay dividends on the mound with the San Francisco Giants after their seven-year, $126 million agreement pried him away from the Oakland Athletics in December.
"I wasn't real familiar with wrestling until recently," Zito said Saturday afternoon. "I jumped into the whole thing about Gable in his day and his Olympic dominance, and then more recently John Smith.
"I have a friend who helps me with some of my mental stuff, and we were just talking about different athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, and then Dan Gable and John Smith came up in that elite classification."
Zito attended Oklahoma State's practice Friday afternoon and then spent time with Gable on Friday night at the opening of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo.
"We just got in their heads a little bit and tried to see what makes them tick," Zito said. "Seeing the fire and passion those guys have, and their determination to win and what they want to accomplish, is something I can draw off."
Zito watched some of the action Saturday from matside and spent time chatting with Missouri's top-ranked 174-pounder Ben Askren. The lefty said he hoped to get down on the floor again for today's matches.
"I feel like I've really been taking a crash course in all this stuff, so I'm becoming a little more savvy with the names and the terminology and all that," Zito said.
• ANSON RECOVERING: Kyle Anson spent the early portion of the season trying to keep his weight down to make 125 pounds. But now the challenge for the City High grad is adding pounds.
Anson, a freshman at Northern Iowa, bumped up to 133 after he said doctors discovered a bladder infection and kidney stones were causing back pain and dizziness in December.
"I don't know exactly when I got the infection," Anson said. "Right around Christmas time, I was feeling really bad like I was going to pass out and I was dizzy all the time. I went and got it checked out."
Anson went 1-2 Saturday at 133. He lost by fall against Oklahoma State All-American Coleman Scott, won by major decision against UC-Davis' Kyle Bank and then dropped a 9-6 decision against Hofstra's Lou Ruggirello.
"I've just got to work on getting bigger," said Anson, a three-time state champion at City. "All these guys, like Scott is huge. I couldn't really do much."
Anson was having success at 125 early in the season.
"I was (making the weight), but it wasn't healthy, I guess," he said. "Some guys can cut a ton, but it wasn't working out for me. At the beginning of the season, I was good and then I kept getting worse."
• BACK POINTS: West High grads Mitch Mueller and Omar Maktabi each went 1-1 Saturday. Mueller, a freshman 141-pounder at Iowa State, won a 10-3 decision against Michigan's Justin Chrzanowski and lost 16-11 against Hofstra's Charles Griffin after falling behind 8-0 after one period. Maktabi, who wrestles heavyweight for Michigan, dropped a 6-1 decision against Iowa State's David Zabriskie and beat Nebraska's Cameron Browne, 2-1. ... Missouri will wrestle Oklahoma State, and Iowa State will take on Minnesota in today's semifinals.