May 15, 2001

As longtime Olympic heavyweight wrestler and former Cleveland State graduate Matt Ghaffari winds down his grappling career, it seems he has found someone worthy to take over the reins. Last month CSU sophomore heavyweight Russ Davie placed seventh at the Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas. The top eight finishers became national team members. The first place finisher qualifies to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. But for Davie it is one step closer to a life-long dream. The Perrysburg native now has an invitation to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

"It's something I really didn't expect this young," said Davie. "It's tough when you wrestle collegiately for eight months out of the year and Greco four months. It would be easier if I had been wrestling Greco all-year round, so I didn't have too many expectations."

In Olympic wrestling the Greco-Roman style is used. It is the oldest form of wrestling which involves strictly the upper-body. No attacks can be used below the mid-section and no lower-body defense can be used. In collegiate wrestling the upper-body and lower-body can be used in both offensive and defensive techniques.

In the open unseeded Davie beat eighth-seeded Brent Boeshans in the first round. That setup a second round match with 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Rulon Gardner. "I was really excited, I had nothing to lose," said Davie. "Being the gold medallist I knew everyone was watching our match, so it was exciting. But it was also a good way to gage where I was." Gardner beat Davie, but he came back and beat Peter Becker and upset Boeshans again for seventh-place.

In the 17-20-age bracket Davie is ranked first in freestyle and second in Greco. The senior level starts at age 21, but Davie entered into the contest early. However, he will travel to the University of Nebraska on May 17-20 for the FILA Junior World Team Trials and National Championships. During last summer's World Team Trials Davie placed second in freestyle and third in Greco. The second place finish qualified him for the Pan-Am Games in Peru. However, due to political unrest he did not attend.

Cleveland State Head Coach Jack Effner is not at all surprised by the honors his young heavyweight is receiving, despite the fact that Davie was not always a dominant figure in wrestling. The 6-6 285 pounder qualified for states only twice in high school, finishing third as a senior. But Davie provides no excuses for his lack of a state championship. "I'll be the first to admit that I just plain choked at states," commented Davie.

While some colleges looked past Davie, Effner knew the heavyweight was his number-one guy. "I was completely impressed with him - he has great balance and his weight is distributed evenly," boasts Effner. Davie signed to CSU in the early signing period.

"Coach Effner is one of the best teachers in the country, 99-percent of the reason I'm here is because of him," admits Davie. Effner also has given him the opportunity to learn from the best. Ghaffari and Ashland graduate assistant Neil Nutter come in several times a week to work with Davie. Ghaffari is a seven-time National Champion and two-time Olympic Silver Medallist. Nutter also competed at the U.S. Open and finished eighth in the 213 kg. (227 lb.) class.

"Every time I think I know just about everything there is to know about wrestling, Matt (Ghaffari) shows me something new," says Davie. "He's been down the road I want to go, and he can be nothing but help for me."

The Olympics are something Davie looks to be more committed to in 2004 and 2008, but for now his priorities remain as a student-athlete at CSU. After a red-shirt season last year, Davie will have three years of eligibility left. He looks to start next season in the top 20 in the nation at heavyweight. Certainly Davie represents the student part of "student-athlete" just as well. He is a two-time Athletic Academic Excellence award winner and carries the highest GPA on the wrestling squad. The team recently was ranked eighth in the nation for GPA at 3.136 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

For now Davie will concentrate on a CSU squad that will have five NCAA qualifiers in the lineup next season. Yet with his sights set high and one eye on the gold, Davie will certainly continue the winning tradition of Cleveland State heavyweights.