Indiana University Athletics
Catching Up with Angel Escobedo
2/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 12, 2014
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Angel Escobedo is one of the most decorated wrestlers in IU Wrestling history. The Griffith, Ind., native was a four-time state champion in high school before arriving in Bloomington. While at IU, Escobedo was a 3-time Big Ten Champion and finished third in the Big Ten his freshman year. Nationally, he was Champion his sophomore season and finished no lower than fifth as a Hoosier.
Currently, Escobedo is the top ranked USA wrestler and fifth in the world at the 55kg weight class, according to the most recent FILA Freestyle rankings.
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, @ProBallHoosiers caught up with Escobedo as he continues to wrestle, this time at the international level, while keeping his eye on the Olympic Games in 2016.
Tell us about your professional career since you left IU in 2010.
After I graduated from IU, I began my international career by immediately training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. After training for a year and a half there, I was blessed with another opportunity to train at the Ohio Regional Training Center in Columbus. I'm still currently training in Columbus. Over the years, I've made two USA nationals teams, won two international tournaments, placed at multiple international tournaments, made university world team, a senior world team, and placed 5th in the world in 2013 at the Wrestling World Championships.
How did wrestling at Indiana and in The Big Ten prepare you for your career?
Wrestling at Indiana helped prepare me for international wrestling because day in and day out I was blessed to have great coaches that pushed me to my limits and helped me achieve goals. I wanted to be the best, and they held me accountable. Also, being in the best wrestling conference in the nation, The Big Ten, it helped me to always be prepared for every match. I was wrestling the best guys in the nation every weekend. Being content is not an option if you want to stay undefeated in this conference.
In what ways have you had to adjust your wrestling style?
My style didn't really change for the most part. I would say the concentration of skills changed. I still wrestle similar to how I did in college, but just changed a few areas because of different rules. In international wrestling, most of the match is concentrated on your feet and a small portion amount on top or bottom. Whereas in college, it's a big balance of being on your feet, being on top, and being on bottom. For example a college match, Folkstyle, could possibly have an outcome where one wrestler would be on the top position for 5 min of a 7 min match. In international, Freestyle, you are only allowed a maximum of 20-30 seconds on the top position or the bottom position at a time. Then you are brought back up to your feet.
What's your daily routine? How many days per week do you rest?
My weekly routine is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - I lift at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday - I condition at 10 a.m. and Monday-Friday at 3 p.m., we have wrestling practice. My rest day is Sunday. My schedule varies from training phase to training phase. When I'm at my highest volume of training, I'm working out three times a day. My season goes pretty much all year around.
I know fans can purchase merchandise at cradlegear.com, but how else are you supporting your training?
To support my training, fans can always buy my apparel at cradlegear.com. Fans also can visit www.angelescobedo.com and I have a donation link. Cradlegear along with New York Athletic Club, and Ohio Regional Training Center make it possible for me to continue to pursue my dream of Olympic Gold.
You've travelled many parts of the world for tournaments. Tell us about an unforgettable overseas experience.
Haha, an unforgettable experience while traveling overseas ... I feel like I get a new one every trip. I will name a few - seeing the Great Wall of China, seeing Red Square, being able to visit Cuba, riding in taxi cabs not knowing the language or where they are taking me, taking pictures with random foreigners because they aren't used to seeing Americans, seeing guys walk around with machine guns in the middle of Russia, being in almost a thousand accidents, well at least it seemed like we were -they don't have laws when it comes to driving. The list goes on and on, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Wrestling had been voted out of the 2020 Olympic Games but has been reinstated. How did the threat of losing the sport in the Olympics affect you?
The threat of losing wrestling in the Olympics was such a shock, I was upset and sad. I couldn't believe they wanted to take out one of the first sports in the history of the Olympics games. On top of that, I could feel the pain for all the kids whose dreams were about to be crushed. Wrestlers don't have million dollar contracts or pro level - our highest level is an Olympic gold medal. So for us not to be able to reach that was awful. Since I was 9, I've said I wanted to be an Olympic champ. I couldn't imagine if someone told me that I couldn't be it anymore. I would have been devastated. I had confidence in the wrestling community and other supporters would come together and get wrestling reinstated.
Can Hoosiers see you wrestle in the US anytime soon? Other than following @ProBallHoosiers, where can we keep track of your matches and career?
Yes, I will be in LA for the Wrestling World Cup March 15-16, the U.S. Open Championships are April 16-19 in Las Vegas and the World Team Trials are May 30-June 1 in Madison, Wis. You can follow me on Twitter at @driven2dominate or @usawrestling for updates on my tournaments.
What are your goals? Do you plan to take a trip to Brazil in 2016?
My goals for this year are to win a World Title. I fell short of a medal last year by one point, and I'm using that as motivation. I got a taste of the big stage on the world level, and I don't want to fall short again so God willing, I will get that Gold medal. God willing, the plan is to make the Olympic Team in 2016 and go for Gold. Every year is a new year to work towards that gold medal, and I feel like I'm on the right path. I just need to stay healthy, work hard, and leave the rest in God's hands.
