Second Olympic bid for Dolph

Penn assistant wrestling coach Brian Dolph probably should have gone to Atlanta in 1996. Now he's getting a second chance at the Olympics. Nobody mentioned Brian Dolph at the 1996 Olympic Games. His is not the feel-good story the networks like to showcase. Instead, he represents everything hopelessly frustrating, gut-wrenching and plainly unfair about Olympic dreams. Let's go back to 1996: Brian Dolph, then just getting his feet wet as an assistant with the Penn wrestling team, tore through the qualifying competition. He recorded wins over every one of the top contenders in the 149.5-lb. weight class, including a victory over Townsend Saunders, who eventually went on to take the silver medal at the Atlanta Games. But all of his hard work, all of his preparation, all of his dreams took a nose dive at the Olympic Trials in Spokane, Wash. In the first round of a competition in which he was one of the favorites to win, Brian Dolph suffered an injury and was forced to medical default from the event. Just like that, it was over. "That's how tenuous it is to make an Olympic team," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Then you have to decide whether to commit four more years of your life to it. "The reality is for every athlete that finds their success at the Olympic Games there are thousands and thousands who commit major chunks of their lives to this and find themselves coming up short." Three years later and 18 pounds heavier, Dolph is making a second run at Olympic glory, hoping not to be one of those thousands again. Being at the top of his sport is nothing new to Dolph, however. Before he took some time off after the Olympic trials, Dolph was always in the highest echelon in his weight class. He was named an alternate for the 1991 and 1994 U.S. World Teams. At Indiana University, the 150-lb. Dolph was a three-time All-American, setting a school record for victories and winning the school's first NCAA Championship. "Brian, after a couple years out of college, was always in the finals of the world team trials," Reina said. "He lost very, very close matches in the finals of the trials often. They go two out of three matches in the finals, and in two different situations it went to the rubber match and that went to overtime." After a year off from wrestling, Dolph feels ready to give it another shot. Only this time, there's a twist. Moving up to the 167.5-pound division makes one of his competitors none other than 1998 Penn graduate Brandon Slay. Dolph remained undaunted at the prospect of taking on the man who he helped mold into a top-notch wrestler. "It's not that I look forward to [wrestling Slay]," Dolph said. "It's not that I dread it either. It'll be kind of weird, but I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference either way." As for his chances against the up-and-coming Slay, who now is training for the 2000 Olympics at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Spring, Colo., Dolph thought that the teacher might still have one up on his star pupil. "I would feel pretty confident going in [because] I've basically helped him get to where he is now," Dolph said. "I feel I would have a little edge over him." According to Slay, having Dolph as both a friend and competitor has its advantages and disadvantages. "I do know how he wrestles, I know the techniques he likes to use," Slay said. "But he's a great friend of mine, he's someone I care a lot about, and someone that's done so much for me. To compete against your mentor -- that could be tough mentally." But the potential of wrestling Slay is far from Dolph's mind. He is preoccupied with getting back into the swing of match competition. A win at the New York Athletic Club's Holiday Tournament helped. At the December tournament, Dolph won the outstanding wrestler award. En route to claiming the trophy, he also picked up a win over No. 1 Steve Marionetti, an assistant coach at the University of Illinois. To keep in wrestling shape, Dolph for the most part relies on the wrestlers at Penn. "I wrestle for the Dave Schultz Club and I've gone to some training camps here and there, but most of my training is done here at Penn," Dolph said. "I workout with these guys, and then work out with some of the Dave Schultz Club guys here." He also supplements his conditioning by lifting weights and rollerblading on his own time. But in the end, Dolph will not be crushed if he falls short of his Olympic goals. "I'm not as devout as Brandon is, I'm kind of just doing it for fun," Dolph said. "If it happens, it happens. "At this point in my life I'm involved in more important things." Like getting certified to teach at the high school level. While Dolph said that he'd like to stay on for a few more years at Penn, he eventually plans to move into the high school ranks, teaching and coaching wrestling. "A lot of people say that it's probably a mistake on my part because I'd be wasting a lot of my talents.? But I think I have a lot of talent to be able to develop high school wrestlers as well," Dolph said. "I could get these kids to develop a good style and good technique right off the bat, without having to come into college and break all their bad habits. "I think that environment would be a lot more stable for me, which I kind of need." Brian Dolph is thinking about the future, his Olympic dreams slowly turning into dreams of an office and a coach's whistle. But maybe, just maybe, on the wall of coach Brian Dolph's office will rest an Olympic medal. And then he can say that they told his story at Sydney.

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