Springman's robotic reprieve

When flipping through late night television, one finds a rather wide variety of programs -- everything from BattleBots to wrestling.

Many people might be interested in either one or the other.

Rick Springman, senior co-captain of the Penn wrestling team, is not many people.

"I was trying to choose between a few projects," Springman said. "But the one that ended up happening was we started building a battle bot, like for the show."

For those unfamiliar with the Comedy Central program, it features robots pitted against each other in a steel cage death match.

"There are a couple of hammers on top," Springman said sheepishly, describing his battle bot. "It's a Y-type shape. We were hoping to trap other bots with it. This isn't exactly high engineering."

But don't look for the Engineering senior's machine to be on the show anytime soon.

"We had some fund-raising issues so we don't have a powerful enough motor to officially enter it," Springman said. "But we're still building it."

Springman took a one-year academic leave from wrestling to take the classes that provide the theoretical basis for his robotic work, receiving a 4.0 in one semester.

"That's unbelievable given the course load he's taking," Penn senior co-captain Yoshi Nakamura said.

Springman is no slouch in the wrestling department either, receiving All-America honors in the year before his absence.

Despite his success in the gym, Springman did not hesitate to walk away from the mats when the brick and mortar of the institution called.

"I couldn't come to practice on time or at all four out of five days a week," Springman said. "I wanted to learn robotics to give me the basis for my senior design project."

"This is an academic institution and we don't take that lightly," Nakamura said. "Wrestling took a back seat for him. Different people have different priorities, different things they want to accomplish."

Now that Springman once again finds himself hitting the books and hitting the mats at the same time, he must prioritize between the two facets of his life.

"[Wrestling is] what I came here to do. But as you get older you find Penn has a lot more to offer than just wrestling, or even just studying," Springman said. "Wrestling's not my whole life anymore. I've gained a lot of perspective and a better outlook."

In fact, Springman spends so much time at practice and in class that he finds little time to do anything else.

"There's not much of a slot for a social life," Springman admitted. "You see people in the beginning of the year before practice, then you don't see them again for a while. It takes discipline."

This is the same discipline that it will take to regain his All-American form of two seasons ago.

"To tell you the truth, I think I could be an All American," Springman said. "But it will take me making a decision to be committed to winning again, like I was junior year. I'm on the verge of making that decision, but I wouldn't say I'm fully back."

His co-captain had a more optimistic outlook on Springman's level of preparedness.

"Rick is definitely up to speed," Nakamura said. "We were in a couple of freestyle competitions over the summer facing a high level of international competition. He's matured a lot in the last year, more than most would."

Springman returns to a season of high expectations on what may be the Quakers' most talented team ever.

"I set my goals on the top five, which would be Penn's best finish ever," Nakamura said. "For Rick, I'd expect nothing less than a national championship [in individuals]."

But as someone who is already facing the challenge of designing a remote-controlled robot from scratch, the added expectations in the gym do not faze Springman, but rather spur him on to more accomplishments.

"I think it's just a matter of being willing to [win]," Springman said. "Most of the pressure I feel comes from within."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.