Two-time All-American Ray Brinzer reflects on his career at Iowa and shares some of the legendary stories that made him a folk hero during his time with the Hawkeyes.
I was lucky enough to see the Hawkeyes come to Long Island somewhere between 93-95 (can't recall if it was a dual or a quad - I seem to recall two mats...also not sure if it was Hofstra or Nassau Community...maybe someone else knows the details) but I remember being captivated by Ray that day although I came to see Lincoln McIlravy in particular which was thrilling. I think to be honest I was first struck by his picture in the event brochure, which was wacky - the fro, the glasses, the goatee, and I think it said he was a philosophy major, which was of interest to me...whomever he was, he was clearly not cut from the same cloth as any other wrestler I had seen. As I learned more about him and watched the rest of his career, and then in the age of the Internet, was able to learn more about him, going back to his high-school dominance on the legendary N. Allegheny team of the late 80s, I only gained more and more respect for him. Let's face it, there's very little humor in sports, especially one-on-one sports, and combat sports (tennis is not combat. It's goofy, elite, and overrated, and the stars are [often*] obnoxious, pampered, overpaid, pretty-boy egotists who had the luxury of being born rich enough to be able to ditch school to work on hitting their balls around - I know that's a biased and bitter generalization, but still - wrestling deserves better is my main point). Wrestling has a lot of reasons to take itself seriously, as it's an underdog sport that almost got shut out of the olympics despite being one of the few sports that was in the ancient games...the level of conditioning and self-sacrifice, the desire to dominate, go for the gold, and the dedication required despite the lack of money and career options for even the sport's greatest, who are often great and humble people (I've corresponded with many of them - as a journalist interested in writing a book about the four 4x nat'l champions - and heard back from all of them except Cael, who's a busy guy sure [as they all are]. It did make me think a little about his quiet and polite-seeming public image.) It's a serious undertaking. But it's also just a game, and I think the brilliance of Ray Brinzer, which was something he did effortlessly, as you can still see in this interview, is that he never really bought into that self-seriousness and was able to maintain a certain perspective and level of humor (having his lucky mat-side Gumby doll, his goofy smile and self-effacing manner - despite being a ferocious and unpredictable beast on the mat - and his general approachability and down-to-earthness) that made him stand out as special despite not being the GOAT and in the company of some more decorated teammates... I always thought he showed supreme confidence as a competitor, as well as a true dedication to being the best wrestler and teammate he could be. You never really knew what was gonna happen when he stepped on the mat but you knew he was one BAD DUDE as far as any of his competitors saw - he could absolutely have been a college or olympic champion with the right set of circumstances. You can only train so hard and have so much talent but after a certain level of excellence, it's iron on iron and very few mistakes are made and much comes down to chance and outside forces. But I never forgot him and here we are so many years later still talking about the guy while many other national champions have come and gone. Ray is one of a kind and I wish him all the best. He's put so much of himself into the sport as an athlete, coach, mentor, and all-around good dude. Thanks for everything Ray! * when Federer scored by hitting the ball through his legs, that was actually awesome and a true show of mastery. Look it up on youtube, it's a great moment. Aside from that, just not interested in tennis, I'm sorry to any who are.
God I love Ray Brinzer! Always a great interview, what a legend.
I remember Ray in high school and college, feared by most competitors!
Thankyou!! Great stories as i work graveyard at UPS SANITIZING THE TRUCKS!!!💪💪
I was lucky enough to see the Hawkeyes come to Long Island somewhere between 93-95 (can't recall if it was a dual or a quad - I seem to recall two mats...also not sure if it was Hofstra or Nassau Community...maybe someone else knows the details) but I remember being captivated by Ray that day although I came to see Lincoln McIlravy in particular which was thrilling. I think to be honest I was first struck by his picture in the event brochure, which was wacky - the fro, the glasses, the goatee, and I think it said he was a philosophy major, which was of interest to me...whomever he was, he was clearly not cut from the same cloth as any other wrestler I had seen. As I learned more about him and watched the rest of his career, and then in the age of the Internet, was able to learn more about him, going back to his high-school dominance on the legendary N. Allegheny team of the late 80s, I only gained more and more respect for him.
Let's face it, there's very little humor in sports, especially one-on-one sports, and combat sports (tennis is not combat. It's goofy, elite, and overrated, and the stars are [often*] obnoxious, pampered, overpaid, pretty-boy egotists who had the luxury of being born rich enough to be able to ditch school to work on hitting their balls around - I know that's a biased and bitter generalization, but still - wrestling deserves better is my main point).
Wrestling has a lot of reasons to take itself seriously, as it's an underdog sport that almost got shut out of the olympics despite being one of the few sports that was in the ancient games...the level of conditioning and self-sacrifice, the desire to dominate, go for the gold, and the dedication required despite the lack of money and career options for even the sport's greatest, who are often great and humble people (I've corresponded with many of them - as a journalist interested in writing a book about the four 4x nat'l champions - and heard back from all of them except Cael, who's a busy guy sure [as they all are]. It did make me think a little about his quiet and polite-seeming public image.) It's a serious undertaking. But it's also just a game, and I think the brilliance of Ray Brinzer, which was something he did effortlessly, as you can still see in this interview, is that he never really bought into that self-seriousness and was able to maintain a certain perspective and level of humor (having his lucky mat-side Gumby doll, his goofy smile and self-effacing manner - despite being a ferocious and unpredictable beast on the mat - and his general approachability and down-to-earthness) that made him stand out as special despite not being the GOAT and in the company of some more decorated teammates...
I always thought he showed supreme confidence as a competitor, as well as a true dedication to being the best wrestler and teammate he could be. You never really knew what was gonna happen when he stepped on the mat but you knew he was one BAD DUDE as far as any of his competitors saw - he could absolutely have been a college or olympic champion with the right set of circumstances. You can only train so hard and have so much talent but after a certain level of excellence, it's iron on iron and very few mistakes are made and much comes down to chance and outside forces. But I never forgot him and here we are so many years later still talking about the guy while many other national champions have come and gone. Ray is one of a kind and I wish him all the best. He's put so much of himself into the sport as an athlete, coach, mentor, and all-around good dude. Thanks for everything Ray!
* when Federer scored by hitting the ball through his legs, that was actually awesome and a true show of mastery. Look it up on youtube, it's a great moment. Aside from that, just not interested in tennis, I'm sorry to any who are.
Remember that creating a country when he was at Belmeken, Bulgaria all by himself.