Wrestler Spartak Chino has his gamed routine down to a science.
The night before every wrestling tournament, redshirt senior Spartak Chino knows exactly how much he weighs.
Chino's been wrestling for so many years now that every time he goes to bed, he knows just about how much weight he will lose in his sleep, and when he wakes up the next morning, he is ready to weigh in.
After weigh in, he gets a "good" breakfast to replenish any nutrients or water that may have diminished in the past 24 hours from his 157 pound build.
Once Chino is done with his breakfast, he starts focusing on his first match of the day. Chino said he used to listen to music when he was little, but it would get him too "hyped up."
Now, he just likes to sit and think about what he has to do to be successful that day. He said he takes it one match at a time, and doesn't try to jump ahead or overlook anyone.
This recycled process will happen again this weekend when Chino and Ohio travel to Annapolis, Maryland for the Navy Classic.
Coming off of a solid start to the season, Ohio will be looking to finalize wrestlers at different weight classes. It will have the opportunity to enter 20 wrestlers into the tournament, and coach Joel Greenlee plans on taking advantage of all 20 spots.
Throughout the first two matches, it has been mostly Chino and Phil Wellington who have led the Bobcats, but some true freshman have been given the nod and proven to be successful.
This holds true for Cameron Kelly and Shakur Laney. Both are constantly improving, according to Greenlee.
“For Shakur, we just need to constantly harp on him for how and what he eats, and he’s improving on that,” Greenlee said. “Wrestling-wise, we are just trying to take their (Kelly and Laney) skill set, and improve it each time they're on the mat.”
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Greenlee said while Laney is improving on his eating habits, he also has abundant raw, athletic talent. When recruiting Laney, Greenlee saw the potential in him to become a dominant wrestler in his weight class (125).
Regardless of how Kelly, Chino and Laney prepare for Navy this weekend, or reasons for wrestling, Ohio will look to continue to dominate the mat.
“Honestly I’ve improved on all aspects of my wrestling since I’ve been here,” Kelly said. “I’ve improved on my feet, I’m getting tougher. Going from high school to college there has been a huge transition on hand fighting and just being a lot stronger on a lot of positions.”
@Pete_Nakos96
pn997515@ohio.edu
