:4 - TM ig ,D y -W Wdnesday June 19,,9S O T
OLYMPIC PROFILE: STEVE FRASER
Former Wolverine wrestler makes'
return to O1mpic arena as coach
Bly Wilt Mc~ahIll
Daily Sports Editor Indeed, it took Fraser almost four
years of training around his work sched-
"I kept thinking that at any moment I ule just to make it to the U.S. Olympic
was going to wake up," Steve trials, and then a series of
Iaser said of his time at the tough competitions to make
top of the medal podium at the it onto the team itself at the
1984 Los Angeles Olympic 198-pound spot.
Games. And after all that, he was
Twelve years ago Fraser - picked to finish only third, in
a Michigan graduate and, at front of the home fans.
the time, working in the ( But it was those very fans
Washtenaw County Sheriff's Ci who helped Fraser defy the
Department - shocked the { ; odds, urging him on from
pundits as well as his compe- | 8i his inaugural match all the
tition on the way to becoming * way through the champi-
the first American ever to win Michigan onship.
an Olympic gold in Greco- Olympic "Having the home-crowd
Roman wrestling. Not only advantage was unbeliev-
at, but he did it in his own Profiles able," Fraser said. "It was a
country. big reason (why) I was able
"For me, it was very emotional," to win. Having those thousands of peo-
Fraser said. "It was the culmination of ple cheering for you, it just energizes
many, many years of dreaming and you:'
wishing and training and sweating." The biggest obstacle he faced along
the way to the gold was Sweden's Frank
Andersen, a three-time world champion
and the heavy Olympic favorite.
Fraser ended up beating Andersen by
a score of 4-1, but the Swede didn't go
down as easily as the score might indi-
cate.
"He was the favorite, and it was my
toughest match," Fraser said.
In the championship bout, Fraser
wrestled to a I -1 draw with Rumania's
Ellia Matea, and was able to feed off
the crowd to break the tie in overtime.
"Those close matches, when you
have support from the crowd, you tend
to be able to pull a little more effort
from deep down," he said.
"To win a gold medal in your home
country was just spectacular," Fraser
said of the experience, adding that hav-
ing been the first American to stand
atop the podium after an Olympic
wrestling event made the triumph even
sweeter.
The whole 1984 experience puts
Fraser in a unique position to do his
current job, that of coaching the 1996
U.S. Greco-Roman squad at the Atlanta
Games.
After a stint with Ann Arbor-based
Domino's Pizza, where he operated as
many as 55 stores, and holding part-
time coaching jobs with the Wolverines
and at Eastern Michigan University, he
was asked to apply for the head coach-
ing job wit the national team.
"I thought about it, and I figured that
since I was getting kind of old, I would-
n't have too many more opportunities
to get back into coaching'" Fraser said.
"I love business, but I looked at this job
as a great opportunity to go out and
have a little fun doing something that I
really like to do."
The final Olympic trials finished
g r
215 5. STATE ST,
BREAKFAST ANYTIME - LUNCH-DINNER
SUNDAY MON. -THURS FRI. -"SAT.
8AM TO 8PM 8AM TOIOPM 8AM TO 4AM
. . .
S.
f f 0-.".
SPORTS INFORMATION-PHOTO
Steve Fraser, who wrestled for Michigan from 1978-1980, became the first
American ever to win an Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the
1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Fraser returns to the Olympic mat next month
in Atlanta as the coach of the 1996 U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling squad.
EL
11
Be an advertising Account
Executive for fall/winter terms at
June 2, and last Saturday saw the begin-
ning of training camp for the top 10
wrestlers and 40 alternates who make
up the Atlanta-bound squad.
Fraser said the team will train at the
USA Wrestling facility in Colorado
Springs, Colo., before heading to
Georgia shortly before the Games
begin.
"We've got our work cut out forus (at
the Games)" Fraser said. "Our goal is to
win six medals."
The Hazel Park native cited Russia
and the other former Soviet republics as
the toughest competition the U.S. squad
will face.
The breakup of the Soviet Union has
added depth across the Olympic ranks,
instead of keeping it within the tradi-
tionally strong Soviet squad.
"Whereas before there was just one
tough Soviet, now (with the breakup)
you have 10 tough Soviets who all wres-
tle for different countries," Fraser said.
"So the depth in the Olympics has
increased tremendously"
As with the Los Angeles Games,
Fraser said he is counting on the fact
that the home crowd will give the
wrestlers strength.
"We've got the advantage of being in
our own country," Fraser said. "If we
can keep matches close, we're going to
win all the close ones, because of our
style, our outstanding physical condi-
tion and our American-born competitive
drive"
Fraser played down the possibility
that the pressure of performing in front
of the home crowd might work again
some of the wrestlers. All of the U.
wrestlers have performed under stress-
ful conditions before, he said.
"All the pluses of being in our own
country far outweigh the pressure" he
said.
Having been through it all before,
Fraser is pretty sure he will be able to
help his team deal with the feverish
atmosphere sure to surround the Atlanta
Games.
"We try to prepare them on what
expect as far as possible distractions,
Fraser said. He plans to have the team
train outside Atlanta until just before the
wrestling competition is scheduled to
begin, then move into the . Olympic
Village.
"We're going to stay focused on the
task at hand and not let things get in our
way" Fraser said. "The thing I would
tell them about the pressure is to just go
out and have fun and make it excitii
for the crowd."
"Go out and have fun, enjoy the
moment, enjoy the fight, enjoy the com-
petition, and the winning will take care
of itself."