‘Train and chill’: Roman Bravo-Young embraces final ride with Penn State wrestling
After Roman Bravo-Young won his second straight NCAA wrestling title last year, he told fans via ESPN, “Two-time national champ, how does that sound, baby? For you Penn State fans, three does sound good too, but you never know.”
Rumors swirled: Would he come back for another season or would he move on?
RBY broke his silence at the beginning of May and confirmed he’d be back. Still, many wondered: Would he wrestle the whole season?
“It’s flexible. If I want to wrestle, I’ll wrestle. If I don’t, I don’t. I don’t want to (do) double weigh-ins. What’s the point of that? Right now, there’s no need to,” Bravo-Young said Tuesday about his plans this year. “I’m getting a little bigger for the weight too, so I don’t really got to waste my time trying to make weight twice. We got some Big Ten duals back to back, so I’ll be in those. I don’t think a dual in November means too much for me. All the fans see where I’m at, I’m good, I’m training hard. I’m having fun.”
As far as Big Ten duals, he said he’ll likely “be in when they need me.”
“I’m here for the big show,” he said. “I really don’t have much to prove in my eyes. I’m back for the team. Like I said, it’s just when I want to go out there and wrestle, I’m going to put on a show. This is sort of what a fifth year does. I think I’ve earned that right too.”
He plans to wrestle in the Nittany Lions’ dual on Sunday against Oregon State.
Finding a balance in final season
RBY hinted that there will be times where he might not be on the mat, but he’ll still be training for the “big show,” the NCAA Championships. He’s really taking it all in this year and just embracing everything he gets to do in his final collegiate season.
However, he’s ready for the future.
“I’m just training hard everyday, and doing what I do when I do wrestle. I try to put on a show as always, you were seeing that my freshman year,” Bravo-Young said, “but other than that I’m just enjoying myself. It’s my last season, so I’m just taking it all in, making sure I’m happy and at peace along the way. Last time in college, but I’m ready for it to be done.”
The Tucson native said that obviously this year is different from his previous seasons since he doesn’t have to focus on school work. He gets to just do what he loves, which is wrestle.
So he goes about his days with a certain mentality, making sure he has the right balance.
“It’s good to get out and have fun. You can’t always be inside and just think about wrestling 24/7,” he said. “You know me, I’m social, go talk to some girls, have some fun and don’t focus on wrestling all the time. I think a lot of people focus on that, and it just becomes miserable. It’s a long season. You’re wrestling tough guys. I have my friends, but I’m really looking forward to going home. It’s been a minute. I miss home. I always miss Tucson and I miss my family. I can’t wait to get home and chill out for a little bit, and then come back and hit it hard for the Big Ten schedule.”
Leading by example, giving back to teammates
As much as Bravo-Young is enjoying and living in the moment, he’s still taking the time to give back to his teammates. He’s doing it through leading by example.
He said he gets right to practice and gets to work right away almost as if its his job. He isn’t hanging out and talking, it’s basically clock in and clock out.
“I’m literally just in here twice a day, every day. I just train and chill,” Bravo-Young said. “I’m just trying to make sure everyone follows that. If guys need help ... we talk about it and move on. My roommate Karl (Shindledecker) wrestled for me, and I was helping him make sure he enjoyed that moment. He did pretty good against a ranked guy, so it’s pretty good for him. I was happy for him. He got his first match as a true freshman. I was excited and really pleased with his effort too, so just helping those guys and just building them up.
“People don’t understand college wrestling is hard. It’s hard to be on every time as people have all these expectations. I think everyone needs to understand that it’s not an easy sport. It’s a mind game. There’s a lot more that goes into it that people don’t see.”
When it comes to his future, RBY is focused on freestyle wrestling, for the time being. He mentioned that he is prepping to try and win a world medal, and then shifting gears toward making the world team and hopefully the Paris Olympics in 2024.
After that, he hasn’t ruled out getting into the octagon and competing in mixed martial arts.
And when RBY’s time is through in the Penn State singlet, he has an idea of how he wants to be remembered.
“I’ve really done more than I can imagine. As of right now, if I were to quit wrestling right now,” he said, “I just want people to be like, ‘Dang, RBY was a fun wrestler and I miss him. He went out there, did stuff no one else did, and he definitely had his own twist and his own swagger to it,’ that’s all I care about.”
Oregon State (2-1) at No. 1 Penn State (3-0)
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Rec Hall
Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)
Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com; TV, ESPNU
Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Beavers |
| 125: Gary Steen (4-3) | vs. | No. 12 Brandon Kaylor (13-3) |
| 133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (2-0) | vs. | No. 16 Jason Shaner (12-3) |
| 141: No. 9 Beau Bartlett (7-0) | vs. | No. 24 Cleveland Belton (11-2) |
| 149: No. 17 Shayne Van Ness (6-0) | vs. | Noah Tolentino (10-6) |
| 157: No. 30 Terrell Barraclough (5-2) | vs. | Isaiah Crosby (0-0) OR Graham Gambrall (6-8) |
| 165: No. 15 Alex Facundo (6-0) | vs. | No. 23 Matthew Olguin (16-2) |
| 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (3-0) | vs. | No. 28 Aaron Olmos (4-2) |
| 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (2-0) | vs. | No. 13 Trey Munoz (12-1) |
| 197: No. 5 Max Dean (5-2) | vs. | No. 11 Tanner Harvey (15-2) |
| 285: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (3-0) | vs. | J.J. Dixon (10-3) |
This story was originally published December 10, 2022 at 11:37 AM.
