[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]According to Tom Clum, who occupies the 133-pound weight class for the University of Wisconsin wrestling team, being nervous helps him win matches. However, three years of college experience has made his weapon for winning less effective.
“I wrestle better, I feel, when I’m nervous, but I don’t get nervous very often,” Clum said. “I’m usually pretty calm.”
Despite his lack of nerves, the Arvada, Colo., native is having an impressive redshirt junior season as a Badger. Clum has compiled an overall record of 21-3, while going 6-2 in Big Ten competition.
“I think it’s been a good year for him so far,” head coach Barry Davis said.
Clum, who is ranked No. 3 in the nation, is currently riding a six-match win streak, during which he has beaten three nationally ranked opponents, including Mack Reiter of Minnesota. Reiter was ranked No. 3 when he fell 6-3 to Clum.
“I knew [Reiter] was tough,” Clum said. “I had only seen him wrestle one match on tape so I really didn’t know anything about his style other then he had a good cradle.”
Clum said his goal was to “wrestle a match on their feet.”
“I feel that’s my strong point so I got two takedowns and he didn’t get any and that’s how I won,” Clum said of the strategy. “So the plans kind of fell into place that time.”
Coach Davis agrees that Clum’s best position is on his feet, but Davis feels his junior standout needs to improve upon other areas of his wrestling technique.
“[On his feet] is his best position, but sometimes he’ll just let a guy go,” Davis said. “Against the top guys you can’t just give up easy points that way. You’ve got to make a guy work for everything he gets and sometimes he doesn’t do that.”
Riding people is an area that Clum is trying to improve on. Both Davis and Clum know that during close matches, crucial riding time points may be the difference between a win and a loss.
“In big matches riding is critical,” Davis said. “[Clum] wants to wrestle on his feet and that’s good, but you’ve got to ride at the same time.”
According to Clum, Davis has made the importance of riding opponents very clear to him. The attention to detail has proven useful in some of Clum’s biggest matches.
“Barry has really been harping on me this year to ride people,” Clum said. “It made a big difference this year with Reiter at Minnesota. Because I rode him out the last 45 seconds of the first period, it was 4-1 instead of 4-2, so he is two takedowns away instead of one.”
Clum also feels his improved skills at riding his opponents will help him in future matches as the season nears conference and national tournament time.
“[Riding time is] going to make a big difference,” Clum said. “Especially in the Big Tens and at nationals in the later rounds.”
Clum has lost only three matches this year — two of which were by one point. Though both were to ranked opponents, the losses still sting in Clum’s mind.
“They’re matches I feel I really could have won,” Clum said of the narrow defeats. “It’s in the past and there’s not anything I can do about it now.”
One of Clum’s losses was to No. 16-ranked Mario Galanakis of Iowa. However, Clum will likely get a chance for retribution in this weekend’s Big Ten Championship.
“I lost a real close one to Iowa that I’m not to happy about, but I’ve got a chance to get him back,” Clum said.
Davis also commented on the disappointment of Clum’s loss at Iowa. Davis felt Clum entered the matchup with the wrong mindset and was distracted by his teammates’ performances.
“I think the match at Iowa [Clum] went out, instead of to dominate to just win,” Davis said. “He should have focused on himself and he didn’t do that. He made a mistake, but [Galanakis] is going to be back here in March. I’m sure it’ll be a different outcome next time.”
Clum is no stranger to success, as his 29-6 record and Big Ten individual championship from a year ago bear out. The last two seasons have ended in disappointment, however, as he has narrowly missed out on being an All-American.
“Two years ago I was one match away,” Clum said. “Last year I was a high seed and ended up getting put out.”
This year may end on a more positive note for Clum at the national level.
“My weight class is kind of open this year,” Clum said. “There are a couple that can win the weight class. My ultimate goal is to go to nationals and win it.”