Move to world stage highlights ambitions

Last year, Dustin Schlatter went undercover.

Next week -- healthier, stronger and more experienced -- he will emerge at the World Wrestling Championships.

Opening ceremonies are Monday for the sport's biggest non-Olympic event, and host Denmark is calling it the most important sports spectacle in the country's history.

Schlatter is a three-time All-America for the Gophers, winning an NCAA championship as a freshman in 2006. He will return this season for a senior year delayed because he redshirted last season.

"A big thing was, I was hurt," said Schlatter, who missed six weeks as a junior because of injuries. "A sprained knee, a sprained ankle, hamstring. I needed to give my body a rest."

Taking a year off from competing for the Gophers gave the 5-8 Schlatter time to grow, in body and wrestling knowledge. He trained, sweated and added muscle.

"When I redshirted, I needed a goal," Schlatter said.

The goal he set was making the U.S. team. One concern for Schlatter was his limited international experience in freestyle wrestling, which has much different rules than its college equivalent. Opponents always are on their feet in freestyle, for instance, unless there is a takedown.

Refining technique

Over the past year, Schlatter competed in freestyle tournaments in Colorado, Nevada and Ukraine. He also spent several weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs over the semester break, working on freestyle techniques.

Schlatter was ready, mentally and physically, at the trials May 30-31 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He won every best-of-three-period match in two periods and beat a hometown favorite in the 163-pound final.

He will probably wrestle at a comparable weight for the Gophers.

"That's up two classes from the last time I was on the team," said Schlatter, a 149-pounder for three seasons. "But if I am wrestling 163-pounders, the best in the world, I should be fine with 165 in college."

Actually, he and Gophers coach J Robinson expect much more.

"I know I want to be an NCAA champion," said Schlatter, a four-time state high school champion at Massillon, Ohio. "Anything less would be disappointing. I'd like to go undefeated and also [win] a team national title, which is part of the reason I did redshirt, knowing we would have a tough team."

Robinson said Schlatter is capable of winning a second NCAA title and should be a confident leader when he rejoins the team, perhaps with a special souvenir from Denmark.

Schlatter "is good enough to get a medal in the World Championships," Robinson said. "But a lot depends on the draw. In any tournament, you have to get the breaks and be ready to wrestle."

Robinson and two of his assistant coaches, Joe Russell and Luke Becker, will be in Herning, Denmark, along with Schlatter's family. "Luke is [there] working out with him, doing drills with him," Robinson said. "It's like a boxer with his own trainer."

All of Schlatter's matches will be on Wednesday.

Eye on the future

The powers in freestyle wrestling traditionally have been countries such as Cuba, Iran and former Soviet republics such as Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

"It's tough when in all [those] countries, this is all they have ever done," Schlatter said, referring to freestyle wrestling. "I'm kind of a rookie at this."

With promise.

"He's good on his feet, good on defense, he's hard to score on," Robinson said. "It will be important how quickly he adjusts and is not overwhelmed. Very few kids in college compete on senior level teams."

Schlatter, 23, is a communications major and is taking online courses this semester. He will graduate next spring.

"I will probably stick with [wrestling]," Schlatter said, "and try for the London [Olympic] Games in 2012."

With goals like that, he's clearly undercover no longer.

Staff writer Rachel Blount contributed to this story.