InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
brought to you byBrute Wrestling
Dorm RA's ready for the challenge
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
Fargo, N.D. – Ross Danielson and Josh Priess chat leisurely behind a desk at North Dakota State’s Reed/Johnson Hall.
Several state delegations haven’t yet checked into the dorm, but Danielson and Priess are ready for anything.
Reed/Johnson is one of nine NDSU dormitories hosting state teams for the upcoming USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior National Wrestling Championships.
This is their first year working the summer – and their first year dealing with the droves of wrestlers checking in.
On a corkboard on the wall behind Priess are schedules of meal times and to-do lists specifically for the event.
“We’ve heard some horror stories,” Priess, a rising sophomore, jokes.
Priess works for NDSU’s COAR (Conference Orientation and Recruitment) Team, which oversees many of the housing issues for team camps that come to the campus and summer orientation sessions for incoming NDSU freshmen.
Danielson’s been hired by NDSU to help with housing just for the Cadet and Junior Nationals.
“It comes with the territory,” Danielson said. “I was never doing things to offend anyone when I was at football camps, so I know the wrestlers are going to be the same. They’re not going out of their way to offend anyone.”
“I was just out to have fun,” he said, recalling his days at football camp.
“It stinks not to kind of switch roles.”
Danielson’s role is one that many a resident assistant at NDSU will face this weekend, being another line of defense for coaches.
For the most part, the staff feels that the wrestlers will be well behaved, but they know they’re also going to have fun.
“I’m hoping I don’t have to do anything,” Danielson said. “(But if I do) I’ll have to be aggressive, since that’s what athletes are responsive to.”
“It will make them react.”
“I think we expect them to act like your little brother,” Danielson explained. “I’m not going to hit anyone, but I’ll scare them a little bit,” he said half-jokingly.
Danielson stands about 6-foot-1 and is over 200 pounds, so he could pose an imposing presence to a mischief-minded 91-pounder.
Priess likes his summer gig, because he gets free room and board.
Danielson is enjoying it as well.
“I want to be a teacher and a coach,” he said. “This helps in getting acquainted with the situation.”
They’ve been prepped by NDSU veterans whom have worked a few of these the last few years.
The majority of the wrestlers competing in Fargo over the next eight days will stay in one of NDSU’s dorms. Reed/Johnson will house an estimated 500 wrestlers during the tournament.
Churchill Hall is allotted its residence space for the growing contingent of women’s freestyle wrestlers. It should be bustling with activity as numbers for the women’s freestyle tournament increase and this year, Fargo will host the first Women’s Junior Duals in the Bison Center, across the street from the FargoDome.
Over at Pavek Hall, one of four high-rise dorms and one of two with air conditioning, senior Jessica Johnson sits at her laptop waiting for the next group to check in.
Johnson’s role is different from those Danielson and Priess will handle this week, she’s working at Pavek, the home for referees and pairing officials as well as many of USA Wrestling’s staff.
The first thing Johnson noticed was the conversation.
“They’re very talkative and very friendly,” she said. “They’re talking about their plane problems and their car problems and they’re staying cheerful about it.”
Staying cheerful and friendly is something Fargo has been known for since the tournament moved here.
“I think we’re more easy going (than a lot of places),” Johnson said. “Like the check-ins at four in the morning. They’re tired, it’s our job and we take care of it.”
Johnson explained that people like Danielson are hired specifically for USA Wrestling and the job is normally reserved for those that were resident assistants in the fall.
But Johnson might have gotten off easy.
She doesn’t have to deal with the wrestlers.
“I feel like I lucked out,” Johnson said. “It’s easier to work with people that are more mature.”
“But I like check-in, because I don’t have to just sit around and wait for people to ask questions,” she said.
Wrestling isn’t all that comes to North Dakota State during the summer months.
“At the NDSU campus we have a lot of freshman orientation and we just had a big conference and we have basketball camps, volleyball camps, things like that during the summer,” Johnson said.
“We’re pretty busy, but nothing like this.”
Most of the NDSU residence staff have no problem with the event, they like it because it brings a little more exposure to a city usually known for the movie by the same name.
“I think this is kind of exciting that they like the campus so much that they keep coming,” Johnson said.
“I think it does a lot for NDSU,” Danielson said. “It shows them the campus and helps generate money that the students can benefit from.”
“It’s a bit of a college experience,” Priess said. “Hopefully it’s a good one so they can enjoy their college life.”
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