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Klein to coach wrestlers in European Challenge CupBy MARK CSAPOSports Editor Most everyone dreams of a summer vacation in Europe, but few actually get to go. But for a group of college wrestlers, this “vacation* has come true.Jare Klein of Marshall is one of two coaches who will leave this weekend and travel with 10 players to Europe to train and compete in the “Challenge Cup” in Manchester, England. The two-week stay will include trips to London, England; Glasgow, Scotland; Dover, England; and Paris,France.Klein was selected to coach a team of “All-Star* college wrestlers from all over the country. He will team up with Bob Skelton of Western New England College and guide the athletes from different NCAA Division III colleges.Klein has plenty of wrestling experience behind him. This fall will mark his 20th season as the head coach of the Olivet wrestling team, and before that, he put 10 years in the Marshall school system. He also had a brief one-year stint atWActarn MirVnfTAn Ilniversitv. andmore importantly, he was twice named the coach for the Greco-Roman wrestling team at the National Sports Festival.The Challenge Cup features 26 nations competing against oneanother. Some of the countries in-lt;elude Australia, Northern Ireland, France, Finland, Spain, Yugoslavia, West Germany, and of course, England. According to Klein, there is some good competition ahead of them.“Bulgaria is a tough team to beat,” he said. “Turkey has a good squad too. Those are probably twoof the big countries to beat.”The trip isJ not all wrestling, though. In fact, out of the two weeks, the athletes will only be competing for three days - August 7. 8 and 9.“The trip is mainly for the cultural experience. There will be a lot of training, rest and recovery, Klein said.One of the college athletes is John Raut of Spring Arbor, Michigan. Raut is a pupil of Klein's at Olivet College and will be a sophomore this fall for the Comets.“Our athletes will be competing against the Olympic hopefuls from other countries,” Klein said. “Ours are Olympic hopefuls too, but not in the same sense. They're still several years away.”Each one of the wrestlers is an “All-American” in NCAA Division III. Out of the 10 athletes, not one of them finished lower than fifth in their weight class in the nation. But they still have a big challenge ahead of them according to Klein.“Our style of wrestling over here is a collegiate style, while the rest of the world uses a free-style formof wrestling,” he said. ‘Our kids will have to go through a training period to try to adapt to their style.''The NCAA Division III Coaches Association is picking up the funds for most of the trip, Klein said, and the rest will be paid by the wrestlers themselves.While in Europe, the Americans will be staying with the families ui other wrestlers in Scotland, booking a hotel in France, and living in a college dorm in England.
Newspaper Details
Marshall Chronicle
Marshall, Michigan, US
Wed, Jul 29, 1987
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Marshall D.
MI, USA 22 Feb 2019
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