Holding Nothing Back
Nov. 11, 2008
By Becky Hart, Bucknell Athletic Communications Bucknell's Andy Rendos holds nothing back. He goes all out every day when he is on the wrestling mats. He puts it all out in the open in his everyday life. He lays it all on the line day in and day out. But he doesn't do it to make other people like him or to be showered with praise. The junior wrestler does it all to show himself that he is capable of perfection. "I've never thought of what they (others) think of me," says Rendos. "It's more about what I think of myself. Trying to be the best I can be, just trying to motivate myself. I'm not here to prove myself to somebody else. I'm here to prove myself to myself." Rendos, who is ranked 14th nationally in his weight class by the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA preseason poll, has come close to perfection. His 28-11 record last year as a sophomore was best on the team. The Brockway, Pa., native also made his second trip to the NCAA Championships last season, joining classmate David Marble who also qualified for his second year-end championships at 133 pounds. After earning an automatic berth by placing fourth at the EIWA Championships in 2007-08, Rendos faced Jonathan Reader, the sixth-seeded wrestler from Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Rendos confesses that "it wasn't a good draw" and fell in his opening match, 8-2. In his first contest in the consolation bracket, Rendos faced Indiana's Matt Coughlin, this time faring much better. He advanced with the 3-1 win after taking down the Hoosier in the final second of the match. His run came to an end with a 4-2 loss to the 12th-seeded Jarrod King of Edinboro. Even having achieved such success so early in his collegiate career, Rendos refuses to make too much of any of his accomplishments.
"It is a big deal, but I don't really think of it as that big of a deal," explains Rendos about his NCAA accomplishments. "I'm always thinking there's one step better, and if I get that step, there's always one step better than that. I'm never satisfied with myself. I'm always looking at something better. Last year I didn't place (in the NCAA Championship). Another step better is placing. Another step better than that is winning it. Another step is to win it twice. I'm not always satisfied with where I am right now."
His unwillingness to be totally satisfied with past results is further seen in his goals heading into the 2008-09 season. As the new campaign begins, Rendos has an undefeated season on his mind. "Individually, I want to win every match," says Rendos. "Every wrestler wants to, but few wrestlers are able to prove that (they can). If you ask coaches, I've done it throughout the season and throughout the summer, working out and getting better. I think that's a real goal for me this year, going undefeated and beating every top wrestler out there." If he is going to achieve the perfect season, Rendos will first have to get through a difficult opening match on Nov. 16 when Bucknell takes on Missouri, ranked fifth in the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA preseason poll, in Davis Gym. He will likely face the Tigers' Nick Marble, picked as the nation's best wrestler at 165 pounds. Even going in as the underdog, Rendos will be looking for big results. "I don't know about the match scoring, but I definitely want to win," says Rendos. "That's my mentality every match. See how many points I score. See if I can get 4, 8, 12. Get that tech, get that major, get that pin. It's going to be a big match for me, and I'm ready for it." The Bison's schedule also features encounters with other nationally ranked teams, including Iowa, picked first by USA Today/Intermat/NWCA, and Old Dominion, ranked No. 19. Such stiff competition throughout the regular season should prove beneficial to Rendos and his teammates as they head into the final stretch of the season and try to make some waves in the postseason. "I think it's good (to face ranked opponents early in the season)," mentions Rendos. "I don't think you want to be wrestling all unranked opponents throughout the year. You're better off wrestling these ranked kids, because once you get into March and you get into the NCAA Tournament, you're going to see them. You're better off seeing them early in the year and throughout the year than it come as a big shock to you at the end of the year and you're not ready. You get these ranked opponents (early), and you know what you have to do come March, when it counts." Rendos also gets his share of difficult opponents in practice. At 165 pounds, he is one of only two Bison wrestlers to compete in that weight category. After taking on teammates, Rendos often switches to battling the coaching staff. The training regimen forces him to fight through some additional challenges posed by competing against his coaches. "This past year, nobody wanted to wrestle me. They just throw coaches at me, just try to kill me, I think. I think it makes me better," explains Rendos. "They're always on me. You get to a point where you just break, (but you tell yourself) `I can't let this happen. Just keep pushing through.' "I won't get that with the other wrestlers," Rendos continues. "They'll break before I break. That's the mentality I have. When I go into that wrestling room, I want to break everybody. I've been doing it to most of the kids (on the team). They hate wrestling me because I'm so intense." Although Rendos may show little mercy to teammates on the mat, he is conscious of his role in sharing experiences and helping the younger members of his squad to improve. "I'm not really a vocal person. I lead more by example," describes Rendos. "I'm one of those guys, `I'll do this. Follow what I do.' I'm not going to sit here and tell you what to do, but you should follow what I do and how I do things, whether in practice, whether it's eating the right things, whether it's getting extra workouts in. I think people start seeing that and they'll start following what I do. It's more of a motivation, to see, `It works. I want to start doing these things and incorporate them into my own life.'" Rendos' experience is especially important for guiding his teammates through some of the unique aspects of the sport, such as needing to make weight. There is a heightened level of discipline that Rendos believes cannot be found in most other intercollegiate sports. Training and conditioning do not end with the close of practice. Rather, they continue into every other aspect of a wrestler's life. "I can say it's a little different than any other sport, because you have to be disciplined - disciplined, not just in practice but every day of your life, eating the right things. If you go out and eat a ton of candy, it's not really going to work for you," explains Rendos. "You're not living the lifestyle that you're supposed to live. Your practice doesn't end when practice ends. It just continues. It's your whole life. The choices you make on a weekend or at a dinner are going to affect you. It's going to affect how you feel, and you want to feel your best." Despite wrestling seemingly his "whole life," Rendos still seeks the balance between sport and school. The economics major chose to attend Bucknell in part because of the academic opportunities he would be provided at the university. "I had a whole bunch of different offers on the table - different places, state schools, private schools," Rendos says of the recruiting process. "Once I weighed everything out, I wanted a great education, I wanted to come in and try to make an impact on the NCAA and wrestling, and I felt like this was the place I could do it." Rendos also has been involved in community service in the Lewisburg area, including volunteering with the wrestling team at Light the Night, an event through Geisinger Medical Center to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In addition to helping to meet a community need, Rendos hopes that the team's involvement in the area will encourage fans to become interested in and support the Bison wrestlers. "We have to get out and get involved in the communities," says Rendos. "The more involved we get with the communities, the more they're going to get involved with us. We're going to have bigger crowds and it's going to be more exciting for us, to be able to pack Davis Gym or even get to the point where we have so many fans that we have to move to Sojka." Rendos is often looking for ways to make the Bucknell wrestling program bigger and better, whether it is drawing new fans to the matches, motivating his teammates to pursue excellence or trying to lead the team to upsets over major ranked opponents. With his never-satisfied attitude, he also constantly has his eye on the next big goal for himself. "I plan on making a couple more (trips to the NCAA Championships)," Rendos says. "As many as I can. This upcoming year is a big year. I've been training the whole summer, working really hard. I want to get on top of that podium this year, try to win it." |
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