Kasper Soaks In Trip to Russia Ahead of 2016-17 Season

DURHAM, N.C.—A little over a month before his redshirt junior season officially got underway, Jacob Kasper got a call from USA Wrestling for an incredible, albeit quick, international journey. The Lexington, Ohio native was selected among a small group of wrestlers to travel to Kemerovo, Russia to compete against wrestlers from all over the world.

“I felt honored to be asked [by USA Wrestling] to wrestle in this tournament,” said Kasper. “They were looking for a top senior level guy. I don't know if I'm necessarily one of the top senior guys for freestyle, but for them to ask was a great honor. I was really excited about the opportunity and I'll jump at any opportunity to compete.”

Coming off of a redshirt season during which Kasper gained valuable experience training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, the Pan American games and Olympic Trials, he jumped at the opportunity.

The trip featured its share of challenges for Kasper as he had to lose a few pounds to make the 99 kg weight class. It also was a style of wrestling he hasn't competed in in nearly a year – all in a new foreign country for the Ohio native.

“The sleep schedule was inverted so that was a challenge,” Kasper said about some of the challenges he faced upon arrival in Kemerovo. “I had to lose weight and stay hydrated with sparkling water, which I'm not used to. I had to keep good energy and fuel in me with different types of food. That was definitely different.”

After a whirlwind day of travel that started with a 6 a.m., flight from RDU to Columbus,Ohio. From there, he jetted up to New York City's JFK airport. After a quick transfer to LaGuardia, Kasper began the long flight to Helsinki, Finland. Two more flights followed from there as he traveled from Helsinki to Moscow and finally to the city of Kemerovo, an industrial city of just over a half of a million people. After everything was all said and done it was nearly 39 hours of travel.

“I tried to avoid jetlag and wanted to be well-rested for when I got there,” Kasper said. “I tried to sleep as much as I could.”

The United States was one of 26 countries represented at the event. Kasper, wrestling freestyle, did well to win matches and advance to the round of 16 before falling to the silver medalist from the 2016 European Champions Ivan Yankouski in a hard-fought 11-8 match.

“I enjoy diving into other cultures,” Kasper said. “I've been over to Mongolia because of wrestling and I've gotten to interact with so many different internationalities and seeing how other countries train and prepare for tournaments is really interesting.”

The Belarusian national champ lost in the following match to a world-ranked Russian wrestler, eliminating Kasper completely from the competition. The Blue Devil was able to experience some of the world's most competitive freestyle wrestling as well as meet wrestlers from all over the world, including one of the all-time greats in Aleksandr Karelin.

“[Meeting Aleksandr Karelin] was something else,” Kasper said. “That was a guy I had on a poster on the ceiling above my bed growing up. That's a poster I looked at every single night. He's the gold standard not only for wrestling, but for athletics in general. To get to meet him and talk to him for a little bit and see how he operated was pretty special. It made the trip that much more cool.”

Kasper, who recently certified to wrestle heavyweight, will look to make his second NCAA Championship appearance. He qualified for the postseason tournament at 184 pounds as a sophomore and has all the tools according to head coach Glen Lanham to fight for a spot in the championship field and on the podium.

Kasper and the Blue Devils kick off the 2016-17 wrestling season Nov. 6 at the Hokie Open. Duke hosts its first home dual Nov. 18 against Wisconsin at 7 p.m.

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Kasper Soaks In Trip to Russia Ahead of 2016-17 Season

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