We woke up in the morning and had a last breakfast in targoviste (where the tournament was). Then we drove about an hour back to Bucharest to go to a wresting/education center. When we got here we put are stuff in are room and went up to the wrestling room and a had practice with there guys. But before we practiced we warmed up but not your typical war up. We played this game where u take a yoga ball and you had to throw it to your teammate and he had to head it into a goal once your team had two goals a different team would come in. Apparently this is how most Europeans warm up before a practice I would have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than just running around a circle and stretching that way. We each wrestled with a Romanian so we got the chance to learn some new drills and did a little live. after the practice we had lunch and then went and looked around the city for a while. we got back and had another practice at 5 this practice was a little different, we only drilled a little bit and did a lot of live which was nice because we got to go live with a couple differnt wrestlers. after that we went in the sauna which was a lot hotter than any one I have been in back home. — Jake Fredricksen

Saturday June 2nd in Poland airport. We got dropped off at the Bucharest airport at 330am and are on layover at the moment. We will have lunch as a group and close down our trip. I really enjoyed our last competition we had on Thursday night–each guy got 3 matches against a team of 13 from Varna. There was a good crowd of people to watch in the two mat gym. I had been in this gym before and there was a lot of enthusiasm from the youth in the club. the guys all got to trade for clothes and shoes after the dual and we ate with the other team at the hotel restarant. We will all be able to wrap up the trip and include pics–at least some of the best ones. — Tim Fader

There are many different ways I look back on my experience in Europe, I could say I had lots of fun and it was exiting, I could say that it was a learning experience and my wrestling has benefited from the competitions and practices, I could even say that it was a great vacation while we hung out at the beach on the Black Sea. But for me the experience was deeper and more rewarding than that. I was lucky enough to travel through several countries and experience a culture far from my own while interacting with individuals who have different perspectives on life. From eating uncooked hotdogs and slices of cheese for breakfast to being hassled for speaking only English I’ve begun to appreciate the small things in my life which we take for granted, even having juice with breakfast comes to mind. Wrestling was a vessel in which I was able to share a journey with a group of men who traveled across and through a place where none of us would haver ever gone, we lived together as a family, and I think we all came home with more than a few t-shirts and photographs. Special thanks to Tim Fader, George Kaltchev and DIII for organizing and guiding this trip. And to everyone who has the opportunity to participate in an International trip in the future, do whatever it takes to make it happen, it is plenty worth it. — Jared Myhrberg

This is my after-action review of the trip. After we left Romania we drove to a resort near the black sea named hotel viva. When we got there, we encountered mass amounts of german kids as they had just finished high school and were on a post graduation trip. While there we trained at a nearby sports school and eventually had a dual with them. With individual victories for all of our wrestlers the meet was a success and concluded with a trading session between our d3 exchange group and a buch of the kids there. With all of the wrestling on the trip done, we spent our final day at the resort relaxing and resting our bodies while at the same time feasting on some eleqoyent quizine. We left at 11pm yeasterday and after much travel (and sleeping in airports) we are all now back in the US.

After being through this trip and experiencing everything I did with this great group of guys I would completely recommend this trip to anyone else who is considering it in the future. I have new brothers who I will forever have great memories with and life long relationships that we can fall back on if we ever meet again. I knew nothing about freestyle and have learned so much from both my coaches and teammates on this trip, which I hope will reflect in my wrestling.

A special thanks to the man in the photo (George Kaltchev) who made it all possible. Thank you for your wisdom, cool music, and awesome driving skills that all contributed to making this trip a great success. — Alex Stewart

Returning back to America was a long trip, filled full of awesome memories and fun times. The chance to go wrestle in Europe was by far one of the best experiences of my life. Wrestling has given me the chance to meet some great new friends and wrestle on an international level. The experience of wrestling in Romania and Bulgaria was something I never expected to have wrestling in college, especially in DIII. Having the chance to share the mat with All Americans, World medalists, Olympians, and foreign national placers is a feeling of sheer amazement. This trip allowed me to experience a style of wrestling that I was not used to and somewhat nervous about but ended up being very beneficial to my wrestling abilities. The trip home started at 11pm on Friday and we went to Bucharest and flew out to Poland at 6am the next morning where we waited for what seemed like hours on end before we finally got on the flight back to the States. Before we left we had wrestled with a Bulgarian team that showed us how involved the community is with the sport, having many locals come to just watch their team wrestle a team of 6 Americans, something I feel that Americans should be doing. Being in Romania showed me a new style of training that that many Europeans partake in, which was surprising but fun. Traveling through Bulgaria had to be one of the biggest highlights of the trip, now I can say I’ve ran and swam in the Black Sea. This trip is one of the best trips out there and I highly recommend it to any wrestler out there at any level of competition. This is a trip that is a cultural experience and a trip that introduces you to many new friends and fun time. It will benefit you in so many ways. I look forward to more trips on the future. — Chris Schenk

We are getting ready for the last time wrestling on the trip. We missed Internet service for two days in Romanian training center so I’m having all the guys blog today. We are in varna Bulgaria on the black sea. It’s an unbelievable place but the rain has followed us to here and the pools and beaches are empty. We got a training session in with George yesterday that was interesting as he worked individually with guys on things that he has recognized as needed. There was a lot of young Bulgarian wrestlers and it’s great to see the interaction with the us guys. We warmed up with dodgeball which  Scared them initially but then they went crazy with it. We had a night out last night as the front street on the sea is pretty lively all night-it reminds me of a busier ft lauderdale. We ran on the beach and did some wrestling skills in the water and sand–I think a lot of people on the beach wonder what is going on but it was a lot of fun. We also played a mini soccer game in a caged field  They have at this resort. Jake and George have skills and Chris can kick it through a concrete wall-the rest of us try not to get in the way. The completion should have a referee and the coach and I will pair up as many matches on this last day as possible — Tim Fader

I wake up its a nice sunny day. I eat, get dressed and am ready to go outside and enjoy the good weather but what do ya know, it rains. Ahhh the weather never seems to surprise me. I have never seen so much rain in my life. It at least rains 2 hours a day and sometime all day. Gotta love Bulgarian weather — Daniel Manganaro

The past few days we trained at the Romanian junior national training center with the junior team and a few of the senior guys. It was a very fun and interesting experience going through their practices and playing some of their games. We taught them how to play dodgeball which they seemed to love. I got to train with a few older guys, like guys in their 40’s. I also wrestled with the guy who took 2nd at the Romanian senior national tournament. The food there was a lot better than the food we had at Hotel Dracula which we all were excited about. There were a lot of wild dogs running around which was kind of scary at first but a few of the dogs took a liking to us and followed us around. We went to Bulgaria today and we’re staying right on the Black Sea which we all are pumped about. We wrestled at one of the training centers in Varna today and had a pretty fun time and have made plans to wrestle a dual match against their team tomorrow after we see some more of the country. — Chris Schenk

Crossed the border today I didn’t know what to expect but going from Romania to Bulgaria was quite a change, instead of having a hotdog and a piece of cheese for breakfast and chicken for lunch…. And dinner I now can fill my face with great food like shark, rabbit and beef! Also the desserts are amazing, they have ice cream, cake and any thing you want hahah and also it’s right on the beach. It’s a nice change from looking outside at mud trees and stray dogs everywhere. – Daniel Manganaro

The past few days in Romania have been fun, exciting, a little frustrating, but very memorable non the less. Wrestlers from many different countries including Korea, Cuba, Canada and Romania have been sleeping, eating and training in the same places and for the most part at the same time, which makes for quite the melting pot of cultures and personalities. Our team has spent time getting to know several of the Canadian wrestlers, trainers and coaches, as well as a few characters from Cube and Romania, everyone has been very open and friendly. The tournament we wrestled in was quite humbling, competing with top wrestlers from multiple countries around the world in a style which most of us have little experience in and or haven’t competed in for several years made it very difficult. Our wrestling experience in Romania is over and now on to Castle Dracula tomorrow then to Bulgaria to continue practicing and competing with the Bulgarian wrestling clubs. — Jared Myhrberg

Today I learned that freestyle is not as easy as it looks. While half the battle was trying to decipher the bout sheet and figure out what singlet to wear, the other half was fought on the mat. As predicted by our coach, we struggled at defending turns on bottom and also at executing them while on top. My competition today consisted of none other than two time all American and NCAA champion Franklin Gomez. Getting to wrestle him was a opportunity that I would not have gotten had I not gone on this trip. Other countries i wrestled included Moldova and Romania both of which yielded strong competition. With the tournament coming to a conclusion our time in Romania has ended. We will travel next to Bulgaria while stopping first in Transylvania to see the legendary castle of the infamous Count Dracula. With the first leg of the trip done we will continue to train and compete over the next nine days at the international level. — Alex Stewart

It’s 530am on the first day of competition. I got up to run at this time yesterday and got attacked by all the dogs in the city center–debating on whether I change my route or run later today….
We compete today and I am very excited to see how we do. There are six countries there and about 5-7 in each weight class — Tim Fader

My travel so far has been a little different than the other guys. I was suppose to just meet the group in Newark but my first flight got delayed and I ended up missing the flight to Romania, so I had to spend an extra night in new York. The next day I didn’t have a flight till 615 pm so got the chance to see Times Square and some other parts of new York city. I got to my flight but it didn’t end up leaving until two and a have hours late, so when I got to Poland I only had 15 to make it to my next flight. I got to the terminal and they closed the door right after I got onto the plane so I was the last one to get on. Once I got to the hotel we had weight ins luckily I was on weight. After that we eat then checked out the city a little bit. — Jake Fredricksen

Yesterday was our first full day in Romania. We had two practices and got to tour the city for a little while. We’ve met most of the teams that are competing in the tournament and talked a little bit with them all as best as we could. The practices we had were pretty different than what I’m used to back in the states. We drilled and wrestled live while the majority of the teams did a lot of cardio with little wrestling. I was originally planning to wrestle 96 kilos but was within 3 kilos of 84 after the first practice so I made the decision to cut the weight at the second practice and wrestle 84. After making weight and weighing in for the tournament we ate dinner with all the other countries and then went out in to the city again and saw some of the places the locals like to hang out. Today is the day of the tournament for my weight class and I’m pretty excited to be wrestling out here in another country representing Norwich and the United States. — Chris Schenk

Being in Romania is quite an experience, I saw many interesting things from a statue of Dracula to old ruin buildings. It’s kind of a challenge being the only person around that speaks English but in all it’s very fun trying to communicate with the residents here. One thing that’s kind of stereotypical though is that sometimes if you listen to some of Romanians would snicker and say something like “ahh americana” or “tourist” and you knew they were talking about you but it’s ok because we were talking about them too. Today is the tournament and I’m excited to have the chance to wrestle individuals from different countries and see the different styles of wrestling each person has in store for me — Daniel Manganaro

Two entries today. The first is from team leader Tim Fader, and the second is from Alex Stewart.

We have arrived in Romania–landed in Bucharest this morning.  Night, morning, afternoon, yesterday, today–it all gets mixed up when you travel overseas.  Jake Fredricksen had a delay in his flight in from Chicago so we expect him to join us tomorrow.  We are staying in tonight. We had dinner and will get to work out tomorrow at the event center and weigh in is at 6pm.  They have many countries that are coming to compete here as well. We saw Puerto Rico and Canada at dinner tonight.  No one on our team is making weight as an issue–most are just wrestling the weight they are at and hope to wrestle both styles.  I like that attitude as it has already been stressed to take advantage of all the new things that we can try on this trip. It was great for me to see George again as it has been 7 years since I have been on this tour.  He has already had our team try Romanian food–mamaliga–something similar to wall paper paste but yellow.  We also got the first example of water with gas vs no gas.  It will be easy to sleep tonight and very exciting to get started tomorrow morning.
–Tim Fader, UW-Whitewater–

I am on a plane surrounded by Polish nationals. And while I may not have anything in common with these people, there are 5 other individuals on this flight that are indeed similar to me. We are Americans,  and although we come from all over the country we share one common bond – we are wrestlers. Two days ago at Newark, New Jersey, we began the journey of a lifetime, one that will present us with opportunities not available to most young people our age. The 2012 D3 exchange will take us throughout Eastern Europe, to places we would never have gone without our beloved sport. Despite  having known the majority of my teammates for less than 48 hours I can already tell that this trip is going to be a memorable one. Since meeting, we have already began to grow closer through the one thing we all know, wrestling. I, as well as my teammates, are all excited for all that we will experience in the weeks to come.
–Alex Stewart, Norwich–

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departed on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is a bio of trip wrestler Alex Stewart.

My name is Alex Stewart, I am from Ellicott City, MD and I wrestle 125 at Norwich University. I was a 1X state qualifier and the MD 3A/4A and a regional champion in 2011. I was a NHSCA Team Duals participant and made the starting lineup as a freshman in college. I attend Norwich University which is the oldest private military college in the country, and also the birthplace of ROTC. I am a member of the Corps of Cadets and plan to commission in the Army after graduating in 2015. This will be my first trip outside of the United States. I am looking forward to wrestling with wrestlers from other countries and wrestling freestyle on a larger scale than I have before. I am also looking forward to the traveling through Europe.

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departed on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is from their last day before departure.

We will all officially meet and take off tomorrow night. I met four of our team in Hoboken, NJ. Tom Trieloff (Stevens Assistant) set us up with a work out at apex in new jersey. Great club run by Dan Matt and Damian Logan–they even got us set up on air mattresses! I was impressed with how many high school kids they had wrestling folkstyle this time of year–packed house. We worked on some situations that we want to cut down scoring–pushouts, defense and mat sense. Ill have a couple guys blog when we get to Bucharest.

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departs on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is a bio of trip wrestler Chris Schenk.

My name is Chris Schenk, I am from Newnan, GA and I wrestle 174 at Norwich University. I was a 2X state qualifier and the GA 160 AAAA state runner up in 2010. I was a NHSCA Senior Nationals participant and Academic All-American. I attend Norwich University which is the oldest private military college in the country, and also the birthplace of ROTC. I am a member of the Corps of Cadets and plan to commission in the Navy after graduating in 2014. This will be my first trip outside of the United States. I am looking forward to wrestling with wrestlers from other countries and wrestling freestyle on a larger scale than I have before. I am also looking forward to the traveling through Europe.

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departs on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is a bio of trip wrestler Jake Fredricksen.

I have been wrestling since i was six years old. I was a state qualifier from Woodstock High School in Illinois.  After high school I chose to go to school and wrestle for UW Whitewater.  I had a good freshman year but could not make our line up.  I am now a 2x national qualifier for UW-Whitewater and really looking forward to my senior year. I’ve only been out of the country once and that’s to Cancun, Mexico so i really haven’t left. The things i looking forward to the most would have to be just seeing other the different styles of wrestling in the other countries and just getting the experience of wrestling with those guys.

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departs on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is a bio of trip wrestler Jared Myhrberg.

I wrestle for SUNY Cortland and placed 3rd at Nationals at 197lbs this year, I won the Brockport North East Regional and Empire State tournaments in Greco as a high schooler. I’m going to school to become a Physical Educator and I have a passion for the rock and ice climbing as well as other outdoor activities. After high school a friend and myself took a month long road trip up and down the east coast rock climbing in the Red River and New River Gorges along with many other places, the trip was an amazing experience. I think this trip will be another memorable adventure and I’m looking forward to seeing new countries, meeting wrestlers and learning about the wrestling culture in Europe.

d3wrestle.com will be posting bios and updates from the Division III Cultural Exchange trip for 2012. The group departs on May 23rd and returns on June 2nd. Today’s post is an introduction from trip leader Tim Fader of UW-Whitewater.

I am Tim Fader from UW Whitewater and I have been working on re establishing the Division III cultural exchange tours this year and in  future years.  We will be departing New York City on May 23rd and flying to Bucharest Romania.  The tour will start there with an international freestyle senior tournament that we will compete in.  We will travel and train throughout Romania and Bulgaria until returning on June 2nd.  This will be my fourth wrestling trip overseas but first time to Romania.  I love seeing new cultures and the competitiveness and camaraderie that wrestling brings in other parts of the world.  I am proud to be taking a couple of Warhawk wrestlers on this trip as well as some of their new teammates from other parts of the country.  International travel has been such a huge part of my life and experience and I can’t wait to see what this year brings.  I have traveled the George Tours with Georgi Kalchev twice previously and really have faith in the program he will put together.   This is the first year in several that this trip has gone and I hope that in the future there will be 15-20 man teams.  We lost several wrestlers and the coach in the last three weeks and have 7 for 2012.    I really appreciate that Andy Vogel has given us a chance to blog on his website and hope that you do follow these DIII wrestlers on the trip of a lifetime.
Tim Fader