University of Minnesota Athletics
Freshman Friday: Will Balow
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Will Balow brought a strong resume with him to Minnesota. The Lake City, Minn., native was a Minnesota state champion (2013), a USA Wrestling All-American in folkstyle (2013) and a decorated student with many academic honors. While redshirting for the Gophers this season, Balow went 16-10 across six open tournaments. He built positive momentum during the heart of the season, placing in four straight tournaments, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Cobber Open and Wisconsin Open. GopherSports.com recently caught up with Balow for the first edition of this summer's Freshman Friday series.
Looking back after your first season in the Minnesota program, what was the biggest transition or difference from high school wrestling to collegiate wrestling?
The biggest transition is the mental part of it. Back in high school, you could kind of get away with a practice where you would slide by, just go through the motions and you'd be fine. Now, you have to put in 100 percent all the time or you're going to get pounded. It's a grind. Getting used to giving full effort all the time is the biggest difference.
What about being a student-athlete and that transition?
It defines you as a person. You have to dedicate pretty much all your time to school and athletics. It's a good thing I enjoy both because I don't know if I could do it otherwise. I should say, most of the time I enjoy school [laughs]. It's a huge time commitment. It's definitely a grind through the semester.
How would you describe a workout or a practice down in the Minnesota wrestling room for someone who has never experienced it before?
It's great. It's a little overwhelming when you first go down there, for those first few weeks. Once you get into it, you start to feel a part of the whole program. You get the chance to be a part of something special. Being a part of greatness becomes something you do. Being around everyone else brings you up, it brings you to a whole new level. It's pretty cool.
What is the number one thing you learned as a wrestler from this year?
All the little things that make a good wrestler great. You definitely have to pay attention to detail. It's not one move, it's putting time into every little aspect of your wrestling game to improve.
How do you evaluate your first season wrestling at Minnesota?
It was good. It was a breath of fresh air just to be able to step back on the mat coming from a year off because of an injury. The first few times I was back on the mat, I was a little shaky, just getting used to it again. But once I got a feel for it, it was a lot of fun. I started to remember how much fun wrestling is and how much I enjoy competing. There was a lot of success. I made a lot of improvements. It was kind of cool to see how I got better as the year progressed, but there's still a long way to go.
Does any match from this season stand out to you as a memory?
Early on I wrestled Brady Ayers, who's from Minnesota but wrestles at South Dakota State. I wrestled him twice early in the year and lost two close matches. I came back from a loss against him and met him in the consolation round [of the Bison Open] the same day. I was losing that match, too. It was the third period and it was late and, all of a sudden, I don't know, I just had a little surge. There was no way I was going to lose to this guy again. I kicked it into third gear and took him down two times to win the match. That was probably my most exciting moment.
What are you plans for this summer?
I'm able to work two of J's camps and I'll be commuting up here as much as I can during July to practice with the guys. I'll be wrestling throughout the summer and continuing to improve. At this point, as a collegiate wrestler, you can't really afford to take three months off and expect to be where everyone else is at come fall and winter. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with my teammates and growing as a wrestler.
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