Ed Ruth’s arms should be getting tired. Every time the Penn State University junior wins a wrestling match for the Nittany Lions, an official raises the chiseled arm of the 184-pounder in victory.
Ruth hasn’t lost since March 18, 2011, making it 70 straight matches since his last defeat. In that time, Ruth, who just captured his second straight NCAA Division I wrestling championship in March — defeating Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin 12-4 in a major decision — has bumped up a weight class and has contributed to three straight team titles for Penn State.
More than a month later, it still hasn’t truly sunk in for the gregarious talker with a toothy smile and hulking muscles.
“It didn’t settle in until the last match [in Des Moines, Iowa],” Ruth, a Harrisburg native, said recently by phone. “It took a week and people are looking at you as this national champion. After a while, it becomes a patch to your name, it’s an introduction to who you are. No one can take that way from you. You just really learn to enjoy it.”
While physically gifted and talented as a youth, Ruth didn’t always win. From his freshman until junior years at Susquehanna Township High, he learned the craft, including his patented “crossface cradle,” but never won a PIAA state championship. That accolade eluded him until he transferred to Blair Academy in New Jersey as a senior, where he claimed his first state championship, became an all-American and ultimately earned a scholarship to Penn State University.
Three years later, Ruth has become one of the nation’s best wrestlers, a physical specimen whose aggressive and engaging style has entertained fans — at University Park, spectators chant “Ruuuuuth” during matches — and been lauded by wrestling pundits. In late April, he wrestled at the 2013 Grappling World Team Trials, which was a USA team qualifier for the World Championships.
With a year left at Penn State, this is proving to be a critical time for Ruth. He has the potential to win his third NCAA championship and wrestle for Team USA in World Championships, but, ultimately, the long-term plan is to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It may be his only chance, since the International Olympic Committee dropped wrestling from the 2020 games.
“He’s at a level now where he’s training to go to the Olympics,” Ruth’s mother, Thanayi, said recently.
That includes his introduction to freestyle wrestling, the primary style of Olympic wrestling, as compared to folkstyle wrestling, which is practiced in college. The difference in freestyle, Ruth said, is how it emphasizes over-the-shoulder tosses and pins and doesn’t diminish stalling tactics.
Ruth, who has long been viewed as an aggressive wrestler with offensive-minded tactics, believes he can transition well to freestyle. Confidence is a variable he can claim. “Definitely,” Ruth said of his ability to transition to freestyle wrestling. “One of the biggest things is that you must trust what you do in training and know it’s going to push you past your boundaries.”
But it will not be a cake walk. In April of 2012, transitioning off his first NCAA title, Ruth was among four Penn State wrestlers who earned the opportunity to wrestle at the U.S. Trials. The experience proved to be a learning one, as Ruth won one match — against a collegiate wrestler — but lost the next two against professionals.
“It was an eye opener,” Thanayi said. “Before he went, a lot of people were telling him he could win it. When he went there, his coaches wanted him to get a feel for what it was like and what the competition would be like. When he was on the mat against kids in college, he did well, but once he got on the mat with the pros, he didn’t know what to do.”
“There’s a sense of urgency to reach the 2016 Olympics,” Ed’s father, Ed Ruth Sr., said of his training. “He might not get a chance to do it if they stop wrestling in 2020.”
Ruth first has to look what’s right in front of him. He’s concentrating on one more tournament in the summer, then will refocus for his senior season at Penn State, where he says he‘s “being targeted on the mat” as the man to beat at 184 pounds. Ruth is taking the pressure in full stride.
“I enjoy having that competition and that extra edge going against my opponent,“ he said. “They have to come after me now.”
