Raymond Jordan (top) gains an edge at the World Team Trials. Larry Slater photo.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Raymond Jordan’s first full season of freestyle wrestling has been filled with highlights.

He’s placed in seven tournaments during the 2009-10 season, including making his first U.S. National Team after finishing third in June’s World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Jordan’s best finishes came when he placed second in the Habibi & Movahed Cup in Iran and second in the Dave Schultz Memorial International in freestyle wrestling at 84 kg/185 lbs.

Not bad for a guy who never wrestled a freestyle match until he was in college.

Jordan is scheduled to face NCAA runner-up Mack Lewnes of Cornell in a Special Wrestle-Off for the World University spot on Aug. 20 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Jordan, 24, a North Carolina native, placed third at the 2009 NCAA Championships as a senior for Missouri. He wrestles for the Sunkist Kids.

Jordan is a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona State University. As a wrestler, he trains and works with past World champion Melvin Douglas and Olympic silver medalist Townsend Saunders, along with ASU coach Shawn Charles in Tempe.

Jordan sat down with USA Wrestling communications manager Craig Sesker for an interview following a U.S. World Team practice earlier this week at the Olympic Training Center.

 So you never wrestled freestyle in high school?
 
The nearest club was about two and a half hours away from me, one way, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I didn’t really have the time or the means to get there. When I went to college at Missouri, Ben Askren and a lot of the other guys were wrestling freestyle and I knew it made them better wrestlers. So I jumped in and started wrestling freestyle.

How much progress have you made in your first season wrestling freestyle full-time?

I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress, as far as building my confidence and understanding the sport a little better. I still feel like I have a long way to go. I’m improving on my weaknesses.

You placed high in the NCAAs, but didn’t quite reach the top. How much does that motivate you as you jump into international wrestling?

It motivates me. I feel like I had the potential to be a national champion in college and it didn’t happen. I just never made it over the hump in college. I just didn’t execute in the big matches like I needed to.

How much have you gained wrestling internationally this season?

The experience I’ve gained has been huge. I’ve been all over the World this year. I’ve been to France, Belarus and Iran. I’ve been able to have success, and that has been big for me to know all the hard work is paying off. I know I can wrestle with a lot of these top guys – it’s just a matter of continuing to improve.

What makes wrestling such a unique sport?

The best thing about wrestling is I can push myself beyond my limits and see how far I can go. I know if I push myself that I can achieve a lot in this sport. You get out of it what you put into it.

How important was it for you to make your first National Team?

That was huge for me. Sometimes you have some self-doubts. I’ve placed in a lot of tournaments this year, but I went 0-2 at the U.S. Open. I lost to Brandon Sinnott and Chris Pendleton. That really hurt my confidence. I had gotten a bacterial infection when I was overseas and I lost about 10 pounds. I couldn’t hold my food down, and that affected me at the Open.

What did you do differently at the World Team Trials?

I lost to Keith Gavin in the semifinals of the mini-tournament in three periods. I ended up beating (2009 Trials runner-up) Bryce Hasseman in the match for third. That was huge for me because he’s been right there contending to make World Teams. It gave me a lot of confidence to beat a tough wrestler like Bryce.

How long do you plan on wrestling?

I want to keep wrestling as long as I can. I’ve thought about doing some fighting, but because of not winning NCAAs I’m driven to have success in wrestling. My goal is to make World and Olympic Teams. I have those dreams and aspirations.

How have you fared against World silver medalist Jake Herbert, the No. 1 guy at your weight class?

He beat me in freestyle at Universities when we were in college and then he beat me this season at the New York AC tournament. Herbert is a very tough wrestler. I want to be the No. 1 guy, so I have to work that much harder. He already has a World medal, so I have to push myself even harder to get there.