Posted 12/22/06
Ryan Higgins is a sophomore wrestler for UW-Platteville who comes from Oconomowoc. Last year, Higgins won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 149-pound title and qualified for the NCAA III nationals.
You won the 149-pound title at the Dick Walker Invitational in Cedar Falls, Iowa Dec. 9. What was that like for you and the team?
"The team didn't have that great of a showing as we could have but it was nice winning a big tournament for me; that was a pretty tough tournament. In my qualifying match, I was losing 7-1 going into the third period. It was a really fun match because I took him down six times in the third period; it was a lot of fun to come back and win 13-12. I didn't get to wrestle in the finals though, which was disappointing because the other guy took a medical forfeit. I think he was just too scared (said with a laugh)."
What was it like to win conference last year? Does that bring anything to the table this year?
"Winning conference was definitely the best tournament I've won in my career and the best one that I've wrestled. It just sets the bar higher for this year of things that I want to do at nationals and on the conference level."
You are involved in the Pioneer Student Athlete Advisory Committee. What do you do with that and how do you juggle all of that?
"We have meetings and we make decisions about what our athletes are going to do for the community and ways that we can be helping and working together as a whole. It's a challenge juggling wrestling with school. If you think about it, its like having a 20-hour per week job. but it also keeps me out of trouble because I'm not out doing things that I shouldn't be doing."
Where do you see the team being at the end of the season?
"We definitely have good team chemistry and good team makeup. We could potentially be a top 10 team if a lot of guys start doing what they could be doing. Realistically we should probably be in the top 15, somewhere around there. Right now we are 29th, and I think that's a little low, but who cares, rankings are rankings."
What year are you in school and what is your major?
"I'm a junior in school but a sophomore in wrestling. I am an electrical engineering major and I hope to design things in cars, like electrical systems, knobs and different gadgets."
Interview by SID student assistant Heather Schaufenbil