Cooper Ribman

FIGHTING

FOR THE CRIMSON

Being recruited to Harvard’s NCAA Division I wrestling program was just the peak of Cooper Ribman’s love for the combative sport.

More than anything—and this may sound weird, and it may be a cliche — despite how physical wrestling looks, I’d say it’s 80 to 85% mental. At some

point it’s not about what you

can physically do. It’s about what you know what to do.

It’s certainly a big commitment. There’s a

lot of training, a lot of early mornings, a lot of late nights, but that’s never really been a

question for me. I love wrestling, and especially doing it at a place like Harvard where I’m gonna have such great opportunities academically, I’m gonna be able to make such great connections. Going through the training, which I love anyway, has never really been the question.

A lot of kids in Texas have trouble when they go outside of Texas [to wrestle] because they’re used to getting

away with stuff just because

they’re big and strong. When they wrestle somebody who’s a technical wrestler and knows exactly what they’re doing, that stuff doesn’t fly.

TAKEDOWN

In a local tournament during his junior year, Cooper Ribman demonstrates the flexibility and dynamism that wrestling encourages.