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Wrestling
He was promoted during the 2003-04 season on head coach Brad Penrith's staff. Thompson joined the Panther staff as the team's Conditioning Specialist in the 2002-03 season. He returned to UNI after two years as the strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska. He was a member of the Panthers' coaching staff during the 1999-2000 season as a volunteer assistant. Thompson, 35, brings a wealth of international experience to the Panther wrestling room, after being named the winner of the 2005 John Smith Award as the Freestyle Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. Thompson represented the United States for the second straight season at the World Championships after taking first-place honors at the 2006 U.S. World Team Trials in Sioux City, Iowa. "There is nothing better than winning," Thompson said. "The bottom line is competition and winning. My job is to win a world title and develop the young guys around the (UNI wrestling) room." Thompson placed third at the 2005 World Championships (120/264.5 lbs.) in Budapest, Hungary, September 28, 2005. He is an active member of the USA wrestling Freestyle National Team. After waiting nearly six hours after his first-round loss, Thompson won three straight matches in his first trip to the World Championships to claim his first World medal. He capped his medal-winning performance with a 1-0, 1-0 win over past 1997 World champion Kuramagomed Kuramagomedov of Russia. Thompson's rally to the bronze propelled the Americans to an 8th-place finish in the freestyle competition. Overall, the U.S. team ended the competition with two bronze medals. "Tolly has been a winner at all levels. He had a great college career and now he's having a great international career," Penrith said. "The guys get to see him train spring and see what he goes through. He helps them to understand what it takes to be that kind of competitor. We have a ton of guys in our wrestling room who want to be world and Olympic champions; they want to compete at that level." Along with taking a bronze at the 2005 World Cup, Thompson placed second at the Cerro Pelado International and was the 2005 Dave Schultz Memorial International Champion. In U.S. competition, he was the 2005 Nationals champion and the U.S. World Team Trials Champion. In March 2004, Thompson placed fourth at the Acropolis Tournament in Athens, Greece in the 120kd/264.5 pound weight. That April, Thompson continued his run for an Olympic bid at the U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas. He was able to put together a top finish to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. At the trials, Thompson rolled through competition to win the mini-tournament which placed him in the title bout for an automatic Olympic bid. In a best of three seris, Thompson was defeated by Kerry McCoy 5-3 and 8-0, finishing his 2004 Olympic run with a second place finish. In 2003, he placed second at the U.S. Open and World Team Trials. Thompson also was the 2002 Sunkist International Open champion as well as the New York Athletic Club champion. His hope of qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics ended at the team trials in Dallas, where he was defeated in the semifinal round by world and national champion Stephen Neal of Bakersfield, Calif. He compiled a career record of 157-21 from 1993 to 1997 as a Husker. His 157 wins once placed him on the NCAA's all-time wins list. During his collegiate career, he was Nebraska's sixth national champion as a sophomore, in 1995, by defeating UNI's Justin Greenlee. He finished third at the 1996 championships and took third place and won the Gorrarian Award for the most falls in the least time at the 1997 championships. A three-time Big Eight/Big 12 champion, Thompson was a three-time NWCA All-Star. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, he and his wife, Tracy, have three daughters, Payton (9), Bree (6) and Kendall (2). |
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