Anthony Ramos didn’t have much choice about getting into the sport of wrestling. His parents wanted all three of their boys Anthony and his older brothers Frankie and Vince to be on the same wrestling team at least for one year. Anthony was only about 3 years old and the only way the coaches would allow him to train that young was if his father started and coached a little kid club. He did and he trained Anthony and his brothers until they were around 10 or 11 years old.
Try to imagine his father Al Ramos teaching his toddler the basics of wrestling and now fast forward a few years later to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City this past March and see Anthony drop to his knees in triumph after achieving his life long dream of winning the NCAA Championship.
Very few of us have the privilege of knowing what we want out of life. Anthony Ramos always knew he wanted to wrestle for the University of Iowa.
We asked Anthony what was his reason for choosing Iowa “The coaches,” he said without hesitation. “The best coaches around. Iowa was the best team at the time. Growing up Iowa was always the best and I always wanted to be a Hawkeye. To me it was a no brainer,” he added.
Although he knew where he wanted to go, he admits that it was not an easy choice. His brother Vince (a year older than Anthony) was wrestling for Indiana. Anthony had a recruiting trip at Indiana and there was the pressure from his friends and family for him to go wrestle with his brother to be on the same team. “But I did what was best for me,” he stated.
Anthony made the right decision. This past year, his senior year, was the closest you can get to perfection for Ramos. He won both the Big 10 and NCAA titles. He was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year for the University of Iowa. Anthony also earned the third All-American Honor of his career and raised his career record to 34-0 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. We could probably fill two pages with all the honors and feats Anthony accomplished this year.
“It is what you work for your whole life. All that hard work wasn’t for nothing. It was all towards something and it is an awesome feeling,” Anthony explained. He comes across as very confident and at the same time humble, taking the time to appreciate the moment and the people that helped him get here “I’ve got a great family. If you surround yourself with a great support system it makes everything a lot easier so when you are feeling down or feeling like you’re giving up you can call one of them and they can kick you in the butt,” Anthony shared with us.
What’s next for Anthony Ramos? “First I’m getting married in July. People say (planning a wedding) is stressful, but we are having fun with it. Next thing after that is winning the world and Olympic titles,” Anthony told us.
It would definitely be a thrill to see Ramos representing the USA (and Iowa) in the 2016 Olympics.
To see our full interview with Anthony Ramos please tune in to Hola America TV next Wednesday May 28 at 6:30 PM on WQPT.
And for more pictures of our photo shoot with Anthony please visit Hola America Sports Facebook page
Photos by Phil Cunningham
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