Oct. 15, 2004

Charleston, SC - It takes a certain type of person to decide to attend The Citadel.

Bulldogs wrestling coach Rob Hjerling understood that when he accepted the head coaching position at the Military College of South Carolina six years ago.

But a funny thing has started happening to Hjerling and the rest of his staff when they begin their recruiting search.

Wrestlers all over the country are approaching them for spots on the team.

"For the last five years we've had to basically go out and find the individuals that we felt like could fit in with our program and thrive within the structure of the school," Hjerling said. "Now, it's become a situation where you have some very competitive wrestlers that look at what we've achieved in a short amount of time and say that's a place that I'd like to go to and wrestle for."

With a 43-39-2 record in the past five seasons, Hjerling has resurrected The Citadel's team into a nationally competitive program. The Bulldogs finished with a 13-3 record for the school's highest winning percentage ever (.813) in 2003, and repeated that feat last season on their way to a 5-0 Southern Conference record and regular season and tournament SoCon Championships. Although proud of the conference title, Hjerling and his squad have higher sights for the 2004-05 season. They will get a chance to prove to the rest of the nation that they are a legit top-20 team when they compete in the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 3-4 at the Cashman Center. This tournament will be a good chance for Hjerling and his team to get a glimpse of the type of competition his wrestlers will face when it matters the most - March.

"We don't really talk a whole lot about winning conference," Hjerling said. "We talk about performing at a high level at the NCAA's. We have a lot of coaches (in the SoCon) that want to get their programs to reach their highest potential and who believe their full potential is to consistently have All-American caliber guys."

With five returning NCAA qualifiers with All-American aspirations, this could be the best seaosn yet for the Bulldogs.

Ryan McClester (125), Sean Markey (133), Dan Thompson (149), Keith Clifton (174) and Billy Linane (HWT) are those qualifiers, and along with basically the remainder of its lineup re-joining the team, Hjerling feels strong with such lofty aspirations for the team. The Bulldogs will also compete in the Cornell Body Bar Open, and in the National Duals this year.

"Every year our schedule has got tougher," Hjerling said. "It's something that I've wanted to do in the past, but at the same time we wanted to make sure we had a roster full of guys that could handle this type of schedule. By the time we get to the NCAA's we want our wrestlers to feel they have a true gauge on where they should end."

The Bulldogs boast three wrestlers ranked nationally by The Wrestling Mall, and all three are team captains. McClester is ranked No. 15, Markey is No. 16 and Clifton, who is No. 13.

Two of the three seniors have been with Hjerling for four years now while Clifton, entering his fifth season, has been with the Bulldogs almost as long as their sixth-year coach.

The trio has been a key ingredient during The Citadel's rise to becoming a nationally competitive team, both in their commitment to the program and their leadership in the wrestling room.

"They really brought in a new attitude to the program," Hjerling said. "In the past we've had a couple individuals really step it up. Now as a collective group we have about 40 guys that are in here working with a purpose. When you have guys that have been to the NCAA's that's good experience for them to pass on to the younger guys."

While not a Military Academy, The Citadel employs a structured military environment for its undergraduate students. The school requires no service obligation after graduation, but its demanding training schedule can turn off some recruits. Practice time has to be squeezed between structured training regimes and taxing academic requirements.

But Hjerling says his wrestlers find the atmosphere very supportive to a their disciplined lifestyle and believes it benefits his team.

"We're basically using the military structure of the school as an added benefit to help our guys reach their goals," Hjerling said. "You have to have the big picture when you come to The Citadel and you need to know that the structure of the school is going to be challenging."

Those goals include taking care of business during the regular season, including showing the rest of the nation they are for real, starting with the CKLV Invite. Then, using that as a steppingstone, claiming another SoCon title, along with continual improvement at the NCAA tournament.

"We've got individuals that are very goal-orientated and are willing to make short-term sacrifices to reach some big, lofty long term goals," said Hjerling.

(Reprinted with permission from the Wrestling Mall- WWW.Wrestlingmall.com)