Schumacher finds his way on the mat
Joe Schumacher, a three-time state wrestling champion for the Bismarck Demons, had it in his heart to wrestle at the Division I level. Instead, he found himself in wrestling rooms halfway around the world.
Upon his graduation from BHS in 2011, Schumacher hoped to attend and wrestle for Oregon State. It was not an unreasonable goal. Schumacher was ranked No. 11 at 149 pounds in the 2011 recruiting class and owned a Greco-Roman championship at Junior Nationals.
Still, it was not to be. Schumacher is a realist, and to him the numbers just didn’t add up. Even if the Beavers sweetened the deal with a half scholarship, Schumacher said he’d be on the hook for a pile of money as a non-resident student.
“One reason I didn’t go to school is I didn’t know what I wanted to go into,” Schumacher said. “... I wasn’t going to jump into school and pay all this money when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
So he decided to kill several birds with one stone.
Throwing sandbags
Following the flood of 2011, Schumacher organized a sandbag removal business that employed about 15 wrestlers from Bismarck and Mandan. That business proved profitable enough that in the late fall he was able to hit the road — and what a road.
His journey took him to Canada, Mongolia, Russia and China.
“We went for two and one-half months. I worked 68 straight days,” he said, recalling the sandbag removal effort. “As soon as that was done I helped out with the Bismarck High team for a couple of weeks. Then I went to Canada for three weeks and trained at the University of Regina.”
Schumacher’s world-wide tour of wrestling rooms involved strictly freestyle wrestling, the form used in the Olympics.
While in Canada, Schumacher wrestled in a freestyle tournament. He returned to the U.S. with the Regina team and wrestled in the Dragon Open the first weekend in November. He placed third in the tournament at MSU-Moorhead.
Five weeks later, Schumacher was on a plane headed for Ulaan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia.
“Dad (BHS wrestling co-coach Jeff Schumacher) kind of planted that idea in me. ... He told me the Mongolians were really tough,” he recalled.
Terry Steiner, a two-time state champion at Century, a national champion at the University of Iowa in 1993, was essentially Schumacher’s travel agent. Steiner is the head coach of the U.S. women’s wrestling team.
“Terry Steiner ... set it all up. He talked to Steve Barrett and got it all organized,” Schumacher said. “The next thing I knew it was Jan. 11 and I was on a plane to Corvallis.”
Barrett, a former national wrestling champion at Oklahoma State, is on the Mongolian staff of Athletes in Action, a global Christian ministry outreach. During the three months Schumacher spent in Mongolia he was involved in AIA’s evangelism efforts.
Some funky stuff
Schumacher sharpened his skills at Oregon State for three weeks before heading overseas.
“From Corvallis it was straight to Mongolia,” he said.
Wrestling is a major sport in Mongolia, and while living in Ulaan Baatar, Schumacher worked out in the rooms of several Mongolian wrestling clubs. It was an eye-opening experience.
“Training over there was great. ... Their facilities are not like ours, but they make do with what they’ve got,” he said. “I learned a ton technically over there. All they do is freestyle and that was a really good experience for me. They wrestle a lot different than Americans. It’s a slicker style. We’re more grinders in the U.S., but they’ve got some funky stuff.”
Among the teams Schumacher worked out with was the Mongolian national team.
“I trained with their Olympic team at their Olympic training center, so I got to wrestle the best guys in the country,” he recalled.
Schumacher lived in Ulaan Baatar, a city of about 1.3 million, which amounts to about 45 percent of the Mongolian population. His affection for the Mongolians is evident.
“They’re hard-living people. They work hard for their money and have a hard living standard,” Schumacher said. “The staple of the Mongolian diet is meat, primarily sheep and goat” he added.
Mongolia’s climate didn’t require as much of an adjustment as the culture.
“It’s very cold over there in the winter time. They don’t have the winds we have in North Dakota and they don’t get as much snow as we get, but, still, it’s so cold,” he said.
There was much more than wrestling going on during Schumacher’s time in Mongolia.
He said jumping into a culture that was vastly different from that of the U.S. without knowing the language was a major undertaking.
“I was pretty nervous about going overseas. It was my first time out of the country. It’s a huge commitment. You’ve just got to commit to it and trust that it’s going to work out,” he related.
Talking the talk
Being forced to learn by immersion, Schumacher said he was amazed how quickly he worked beyond the language barrier.
“I learned quite a bit of Mongolian over there. ... By the time I left I could carry a solid conversation in Mongolian,” he recalled. “I was shocked at what I learned in three months. Over there no one speaks English, so you’re forced to learn.”
Some of Schumacher’s AIA colleagues and wrestling partners were instrumental in helping him with the language.
“Some of the wrestlers spoke a little English and they really helped me,” he said. “(A Mongolian national on the AIA staff) spoke fluent English and grew up in Mongolia.
“After a month I started picking up stuff and the more you learn the faster you pick it up.”
In April, Schumacher wrestled in an international tournament in Russia, the start of a fortnight in Mongolia’s northern neighbor.
“After the tournament we stayed for another week and a half and trained with a club,” he said.
“In Mongolia, Russia and China everything is clubs. Nothing is affiliated with the schools,” Schumacher observed. “Clubs are big over there and there’s money in it. ... The clubs recruit and pay their wrestlers and the clubs make money if they do well in tournaments.”
Schumacher made the jump to China, Mongolia’s southern neighbor, after two weeks in Russia to train with the Chinese national team for a couple of weeks before flying back to the U.S.
“We were in Beijing for like two weeks. I didn’t realize how many people lived there,” he said. “In Beijing alone there are 22 million. You travel by subways and those little carts you can crawl in.”
In retrospect, Schumacher said the trip to Asia was a huge positive in his life.
“I lived on my own over there in a really different culture,” he noted. “... It’s just like I grew up. If I can live overseas on my own I can do whatever I set my mind to.
“I felt like a man when I came back.”
Back in the States
Schumacher’s next venture is in Oregon. He’s moved to Corvallis where he lives with Oregon State wrestlers Joe Latham and Jared Reis. Latham and Reis won state championships at BHS and Napoleon, respectively.
Troy Steiner, Terry’s twin brother, is the top assistant coach at Oregon State. Troy won three state titles at Century and was a national champion at Iowa in 1992.
At Corvallis, Schumacher is working at Schwab Tires and trains at the Northwest Regional Training Center. He’ll wrestle his first tournament with the NWRTC next month in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Our workouts are pretty tough. We’ve had salty practices,” he said. “I’m trying to get better every day.”
The Division I dream hasn’t died. He still hopes to attend OSU and wrestle for the Beavers, but for financial reasons that will have to wait at least a year.
“Next year I hope to redshirt,” Schumacher said. “The OSU 149-pounder (Scott Sakaguchi) is a returning All-American.”
Reach reporter Steve Thomas at 250-8244 or steve.thomas@bismarcktribune.com.
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