Outside of the oft-neglected biosphere that is American Greco-Roman wrestling, those young wrestlers who are deemed “blue chip” collegiate prospects are roundly celebrated. They are covered and suitably publicized by every major wrestling news outlet, and the sport’s social media communities likewise run rampant with comments and projections regarding how such high-profile young men might perform both in the short and long term for their respective universities. It’s a robust, self-sustaining market, after all. NCAA wrestling is, if anything, considered the “major league” in the United States, and its popularity far exceeds the attention received by the Olympic disciplines.
What this means is that wrestlers who opt to pursue full-time Greco-Roman once enrolled in college are, by comparison, ignored. The general wrestling populous barely pays any mind to the brave and dedicated lot who desire something different in their wrestling careers. And the ironic part is that a cogent argument could be made that collegiate Greco-Roman athletes affix their eyes on a far greater prize than their folkstyle brethren. The first group is chasing World and Olympic honors, and duly realize that they cannot afford to wait four or five years to begin this journey, whereas the latter collective is gunning for accolades which are capped on the national level, and in a wrestling style that is not performed (or propagated) anywhere else on the planet.
But to each their own, basically. In the meantime, the US Greco-Roman program does what it can to embrace its own set of promising upstarts, and in 2024 they certainly snagged one when Landon Drury (63 kg) committed to Northern Michigan University.
’23 U20 World Team member Drury was, most assuredly, seen as a “must get” candidate. Younger brother of former age-group stud Haiden, Drury brandished all of the necessary wrestling tools and instincts to project as a potential big-time talent but, what’s more, he went all-in on Greco while still in high school. Amid the onset of the COVID pandemic, Drury moved from his home state of Washington to Colorado in order to train under (and live with) retired multi-time World Team member Joe Betterman. He still competed a little bit in folkstyle, but that was merely, as he says, “something to do for fun”. Drury’s training on a daily basis centered entirely around becoming the best Greco-Roman wrestler he could possibly be, and it was easy for observers to tell that it was in this particular wrestling genre where he truly belonged.
Sufficient evidence to this point can be gleaned from browsing through Drury’s run to the bronze-medal round at the aforementioned ’23 U20 Worlds. His customized expression of Greco-Roman was put on display for all to witness, and against the more challenging pool of competition available. In the end, Drury participated in four matches and placed 5th, taking home with him valuable experience that he has used to build on his future.
Following an attempt at making his second-straight Junior World roster last year, Drury has been hard at work in the NMU practice room. Similar to the majority of American Greco athletes, he has had to reconcile a lengthy gap in competitive opportunities. On one hand, Drury would have enjoyed the chance to jump in more tournaments; on the other, he has tried to use this forced hiatus wisely. He has shored up his skill-set and focused on the areas of his game most in need of reinforcement. Now it is just a matter of him and his coaches assuring that he is adequately prepared for what comes next, which is one more crack at the U20 World Team, and more, before the current season reaches its conclusion.
Landon Drury — 63 kg, NMU/NTS
5PM: What was the decision-making process between you and your family as far as leaving your home state of Washington while still in high school and staying with Joe Betterman in Colorado so that you could train full-time?
Landon Drury: With COVID and everything happening, Washington was kind of shutting down and I didn’t have too many options for wrestling. I mean, I really liked Greco, to begin with. My brother had a coach named Reuben Navejas who he did a lot of Greco with, and I would go over there on the weekends and wrestle with my brother, which gave me a love for Greco. Then I talked to a guy named Justin Newby, who is the head of Washington wrestling, and his kid (Bryon) was at Betterman’s. So I went over there for a camp that summer for a couple of weeks. I did that and thought it was the best choice for me at that time. That’s why I moved there, for better opportunities.
5PM: What was it like living among the Betterman family and training with Joe?
Drury: It wasn’t too bad. Betterman pushed me a lot through extra work on the weekends, which helped a lot. It was just constantly training. We did two practices a day. In the mornings, we would lift and do acrobatic stuff, and then we would practice in the afternoons. It was a big change for me from my usual routine with school and practicing in the evening. Other than that, it wasn’t too big of a difference. There were other guys at Joe’s who were doing the same thing as me. It was nice to have other people there with me.
5PM: How did you do your course curriculum for school?
Drury: I did Spring Studios, which was a charter school type of thing. I would do two days in-person and the rest was online. You would go into school on Mondays and Wednesdays, and that was when you would learn the actual stuff that they were teaching, and the online part was just quizzes and schoolwork. So it wasn’t too bad. They help you a lot. They are really good at helping you succeed through the quizzes and schoolwork that they assign.
5PM: In 2023, you wound up having a run through the Junior Worlds that led to a medal match. It was also your first World tournament. And by this time you had Max Nowry coaching you along with Joe. How did they prepare you for the Worlds from a mental standpoint?
Drury: I worked a lot with Max during this time and he helped me a lot with my mental game. I didn’t struggle too much during that whole year, during that run, because I kind of felt like an underdog and was going into tournaments with nothing to lose. I was just letting it fly, so I felt really confident going into the World Team Trials. Then leading up to the Worlds, I was doing the OTC (Olympic and Paralympic Training Center) Senior camps. I would do those camps and do privates with Max to work on certain techniques and sharpen up before Worlds a bit. He really helped me with my mental toughness and staying calm in positions where you don’t want to flip out. Like, say the opponent has an underhook and you’re pulling away. You don’t want to pull away, so, instead, just pummel out and get into a position you’re comfortable with. That helped me a lot.
5PM: What was it like at the tournament itself? You I am sure had an understanding of the level of competition. Was there anything that surprised you?
Landon Drury: It was definitely a different type of style. In the US, I feel like it is more of a folkstyle Greco, which is really hard to compete with when you’re wrestling real Greco. It is a different style compared to the foreigners’ style, where you can go in there and battle in the hand-fight. The biggest difference is the par terre. Those guys have really good defense. And the movements they have as far as pushing off with locks… It is just a lot different compared to what you see in the US and it is something that you have to really study and take notes on. I feel like that is a big difference for when you are preparing to go over to the Worlds.
5PM: You wrestled a Jordanian in the first round (Suhib Alhasanat), which was a hometown guy given that the event was in Jordan. You tech’ed him out. Did getting that first match, and first win, out of the way, do anything for you?
Drury: Yeah, I definitely had nerves. I wasn’t too nervous, but you walk out onto the stage and see the crowd, and everyone is cheering this guy on? It feels like everyone is against you. So getting that win definitely felt really good and got out some of the nerves for my next couple of matches.
5PM: You then had a tough match, a good match but a loss versus Kyrgyzstan (Zhantoro Mirzaliev). You beat Ukraine (Vasyl Myshanych) in the repechage and then fall in the bronze match (to Dinislam Sagitzhan of Kazakhstan). You went 2-2 and the two losses were against guys who are really good prospects in their own countries. After the tournament, what was your takeaway as far as your ability compared to the foreigners?
Drury: I felt like with my style compared to theirs that I can compete with them. I feel like I’m very moving-forward. I push the pace in my matches. Learning from the Worlds, there is a big stepping stone that I would have to achieve to be able to push at the level they’re at. One thing I’ve been really hammering-down on is par terre, especially from bottom and with moving. Here at Northern, I have definitely learned a lot having Andy (Bisek). It has helped me a lot with my movements and lift defense. That was a big struggle I had throughout that tournament. I felt like that was really par terre.
5PM: Was there no doubt about it that you were going to Northern Michigan? Was that the only place you wanted to go?
Drury: Well, I visited Utah Valley, of course, just because of my brother (Haiden). I visited UNC (University of Northern Colorado) right before I committed here. I wasn’t pushing towards folkstyle. I had done my last year of folkstyle state and it was alright. I mean, it was just something to do for fun, but I definitely saw Northern as the best place for me because of the guys who are here and the coaches.
The colleges gave me the talk about how I would still be able to do Greco and stuff like that, but I had one of my friends who lived with me at Joe’s, Aydin Rix-McElhinney who went there (to UNC). He was doing Greco, but he wasn’t doing a lot of Greco. He would have to go to (Army) WCAP (World Class Athletes Program) or our gym to do some Greco. So I thought, That is just going to interfere and I’m going to wind up in this folkstyle kind of fog. That is why I felt like Northern would be the best stepping stone for me and it was where I wanted to be.
5PM: You mentioned the guys at Northern and Andy. You’re now towards the end of your second semester there. Has it been as you imagined that it would be?
Drury: Yeah. The practices are pretty straightforward. We do a lot of live in situations, and we do those situations after practice while working on different positioning and what we need to work on. I feel like that is really good for development.
The guys are pretty close here. We lost some guys here, like Benji (Peak) and some of those bigger guys who had been here for a while. But Payton (Jacobson) is a big role model for us. He is really positive and pushes everyone through the practices. Even outside of practice he is pushing everyone. We’ll go on runs together on the weekends and stuff like that. He has been a strong role model for all of the guys here, and even Max (Black). Max is really a big role model, as well.
5PM: Other than the Dubuque RTC dual in the fall, you haven’t had a chance to compete since being at Northern. How have you dealt with such a big gap in competition as far as your mentality?
Drury: I feel like just staying positive on the route that I’ve chosen. I did get a concussion in the beginning of January when I was supposed to go to Sweden for that tournament (Sundsvall), but I kind of had a pretty bad concussion about a week-and-a-half before that, so I couldn’t go. But just knowing that everything is going to fall in place and staying positive throughout the whole preparation. Leading up to this tournament, I am really excited. I have a lot of built-up energy that I want to use and show everyone all of my improvements since I’ve been here at Northern.
5PM: Even though you preferred Greco, you had collegiate options after your high school years and still committed to full-time Greco at NMU. For younger wrestlers who might be considering the same thing, what would you tell them?
Landon Drury: I found what I think is best for me. I knew that Greco was something that would fit my love for the sport. I like throws and I like doing bigger stuff. I’m not into shooting and being that type of guy. I think they have to find love in their style and that is where they need to focus their wrestling on. I thought that Greco would be a big improvement for me and my style. Just watching and competing in folkstyle, I liked it — but it wasn’t something that I enjoyed as much as I enjoy wrestling Greco. Greco for me was something that was just really fun and it makes me enjoy the sport a lot more than any other style I do.
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