Episode 59 of the Five Point Move Podcast brings back a recent previous guest (E52), Northern Michigan University/National Training Site assistant coach Parker Betts.
Betts — himself an NMU alumnus who under Rob Hermann and the late Aghasi Manuykyan became a top National-level competitor — has been back coaching at his alma mater since the fall of 2021. In that time, the Minnesota native has had the opportunity to help guide more than several Northern Michigan Greco-Roman athletes towards reaching new heights in their respective careers — such as Max Black (60 kg), David Stepanyan (67 kg), Benji Peak (77 kg), George Sikes (97 kg), and, of course, freshly-minted US Olympian Payton Jacobson (87 kg).
Betts thoroughly breaks down last month’s Olympic Team Trials at Penn State, a tournament in which all five of the aforementioned names appeared. Black made the National Team at 60 kg, and Peak advanced to the semifinals of his bracket before falling just short in what was one of the most inspirational performances of the event, if not the season as a whole.
Jacobson naturally receives most of the attention in E59 due to his victory at the Olympic Trials. The entire process is covered by Betts, including the manner in which Jacobson decided to move up from 77 to 87 after the New Year. That information had been obscured by the athlete leading into the spring, with word not publicly being revealed until Jacobson registered for Thor Masters (Denmark) in the higher Olympic weight category. Jacobson’s win, and what it means to him as well as to NMU, are among the more poignant sub-topics discussed in Betts’ segment.
A Few Highlights
Betts on Max Black’s National Team performance at the Olympic Trials
“He’s a gamer. He lives for the competition. He loves it. I mean, we can say that about a lot of our guys right now, but he just loves competing and he’s ready to fight. He’s ready to put on a show, and he’s ready to celebrate and live that showmanship that he puts on. More power to him. He earns it and he deserves to show off a little bit.”
Betts on the immediate impact from Jacobson making the Olympic Team
“The response is great. We knew that him making the Team was huge for him, obviously. It’s a dream of his. For our program, it has blown up. He’s getting interview calls, TV stations, radio, things like that. The campus has done a great job promoting him.”
Betts on Jacobson going from 77 to 87 kg
“He was eating good and lifting heavy, and still staying in the condition that he has, which is crazy. His conditioning at 87 is better than it was at 77. I’m not a big fan of cutting weight. I see what it does to guys from high school all the way up to this level. I know what weight-cutting does and I’m not a big fan of that. I don’t push it, but personally I was happy to see him go up because I think that eliminates a lot of stress that guys carry in this sport.”
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
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