Hawkeye wrestler a strange bird

By DAVID COMER
Collegian Sports Writer

When Iowa wrestler Ray Brinzer was given a Gumby doll as a Christmas gift in sixth grade, the present did not seem so special.

But Brinzer became enamored with his rectangular green figure, and soon this doll would become his trademark. He won't have his Gumby doll with him this weekend in Iowa City, however, when he attempts to win his first NCAA title.

As a youngster, Brinzer wrestled in tournaments almost every weekend, and would bring Gumby in his equipment bag. Brinzer noticed the empty seat in the corner of the mat that was designated for his coach to sit in. He had no coach -- but he had Gumby.

Before one match, the Wexford native perched his doll in the chair.

"I was just amazed at the reaction I got," Brinzer said. "Everybody went crazy. I started doing it all the time."

And during his matches in middle school, the doll did more than rest in its seat. Between each match's two periods, there was a one-minute break.

"I'd go back and talk to it -- make it look like I was talking to a Gumby doll," the senior and Big Ten 177-pound champion said. "I probably won several matches with that. It really freaked people out. That was a load of fun."

The doll accompanied Brinzer to matches until his wrestling days ended at North Allegheny High School, where he was a three-time Pennsylvania state champion.

The philosophy major does not fit the mold of a typical wrestler. He plays chess, throws pottery on a wheel and likes sushi. He is constantly reading, and at the Big Ten championships held March 4-5 at Bloomington, Ind., he was enjoying copies of History of Chinese Philosophy, Plato's Phaedrus and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Celestial Railroad.

"It really seems like anything I do, there is someone out there that thinks it is very peculiar," Brinzer said, the left ear piece of his eyeglasses held together with white athletic tape.

But the Iowa fans have embraced him. Members of his fan club wear yellow shirts featuring a replica of their favorite wrestler's thick-framed eyeglasses. Phrases such as "Show us the way, Ray" and "The Ray, the truth, and the light," appear below the spectacles.

"Raymond is very likeable," said his mother, Linda Brinzer. "A lot of people like Ray."

Teammate and two-time NCAA champion Lincoln McIlravy is one of them.

"He's a free spirit," McIlravy said. "We'll have a 6:15 (a.m.) practice and Ray will stay up all night for it because he thinks it's easier. Things like that make him unique, and that's good."

McIlravy also recalled the time Brinzer missed the team bus for a match at Minnesota. He caught a ride with a truck driver and arrived at the team hotel at 2:30 a.m.

And Brinzer noted several matches and practices he has nearly missed because he was playing video games.

He also remembered the time during a high school visit to Europe when he got lost and had no return ticket. He made it home from that mishap and has returned to Europe many times since.

One of those trips occurred the year after he transferred from Oklahoma State to Iowa. Brinzer was forced to sit out that year due to NCAA rules and spent much of that time in Bulgaria. He plans to return there after this season.

"I love it there," he said, standing in the corner of Assembly Hall wearing only a pair of fire-engine-red bikini briefs as he waited to weigh in at Big Tens. "Bulgaria is rough around the edges, and it's just a great place."

Brinzer said he has "dabbled in lots of languages" while in Europe and he tries to "get by on Russian."

"It's just phenomenal how intelligent he is," teammate Jeff McGinness said. Iowa heavyweight Erik Stroner added Brinzer is "one of the most intelligent people I know, professors included."

Brinzer is also a fine wrestler, and, not surprisingly, he is not traditional on the mat.

"He's an exciting wrestler to watch," Penn State Coaching Assistant Troy Sunderland said.

He often makes his moves up as he goes along and enjoys high-risk moves. He said he would rather "throw or be thrown, pin or be pinned."