Kyle Dake | Episode 9

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Shane Sparks

And welcome once again to Stories from the Resilite. This is episode nine. We have a four-time national champion at four different weight classes, four-time World champion and Dan Hodge Trophy winner Kyle Dake. Kyle, I could talk to you're one of those guys for three four days, but your career, it is great to see you. Thanks for coming on with us.

Kyle Dake

Thanks for having me. RAF Cruiserweight Champion,

Shane Sparks

Exactly. I was just gonna say that, Kyle. I was just going to say also the RAF Cruiserweight Champion. Let's start with that RAF. I mean, it is exploding right now. What are your thoughts on RAF? How much fun are you having competing on that circuit?

Kyle Dake

You know, it's finally like a big showcase, you know, like we've never, after you left the NCAA tournament, like you rarely got those once, maybe every four years with the Olympics, and then Olympic Team Trials is usually pretty big as well, but for the most part, like, you, we don't really have those opportunities to compete in front of a large crowd with all the fanfare, with all the production quality, like all of that, like, we don't really get that. So it's just nice to have, you know, that available to us now. I'm on the tail end of my career, you know, I only got at least, you know, I probably got 10 more years left in my career, just kidding, but you know, so it's like these kids who are 1819, 20 years old, you know, the idea is that this will be sustained and long lasting, and you know, Chad and Eric and Izzy are doing a great job with everything they have over there, you know, they got the jumpstart they needed with Hulk Hogan, and you know, having him bless it and kind of be a part of it was really important. You know, when they came to me, I was like, well, I was one of the first athletes that joined up with RAF, and you know, I wrestled on their first card, I'm wrestling on their first international card next week. So, you know, just like being a part of it has been something special and near and dear to my heart, because I want to give something back to the sport of wrestling, like, yeah, the titles are cool, the messaging is cool, like, you know what I, what I preach when I talk about giving people access to my entire life, you know, and we'll talk about that a little bit, but you know, RAF is just something to showcase all of that, and it's finally given us a platform to do just that, tell our story, and my story is a lot different than you know everybody else's story, and it's fun, it's unique, it's it's different, and we can tap into some of the MMA crowd, you know, the casual sports fan, because a lot more casual people who will watch MMA than wrestling, but we're starting to pull those people over, because we have the Arman Tsarukyan, because we have Khamzat Chimaev, because we have Merab Dvalishvili, because we have Henry, because we have Bo Nickal, you know, all these guys like, well, this actually looks fun, you know, these guys are way more active, we get to get to watch them compete, and that's the fun part for a fan. I mean, I love watching, you know, competitions and just seeing the best of the best go at it, so that's always a lot of fun, and already after showcasing that, they're able to put it together, and you know, they're running two simultaneous shows at the same time, so they're running the in-house show, which is much different than the TV show, and it's awesome, you know, like being there, it's so electric, it's so fun, you know, it is family-friendly, and they, you know, you kind of just have an opportunity to meet all the, meet all the athletes the morning of, or the afternoon before, and then you know, just the show is awesome in house, and then obviously being able to watch at home, you know, you get to see high level wrestling, and you get to be a part of really history, I mean, this is this is historical, what they're doing in 12 months, 11 months' time, like this is unprecedented, and not even Chad, not even Eric thought that this was going to be where it is now. A year ago, and they were, you know, a year ago they're hoping, you know, to be in this position in three years, four years, and they're just moving so fast, and they're doing a good job scaling, they're not losing the quality of the product, and we're just having a lot of fun doing it, you know, like the more I can compete, the better I feel. It hasn't always been that way, but you know, RAF is giving me that opportunity to compete a lot and step out on the mat more than, more than a couple times a year.

Shane Sparks

I encourage anybody to give it a shot. You are right when you are in house with DJ Silver and the Pyro and the production. It is an amazing experience. It's a good time. It's a great marriage between wrestling and entertainment. I think, how the one thing, in my opinion, and you alluded to it, that I think they are doing a tremendous job of is giving access to these young fans, specifically to superstars like yourself. When you were growing up, who was that guy for you?

Kyle Dake

I think growing up, it was Travis Lee. He was kind of that guy for me. I was six miles down the road from Cornell University. Travis was a two-time NCAA champion, he won the NCAA championship, and then lost his junior year, and then came back and won again, and I was just like looking at this guy, like, man, he's unbelievable, you know? He would, he was really talented, and in 2008 I thought that he, you know, he could have been the rep for us. He ended up going overseas, broke his neck, and that kind of ended the streak for him to make an Olympic team, so he was always my favorite guy to watch growing up, and then we had Troy Nickerson, who was, you know, a local guy, was on my same club team growing up, and he was winning everything, you know, so like even in high school I was like looking at him and I was like, man, this dude just keeps winning and goes to college, I think he took first, second, third, and fourth, you know, during his career, which is an unbelievable career, and just to be able to, like, kind of, he was my, he was a senior captain when I was a freshman at Cornell, and it was just cool to watch him through high school, and be like, wow, this guy is something special, like, he's really good, and those are probably the two guys I remember watching, and thinking, like, man, I could, I could do that'd be pretty cool. And now the access is just so much greater, like you said, like you're able to see, you know, not only you're getting access online, you know, through, you know, TV rights, and through online platforms to be able to, like, just connect with these superstars, but also just like it now more than ever, like you can see behind the scenes, you know, like we're talking about it before we got on. Is I've had someone following me for 12 years, from 2012 the start of my senior year, going from my fourth NCAA title until the Olympics in 2024 You know, I had his name is Greg Accetta. He's a film producer. He was a wrestler himself, wrestled at NYU, and he just decided, like, hey, I want to, I want to do this, and someone called him. Originally, it was supposed to be just my senior year. It was actually for something else. Greg tells the story really well, but this guy named Adam Frey, who ended up passing away from cancer, and he was on the, he was a highly touted recruit at, I think he wrestled at Blair, but out of New Jersey, and came up to Cornell, and you know, he was, we thought he was going to be something really special, and cut a ton of weight, end up, you know, getting into, I think it was a car accident, found out he had a tumor in his stomach, and it was. it wasn't shortly after that happened, but I remember going to his. his services after the EIWA is my freshman year. Yeah, we went down. I think it was the UWS. might have been. it might have been a dual me, but I remember going to it. and. but anyway, Greg was. was supposed to do a story on that, and that transformed into my senior year story, and so they made the film Four for Four that came out. I don't know, it was, I mean, it was small, but he was like, I think there's more story here, and he saw the evolution of where I was and where I was, you know, going, and he kind of just kept following around, and it's called Kid Dynamite: The Kyle Dake Story is the new one, and we're in post production now, and we're, I think, we have a home. I don't know if I'm allowed to say exactly where it is, but we're, we're partnering up with RAF, and they're going to help us, you know, with the production side of that, post production side of that, and it's going to be awesome. We're going to find a home for it. I think we have one, but I like I said, I don't know if I'm allowed to say, but yeah, really exciting, and it's going to be an awesome film. It's not totally just about wrestling, there's a lot of interconnectedness, you know, being a father, being a son, you know, extreme loss in your life. How do you bounce back from that injury setbacks, like what are all these things that we all go through in all of our lives, you know? Everyone can talk, you know, look at the storm back, oh, I connect with that, I that happened to me, you know, mine was a little bit different, but how do I come back? And some people just need a little bit of hope, and that's really what I'm hoping that I can do is just say, hey, like, yeah, all this terrible stuff has happened, and seemingly, you know, brutal things, but you can always come back, you know, you can always, you know, can always perform, and you know, I lost my dad nine days before the Olympic Team Trials, and still made the Olympic team, and you know, it was a really tough year that year, and it was all captured, and you know, my I feel like I'm more of a depth person. You know, I love to, like, really get to know somebody and like understand their story rather than surface level. And you know, social media to me, like, it's very powerful, but there's not much depth, like it has to be over a long period of time, where you kind of get to know the person, then even then you don't really know, you know, they're the side that they want to put on camera, and with Greg, I mean, he has 12 years of, you know, my highest highs and my lowest lows, and you know, hopefully, I mean, you could probably make a five part film out of this thing. It's, I think, it's going to be a feature like film, and I know Greg's going to do a great job. So, I'm really excited about that too.

Shane Sparks

I can't wait to watch this. And you said it, Kyle, your journey is pretty amazing, because you have had the highest of highs, and you've had some tough days as well, and I think that's what's interesting about your career, is I can't connect with a Kyle Dake in many ways, but I actually, in some ways, I can, which is pretty cool when you look at your journey, and it's been a long one, as you said, ups and downs, things in between. What's the coolest part about your journey,

Kyle Dake

Man? That's a, that's a tough one, because the whole journey is just so amazing, and you know, there was times in my life, where, and hopefully we can capture this, but you know, I was, I was looking under every single stone, and I was trying to find answers, whether it would be for my injuries, sickness, you know, my mom and my mother-in-law both being in the hospital at the same time with cancer, and like, how do we get through that, and you know, those are things that you got to learn to battle and try to understand, like, hey, what's really the purpose here? And my mom's mantra was always like, everything happens for a reason, you know, there's a reason behind it, we might not know it now, but there's, oh, you know, everything happens for a reason, and you know, looking back at it now, it's a very biblical teaching, but it was never had that label on it. And in 2020 24 I gave myself to Christ, and that was probably my favorite part of this whole thing is, man, even I was fiercely debating, you know, Christianity and the church and all of these things, and from a long time, from my time in college, and until, like I said, 2024 like it was just something that I, you know, I just wanted to do, I just felt like that, you know, urge to go do it, and finally, you know, after my dad passed, after, you know, I moved out of State College, away from my family to start a business, and then David ended up, you know, taking this great opportunity, you know, 2000 miles away, and then having to like figure that out, then go to the Olympics, fall short of my goals, then my son's getting sick, it was just like this, it was just like I felt like I was taking punch after punch after punch after punch, and you know, just, what do you, what do you do in response to that? You know, are you going to lay down and just take the beating? Are you going to keep getting up and keep going? And you know, I'm glad to be on the other side of that, and it's mostly thanks to me finally, you know, finally turning over that last rock that I was looking at, which was Jesus. So I'm really blessed to have that.

Shane Sparks

What are you most grateful for when you look at your faith journey? How has it really impacted your life?

Kyle Dake

I mean, it's completely changed who you know, my perspective and who I am. And don't get me wrong, like this isn't all you know, sunshine and rainbows, you know, there are times where you're just battling, and you don't understand, and you're like asking why, and you know you're trying to, trying to understand what your place is here, and it's one thing to know, like, oh, I can say, oh, I know I'm supposed to be this way, I know I'm supposed to feel this, I know this, and that's just your mind, you know, that's not really who you are, that's not your spirit, and to be able to be able to like fully embody your spirit and letting the Holy Spirit lead you is really something special, and it's a journey, and I'm still, I'm still an infant in all this, and but what I will say is I'm super grateful to all the people who you know have planted seeds. I was on another podcast, and they're like, they asked who my, you know, who influenced me the most, and in this area, and I was like, honestly, it was, it was some of those guys at the Olympic Training Center in the Cornell dorm rooms who, you know, we're just planting seeds, and I wanted to fight them, and I wanted to debate them, and I wanted to do the gotcha, and I wanted that. I was just so competitive, and I just. I. I've called most of those guys, and just said thank you. And because they did plant a seed, and that those seeds are coming up now, and you know, I'm just really fortunate to be in the position that I'm at.

Shane Sparks

You've done a ton of winning, but I always go back, Kyle. I find myself just being more fascinated. I don't want to say winning is easy, because it's not, but I, at least my perception is, when you're on top of the world, get knocked down, and then come back and get that next best thing, that to me is just something my mind is more fascinated by. Want to go back to the Olympics. We're going to start here, 2021 You were on a roll, you win world titles in 2018 2019 You're devastating everybody. You suffer a setback in the Olympics. I believe you got teched, and then you come back and get a bronze medal, if you. Can take me back to the disappointments of that tournament, and ultimately, how did you not up and take third and get a bronze medal?

Kyle Dake

Yeah, I mean, that was during the lockdown, so it was like kind of a crazy time. We went over to Japan, and we were there for three weeks before we competed, and we were locked down, we had yard time, we had a, we had a hotel all to ourselves, and we got tested every morning, and we were allowed one hour in the morning outside, and we were cooped up, and then we could go to practice, and it was just like it was such a weird time frame, it wasn't like everyone was going through it, so it wasn't unique just to us, but it was just so interesting and strange, and it was seven days before I was supposed to wrestle, and I woke up, and I could barely walk, and I was like, what's going on, like nothing happened, I can't remember anything happening, you know, it was a normal day the day before, and so I'm like gingerly on it, you know. We're talking to the chiropractor, we're talking to the massage therapist, you know, the doctors that are with us, and like, ah, maybe, you know, it's just a little inflamed, and so I'm doing all the things that I know how to do and have access to do at that time, and you know it was just like, how is this happening seven days before I'm supposed to compete? This is ridiculous. And so I didn't wrestle for five days, and I get to, we get to Tokyo, and you know, still kind of hobbling around, and you know, I've had some weird experiences with, like, getting cortisone shots and that sort of thing. I'm like, man, I don't want to do that before the Olympics, and I want to, you know, I just want this thing to be better. And there are some people who, you know, move mountains to try to help me. And it was like this, you know, tiniest little things. And you know, Joe DeSanto, I mean, he did something pretty amazing for me. I won't go into the details, but he was just like unbelievable, trying to help me, and you know, so we get to do, we get to competition day, and you know, it's just like, alright, well, let's just go get it, you know? Who cares? You know, who cares if you hurt? So I won my first match, and then I ran it, ran into Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau, and he was having a great tournament, and you know, I felt like there was some positions, like I got caught in a position normally would not bother me at all, and I just had no, I had no drive, and he threw me to my back, and then got two, and I was just like, man, I'm down six zero, and you know that, and then it just unraveled from there, you know, I'd go and get a, I thought I got a push out, they didn't call, I thought I got another push out. They didn't call it, and I ended up giving up points, and I'm down nine zero. And you know, I'm like, all right, well, hopefully shoots on my leg, and I can go for it. And just, it was like kind of go for broke, and I end up getting tapped. And I'm sitting in the back, and I'm like, this guy has French to me, so next, and I don't know, I mean, I'm wrestling on one leg, like, is he good enough to be frank? I don't know, and obviously he was, and but he was losing the match, and I'm like, man, my tournament's done, like, my Olympics are over, this is not how I envisioned it at all, and he ended up winning the match, and I instantly put on, put on my plastics and started running and losing weight and getting ready for the next day, and you know, I was just like, man, this is really tough to go through, but I ended up wrestling the Cuban in the morning, and I ended up getting a shot in my foot, and before warm-ups, and then I wrestled, took a break, and then got another shot before I wrestled Frank, and you know, like it was like just took away the edge, and I don't know, that you know, I look back at those matches and I don't really remember them, I remember watching them afterwards, I don't really remember them, you know, and it was just like a weird thing, but I remember just like getting a jolt of energy when I was pulled back in, and I was like, man, like this is an opportunity, like I need to go capture this right now, and you know, we hear it all the time in sport of wrestling, like, go get the next best thing, and it was true, it sounds cliche, but it's true, like, what are you going to do, like, are you just going to be like, "Oh, I lost, so you know, like, I didn't get gold, so it's nothing, and that's just not the case, and just like, I'm glad that I had those values instilled in me from a young age, like, just to go get it, you know, do what you can, and if you lose, so what, you know, go compete, and that's why you're here. So, yeah, it was a, it was a crazy one. It was Tokyo, was in a wild ride as well, wild ride,

Shane Sparks

2024 in Paris. That crazy match with Daichi Takatani from Japan, again, you find a way to come back and get the bronze medal. What do you appreciate, Kyle, when you look inward about yourself, just having that kind of mental fortitude? I mean, do you, does that resonate with you? I mean, you get it, how incredible that

Kyle Dake

Is. I, maybe I don't know, I mean, I just feel like that was just something I was like, man, I can't believe I just gave up 20 points, like the thought was, like, if I scored 12 points in every one of my matches, like I'm going to win this thing, and I did that, I scored double digit points in every single one of my matches, and I just happen to lose a match, you know, I get my legs crossed up, I get laced for six, and you know, there's two situations, which I'm like, how is that two and two, and in the moment and then I'm like, man, like I am in a hole here, and you know there's no time left on the clock, and what am I going to do, and I lose, and I know I'm in for a medal, at least I was in the semis, and I go back, and I'm just having a really hard time, and who's going to, you know, who's going to play that small violin, the pity party? Nobody cares, like we're moving on, and you know, I went and started cutting weight again, and just getting my, get my body down, and that match was crazy in the, in the bronze medal, you know, wrestling a World champion, you know, thinking like, man, I can, I can go out here and compete again, you know, I get a chance, and let's just go get this one, and it was a weird match, you know, I was in my head, I was thinking all the time, I was, I was trying to think before I shot, instead of just shooting, and ended up going down four to one, you know, it's three to one, and then Cael lost the challenge, and they were challenging wrong. I was yelling at them, and like, you're not looking at the right spot, and Coach Cael always just says, you know, so what? Who cares, you know, like, so what? You're down, you're injured, you know, you have a belly ache, who cares? So what? And just remember looking over to Coach Cody, and he's like, "You're going to have to put two together, and I was like, "Alright, well, I'm going to put 20 together and try to figure this out. So I just go out and fake snap under hook, snap, fake shoot, get him out of bounds, get to his leg, get to his body, and score takedown. I'm down four to three, and I look over at the clock, and you know, I'm short on time, and all right. Well, I gotta go again. So, fake snap, go, go, and get behind, and he's in a quadpod, and I know these guys are really good in quadpod, but I just gave everything I had to pull him back, and got a throw and a turn, and you know, I don't really remember the last, like, 20 seconds, but I do remember looking up and seeing my family, and you know, just being able to share that moment with them was pretty cool. So, yeah, it was, it was a lot, you know, and again, the next best thing, and people would kill to have, you know, a bronze medal, and I'm super grateful for those opportunities, and to have those, and you know, I'm, I'm still doing this because I love it, and it's fun, and I enjoy, you know, the lifestyle that I have. You know, I'm able to be at breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my kids, and you know, it's just something special that isn't going to last forever, but you know I'm, I've been doing everything in my power to extend my longevity in my career in the sport, and you know I was fortunate enough this year to make the team again, and just excited to go compete over in Kazakhstan in October.

Shane Sparks

What are the biggest differences between you now compared to 10 years ago mentally.

Kyle Dake

Oh, I mean, now I'm just led by Christ. I think that's the biggest thing, you know. I'm spirit led rather than, you know, mentally trying to put myself there emotionally or physically. Those are all tools like that we can use and tap into, but just looking through the lens of Christ first has helped me a ton, and you know, I just look back in 2016 and I just, I was, I mean, so close to making the team, like so close to making that was

Shane Sparks

Against Jaden Cox,

Kyle Dake

Yeah, and you know, I weighed 177 pounds, that's crazy. Night before weigh-ins, he was ginormous. I mean, yes, you know, I think he said he weighed up close to 210 when we wrestled, you know, and it was, it was just crazy, you know, it was a crazy ride, and you know, I lost the first one, and I thought it was just a weirdly rough match. Then I won the second one on my heart. Here we go, I got the momentum, and I had a single leg in the air, finished a single leg, and I go to the Olympics, or I get to go qualify the weight, and you. Had just like I was dealing with injuries, I was dealing with so many things, and you know, again, it was a little bit of like, who cares, so what, like, just go get it, and I fell short, and it was just like, really a test, like, hey, like, can you bounce back from this, because I, after that, I got shoulder surgery, I was thinking about retiring, just moving into coaching, and you know, maybe I'll come back for 2020 but I don't know. I mean, it's just. it's a long way away. And at the time, there was, you know, 74 or 86 I didn't want to make. I didn't want to make 74 again. I was just, you know, the way everything was set up with people getting to sit out like back then. You know, now you get to sit out, and then you have several weeks from when you make it to go to final X, well, in 2013 to 2016 you had to, you had to wrestle the guy who meddled the previous year. Later that day, he weighed in, sat out, and then you had to wrestle two or three matches, and then go wrestle him. And I just remember thinking, like, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of, and they finally changed it in 2018 and yeah, it was just. it was crazy. I mean, it just. that the time, and you know, it's all by, you know, his design. It's not. you know, there's nothing we can do about except get better. And I think USA Wrestling is in a good spot. We have a ton of depth, we have a ton of really good athletes, world champions, Olympic medalists, Olympic champions that are still competing and competing at a high level, and it's, it's a lot of fun to be a part of it.

Shane Sparks

Thinking back to that match with you and Jaden Cox, he's one of the all-time greats. You were right there against him, as you mentioned, giving up a boatload of weight. The word that comes to mind to me, Kyle, is courage. What is courage to Kyle Dake,

Kyle Dake

Man? I mean, you gotta, you just sometimes gotta put it, a, you know, put whatever you think aside, you know, you're just like putting aside, like, you know, this guy's bigger than me, he's stronger than me, I'm tired, my shoulder hurts, like, I can't do anything, but like I'm going to go out there anyway, and I'm just going to do it, you know? Even when you're scared, like you only have courage when you're scared and you're fearful, and if you, if you're not scared or fearful, then that's not courage. And I think sometimes people will be scared to do something and then just not do it, and they didn't show any courage because they didn't do it, so it's just about going and doing the thing, and once you get through it, you know, like, oh, wasn't that scary after all, I'm not that fearful, like, okay, I lost, like, whatever, you know, like, what's the worst that could happen in a wrestling match, like, I get beat, okay, what's the worst thing I can do in business, like, I lose everything, okay, you know, like, who can, you know, at the end of the day, like, who cares, you know? Like, I think mostly, can I impact the world with what I'm doing? You know, am I am I showcasing to a seven year old kid who's in the hospital because he has stage four cancer, and can I show him, like, hey, I know you're scared, but go do it anyway, just go get that, go through it, you got this, and that's something that I could show, like that would be fantastic, and yeah, I feel like my life is super easy, and I don't feel I don't feel super courageous when I go out and compete, because I've seen what these other people do, somebody posted recently about Bill Koll, World War II vet, and how he was, you know, he came back to coaching, and Rob, you know, Rob Koll told stories about his dad, and just saying how, like, a concussion is nothing when you've seen your best friend's legs and arms blown off, like it's like, yeah, that puts a lot into perspective, like concussions are nothing to scoff at, but you know, the things could be a lot worse, like I could, I could be over in a foxhole, you know, trying to defend the country and having bullets fly through my head next to my head, but I'm in a safe environment, you know, yeah, a lot of you are watching, you know, we create this big environment, and it is big, it is important, we are, we do love it, like, we, this is, these are things, but always trying to put it back into perspective, like, how can I put it back into perspective, and then, and then go through it. So, yeah, courage is something that you know, you just have to, it's just the act of going through fear, like, can you go through fear, and can you put your best foot forward with it, and I think that's it.

Shane Sparks

You had won your fourth national title in 2013 Those matchups with Burroughs, you get on your first world team at 2018 It didn't come overnight. I mean, there were struggles, and you were so close. And the reality, Kyle, is you're one of the best in the world, but at that time couldn't get past Burroughs. I almost compare it to the way Alex Dieringer must look at you. I mean, so close, just couldn't quite get through. What do you recall from those disappointments over the years? And again, I go back to how did you persevere?

Kyle Dake

Yeah, I mean, like you said, Alex Dieringer is phenomenal. I mean, he was so good. Yeah, you know, and I mean, I had to really, I had to really concentrate. Andrew,

Shane Sparks

How is another one of those guys? I mean, there were a handful of you guys that were so good.

Kyle Dake

Yeah, and they, I mean, you know, going out and, you know, those guys are going out and winning, you know, now they're called ranking series tournaments, so huge tournaments, and they were beat the best guys in the world. And if it was any, you know, if it was track or swimming, they'd be there, and they'd be on the medal stand. And you know, that's how I felt in 2013 I'm like, man, like I feel like I'm the best guy in the world, but I just am stuck behind a guy who happened to win a medal last year, and he gets to sit out like this sticks, but who cares, you know? Like, I'm really mad, I'm really frustrated, and you know, there's definitely times when I was like, you know, having my own pity party, and but like looking back on it, I just went back to work. I'm like, okay. Well, how do I do it? And what do I have to do? How do I do it? And it really drove me to try to figure it out. And 2014 I was injured. 2015 I'm like, dude, I cannot be injured again. This is ridiculous. And started, you know, start a new form of training, you know, just really focusing on, you know, my body, and you know, trying to be the best I could be, and eating differently and better, and getting out in the sun, and putting my feet on the ground, and things that you know are standard, the foundation of what makes a human operate to the best of its ability, and then afterwards I'm wrestler, so then in 20, you know, end of 2015 I had to get a freak injury, and you know, fractured my scapula, and tore my rotator cuff, tore my labrum, tore my biceps tendon, and you know, I can get surgery, but it's six months, and I'm out of the Olympic Team Trials, or I'm out of, I'm out of the world team trials in 2015 I'm like, man, like, let me take six weeks and let this bone heal, and then we'll go from there. Like, how do we, you know, how are we doing? And I did, about, you know, I did PRP, you know, trying to get it back, and it was okay, it was good, I mean, it was okay, and fell short again, and I'm like, well, I can get surgery now, and then try to come back from a recovered surgery for 2016 and I have to do not do it and so it's just like from you know 2020 13 with my foot injury all the way to 2017 when I was just coming back from a surgery like I felt like I was never got a full season of training and I think I held on to that I think I was like when you get a full cycle, you're going to be great, you know. And then 2018 was my first full cycle, you know. I ended up going to the World Championships and won the World Championships, beating a guy that I had lost to earlier in the year, and in pretty dominating fashion, I'm like, alright, this is what I know, this is what I know I can do, let me go do it again, and I got injured in 2018 had another surgery, had to come back, delayed the wrestle off, but ended up winning the World Championships again, and then, and then Covid hit. It was just like all these things like just accumulating, and we all, you know, people go through way worse seasons than that, so you know to persevere in a sport again, it's just the microcosm of life, and there's other people that are going through much more difficult things and persevering as well, and again, if it's just a little bit of inspiration, if it's a little bit of like a nudge, like, hey, you got this, go get it, I'm very happy to do that. Very blessed. So I'm hopeful that I can use my platform to help people,

Shane Sparks

Especially after all those successes at Cornell. How do you keep the self doubt from taking over your mind?

Kyle Dake

Yeah, like you just believe, you know. Back then it was just belief. It was like, hey, I can do this, you know? Like, I got knocked down. Where

Shane Sparks

Did that come from? Kyle,

Kyle Dake

I think that came from my mom. My mom was always like, you can do it, anything, no matter what. You could, alright, you can do it. You know, what's your goal? Like, write your goal down. I want to, you know, I want to be a state champion. Okay, write it down and focus on it, and make sure you know you're doing everything you can to get there, and you know every decision that you make, you know, is that is that going to help you get there? Is it going to hurt you from getting there? And I took it seriously. I took it really seriously from a young age. I was like, okay, I had this filter that is it going to get me there? Is it not going to get me there? And I have a decision, which way am I going to go? I'm going to go this way, and every decision I made, I was just like, I want this is what I want, I want this. And you know, there was, I was a kid, so like, there was other things going on, you know, I wanted a girlfriend, I wanted to go hang out with my friends, I want. To do you know, go to formal. I wanted to go to prom. I wanted to do this, and, but I was like, I don't want any of that stuff as much as I want this, and so I am focused on this. This is what I'm going to do, you know. Do I have to do 100 pull-ups a night? Okay, 100 pull-ups. You know, whether it was what my dad told me, my grandpa told me, what, you know, what Coach Koll told me, what Scott Green told me, whoever, all these guys, like, what do what are they telling me to do? And I'll do it, and I'll get there. And again, I fell short of my goals, and in high school, I, you know, I fell short of my goals in college. You know, I wanted to be an undefeated four-time national champion, and I fell short of my goals in 2012 and 13 and 16 and 21 and 24 you know, I'm always falling short, and but I mean I'm still like, okay, I'll get back up and I'll keep going and I'll keep going, and I think it was just instilled from a young age, like, hey, like, what do you want, go pursue that, and don't let anybody stop you. Just go, just go, go.

Shane Sparks

You talked about writing your goals down. I forgot that was the story where you had the notebook, and you wrote down, I want to be a four time national champ, or four time undefeated national champ. What was the story with that again?

Kyle Dake

Yeah, so my mom, when she dropped me off at school, she gave me a little notebook, and had a little note in it from Mom and Dad, and you know it said it said 2012 Olympic champion, four time NCAA champion, and so I had, you know, I was like, well, what's my goal right now? And my goal was I committed to wrestling 141 that's what I certified at, so I was 141 pound d1 NCAA national champion, 2010 141 pound d1 NCAA national champion, and then it was like, you know, I did that once in the morning, once in the evening, and I did it, did it, did it, and I won, and then after that I was like, I am going up a weight class, I'm going 149 so then I started my goals over again, 149 pound d1 NCAA National Champion, and I wrote that twice in the morning, twice in the evening, and then I won, and I was like, "Okay, well, now it's three times, and I'm going up again. I'm wrestling 157 like I'm not making 149 again, and you know, three times the morning, three times in the evening, every day. And then sometimes it was like on my notepads, you know, like I was in school, you know, in class, waiting, and just writing it down, and just like, hey, what are you focused on? You know, like, are you here focused? Like, are you, are you in that, in that, in that head space? And then my senior year was four times, you know, four times in the morning, four times in the evening, and if I messed up, I would have to rewrite it, you know, I tear the whole page out, and I fill the page back up, and then, you know, make sure I hit it, you know, the right way. If I misspelled something, or if I had, like, you know, any little thing, you know, I would, I would just go back and do it. But just really, I was obsessive about it. I wanted that so much, like nothing was going to deter me from putting my best foot forward and doing it. And then I was, you know, I was blessed to be able to do it, you know. It was, it was cool.

Shane Sparks

Where is that notebook?

Kyle Dake

I think it's in the wrestling hall of fame. I think it's out there. Maybe it's not, maybe it's at my house. I don't know.

Shane Sparks

Where do you keep Kyle, the Hodge Trophy, the four wall charts, the Olympic medals, the world championship medals? Where is all this stuff?

Kyle Dake

Right next to the HVAC system, at my old house, we had a little bit of a display case, and we had some stuff, but then when we moved down to State College, there was no like real place for me to put it like that I was like excited to put it, so I have the only thing I have up by my NCAA trophies are in my office on a bookshelf, and then my singlet from my fourth NCAA title, the one they framed for me, being a senior, is up on the wall, and then I think my Olympic singlet from 2021 is on the wall as well, or one of the replicas. I don't know, but those are the only things that I really have displayed. My charts are downstairs somewhere. My Hodge Trophy is at the bottom of the stairs, so every time I go downstairs I see it, but and I go downstairs every day, so I see it every day.

Shane Sparks

What accolade, what award means the most for whatever reason.

Kyle Dake

You know, original answer is just, you know, follower of Christ. I think that's probably my number one accolade. And then father, you know, like I have four beautiful children and an amazing wife. Like, I'm so blessed to have that as well, in sport, I mean, you know, world champion is pretty cool. Four-time NC champion is really cool, but I just think, I think those are all like, it's, it's hard for me to say. Like it's not a big deal, because it is a big deal, but it's easy for me to say, like, oh, it's not that big of a deal, because I did it, you know, there's some guys who never did it, and you know, like, my Olympic bronze medal this past, this two years ago was like awesome, like I loved it, because I wrestled the way I wanted to, I scored a lot of points, and you know, I never stopped, and that was just kind of my goals, like I reached my goals, even though the results weren't there, I had reached my goals of what I wanted to do at that Olympic Games, and because I wasn't setting, I would say I need to be an Olympic champion, like you know, when you put that, when you put that out there's so many variables that go into that, whereas if you say, "Hey, I'm going to go out and wrestle hard, I'm going to go out and try to score as many points as I can, I'm going to move my hands and move my feet, and I'm just going to do my best, that's it. And the results will take care of themselves. Sometimes they fall your way, sometimes they don't fall your way, and that is just something I'm, I'm okay living with, so that bronze medal is pretty special too.

Shane Sparks

There's always good college wrestling debates. I like the debate of greatest college wrestler ever, and I will debate this. Give me the Kyle Dake card. You were a true freshman. I mean, that's that's a big part that I think it's lost. You're a true freshman. You were 19 years old for about a month when you won that first NCAA title. The guys you beat: Montel Marion, two-time finalist, Frank Molinaro, four-time All-American national champ, Derek St. John, four-time All-American national champ David Taylor, one of the all-time greats. I will play the Kyle Dake card all day long. Are you Kyle Dake, the best college wrestler of all time?

Kyle Dake

Man, that would be a great headline if I just was like, I, but like, I look at Coach Cael, I'm, you know, yeah, he, you know, his red shirt, you, he took one loss, but he was so dominant, and he was just crushing everybody, and you know, he wrestled at such a high pace, it was so fun to watch him go out and compete, and you know, even now I like watching him wrestle in the room, and my career, like, I think a better question is, like, what's what's more likely to happen, you know, another four-time undefeated NCAA champion, or five now, or, you know, four time, four different weight class, five time, five different weight classes. I don't know the answer to that, like, that the probability of both of those things are so small that it would be hard to debate anything, like I mean, they're so small, and you know, we always think, oh, that undefeated national champ freshman year, like he's got a chance, and then something happens, or they run into another buzz song, you know, like Isaiah Martinez is one of those guys, I'm like, dude, this guy is a freak, like he's so good, I don't see anyone beating him. And then he gets beat, you know, he loses, and it's just like, oh, well, maybe he's not, you know, you get a guy like Zain Retherford for who wrestled his true freshman year and beat Logan Stieber, and it was like, man, should this guy have red shirted that year? If he red-shirted, would he be an undefeated four-time NCAA champion, but that wasn't his goal. Like, his goal, he's like, "I want to wrestle. Even you're a red shirt, he's like, "I want to wrestle, and they're like, "Nope, you got a red shirt this year, we're going to redshirt these guys, blah blah. And yeah, so I think you know, then you get there's just so many good guys now, like you're going to run into somebody who's really, really good, and you know, is it possible? Yeah, is it likely? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. It's really hard to say. So, yeah, Coach Caelo's career is pretty awesome. He's just an awesome dude, too, and look up to him a lot. So, yeah,

Shane Sparks

What has surprised you about Cale Sanderson in training at Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, and getting to know him, and spend time with him, see him every day? What really stands out to you?

Kyle Dake

I think a big thing is just like authenticity, you know, like he's just like he is, he does what he says, and he like, he is that, like, he'll say, you know, like, you know, he's competitive, he's really competitive, and he wants to win, and when he puts himself in those situations, he's going to do everything, you know, within the rules to go compete and go win, whether it's dodgeball or, you know, wrestling match, or, you know winning an NCAA title as a team, he's just super competitive and wants to do that, you know, every single day he's like, you know, talking to us about like different things about life, and he's of course he loves wrestling and of course he wants to win, but he talks more about you know. Know our eternal life, the eternal principles. Where are we in the eyes of God? Like all of these things, that's just like a daily reminder. And he's always trying to build up, you know, all of his athletes, not just for the NCAA tournament, and for four years or five years that they're at school. He wants them to go beyond that, and you know, whether it's someone like James English, who comes in, and you know, he has a busted up neck on All-Armites, he can't shoot, like he literally can't shoot, so he has to snap down, run around everybody, and he does that, and ends up taking, I think, sixth place, maybe in All-American, and that was the difference for them winning, and now he's just like Coach Cael is probably, I mean, that's probably one of his more proud guys to get back, because he was done, and he talks about that, like, you know, that whether it's perseverance or just like faith, and like what the system is that here to do like the system that you know the coaching staff has put together, you know, it's it's pretty cool to see, and it hasn't. I mean, I've only been here for four years, so I didn't know, I don't know what he was like in 2012 or 20, you know, 2010 when he got here, and you know what he was, you know, how much did he, you know, like here, some snippets of, like, oh, this is what we did, and, but for the most part, it's very consistent, and you know, talk about his flaws, and he'll talk about, you know, things that he's working on, and you know, he's not trying to hide anything, you know, there are some certain things that, you know, him and the coaching staff burden, and they don't share everything with the guys, because they don't need to know either, but they do a really good job of, like, you know, we call, I call, I call all those guys stress eaters, so there's any stress in the air, you know, you just give it to them, and then they'll handle it. And I think that's, that's something that's really good. And you see it in the corner, I mean, you see how they act in the corner, it's like, oh, wow, these guys are hanging out, they're not losing their minds.

Shane Sparks

How difficult of a decision was it to make that transition to state college? And what do you recall from the conversations of letting the guys know at Cornell, who you loved, had a lot of success with, that you were, that you were moving on.

Kyle Dake

Yeah, that was a hard one. Cornell been in my life since I was born. My dad coached there, you know, the year I was born. He was a volunteer coach there. He's helping out Coach Koll, and yeah, I just. I went to all of their dual meets. I mean, I was at, you know, their home opener in their new facility. You know, I was. I was at nearly every home match that I could go to. You know, I was always going to Cornell camps and wearing the shirts and doing everything, so yeah. Then obviously everything that Cornell gave me, you know, I got an Ivy League education and I was able to perform, you know, on the biggest stages in college, and I was afforded opportunity, like the people there, you know, is like that was the hardest part, like all these people poured so much into me, and I won a bronze medal with them, and I won world titles with them, and I, you know, I did all these things with them, and you know, like just having to dig deep and like understand, like, hey, like, is this the best place for me to be if I want to go be an Olympic champion, like, is this the best place for me? And there's great guys, and there was great support, and there was all these great things, and it was just. it was a hard decision for me to make. We were leaving our family, my wife's family is from there, we were leaving my parents, we were leaving my brother and sister, we're leaving Megan's brother, sister, you know, so it was just a lot, you know, we were, we had to make a decision, and ultimately we decided to move down, and I'm very thankful that we did that. I love it down here, I love our community, I love everything about it, I love being able to go back home too. It's just a new phase of life, it's a new chapter, and you know, it was really hard, and because I remember talking to Coach Cale, I think it was in 2019 He said, "Hey, man, you should come up, and I'm like, "Yeah, let's do it, and came up and trained, and then, you know, kind of had a little bit more serious conversation, like, "I don't really want to leave before the Olympics, I don't want to change anything up, I don't want this big drastic thing before then, and I feel good where I'm at, and he's like, hey, no problem, and then you know 2020 comes around and Covid hits, and then I was like, oh, talk to Coach Cael, he's like, hey, you come down, like, well, I mean, I still want to, you know, win the Olympics, and it's pushed back here, he's like, yeah, no problem, no problem, and then after, during, I made the team, and then Coach Koll announced that he was leaving, and Mike Grey was there, and you know, it was like, man, do I want to coach right now, like, do I want to do, I take over a program, do I want to be on staff, you know, what does that look like, and Mike's done a great job up there, and one of my teammates, one of my. Coaches, one of my friends, and that was a hard decision to kind of like, because Rob was leaving, Gabe was leaving, I was on staff, I was going to step down just to focus on competing, and Mike was there, and he's like, "Hey, like, do you want to jump on staff? and I was like, "Dude, I know what you need to do like the effort that you're going to have to put in, and I can't put that effort in right now, like I need to put my effort into becoming, you know, what I want, you know, chasing my dreams. He's, I understand, and he's like, well, we want to keep you here, and I was like, I'll be here, let's get, let's get this thing back under us, you know. So, you know, they made some great hires. They hired Donnie Vinson, Kellen Russell, and Nick Gwiazdowski. You know, so it's like that's a great staff to have. And then I was there, and we had a bunch of, you know, really good guys that were still competing there, and then Frank Perrelli came in, and Frank was one of one of our roommates, close friends, he was going to be the RTC coach, and before he came, like, "Hey, listen, before all this went down, I was planning on leaving and going to Penn State in 2021 and he was like, 'We're going to do everything we can to keep here, and I was like, 'Alright, I mean, I'm here for a year, I've committed to staying here to help come out, help Mike, and you know, kind of just go through that process, and but I had known that I was going to come down to Penn State, and so the year, you know, I wrestled at the World Championships in 2022 and I won, and I moved down to State College in October of 2022 and yeah, it was a really, really hard decision. I had to, I had to leave some, you know, some of my closest friends that were up there and be like, "Hey, I'm making this decision, and leave my family, and we're going to go start something new, and I'm glad that we did.

Shane Sparks

2024 Olympic trials inside Bryce Jordan Center. You make the team as you mentioned your dad passed away little over a week before that. Tell me about your dad. I mean, tell me what kind of guy Doug was, and what do you miss most about him?

Kyle Dake

He worked so hard, and his laugh was infectious. I think I miss his laugh the most. He was just willing to laugh at himself, you know, crack jokes, and you know that was that's that's really something I do miss a lot. And I miss watching with my kids, you know. I'm sad that Evie never got to meet him. I'm sad that Leo was so young, because I see a lot of, a lot of my dad and Leo, and it would have been cool to see them, you know. Now, and like, Leo's four years old, four and a half years old, like, you know, how would that, how would that dynamic look, you know? What would my dad be? You know, what would those two be getting into? And so I missed that a lot. He was, he was tough, man. He was really tough. He was extremely hard worker, you know. He always kind of just kept his head down and worked, and whether it was in his business or coaching or whatever, like he was very selfless with all of his time, and he poured everything he had into me and my brother and my sister, and you know, I just, I miss him a lot, you know, I think about him all the time, and a lot of times it'll pop up in the weirdest way, like today I was helping my sister-in-law, they were looking for a battery, there were their 18 month old swallowed it, so we're like looking for this battery. I'm like, oh my gosh, here we go, and I go down, and there's like a vent on the floor, like a return vent for their central air, and I'm like, man, maybe it fell down there. So I take the grade off, and I'm looking in, it's like, you know, kind of a straight drop, but not really, and I'm like, man, it might have fallen into the bottom of this thing. So I go downstairs, I'm looking, I'm like, where the heck is this filter? Like, I cannot find, because mine is just like super easy, right in front, I can see it, no problem. And I'm like, looking around, it's dark, and I don't have my phone on me. I'm like, what am I doing? I'm, I'm just a mess right now. And I'm like, man, what would my dad do? Like, he would just tear this thing apart, and he would look right now, he'd cut a hole in the side of it, and then tape it back up and fix it, and it'll be no problem, and but so I was like, took me an extra 30 minutes to figure out, you know, where this air vent was. I was hidden behind a pipe, you know, a drain pipe on the HVAC with screws in it, and I'm like, How do I get in there? And it was just funny. It just reminded me of him, like he would have done it in like 10 seconds. No, and I'm like, "Man, I could be like, I could do that, and it takes me 30 minutes, and I'm like, "It's ridiculous. You

Shane Sparks

Find the battery?

Kyle Dake

No, we didn't find the battery. So we ended up finding out, though, that the, the garage door opener that the. That they had the previous owners had only one of them worked, and the other one didn't work, and it was because it didn't have a battery, so he's all good.

Shane Sparks

What did your dad do, Kyle, and your mom? Your mom's name is Jody. What did Doug and Jody do from a parental standpoint with a guy like you and your makeup in the sport of wrestling, how did they parent you?

Kyle Dake

They just had really high standards, and they wouldn't, they wouldn't let me fall off those standards, like one of the things that my dad always did, and in wrestling, but also in other sports, but he wouldn't let me, like, quit, like, if I committed to something, I was committed to doing it, and I had to do it, like, there was no, like, backing out, like, you just had, you know, you were committed, go do it, and so I think, you know, I have, I internalized that, I still internalize that too, is just like, hey, I committed to doing this, like, let's go, let's figure this out. Let's, let's make it happen. And that was from when I was in sixth grade, and my ninth grade year I was like, man, I want to quit baseball. I want to be done. Like, I don't want to, I don't want to do this. I want to wrestle only. And he's like, well, you committed you to your team, like you can't quit halfway through the season. You committed to your team, and I was like, "You're right, I did okay. You know, let's, let's go finish the season out, and, but you know, I committed to wrestling 141 my freshman year, and I was 162 pounds every Monday after a weekend, and having a cup back down, and then, yeah, it's mostly my fault, because I was being, you know, eating some of those things, but also I grew an inch that year, and I started to mature, and, and then the next year I committed to wrestle 149 and I was weighing 170 something pounds, and I was like, man, this is brutal, and, but I had committed to it, and our team was really good, so I just bit the bullet, and was like, alright, I'm going to make it, you know, no problem, and yeah, it was just like that in my head, there's over, you know, we don't, you know, you made a commitment, you made a commitment, you made a commitment, so that's just kind of always stuck with me, and on that side, my mom, she was just like, always tell me, hey, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it. I think I mentioned that before, but just that self-belief, like, hey, like, no matter what happens, how you're dealt, you know, whatever, just believe that you can do it, and if you believe that you can do it, then you're giving yourself the best shot, and you might fall short, but at least you're giving yourself the best shot, and I, again, I still believe that to this day, and you know, just having them both around and committed to like the excellence that I was committed to, and it's like they were like, alright, well, whatever we have to do to get, you know, like, we had to pay for him to go to Cornell, okay, no problem, like, we'll, we'll, we'll do that, you know, and we had to pay for him to go on all these trips, okay, we'll do that, you know, we have to spend all this time doing it, you know, we can't go on family vacations because we're going to wrestling tournaments, we can't do this, we're going to do this, and you know, just their commitment to my success, you know, I think is pretty unmatched, and they were just like always there, they were just there, and you know, anytime I needed something, I could just lean on them, and they were just there. So that was, that's probably the couple of best things

Shane Sparks

That 2012-13 season, you got three national titles, you got the Magic Man at 165 What went into that decision? When did you know I'm going up to 165

Kyle Dake

Well, so I wrestled 163 that summer at the Olympic Team Trials, and I had wrestled David, and I ended up, I think that one was he was on a single leg, and I picked his inside ankle, and put him on his back, and I got a touch ball, and I was like, sweet, let's go, you know. And Coach Koll, you know, brought me in and said, hey, NWCAA is hosting their all-star match, they want you to wrestle, David, do you want to wrestle catch weight? And I was like, catch weight, like, no, not really, like I'll just go up and wrestle him, and that was like kind of the first time Coach Koll and Damian and Mike were, and Jeremy were throwing around the idea, like, hey, maybe you know, maybe if Chicago's 65 then you know we're pretty good, you know, we can get this other kid down to 57 I think we'll be better at 57 and they had kind of tossed around the idea, and then after I wrestled David, I was like, alright, you know, do you want to wrestle 65 the rest of the year, or do you want to go back down, what do you want to do, and I was like, no, I want to go 65 the rest of the year, like, good, because it makes our team better, and I was like, alright, sweet, so that was it, you know, and then I was wrestling. 65 and you can really concentrate on getting better at wrestling, and really, you know, not worry about cutting any weight, because I was actually lighter my senior year than I was my junior year, just not cutting weight, just stabilizing my body where it was, and yeah, so I think it was beginning a year, and then again I was committed, so I was going to do it, and you know, my coaches just believed to be, to you know, they were just like willing to bet the house on me, and you know, just I could feel that, you know, I could feel that support, like you know, telling me that I can go do it, and it was just cool to have them in my corner and be able to compete the way I did,

Shane Sparks

In your quest for that fourth national title, were there any times that you felt the pressure? You remember any specific time where the pressure you could feel it was palpable?

Kyle Dake

I mean, going in the NCAA Finals wrestling day, I was like, alright, this guy's good, you know, we had a really tight match at Scuffle, you know, we had a really tight match at the NWCAA All-Star Classic, like, let's go get him, and we had game plan, you know, our whole season was game plan towards David, and he was buzz-sawing everybody, like he was just crushing everybody, and I just felt that, like, I had the skill set to neutralize a lot of the stuff he was doing, and I just, I just remember, like in the back, like I was, like I was ready, you know, I was calm, but I was ready, like I was pacing a ton in college, I paced so much, I think that's why my legs were so strong, was because I was just walking back and forth all the time, trying to get some of that nervous energy out, but yeah, I just remember, like, alright. Well, you know, can't turn back now. Like, let's go, let's go get it. And I think the best thing that happened was that I could just wrestle. I was just focused on wrestling. I wasn't thinking, you know, I wasn't like trying to calculate what to do, I wasn't doing any of that stuff. I just wrestled, and I gave the first takedown, got thrown out of bounds, got out, try to, you know, thought I had a reversal, so we challenged it. Looked over at Coach Koll, like, yeah, we're going to challenge it, and I said, okay, you know, and kind of just like, calm down, like, relax, let's get into this match, like, and my thought process always was this, like, okay, I get taken down, I get an escape, I go down, I get escapes two to two, I ride the guy out, I win three to two, or I get taken out, I get an escape, I get taken down again, I get escaped, it's four to two, I go down, I get an escape, it's four to three, and I ride them out, it's four to four, we go to overtime, I don't know, take downs, I ride them out, and overtime, and I went, so it's like I felt like I could give up two takedowns and still manufacture a win. So I got taken down by David, I'm like, okay, I can still get this, and you know, so then I end up ultimately getting my own takedown and riding him out, and that was the difference of the match, you know, like he took me down. I got an escape. I took him down. He didn't get an escape, and that was that was the deciding factor.

Shane Sparks

I've always appreciated your wrestling, Kyle, because you can score a ton of points. You're super exciting, kid dynamite dynamic, but you can do the gritty stuff better than anybody I've ever seen. Go back to that final in 2011 you'd still be writing Frank Molinaro if you had to be to this day. He wasn't going anywhere, and David Taylor, I'm a big I like Matt returns, just finishing periods on top, doing the little things, and I know it's extremely difficult, extremely difficult, but you might have had double digit mat returns in that final, like I mean, it was just a commitment to that top position. Speak to the importance of finishing periods on top. Couple mat returns, speak to the importance of being so just versatile in your wrestling, having so many paths to victory.

Kyle Dake

I just remember thinking, like, yeah, this guy might be better than me, like he's killing everybody, he might be better than me, but he's not going to beat me, and I can use tactics to go win this match, and I thought I was better than him, though, so I was like, you know, this doesn't matter, like I'm going to go beat him, and but I remember, like, just having put myself in these situations where I'm like, okay, well, I'm losing by this. How do I, how do I manufacture a win? You know, how do I, how do I manufacture these wins? You know, in different situations, and the coaches put us in those situations all the time. It was like, alright, you're down three points, and this is the situation, and blah blah blah. Like, how are you going to do it? So, you run the thought experiment, you know, through your head, like, okay, I'm going to try this, and it works, and then you try it again, and it doesn't work, and then you do, you know, you just kind of go through those situations, and yeah, I just think that those mat returns, you know, dragging your toe, you know, getting a little extra rounding time, quick escapes, wrestling back into the center, you know, not giving up a stall call. All those little things continue to add up, and you know, you kind of, you know, death by 1000 cuts is a true thing, you know, wrestling by 1000 cuts, you know, scoring those little tiny little moments, those tiny victories add up, and they added up for me.

Shane Sparks

Can I keep you a little while yet. I know we've gone a little while time. Okay,

Kyle Dake

I got like seven more minutes.

Shane Sparks

Okay. I gotta bring this up. I've talked to you about this before, and I wanted to bring it up again, because it's one of my favorite stories. It is my favorite Kyle Dake story for sure. We're doing that American Wrestling League that was in November of 2018 You and David are the two captains. You're doing the draft. I'm meeting you and David down at the hotel lobby. We're driving over there together and talked before about, you know, where do you keep your wall charts and your all your awards? I want to know where you keep that belt buckle. You wore a belt buckle down there. I'll never forget it. It might have said four time national champ. I don't remember. I think it did, and all I remember thinking to myself was meeting David Taylor down to that lobby, wearing that belt buckle. I thought that is the biggest alpha dog move I've ever witnessed in my entire life to this day, Kyle. It's the biggest, it's the biggest alpha dog move that I've ever witnessed with my own eyes. Where's the belt buckle?

Kyle Dake

It's, I wear it from time to time. It was a gift from Beat the Streets, you know, so Beat the Streets, New York City, at the time. Mike Novogratz was, you know, kind of the pioneer of that, and you know, it was, it was just, I was doing, I did clinics, and I wrestled, and I was always trying to get there, and you know, be a part of the organization, and I think they do a great job, and you know, bringing wrestling to inner city kids, and given those opportunities that typically won't be there, and you know it was cool to be able to wrestle, and technically to Beat the Streets again this year, even though it wasn't, you know, like the same thing, you know, we wrestled in Grand Central Station or Penn Station, and you know that was an awesome time, and yeah, just being able to compete in Times Square with those guys, like, I was, that was all awesome, and a part of it, you know, and after I won, as, like, you know, congratulations, they gave me that belt buckle, and just said, you know, Cornell, it had Cornell Bear etched in, it had some diamonds in there, and yeah, I just liked the belt, I thought it was cool, and it wasn't like I wasn't trying to, you know, be an alpha there, you know, it's just like my fanciest belt, I mean, before that I had belts that had, like, the, you know, would switch and go from black on one side to brown, finally had like a nice belt that I decided to wear, so yeah, no, there was no intention there.

Shane Sparks

I want to talk, Kyle, about Vitality Wellness Club. We could probably talk about this for three days, but get, give us in a nutshell what you're doing with Vitality Wellness Club, and how people can check your stuff out.

Kyle Dake

Yeah, so just I use all this stuff, so I use a hyperbaric chamber, I use the Kaqun Water Therapy, I use the red light Ballancer Pro lymphatic drainage, I use the song, I use the cold plunge, like I use all this stuff, and at the time, you know, we wanted it all in one place, so David and I started it, now I own it, and it's, it's a, it's really fun because we get people who come in that are college students, you know, people that are locals who are, you know, looking for, you know, they're just dealing with so many different things, and then you got people driving from Indiana and Tennessee and Massachusetts, and they're coming to be here because they want to use our equipment, and not only they want to use our equipment, they kind of want to just like know, like how to use it, like it's one thing to like go to the YMCA and jump in the sauna, and you know, take a cold shower, like you can do those things, but a part of it is like, if you want to be healthy, you want to be around other people that are trying to achieve the same thing. So, we've had people come in who, you know, we're dealing, battling seriously, battling with depression, and we've been able to help them, you know, turn around just by being a community, but also using our modalities. We've had people come in who are dealing with some serious illness, and they're going through treatments, and we're able to help them, you know, take away some of their nausea, take away some of their pain, take away some of those things that you just like, oh, well, you're just going to have to deal with it. We had, we had one guy come in, and he couldn't. Sleep, because he was in so much pain, and he came in and used our Kaqun tub, and he walks out like this dude, just look, looks like he just woke up, and he said he had, he's like, oh, he had a great nap in there, I'm like, a nap in a tub, like one, don't do that, because you drown, I cannot do not want to do with that, and two, like, well, why, you know, like, why he's like, I literally, I can't lay down, I'm in so much pain, but when I get the Kaqun tub, like, my pain goes away, and I can finally rest and go to sleep, and so we had, we ended up installing like these handles on the floor and on the side, so he could like hold himself up while he was in there, you know. We've had young kids come in who are, who are dealing with injuries and birth defects and things like that, and we're just helping give some of their life force back and to help them, you know, in any way we can. So I just love being able to help people, and I feel like it's a calling of mine. I feel like God put it on my heart to help more people, and I feel like we're able to do that. And this is a, it's a, it's a special place. The team we have is really good. Miss Leanne, she does a great job running the day to day, and you know, our coming out with social media, like our, you know, Vitality Wellness Club on Instagram. It's kind of our hub, and you know, I'm on there pretty frequently. I have, you know, tips and advice and things that I do, and how I would do it. So, like, even if you know, even if you live in what's it called, Coffee Grinder, Wisconsin, absolutely, you can still get some benefit. I'm going to check that out

Shane Sparks

For sure. I mean, I'm fascinated by this stuff. I mean, health is importance, wellness is important. That's great. Next time I'm in State College, definitely check that place out. Yeah, stop in,

Kyle Dake

Come on by. I mean, we, like I said, we, you know, we try to take care of everybody, you know. We really focus on hospitality and trying to make people feel welcomed, and you know, try to. one of. one of my favorite stories about vitality. I'll just riff here a little bit, because we had. we had somebody come in, and for their first time, and they checked in, and I think. I think they were only in for a red light session or cold plunge session, maybe. And then they were gone. And then three weeks later they come back, and one of the employees calls him by name, and it's like, hey, you know, so and so, like, we're really, we're really excited to see you back. Like, how you been? And he was just blown away, like he was just like unbelievable that these guys remember my name and our employee, I mean, it was just like a proud dad moment. I was like, man, like, great job, like so awesome, like great job to our training staff, great job to our employees, like unbelievable. It's just one tiny little thing that I'm just really proud of to say, like, hey, like, we were able to remember someone's name, and that's probably my weakest part of being an owner, is I can't remember anyone's name. I meet 1000s and 1000s of people, and I need to, I need to continue to work on that. I'm always trying and trying to be focused and remember things, but I might have said this before, but I'm like a golden retriever, like I'm like a million things. If I see a squirrel, I'm going after the squirrel, but yeah, no, there we get to help a lot of people, you know. I honestly feel like God has called me to stay here and do this, and really I think that we're going to be able to move the needle for a lot of people, and really help them on their not only their health journey for their body, but for their mind, for their emotions, and for their spirit, I feel like we can really help people through across all aspects of their life.

Shane Sparks

I love the story about the names, Kyle. I have always said I have this discussion probably once a week, for real. I don't need to be invisible, I don't need to know how to fly, like if I had a superpower and I got to pick a superpower. It is remembering somebody's name. So, here's what I do. Got my phone. I live in a small town, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. You should check this place out. Best place in the world,

Kyle Dake

Best coffee grinders in the world. Oh,

Shane Sparks

Absolutely. And there is a small post office, and I go to the post office, and the first few times I've gone in there, I moved in here in December. I wouldn't know her name, and I go in there, and I felt like an idiot, like asking her a few times what her name is. So, what I did was, I go to phone, I'm gonna do it right now, I don't know what her, I can't remember what it is right now, but before I go into the post office, I go to my contacts, and I search. Here it is, Elkhart Lake Post Office. Her name again, I would have never known this for a million bucks. Her name is Bethany. In my phone, so when I go in there, I open the door. Hey, Bethany, how you doing? And she. I'm sure she thinks, you know, you

Kyle Dake

Remember it, and I remember.

Shane Sparks

Name, which I want to make her, but again, it's how do you make somebody feel? It's a superpower. I mean, it is a superpower. I love that story. Remember people's names real quick. Want to ask you this: with everything you have going on right now, I have to ask the question, will we see Kyle Dake as a head wrestling coach in college someday

Kyle Dake

It's really hard. What they do is really hard. Life is hard, so whatever you do is really difficult. If God calls me to be a head wrestling coach, and He's like, "Hey, this is your best, this is the best thing that you can do to serve my kingdom, then I would do it, and, but right now, the season that I'm in, like, I can't imagine doing it, you know? I have four, like I said, four kids, 754, and one, and it's like, you know, like that's a busy time, you know, and I want to be there for them, like last night we had our first volleyball practice for the older girls, and it was like it was awesome meeting there, and then playing with my two younger kids as well, you know, while the other ones are, you know, learning and being a part of that. And my dad was always a part of my practices, he was my coach in wrestling, he would help in football, you know, there was just like it was always like a part of it. My mom coached my sister in gymnastics and in cheerleading, and in dance, so it was like, wow, this is something I'm used to, you know, like having a coach and having my parent as a coach, and I kind of like that, but at the same time, being in the corner at the NCAA finals is unbelievable. It is so cool to sit there, and you're like, you know, you're more nervous than the kid is going out to wrestle, and you're just like, "Come on, like, let's go, come on, this is awesome. And it's like the closest thing you can get to competing again. And I'm blessed to continue to compete, so I don't really have that like competitive itch that I, that I feel like I need to scratch, so you know, I'm not saying no, but right now it's a no, you know, like it's. I love what I'm doing, I love where I'm at, I. you know, but like I said, if God calls me to go do it, then maybe.

Shane Sparks

Final question for you are taking a cross-country trip from Ithaca, New York, down to San Diego, California. It's you, and you get to pick three other people, dead or alive, that you've never met. Who are you taking on that trip?

Kyle Dake

Well, Jesus first. He said he's what would you

Shane Sparks

Ask him if you had a conversation with Jesus, Kyle, on that car ride, like, what? What are a couple of things you would want to ask him out of the gate?

Kyle Dake

What am I missing, you know, as a human being? What am I missing? What do I need to, where do I need to be? What do I need to do, and how can I, how can I serve you, follow you better? It's probably the biggest thing, so that would, that would be, and he would probably riff on that, for I mean, he might say one thing

Shane Sparks

All the way to Kansas, maybe, yeah, maybe,

Kyle Dake

Yeah, I would, I would love, I mean, I'd love my dad to be in the car as well, and then, but I, but obviously I've met him, so someone I've never met. Dang, maybe Kobe Bryant would be fun to be in there, just like, you know, kind of hearing his mentality, or Michael Jordan, you know. I think both of those guys, just their competitive nature, you know, that everyone has their flaws, but you know, like I have my flaws, they're just different than everybody else's. You know, I, that's a tough question. It's a tough question, but maybe I'll just save all the seats for Jesus, so I can only talk to him.

Shane Sparks

There you go. Just two people. Hey, that you definitely would have plenty to talk about. Kyle, this has been so much fun. I have great admiration for you as a wrestler, what you stand for as a person. Glad things are going well, and thank you so much for sharing your story. And best luck at the World Championships, and the upcoming Real American Freestyle events as well. Looking forward to crossing paths, but this has been awesome. People are going to love it. Thank you.

Kyle Dake

Oh, one more thing.

Shane Sparks

Sure,

Kyle Dake

What's your real name?

Shane Sparks

So, my real name is Shane Nabel, like 'table.' Long story short, I got a sports radio job in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 2002. I walked into the studio and there was a guy named Jim Caston, who had been there forever. At the time, I was in my late 20s, maybe 27, and he was in his early 40s. He had been in the Fox Valley for decades. He was a legend. He put me on air and said, 'Hey, what's your name?' I said, 'Shane.' He goes, 'What's your last name?' I said, 'Nabel.' And he goes, 'No, you're Shane Sparks.' That was the end of it. It was a five-second conversation. I stayed at that radio station for five years and launched BadgerStateWrestling.com in 2007. I didn't want to call people I already had relationships with and say, 'Hey, it's Shane Nabel,' and have them wonder who that was. So I stuck with Shane Sparks. It rolls off the tongue easier. That's the story. It was literally a five-second deal. So Shane Sparks it is.

Kyle Dake

Shane Sparks it is, Mr. Nabel. That's funny. That's awesome.

Shane Sparks

Everybody's got something, right?

Kyle Dake

Love it.

Shane Sparks

That's it, Kyle. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.

Kyle Dake

Thanks, Shane. Have a good one.

Shane Sparks

Take care. Bye.