Off the Mat with Rob Sulaver
12/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Every team has its performer, that one individual who is often comical, maybe a little eccentric and loves to have the attention of an audience. Fifth-year senior Rob Sulaver is, without question, the performer among the Wolverine wrestling squad. It's something that simply comes naturally for him, and it's a skill that he has been honing since the moment he stepped foot on Michigan's campus as a theater performance major.
A freshman walk-on during the 2002-03 season, Sulaver sat third on the depth chart at 157 pounds behind a pair of All-Americans -- Ryan Bertin and Mike Kulczycki. When both veteran wrestlers were injured during early-season action, Sulaver was thrust into the starting lineup, where he found a good amount of success, including, quite fittingly, a pair of dramatic wins in both home appearances at Cliff Keen Arena. After taking a year away from wrestling to devote his time to academics, Sulaver returned for his remaining three years of eligibility and has since given the U-M wrestling room the standard blood, sweat and tears, as well as a good dose of comic relief.
In the waning days of the holiday vacation, Rob graciously hopped on the phone to chat about his love for the theater, his exciting rookie campaign and his dream of putting the U-M coaches through a workout.
On his start in wrestling ...
"It certainly is in my blood. My dad wrestled at the University of Illinois. When we were young, my brothers and I would wrestle around the house and break things, so I think my parents tried to channel that a little bit into sports instead of destroying the living room furniture. Of course, every little boy wants to grow up and be just like his dad, so whenever my dad would go to a wrestling tournament, I wanted to get out there and wrestle too."
On his start in theater ...
"It all started relatively late. I was in 10th grade, and we had to take a speech class in order to graduate. I, of course, never shut up in class, so my teacher told me that I should come out for the spring musical that we were doing, "Oklahoma." I wasn't really into musicals, so I decided not to. As it turned out, not a lot of guys auditioned for the musical, so he offered me a role later on, and I took it. I guess the rest is history."
On theater and wrestling complementing each other ...
"I have found so many parallels between athletics and theater. The more you learn about one, the more it helps you learn about the other. I think they really do complement each other more than one would ever assume. What is also nice for me is when sometimes wrestling isn't the greatest, I have theater, and when the opportunities aren't there in theater, I have wrestling to focus on."
On the best thing about wrestling at Michigan ...
"My teammates and friends. Having the opportunity to meet all of those guys and hang out with them and roll around with them. Definitely the guys. The fellas. The boys."
On the Wolverines' team chemistry ...
"The team chemistry is great. A lot of guys live together. We'll hang out and go out together. We each other's wingmen. During season, when we're traveling together and practicing together, we spend so much time together that we just really get to know each other. You need your teammates, or it wouldn't be any good at all."
On wrestling during his freshman season ...
"Wrestling was part of the reason why I wanted to come to Michigan. I saw the coaches at the state tournament, and I talked to (Kirk) Trost about coming out for the team. He got me all the information, and I was on my way. I was kind of a lost soul as a freshman because I wasn't in the wrestling mix right away. So, I was a little on the outskirts. I didn't know where we practiced or what time we practiced or where to catch the bus to get down there. Coming in, I never would have dreamed that, with guys like Mike Kulczycki and Ryan Bertin ahead of me, I'd ever be in the lineup that year. But they were out with injuries, and I got thrown in. It was incredible."
On his first match at Cliff Keen Arena ...
"In one of my acting classes, we had to tell a story about a moment that was important to us or a really meaningful memorable. That was the story that I told. I just remember warming up, and my hands were really cold for some reason. It was my first match, and I was so nervous. There were so many people there. It was my first time in Cliff Keen Arena. I went to shake Coach's hand before I step out on the mat, and he says, "Your hands are freezing." I didn't know what was going on. But I went out there and just got lucky. I took him down, turned him over and pinned him. Everyone was going crazy, and I was going crazy. I guess sometimes you just have cold hands."
On taking a year away from wrestling ...
"With my sophomore schedule, I had class during practice time four days a week. It was a class that was required for my major, and it wasn't offered any other time. There aren't too many athletes in the theater department, so they don't really worry about having classes from 3-5 p.m. I didn't know what else to do, so I just talked to Coach about it and decided that I wasn't going to be wrestling that year. I hadn't planned out the future beyond that year, but I stayed up on working out and lifting and trying to get huge. Sure enough, I came back the next year."
On his career aspirations ...
"Right now, I'm just hoping to make a living as an actor. It's what I love to do, and if I can make a living doing it, I would be very, very happy. I'm not particular in the form of acting. I really think that in order to make a living, you need to take whatever comes your way. I do have my favorites though. With the Royal Shakespeare Company having their residency here, that has really got my excitement about Shakespeare going. If I could get into a regional theater and spend some time there, especially early on to get a lot of experience, I think it would be really great for me to spend some time on the stage and do a lot of plays. But as far as film, television or theater, whatever comes my way, sign me up."
On his 'welcome to Division I wrestling' moment ...
"It would have to be hand fighting with Mike Kulczycki -- who was a senior at the time -- at the end of practice and having him punch me in the face. I guess he was angry at me because he just walloped on me."
On what he'd do if he was head coach for a day ...
"I would take the coaches up to the concourse (of Crisler Arena) and let all my teammates put them through a practice."
Note: "Off the Mat" runs in The Riding Times, an inside look at U-M wrestling.
Players Mentioned
