Tom: Coach, congratulations on your win over Penn State in the Field House on January 19th! I noticed Lee Kemp talking to the team shortly after the completion of the meet.

Barry: That’s right. We were excited that 3 x NCAA & 3 x World Champion, Lee Kemp was back for our 2nd Annual Alumni Reunion that evening.
Lee took time to address the team and delivered a very inspirational talk to our guys right after our win over Penn State. He praised them and told them that it was a good victory, but that he could see that everyone on the mat had the ability and needed to turn it up another notch in order to have continued success during the remainder of our Big Ten Meets, the Big Ten & NCAA Championships.

Tom: Did Lee give them any direction on how to ready themselves for the remainder of a very tough season?

Barry: Yes he did! Lee told the guys to envision that we (the team) were all going across the ocean to fight a war. The ship is getting ready to approach land and the leader (head coach) brings everyone together. Naturally everyone is thinking that they are going to get another inspirational talk before they land to fight the war. The leader (coach) says, “When we get off this ship, burn it! We are not going to retreat – we are going to win the war, take over the island, and if we have to leave, we are TAKING THEIR SHIP!” What Lee was saying is that if we did not burn our ship and it was still there, if times got tough we could get back on our ship and sail back home. And that would be the easy way out! We intend to stay in the fight and achieve our goal of winning!

Tom: What other advice did Lee have for the team?

Barry: Lee told the team that it was important for them to start building their legacy now!
He referenced all the 14 outstanding athletes that were present at the Penn State vs. Wisconsin dual meet and were honored during half-time with a presentation from USA Wrestling for all their Olympic and World Team accomplishments. Some of these gentlemen had been out of wrestling for over 30 years but they are still being recognized for their wrestling successes!! Each one of these individual’s had to make personal sacrifices to achieve their success.

Tom: Thanks Barry – and congratulations again on a great win over Penn State – and also on your upcoming induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. We’ll talk again after the Northwestern and Iowa Dual meets this weekend.

Barry: Thanks Tom. It should be a good weekend for Wisconsin Wrestling!

Wisconsin Wrestling Online would like to thank Coach Davis for his time and offer our Congratulations on the recent announcement of his induction into the NWCA Hall of Fame as well as a great Big Ten season opening victory against highly regarded Penn State University.