Freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs is seen here cooling down after a practice with Team USA Wrestling in the Nebraska wrestling room, the crucible that molded him into the college, world and Olympic champion he has become, on Thursday, March 8, 2018. “Every time I’m on the mat, I’m thinking to myself, ‘You’ve got to push through it.’ I want to be prepared for anything," said Burroughs. "Prepare myself to where regardless of how tired and fatigued I am, how tough the match is, how many points I’m down, I never waver in my belief that I can still win. I want to put myself in positions where adversity just bounces off, and I’m able to deflect any obstacle that comes my way.”
Olympic freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs rests for a moment while preparing to work on his upper-body strength with a strand of lifting chains during an hour of high intensity training on Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at Hendricks Training Center. “There’s points in a match when you feel like this, like completely fatigued, exhausted, spent, and there’s short time on the clock," said Burroughs. "If you give up, you’ll regret it. I think of all the times when I was extremely tired in a match, and whether I did or didn’t break. I’ve felt that way so many times before and it’s always a decision you have to make. Do I fight for my life and try to get this takedown, or do I give up?"
Jordan Burroughs playfully wrestles with Kendric Maple, a three-time All-American, 2013 NCAA champion and fellow member of the USA Wrestling team on Thursday, March 8, 2018, during practice in the wrestling room at Hendricks Training Center. “Just trying to keep up with these young guys is such a challenge," said Burroughs. "I've become a more savvy, more intelligent wrestler, but now there’s other things I have to think about more, like maintaining a healthy, balanced diet, stretching, doing more recovery, chiropractor, time in the sauna, soft tissue stuff.”
When resting on the padded wall in the Nebraska wrestling room Jordan Burroughs always takes note on which letter he's leaning against. He looks for letters which reinforce excellence, such as "G for Gold" or "W for Winning" as seen here on Thursday, March 8, 2018, during practice in the wrestling room at Hendricks Training Complex.
Reading from the "The One Year Bible for Kids," Jordan Burroughs and his wife Lauren do a reading for their children, Beacon (left) and Ora, before they go to bed on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018, at their home on Sheridan Blvd. At the conclusion of the reading Burroughs has Beacon recite a line from Romans 10:11, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced."
"There's nothing harder in the world than being a dad," said 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, seen here gently brushing the teeth of of his oldest child, Beacon prior to going to bed on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018, at their Lincoln home. "You can't really prepare for it. For wrestling, I prepare, I train every day, I've got staff around me teaching me how to do this. There's not a 'dad coach' out there. Basically, after you have your baby, they send you home with the little one and they're like, 'Here, you got this guy for 18 years.'"
Lauren Burroughs cheers on her husband, Jordan Burroughs, as he defeats Georgia's Tarzan Maisuradze 10-0 in the 74 kg/163 lbs. match during the 2018 Freestyle World Cup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Two years earlier she watched as he nearly gave up the sport that filled his life since childhood after a loss in the 2016 Summer Olympics. "At some point, I'll find out what I did wrong and learn a lesson from this," a broken Jordan Burroughs said after falling to Aniuar Geduev 3-2 at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He cried. His wife Lauren had never seen that in the five years she'd known him and the three years they'd been married. He slumped into her arms the moment she leaned over the railing. "I tried so hard. I tried so hard. I wasted it. I'm sorry."
USA coach Mark Manning and Jordan Burroughs watch the 79 kg/174 lbs. match between the USA's Kyle Dake and Azerbaijan's Jabrayil Hasanov following Burroughs' media interviews on Sunday, April 8, 2018, during the gold medal match at the 2018 Freestyle World Cup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “We’ve been together 11 years now," said Team USA wrestler Jordan Burroughs (right), seen here with wrestling coach Mark Manning (left). "He came to my crib when I was in high school and offered me a scholarship, and he’s been my coach ever since.”
The USA's Jordan Burroughs (right) captures two points with an ankle lace on India's Vinod Kumar Omprakash during the 74kg./163 lbs. match on Saturday, April 7, 2018, during the 2018 Freestyle World Cup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Burroughs won the first round matchup 11-1.
USA wrestler Jordan Burroughs reacts seconds after pinning Azerbaijan's Gasjimurad Omarov 3 minutes and 15 seconds into their 74 kg/163 lbs. match during the 2018 Freestyle World Cup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. "I'm not a pinner. It's an art form to be able to pin somebody," said Burroughs. "That was a big moment for me, I don't get guys on their back a lot. All I know is squeeze as hard as I can and hope I hear a whistle and people cheer." The win was part of a dominant performance by Team USA, as they captured their first World Cup title since 2003 with a 6-4 win over Azerbaijan.