Jordan Burroughs at Beat the Streets in New York City (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Seems as if Jordan Burroughs has been wrestling for forever. Decades forever.
This past week, Burroughs made two major announcements: He revealed his plans to continue to focus on his freestyle wrestling, moving his training facility from its present location in America's heartland at the University of Nebraska (his collegiate home) ... to head back to his old stompin' grounds back east to the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center in Philadelphia as a resident athlete in September 2021 ... just before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to prep for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Jordan Burroughs made his presentation last week at the Wrestling World Cup at the Paris Bercy Arena.
It was here -- on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 -- that Burroughs reveled his plans to eager wrestling fans of the world.
It was then that Burroughs shared he would leave his longtime training facility in Nebraska's heartland for Philadelphia.
It was the end of an era. A time of transition. Burroughs competed as a collegian at Nebraska ... then has continued to train under coach Mark Manning of the Cornhuskers the past 14 years. Burroughs, 32, said he and his wife have always wanted to move closer to his hometown of Sicklerville, New Jersey, a short drive from Philadelphia.
"Over the last three months I've had a considerable amount of time to think about my future," Burroughs said. "Is it my time? Should I walk away? Will this Olympic cycle be the last for me? Should I leave my shoes on the mat and move on to the next season of life?
"The answer is simple. Not yet. My body is strong. My mind is sharp. I love this sport, and I'm not finished. I will continue. But in a new place. Back where it all started."
Burroughs won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, and he won world championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. He also earned bronzes at worlds in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
Jordan Burroughs has made a name for himself in wrestling for more than a couple decades, first in high school in his native New Jersey ... then as a collegiate champ at University of Nebraska in NCAA Division I (with two National titles and a trio of NCAA All-American honors) ... and, now in international freestyle competition the world over.
Now arguably the face of men's U.S. wrestling for approximately a decade is making plans to wrap up his future on the mat at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. And, to prepare for those Summer Games AFTER the 2021 Tokyo Games next summer, Burroughs is planning to relocate his training facility to the Philadelphia Regional Training Facility in 2021, having spent the most recent freestyle training cycles in his college home at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
"The plan was always for Jordan to wrestle until 2020 and move on after that," Manning said. "He has the next phases of life, and he wants to open a big club in Philadelphia."
But Manning said Burroughs still has his quickness, he's as good as ever technically, he has good health and, most important, still has passion.
"In our sport it's hard to tell an aged veteran like that to stop wrestling or keep wrestling," Manning said. "You have to have the inner desire in a sport like wrestling to say, `Hey, I've had enough,' or `Hey, I haven't had enough. I've got years left in me.' That's what Jordan was conveying to me."
And now we can call take that first step for getting prepped for the 2024 Paris Games.
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