(Over the course of the next few weeks, the Lincoln Parish Journal is republishing some of its most memorable stories from the past year … some of our readers’ favorites).
By Kyle Roberts
The following is a Q&A with both Jeremy and Owen Hebert regarding the family’s trip to Greece to watch Owen represent the United States in a major international grappling competition. Content has been lightly edited for conciseness and continuity.
LPJ: “Where did all of this begin to get Owen to a place where he was able to qualify and represent the United States internationally?”
Jeremy Hebert: “There are several different organizations in the world of jiu-jitsu. One of them is called American Grappling Federation (AGF), and they teamed up with USA grappling. They are trying to create a feeder system to hopefully have something in the Olympics down the road. So USA grappling and AGF teamed up, and AGF was responsible for holding qualifiers across the country — four of them specifically in California, Orlando, St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas. Owen went to Dallas and won his division. Once they took the winners from each weight class in each age division, (15 U is the specific one for Owen), then they met again in Aledo, Texas, at a gym with the winners from the other qualifiers and then they competed against each other for the number one spot. Whoever got the number one spot, went to represent Team USA — all expenses paid — in Greece.”
LPJ: “Owen, what was that feeling like for you to now know that you’re going to be representing the United States internationally?”
Owen Hebert: “Yeah, it meant a lot. I have done some big things before, but this was like on a whole other level. Just thinking about it is crazy. It was like, oh wow, I’m going overseas to compete for my country. It was awesome. And I really enjoyed the experience.”
LPJ: “So you get off the plane — what were those first few minutes like for you?
Owen: “Oh, well, I was a little tired, a little jet lagged. But it was super cool just being in another country and then you get there and it’s like, I’m about to compete here for the United States. And they had all of the flags set up (in Lutraki) representing different countries for all of the competitors. It was awesome.”
LPJ: “So what all did you get to do in Greece before the competition?”
Jeremy: “Not much. We landed late Friday evening and got to our hotel late Friday evening, then we got to go train with our team a little bit, then got back home. He was still cutting weight and then woke up the next morning and competed. It was all business for the most part (Unfortunately for Linzie and Jeremy, their luggage was lost by the airline. Thankfully, all of Owen’s clothes and gear were packed in a carry-on). Saturday after competition, we did go see the old city of Corinth, and then on Monday morning on the way to the airport, we went back into Athens and went to the original Olympic stadium. We got on on the track and sat in the stands — that was a pretty cool experience as well.”
LPJ: “Walk us through competition-wise, start to finish.”
Owen: “So the first day — we weigh in and drive to the building where we’re competing. We get back to the training room with our team and we’re warming up. Then they start bracketing us, and then we had to get ready. You’d see your name on the wall — they had your bracket and then you stand in these little lanes for each mat. You’re waiting to compete and your competitor is right next to you.
“Personally, it was a rough first day (Owen lost the opening round of the no-gi competition). It was a round I felt like I should have won. I put myself into a hole and tried to claw my way back, but it was too late. From there, I needed him to win to see if I could come back in the later rounds, but he ended up losing in the semifinals. That was really rough. I had to deal with that and try to come back the next day with those thoughts of ‘What if I lose again in the first round?’ but I had to throw those out the window and just get ready to compete again the next day..
“And that’s what brings us to Sunday (Gi competition) — my first match, I go against an Armenian, and it was a good solid match. It felt good getting those jitters out and getting the first win. And then after that, I felt like I was on a roll. Next match I had a kid from Greece. I double-legged him, got on top, took his back and then subbed him. After that, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m feeling it.’
“And then I faced a Ukrainian, which was a kid from the same team that I lost against the first day, and I made a mistake, and at these tournaments, you can’t make a mistake — they’ll put you away — and he straight ankle locked me. I took that loss in the semifinals, but thankfully, I still had a chance for third. So I had to flush it, get ready to go for third. It was still tough, tough. I had a match against somebody from India. I just went to work and finished it for third.
“And after that, there was an award ceremony. It felt like watching the Olympics, except you were a part of it. It was really cool.”
LPJ: “How about from a dad’s perspective, Jeremy? What was it like watching Owen compete?
Jeremy: “Well, (on the first day) obviously I thought he was ready and then when he came out, his opponent was longer, taller, stronger. He was very strong. When I saw the match going the way it was, it was very evident that Owen was suffering from being there first day, cutting weight, being tired — we didn’t maybe didn’t lean in as well on the travel side. We were emotional — all of us were, and we didn’t really know how to handle it, didn’t know what was going to be next. We’re kind of thinking, ‘Oh my God, we flew all the way over here and this might be it.’ And then when we saw (his first opponent) lose — when your son loses, I now become that guy’s biggest fan because if he keeps winning, then we get to get back in. Of course, he didn’t, and so we were done for the day and we had to stand around and watch the other US people, and you want to be supportive of them, but you’re also, it’s very difficult.
“Next day, he flushed it. He had a good, nice warm up, good, nice sleep, um, good meal the night before, and um, and, and I think the rest really helped, and you could see the difference on day two. Our kid wins two matches and then you’re thinking ‘Okay, man, if we win this next one, we’re in the championship match,’ And that kid just kind of surprised Owen with that ankle lock. So now we’re like, ‘All right, well, it’s not over.’ We’ve got another match to go.
“When he won third, obviously, it was very emotional. Watching that ceremony is very much, which you would imagine watching your kid be in the Olympics. They line them all up. They walk them on stage. They present them with medals. They played the national anthem — I mean, it’s a very special moment.”
LPJ: “Owen, what do you see for your future and on the horizon in grappling for you?”
Owen: “I want to keep continuing to do it, for sure. This year, there’ll be another 15U grappling team for team USA, and my goal is to try and make that team again. In the future, they’re starting to get grappling in colleges and get scholarships for those. I think that would be huge to try and get a scholarship up either in that or in like wrestling and maybe both. And, they’re probably going to get it in the Olympics within seven years. I think that would be perfect timing age-wise for me, and then having this platform already and experience-wise, just getting my name in there for possibly a world team.”
LPJ: “Jeremy, what do you think? What’s his future?”
Jeremy: “There’s a lot. We try to take it in small bites. I think the future is whatever he wants it to be, to be honest with you, whether it’s the sport of wrestling or grappling. The Bearcats now have a wrestling team, so he’ll be integral in that. We’re going to continue to chase really big wrestling tournaments. We’re gonna try to make the USA team again next year because that experience is something that not everybody gets an opportunity to do.
“If you can put yourself in that, it will open doors from a perspective of making world teams. I think they all play together, to be honest with you. Eventually, the roads will diverge at some point in time, I think, but right now, wrestling and jujitsu will both help Owen get to where he wants to be. I think the doors are open for for a Division-I wrestling scholarship as well, and we’ll see what happens in the grappling world.
“I think Owen’s got a path to either one of those, if not both of them.”
