The competitive edge

When the referee lifted IU senior wrestler Joe Dubuque's hand after a 2-0 victory against Kyle Ott of Illinois last March, it wasn't just any victory. The win gave Dubuque a national title in the 125-pound division -- IU's first individual wrestling national championship since 1990. \nDubuque, who co-captains the team, said it had always been one of his goals to reach the top of college wrestling.\n"It was great to accomplish one of my dreams," he said.\nDubuque and the IU wrestling team will compete this weekend at the Big Ten Championships at Assembly Hall. He will defend his national title at the NCAA Tournament March 16-18 in Oklahoma City.\nIt was his competitive side that drove Dubuque to his first national championship. That same competitiveness has helped him to a 19-0 record on the season and looking to have his hand raised once again after the NCAA title round. \n"I want to be the best in everything I do and I want to work hard," Dubuque said. "That's what drives me."\nDubuque has been competitive since the day he stepped foot in Bloomington. Coming to IU from Glen Ridge High School in Bloomfield, N.J., he already had two New Jersey state titles and a high school national title under his belt. This success caught the attention of IU coach Duane Goldman.\n"We obviously wanted him pretty badly. We went after him hard and offered him a good scholarship," Goldman said. "Anytime we're able to land a top kid, it's a great day. But that's just one step in the process. It's a long way from a national title."\nDubuque redshirted his first year at IU, learning the ropes of college wrestling. When the next season rolled around, he was a starter for the Hoosiers in the 125-pound division. He rolled through the season with a 23-5 record and ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation. However, a concussion sustained in the final meet of the regular season against Minnesota kept Dubuque out of the Big Ten tournament. Sitting out of Big Tens that year only helped fuel his competitive nature, he said.\n"It was real hard," Dubuque said. "I worked hard all year long and just to have a string of injuries toward the end of the year and one keeping me out, it was real tough watching my teammates wrestle out there without me. But I think it was a good thing that happened to me; it helped me to work harder."\nThe next season Dubuque was ready to get back into action and won 34 matches, finishing eighth in the NCAA tournament and earning his first All-American honor. He started his junior season with a 21-2 record and earned a No. 3 seed for the Big Ten tournament. He fell in the semi-finals to Michigan State's Nick Simmons 3-2, but after that meet something clicked for Dubuque. He went on to win two more times that day to earn himself a third place finish at the conference tournament. He then started on a tear toward a national championship.\n"I take losses in a positive way," Dubuque said. "I learn from losses. I dwell on them for about 10 minutes, and then that's it."\nHis competitive nature has not allowed him to lose once since the match against Simmons. Entering this weekend's Big Ten tournament at Assembly Hall, Dubuque's streak is at 26. He credits all the wins to his mental preparation before meets.\n"It's basically the game plan -- me and (assistant coach Mike) Mena going over what I'm going to do for each guy, really preparing for each guy individually," Dubuque said. "I felt real prepared and real confident in every single one of my matches."\nBut it is the competitiveness that he says drives him the most. The drive is so strong that he doesn't like interacting with opposing wrestlers in his own weight class even off the mat.\n"I'm just all the time business," he said. "It's nothing personal. It's not that I don't like them. They could be great guys. They could be the best guys in the world, but you're my opponent, and I just got to keep it that way."\nHe says that his competitiveness comes from his hatred of losing.\n"A lot of wrestlers will tell you they hate losing more than they like winning," Dubuque said. "It's that nature I don't want to lose."\nSince most other wrestlers share this hatred of losing, Dubuque said there is one thing that sets him apart from the rest.\n"My work ethic," he said. "Nobody works harder than me. Every time I get tired I got to push myself to go more. I know everyone's getting tired, but whether I keep going or stop is what's going to set me apart from everybody."\nGoldman said Dubuque's work ethic has been a great example for the younger Hoosier wrestlers.\n"He's vocal when he needs to be, but the main thing is he trains hard and he wins," the coach said. "Some guys are able to train hard, and some guys sometimes get away with winning a little bit without really putting in the work, but he puts in the work, and he's gained the ultimate victory in wrestling at the collegiate level because of it."\nSenior Brady Richardson, Dubuque's co-captain and roommate agrees that a lot of younger wrestlers can learn from his teammate's drive to win.\n"It's important because he sets an example," Richardson said. "He's the best example you can set because he's the national champ."\nEven so, Dubuque still doesn't feel like he's convinced everybody. He says he still feels there are some \ncritics out there.\n"Other wrestling fans that think it's a fluke and other kids should have won it," said Dubuque, describing his detractors. "That pushes me, that people doubt my ability. Nobody here, nobody in Bloomington, but other wrestling critics kind of overlook me."\nEven with the winning streak, an undefeated record this season and a No. 1 national ranking, Dubuque still feels overlooked.\n"Other guys in the weight class have been getting more attention than I have nationally," he said. "They're on TV, and they're getting the big stories. It doesn't bother me, it motivates me. I'm like 'Wow, these guys are getting all the attention, and nobody's really looking at me.' It pushes me."\nWith the help of his training regimen and his drive to win, Dubuque hopes that when he steps off the mat March 18 for his last time as a college wrestler, he will still hold the title of "National Champion"