With Long Arms and Sneaky Spoons, Deakin Has Made Mark on NU
3/20/2019 1:14:00 PM | Wrestling
By David Herder
NUsports.com Correspondent
Where you find Ryan Deakin, you'll find his spoon.
It's not that he uses it to help limit what he eats as he cuts weight. In fact, this plastic spoon was originally for ice cream. Now, the spoon is saved for hitting Northwestern head wrestling coach Matt Storniolo in the forehead.
"I've got a spoon in my wrestling bag at all times, so I'm always ready for that," said Deakin. "It's got to be a regulation spoon."
On the mat, Ryan Deakin is one of the country's most pervasively attacking wrestlers. He makes use of the full seven minutes, keeping his feet moving and a watchful eye to seize a moment no matter which period it comes in. That same mindset holds off the mat, as his head is always on a swivel to find a chance to maximize his impact. Sometimes, the impact is from a spoon to the forehead.
It first started two summers ago in Lincoln, Nebraska. Deakin posted a pair of victories in the Junior Freestyle World Team Trials, earning a spot at the 2017 UWW Junior World Championships. It also earned him, Storniolo, and the rest of the Wildcat representatives at the tournament celebratory ice cream. At the ice cream shop, during a conversation, Storniolo bopped Deakin upside the head with his spoon.
"Deakin said it wasn't going to happen again," said Storniolo. "I said I'll get him again before we get back to the hotel. We're two blocks away. And I got him."
"He's got really long arms, and he's a lot sneakier than you'd think," said Deakin.
The game never stopped. They each kept their spoons, and with the competitive mindsets it is never long before someone gets popped. Storniolo has gotten Deakin as he stood up from a water fountain. Deakin landed a hit at an airport. One teammate speculated that after next week's NCAA Tournament, Deakin could step down from the podium and be greeted with a swift spoon to the head. Deakin with a spoon is like Deakin on the mat: tracking opponents and ready to spring into his offense.
The pair took their spoons to Finland for the Junior Worlds in the summer of 2017, where Deakin ripped off three straight victories to finish in second at 66 kg. The spoons traveled back to Evanston, as Deakin went 32-7 as a redshirt-first-year. The spoons continued their journey this year, while Deakin has spent the majority of the season ranked no. 3 nationally at 157 lbs. and is threatening to earn an All-American spot.
Shoutout to my coaches for flying all the way out to Finland and being the best role models and mentors out there #amazingsupportsystem #NU pic.twitter.com/JshH5T5IUL
— Ryan Deakin (@RyanDeakinn) August 3, 2017
Deakin was challenging Storniolo even before the spoons got involved. Deakin went to Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colorado, where he was coached by Mike Funk, Northwestern's first four-time All-American wrestler. The Wildcat connection helped bring Storniolo to Colorado in 2014 for a camp. Despite being about 40 pounds lighter than Storniolo, Deakin wanted to wrestle against the then-Wildcat assistant coach. It was Deakin's first time meeting the coach, and he wasn't being recruited yet. He continued pressing even as Storniolo would repeatedly take him down.
"That was my first taste of Ryan Deakin and that attitude, where he just wants to get better," said Storniolo.
The attitude is as ever present now as the spoon. Deakin said he had this mindset since the age of six when his father asked him if he wanted to wrestle. It shows through in his academics, where despite studying Economics and Business Institutions, his roommates never see him stay up past midnight to cram for exams since he schedules out his studying well in advance. It shows up in the replacement spoon he carries, after he lost the original spoon.
And it shines in practice. He pushes himself longer in conditioning, further when practicing leg attacks, harder to give himself every advantage. The work paid off, as Deakin's pace and stamina wore down his opponents this year. In conference duals, he outscored his opponents 24-14 during the third period, including an 8-2 advantage in takedowns.
Teammates take notice of how Deakin works. In one practice, Deakin did 'medicine ball hip bridges', with his feet and shoulders on the ground using his core and quads to lift his hips and the medicine ball he was holding. After a few reps, Deakin realized he was doing the drill incorrectly – his feet were supposed to be elevated on a bench, not flat on the ground. When he looked up, he saw his teammates had followed him into the same mistake.
"I was like, huh, okay," said Deakin. "So, they were watching me do it wrong."
"If he's doing something, everybody is going to assume that that's the right way to do it," said Storniolo. "Because Ryan's the type of guy that does things the right way."
During his time in Evanston, the Deakin way has moved closer to the Wildcat way. One of the reasons he chose Northwestern is that on his recruiting visit he was impressed with how the team had fun together. It was the same vibe he got from wrestling Storniolo at that camp: people around Northwestern Wrestling were approachable and engaging. In his third year on campus, Deakin is moving into that central role, making sure to invite teammates along to go eat, play card games or go to one of Evanston's beaches during the summer.
"It's not like one big thing that makes the difference," said Eric Yang, a 149 lbs. wrestler at Northwestern and Deakin's roommate. "It's a bunch of little things, it's about all the actions."
Deakin was not the one organizing when the wrestling team went to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a Northwestern basketball game this winter. Storniolo stood in one of the stadium's open spaces, texting the team to try and gather together. Deakin walked out of the bathroom and spotted the coach. Now Storniolo was a sitting duck, unaware he'd become the prey of a waiting wildcat.
"I got so excited that he didn't see me coming," said Deakin. "I followed through my hit a little bit and hit him with my hand, and kind of punched him in the face."
Deakin has plenty more to be excited about. He is seeded third at the NCAA Tournament. On March 22 in Pittsburgh, he could join Jason Welch as Northwestern's second All-American at 157 since 1960. In these championships, Deakin will stay alert and get to his offense.
And probably his spoon.
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