UNWELCOME MAT : Dave Schultz’s Widow Struggles to Keep His Wrestling Dream Alive, While Others Get Financial Support From Alleged Murderer Du Pont

“I watched David die.”

Nancy Schultz drops her head, covers her eyes, tightens as if waiting for an explosion.

But instead of tears, there are breaths. Rhythmic breaths. Deeper with each one.

Moments later her hands are down, her smile back, her mind racing.

As manager of the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club, she has a spirit to nurture and money to raise.

“I’m prepared to do so much begging, I’ll need knee pads,” she says with a laugh.

So this is how it works. This is how a woman loses a husband in January, and is the leader of a new family by June.

Many in the amateur sports world had wondered.

How could someone recover from the shooting death of her renowned wrestler husband quickly enough to form a club so his wrestling friends can continue their Olympic dreams?

One month, a grieving widow and mother. The next month, an inspired manager of 35 of the toughest men in America, including one, Kurt Angle, who will compete in the Olympics.

The sudden success of Nancy Schultz’s move has been so confounding, it initially united the wrestling world . . . but now threatens to divide it.

In four months, it has caused enemies to hug . . . but longtime friends to fight.

There are those who have refused further funding from alleged killer John du Pont’s foundation to join Nancy Schultz’s less lucrative endeavor.

But then there are those 16 elite wrestlers--including Olympian Tom Brands--who continue to accept money from du Pont’s group and sometimes wear his green Foxcatcher team clothing.

Schultz’s team categorizes this group on the order of prostitutes, even though some of them will also be Olympians.

“The guy who shot Dave Schultz . . . people are still taking money from him and wearing his clothes?” said wrestler Dan Chaid, adding, “It’s a real perversion.”

The opposing group, many of whom attended Schultz’s memorial service, say that Schultz’s group are just so many dreamers.

“I loved Dave Schultz, and I would join his club if I thought they could take care of me,” said Royce Alger, who sang at his memorial. “But you know how it is with these causes. I think they are going to be defunct after a year.”

The only thing all agree upon is that the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club is a perfect symbol for its namesake: strong, unafraid and backed by one serious woman.

“Nancy would be one of the boys,” wrestler Brian Dolph says. “Except she’s tougher than the boys.”

*

So this is how it works.

You stand inside your home on a January afternoon and hear shots. You run to the door to see your husband being shot by unstable wrestling benefactor John du Pont.

Your husband dies in your arms. You understand what has happened. You understand what must happen now.

“By witnessing the incident, Nancy has been forced to deal with it,” says Chris Horpel, DSWC coach. “She was there. She knows he is dead. There is no doubt.”

Within weeks, several dozen wrestlers had renounced du Pont’s Foxcatcher Club and refused funding checks from his foundation in support of Nancy Schultz.

“Then we all realized, what now? What do we do now?” Schultz, 37, said during an interview before this weekend’s Olympic trials. “Dave was working with guys who couldn’t even pay their parking fees at their workout gyms.”

She thought about the many times her husband had awoken her with the news that there was a stray wrestler on the couch.

She realized that Dave Schultz’s gold medal in the 1984 Olympics and No. 1 ranking in the 163-pound category at age 36 were the least of his accomplishments.

“Dave would have wanted to continue to help his friends,” Nancy said. “We needed a vehicle to get them from February through August.”

She knew she was that vehicle. She picked up the phone. She started by calling wrestlers. She continued by calling sponsors.

Only nine wrestlers could be fully funded by the team, which pays tournament expenses and small training stipends. But anyone was welcome to honor their friend’s name by joining.

When she walked into their first official team meeting at the national championships in Las Vegas at the end of April, she gasped.

One small hotel room for 35 people.

The group included a 40-year-old heavyweight businessman from Wisconsin, Fred McGaver, who wanted only their inspiration.

Also present was Jim Scherr, 34, who literally walked out of his office as director of USA Wrestling to return to the mats for the first time in five years.

“After what happened to Dave, I realized, you only have so many opportunities in life,” Scherr said.

Nancy Schultz look around the crowded room and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She did a little of both.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is real,’ ” she said.

The oldest of her two children, 10-year-old son Alexander, passed out the equipment. This included shirts with a photo of his father that read, “The Legend Lives On . . . “

Mom gave the speech.

“I said ‘Thank you, thank you, for honoring my husband,’ ” she said.

And honored he was.

In one corner at the national tournament there was Dolph, his newly inked “D.L.S.” tattoo revealed when a referee raised the underside of his right biceps in victory. In other corners there were those wearing black memorial stripes on singlets.

Across the arena, throughout the day, the name echoed like an old friend.

“In the red, from the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club . . . “

“David’s spirit was something you could actually feel,” Nancy said. “It was sad. And it was wonderful.”

When competitors took the mat wearing Foxcatcher singlets, it was Dave’s passion that was felt. Chaid became so angry, he withdrew from the competition even though he had placed in the top five in each of previous 10 years. He was afraid if he wrestled, he might seriously hurt somebody.

“To see people disrespecting Dave like that, it made me angry to the point of rage, to the point where I had to get out,” Chaid said. “I just could not understand these people.”

Melvin Douglas, the eventual 198-pound champion, wished he could get a Foxcatcher athlete on the mat with him. And he didn’t even belong to the Dave Schultz club.

“Guys who do that have no respect for Dave’s name,” he said. “If I come up against them, I’d really like to take them out.”

The powers at USA Wrestling were also miffed.

They had already decertified Foxcatcher, and sent a letter to all athletes suggesting that they no longer accept money from the now-jailed du Pont. The U.S. Olympic Committee even offered to reimburse some of their lost funds.

“Taking that money . . . I don’t think it’s right,” said Larry Sciacchetano, USA Wrestling president. “If they can live with it, fine. Personally, I couldn’t.”

Many were even more perplexed that some of the allegedly insensitive wrestlers were being coached by legendary Dan Gable of Iowa, former Olympic gold medalist and coach.

Gable, who always refused to become close to du Pont despite his offers of money, shrugged.

During an interview this weekend, he implied that those who lived near the eccentric man knew they were taking their life in their hands, and that others should not be penalized for it.

He said that while wearing Foxcatcher gear is not politically correct, he doesn’t know why his athletes shouldn’t still take his money as long as they aren’t involved with the man.

“There’s a book out . . . which talks about people who lived on du Pont’s farm and mooched off him,” Gable said. “I’m upset that people are coming down hard on us without even a discussion.”

Gable said not only should USA Wrestling accept du Pont’s money, but should take it forever.

“I look at it like he’s being fined,” he said.

With Brands and six other Foxcatcher benefactors competing in the Olympic trials this weekend, the tension grew.

A Foxcatcher equipment bag was stolen from one of Gable’s wrestlers.

Terry Brands, Tom’s twin, showed up for a post-match news conference wearing Foxcatcher shorts and saying, “I take care of myself.”

As Alger competed in one match, Chaid stood on the side and cheered for him to be eliminated.

Kevin Jackson, a former Foxcatcher wrestler who has renounced du Pont, attacked Alger with a strange vengeance in their 180.5-pound match. He engaged him in a leg lock and turned him over so many times that Alger’s knee was torn.

“People who still support that stuff give a black eye to wrestling, and a black eye to Dave Schultz,” Jackson said. “It definitely motivated me in my match. I definitely did not want a Foxcatcher guy to beat me.”

Acknowledged Gable: “This whole thing needs to be resolved.”

The wrestlers from the Dave Schultz Club, meanwhile, were also battling other demons. Only two of 12 advanced to the trials finals, and one of those, Angle, had automatically qualified because of his 220-pound national championship.

“Maybe I’m burned out, maybe my heart’s not in it,” said Ed Giese, a top contender who was pinned in an early 114.5-pound match.

It seems that heart will return if Nancy Schultz has to put it there herself. This former collegiate gymnast roamed the Spokane Arena rubbing shoulders, clutching hands, shouting encouragement, a grieving process rarely seen on such a national stage.

“I miss my friend every second of every day,” she said. “But this is what he would have wanted.”

Whether this fight will continue after the Olympics, nobody is certain. But if looking for odds, Schultz will quickly bark out a number.

“273,” she says.

That is the P.O. Box number in Newtown Square, Pa., where donations can be sent to keep the club alive. She knows that sort of thing rarely gets printed in a newspaper, but she said it anyway, adding quickly, “Zip code 19073.”

Then she laughed, her blue eyes shining. Just send her enough for nice pair of new knee pads.