The Other Mangold, Holley, is making a name for herself in weightlifting, breaking free from the shadow of older brother, New York Jets lineman Nick Mangold.
View full sizeHolley Mangold trains at King's Gym in Bedford. Mangold, the sister of former Ohio State star and current New York Jets center Nick Mangold, hopes to compete on the USA Olympic women's weightlifting team in 2012.
Not too long ago, the nickname everyone used most often was "The Other Mangold."
As in, the one who wasn't Nick Mangold. Still a football player, still a hulking offensive lineman. Still a 300-pound behemoth like big brother, Nick, the New York Jets lineman who once anchored the Ohio State offensive line.
Except one major difference. Holley Mangold likes certain things her older brother doesn't -- such as pink nail polish and frilly ribbons dangling from her long blond hair.
View full sizeHolley's brother, Nick Mangold.A self-proclaimed "girly girl," Holley Mangold actually had no problem differentiating herself from that other Mangold when she played with the boys on her Archbishop Alter High School football team. She was a strong lineman on the football team just like her brother, sure. And she received plenty of acclaim in her hometown outside Dayton because she was a girl in the otherwise all-male sport. Still, she earned the most publicity for her back-up lineman position merely because she was Nick's little sister, The Other Mangold.
Now, finishing her second year at Ursuline College, Holley Mangold is finding a way to break free from the shadow of big brother. The Other Mangold has found an entirely new sport, and it might be her ticket to the 2012 Olympics in London.
Mangold has developed into a world-class weightlifter, and after just two years of dedicated lifting, appears headed to Colorado Springs, Colo., to train with USA Weightlifting in hopes of realizing her dream of competing in the Olympics.
She'll always be a Mangold, but Holley is out to make her own name, too.
"Holley is an unconventional girl," said her mother, Therese. "There's no two ways about it. Her personality is really differ ent and unique. She's always been a big girl, she grew up being a big girl, yet she loves girly things. She used to love wearing twirly dresses. She would go with football practice and games with fingernail polish on."
Because she's a Mangold and because she has the same build of older brother Nick, a 6-4, 305-pound center, she followed in his footsteps from the start. Holley Mangold loved football, too, and began playing for her high school team. At 5-9 and 310 pounds, she fit in easily with the teammates she called "brothers."
They'd all hit the weight room together, and oftentimes, Holley Mangold would challenge her "brothers" to lifts. They'd bench press and squat, comparing who could do the exercises with the most weight.
"We stopped because I could beat them," Mangold said modestly.
That was when she noticed she might have some skill in weightlifting, and began training with local powerlifting guru Larry Pacifico. He told the then-sophomore in high school that he'd have her performing 500-pound squats by the time she graduated from high school. In two years.
Within four months, she was squatting 500 pounds and re-evaluating her goals.
"I just thought it was really fun," Mangold said. "I realized I really liked it."
She also realized she had a future in weightlifting. With football, she might be able to play four more years at the collegiate level -- if some daring coach would be willing to take a chance on having a girl on the offensive line.
If she switched to Olympic weightlifting -- which features the snatch and clean-and-jerk lifts instead of powerlifting's squat and bench press -- she could compete for years and years to come.
And so she enrolled at Ursuline, a track scholarship (shot put) helping her to pursue the degree in theology that she coveted. She started working with Dan Bell, a weightlifting coach in Orwell. And she began to get serious about weightlifting for the first time.
The right coach
improves her technique Bell saw her at weightlifting's junior nationals competition before Mangold began college. She figured she could do pretty well in the meet; she ended up winning. But that was the only good part.
"Her technique was awful," Bell said. "Suffice it to say, she was twice as strong as any girl in her class, so she did outlift the rest of them."
Bell began restructuring her technique, helping her ease from powerlifting bench and squat to Olympic snatch and clean-and-jerk lifts.
"I liken Olympic weight lifting to a 400-pound golf swing," Bell said. "It's that technically demanding."
Last year, she competed at junior nationals, again, without really training. She finished second. Then came junior worlds in Romania last summer, where she placed ninth.
After finally getting serious about lifting, in December, Mangold went to the American Open, in Mobile, Ala., for her first full meet. Of course, she won, completing lifts of 95 kilograms (about 209 pounds) in the snatch and 125 kilograms (about 275 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk.
Bell quickly discovered that Mangold is the type of athlete who flourishes when she's around the toughest competition to push her. That's why he encouraged her to begin training with USA Weightlifting in Colorado Springs this fall in hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. Mangold said she's "about 90 percent sure" she's headed west in a few months, despite being so attached to family that she never considered leaving Ohio for college.
"Holley shows incredible potential," said Rick Adams, CEO of USA Weightlifting in a recent phone conversation. "She's one of the most exciting young athletes we have. She certainly has the attention of the Olympic Committee, and has our attention. We absolutely think she's a strong candidate for future international teams."
Assessments like that have caused Mangold to re-evaluate, again. She once aimed for the 2016 Olympics, but now is hoping to find a way on the 2012 team.
"It's time to get a little more serious," said Mangold, who participated on Ursuline's swimming and track teams in the past year. "Although I'd like to call myself a serious lifter, I do swimming, I do track and I'm going to school full time. I just can't wait to see what I can do if I focus on lifting."
The Other Mangold just might find a way to make a name for herself.
"My biggest dream for Holley is that one day when their family is sitting around and he's [Nick's] talking about a giant contract or his Super Bowl ring, she can pull up her sleeve and show her the Olympic rings tattoo," Bell said.
It seems like an achievable goal. One that Nick Mangold is excited to see if his sister can reach. However, he's pretty certain that no matter how far Holley progresses with weightlifting, she'll never be able to outlift him.
"I'll always be the big brother," Nick Mangold said. "She might be able to [outlift me] without me standing over her, but if I'm around I'll be able to play the 'Big Brother Games' and talk her out of it."
Because to Nick Mangold, at least, she'll always be The Other Mangold.
To everyone else, she hopes to be an Olympian.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654.