During my senior season, many people I met thought everything was easy for me. That could not be further from the truth. For every single year of my career, save the final one, I envied other wrestlers for how simple they made wrestling look. I eventually became that person people looked up to, even though I was not conscious of it at first. It took ten years of hard work to reach that point. I learned that it is always more rewarding when you have to work and wait for something.
Just like everyone else, I have many weaknesses. This point was driven home when one of my fellow graduate assistants at RIC asked, “Mike, do you have any problems or vices?” She said it in a serious tone with a face free of sarcasm. I did not realize she was paying me a tremendous compliment at the time. At that moment, I hesitated before replying, “lots.” The question helped me grasp that what is important is how we counter our vices and problems, not what they are.
A significant problem I had to deal with was Madelung’s deformity in my wrists. The abnormality caused much pain over the years and made it difficult to perform many exercises, such as pushups. I avoided things that hurt my wrists and coped with my problem as best I could. During my sophomore year of high school, a doctor told me never to wrestle again. By that time, my love for the sport, or maybe addiction to it, had grown too strong to walk away. Instead, I tackled the problem head-on by improving my grip strength.
I was advised on two other occasions not to wrestle because of my back ailments. I have a “Sherman Back,” a slight hunchback, and a degenerative disc. Because of those problems, I am constantly shifting around due to endless nagging pain. My doctor told me not to lift weights before the 2007-2008 season. I modified the orders to cater to my needs without putting too much strain on my back.
I am not telling you these things for sympathy, but to help you see that everyone, including champions, has physical, mental, and personal difficulties to overcome. Substitute my problems with your own and then deal with what is on your plate. Remember, everyone is human and has to overcome odds to be great.
Greatness is similar to a good idea; no one thinks it is possible. Otherwise, they would have done it themselves. Think about how many people probably laughed at the person who said, “Let’s bottle water and sell it!” Goals and ideas are similar, and you may encounter people who will try to tear yours down.
No matter what your goal is in wrestling, know that it is doable because it has been done before. If you want to be a national champion, keep in mind that every single year one is crowned at your weight class. I always said to myself, “Someone has to win, so why not me?” Whether your goal is winning a state title or an Olympic one, others have already done it. Let that knowledge comfort and empower you.
The quickest and most effective way to become a better wrestler is simply to wrestle. Never waste practice time, especially drilling time. Try to learn one new thing each session. After practice, you should be able to say, “This helped me in some way,” besides keeping your weight down. The second you stop improving every day, you stop gaining ground.
Focus on the little things, such as where your hands go when your partner shoots their shots. Just because you are playing a dummy when your teammate takes you down does not mean you have to think like one too.
When drilling, make sure you shoot the same move three or four times before switching. If you make a mistake on your first shot, it is much easier to correct it a split second later than it would be after your partner went. You want to develop muscle memory. By drilling the same things over and over, your body remembers on its own how to do something. That is why athletes often say, “I don’t know what I did. It just happened.”
When it comes to actual wrestling, you should first concern yourself with neutral wrestling. If you can take someone down, you can win a match. For that reason, it is the most critical position. Position is the keyword in the previous sentence and in all of wrestling. Someone with incredible positioning is hard to beat even if they have little else to offer. On your feet, you have three lines of defense: head, hands, and hips. Use them all.
Subsequently, focus on getting out from the bottom. It enables you to get back to your feet into what is hopefully your best domain. After you are great from those two spots, then and only then, concern yourself with top wrestling. Any points you can score from there should be considered free points. There are rare exceptions to this rule, as there are to all rules.
Technically you should be three moves deep, meaning if your number one move does not work, use your second, then third, if necessary. That philosophy can be applied to all aspects of the sport. On my feet, I had my fireman’s, dart shot, and a sweep single leg. Sometimes even those were not enough, as nationals proved. Transitioning from move to move without stopping to reset will eventually score you points.
I also highly recommend developing a good front headlock. Scoring off your opponent’s shots is key to success. Too many wrestlers simply block their adversaries before letting them back up. Doing that invites them to keep on shooting until they do score. If you have a good front headlock, your opponent will think twice about shooting again. You also have to be great at preventing a takedown in the reverse position. I was happy in either spot of the front headlock. This gave me the confidence to shoot as much as I wanted.
There are, of course, other ways to make progress. When lifting for wrestling, target the muscles used the most; legs, forearms, neck, and back. Most importantly, work the hardest where you are the weakest. One of wrestling’s many beauties is that hard work can, and often does, trump talent.
There is a point in the season when wrestlers think that their weight is finally under control. This tends to be the wrestlers who do not lift during the season. The reason for their weight stabilizing is that they lose muscle mass, not fat. That is the exact opposite of what you want. In spite of how tired you are, you have to do maintenance lifting. Any time spent in the weight room is better than none.
The point at which your body can go no more is well past where you think it is. If you are asking yourself whether you should go on a run, whether or not you should do these workouts, do it. Before practice, get to the gym and lift. After practice is over, run sprints on your own. If you can think to yourself, “Can I go harder?” you can. If you could not, you would not be able to think. Dan Gable, the most celebrated wrestler in American history, wanted to be carried off the mat when the practice was over. That is how hard he worked, and he accomplished world and Olympic glory with gold medals in the most prestigious wrestling tournaments.
Read books to help yourself. I read any book that I thought would help me reach my goal, even unrelated to wrestling. Some of the books I chose were Warrior of the Light by Paul Coelho, The Winner Within by Pat Riley, Sports Psyching by Thomas Tutko and Umberto Tosi, It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong, Four Days to Glory by Mark Kreidler, and many others. I picked up a few great pointers along the way.
Be sure to learn about nutrition. There is a plethora of great books and websites on the topic. Many wrestlers handle their weight the wrong way, negatively affecting their performances. Eating the right foods on a matchday and in the days leading up to it are essential to competing at your highest level. What worked for me on match days was a small amount of food and a lot of fluids. Find the right mix for your body.
Wrestling is one of the few sports where you get out exactly what you put in. No matter how much a 5’4” kid practices basketball, the chances of them competing at the highest level are incredibly slim as opposed to a wrestler of any size, who can find themself on the sport’s grandest stage.
Remember that while we envy others during the season, non-athletes who spend time eating, drinking, going to parties instead of working out, dieting, and getting enough rest, also envy us. Many teenagers and young adults look at their counterparts on sports teams and wish they had what it takes to make the necessary sacrifices. Enjoy all of the moments. You will never have them again.
The eastern philosopher Mencius said, “It is often through adversity that men acquire virtue, wisdom, skill, and cleverness.” Adversity crosses every path traversed by those who accomplish remarkable feats. You have to understand that you will not be 100 percent every match. I can guarantee that Cael Sanderson, the only undefeated four-time NCAA Division I Champion [Footnote 17: As of the 2022 season, Cael Sanderson is still the only undefeated four-time Division I champion. Joey Davis (@joeyblackicedavis_) is the only undefeated four-time Division II champion and Marcus LeVesseur (@prospect155) is the only undefeated four-time Division III champion.], did not feel his best before all of his matches. What he did do was reach inside and come up with enough to win every time. That is what matters. Whatever situation you find yourself in, if it is your worst day or your best, you have to dig deep to find the strength to win. And you can do it. Remember that: You can do it.
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