Inaugural Burn

I would like to kick off "Matt" Burn with a big "thank you" to all of the administration and F&M Wrestling alumni, fans, staff, and wrestlers for providing me with the opportunity to get back into the sport I love so very much. Throughout my interviews and hiring process it became very clear to me that there are a lot of people who care very much about F&M Wrestling, so when I was hired I made it my mission to find ways to give back to them for all they have done for us. This blog is one of those efforts.

Through "Matt" Burn I hope to give our fans a peek behind the curtain of a Division I wrestling program in the early stages of rebuilding. I hope to offer a unique viewpoint on our team, our wrestlers, and all things F&M Wrestling both on and off the mats. We are very lucky to have so many ways to reach our alumni, fans, and families so that you can all follow your favorite team as we climb the EIWA and national rankings over the next few years.

I look forward to updating this site often, and I will be as candid and straightforward as possible in an effort to paint the most accurate and detailed picture possible for our national and alumni fan base. I will also bring in some of our wrestlers and department members to guest post from time to time so there are different perspectives on the season. Finally, I encourage all of you to send any feedback, questions, or ideas that you would like to see on the site as we continue to grow "Matt" Burn within the F&M and wrestling communities. My contact info is in the profile section of the site.

Now onto the good stuff!!! The first month of my coaching career has run the gamut from educational to exhilarating! My first day on campus was hectic to say the least, running from orientation meetings to wrestler introductions, and finally to practice. To be honest, I did not know what to expect as far as how the wrestlers would receive me, and I was very nervous before I met them for the first time. Would they be open to a new coach? Would they be excited about the upcoming season? Were they willing to work as hard as necessary to become successful? Were they any good? All of these things ran through my mind for weeks and finally they would all be answered whether I wanted to know or not.

Before we go any further let me give some background on myself to help put this blog in context for everyone moving forward (cue time warp graphics/sounds):

I grew up in Northern New Jersey and started wrestling in high school. I was not very good when I started and it is fair to say that my transition into the sport didn't go smoothly. I was used as a throwing dummy/punching bag/ easy match for most of my first year, frequently enough for my coaches to let me know I didn't have to keep getting back up and practicing all the time, that it was ok to sit out a day. That was when I was bitten by the wrestling bug. I had dabbled in football and baseball all through my youth, but for some reason I never really made the jumps necessary to earn a regular place in either sport.

With wrestling it was different...

In wrestling I was able to control my own destiny. I didn't have to rely on someone throwing me the ball or blocking for me to run or making a three-pointer at the buzzer. I only had to worry about me working out, and me practicing 2x day and studying tapes nightly. I loved that success was directly related to the amount of effort put in during the practices. Taking that information and adding what I recently learned in science class (that there were actually abs under my "protective layer" of chub) I decided that it was in my best interest to focus on wrestling and working hard to improve in the sport.

Lo and behold, this formula worked and by my senior year I was one of the top wrestlers in the state. I ended my year with a 3rd place finish in the state tournament and parlayed that success into a spot on the Columbia University Wrestling team. After a year at Columbia where I took 4th at EIWA's I decided things were going to smoothly at home and I needed to create more stress in my parents lives. Clearly the best way to do this was to transfer to Cornell University were I would be competing for one of the top teams on the east coast.

This strategic move was hands down the best decision of my short life and because of my experience at Cornell I am now doing what I always dreamed of for a career. While at Cornell I was lucky to be coached by Rob Koll, hands down the best coach and mentor anybody could ever ask for. While with Rob, I completed a successful wrestling career, culminating with an EIWA title and All-American honors my senior year, but what was much more valuable was that I had the opportunity to learn and observe how to build a decent TEAM into an elite PROGRAM. Those invaluable lessons and experiences are what I hope to bring to F&M in my role as assistant coach.

(cue time warp graphics/sounds) Aaaand we're back at F&M:

Coach Schuyler introduced me to the team and of course I was excited to get things started with these guys. Who would be the workhorses? Who would put in the time, blood, sweat, and tears necessary to achieve greatness? Surely not everyone would have that drive....right? Well I can honestly say I was surprised to hear everyone of the guys say they were willing to do what it takes to get better. They were all open to new ideas and training techniques. They were all open to extra workouts and high intensity drills/conditioning. Not one wrestler rolled their eyes or looked away when I shook their hands. Not one wrestler backed down or had an excuse for why they couldn't make a drill session. They all met my challenge with a youthful exuberance and excitement that I knew would soon disappear after the first sprint workout (Muahahahaha)...

So there I was, standing in front of 15 wrestlers who entrusted me with their careers. How exciting is that?!? Over the next four weeks some of the guys improved at incredible rates never looking back at the boys they were the prior year, and as expected, some went through the familiar peeks and valley's any wrestling renaissance presents, but most importantly as of this post all but one are still with me, training hard and becoming better. As a rookie coach this is much more than I could have ever hoped for. That retention percentage (93%) is better than any team I had ever been on in my career. That retention rate is a great foundation for us to recruit on and build our program on. It is a great first step, hopefully the first of many...