(Matt Fullowan, Soph. - 174lbs, Colin Ely, Soph. - 197lbs)
Today we had a good, hard, and short practice. This year we have implemented bi-weekly drill sessions in the mornings which gives us a great opportunity to work with the guys and get them caught up on technique and the "style" of our program. In those sessions we break down the core positions (feet, short offense, defense, top, and bottom) and work on how to score in each of them. While we throw a variety of moves at the wrestlers, the goal of the sessions is to emphasize the importance of scoring from each of the positions, and not so much on what move they eventually score with. Sure I would like each of them to use the moves we show, but realistically they all have certain techniques and moves that they do better than others and their comfort level in each position is paramount to any one move I could force on them. The mantra this year has been "If you have to think about it, it's too late!" What this means is that in every position you encounter throughout the course of the match you must have a reaction to capitalize on it. You do not have time to react to what your opponent does you must act on what you are going to do. This is only achieved through repetition and constant drilling...hence drill sessions.
Because we focus on technique in the mornings we are able to focus on old fashioned hard wrestling in practice. Our practices deal with situations, fast paced drilling, and of course, live wrestling. They usually run for 90 minutes, but every now and then we push the guys for 2+ hours. Tuesday we had a 2hr practice with a 20 minute conditioning afterwards. Matt Fullowan lost 10lbs in that practice wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Ladies, please feel free to contact Matt for his "8 Easy Steps to a Fabulous Beach Body" workout book in stores this spring...
To contrast Tuesdays hard workout we went 90min and 65min Wed and Thursday respectively. This gives the guys ample time to recover without sacrificing their cardio and wrestling development. Today we did three matches and everyone worked extremely hard. We have a small team (14 guys plus coaches) which can work to our advantage in certain cases. Live wrestling is one of those cases because guys know each others styles very well and it forces them to focus on technique if they want to score on their opponents. It also can hurt when you don't have a lot of different styles for each guy to work with. Because of this, the coaches play an important roll in the live wrestling in practice. I do not think we have had a live session that I have missed since I got here and they guys I work with have been steadily improving. I work with everyone from 174-HWT but also work with the entire team during drill sessions which I run every week.
What has really made me excited this season is that 4-6 guys/week come to me for extra workouts above and beyond the mandatory 2 workouts (drills) per week. Everyone from 125-HWT has been in for extra instruction, and so far I am seeing quite a few front headlocks and scoring from underhooks-which is my dream come true. Most of the guys had never seen the stuff I teach them so it is always fun to show new techniques and moves for them to try out during practice. As with any team there are always one or two guys that are very special, and as a coach you hope they do very well. I want all of my guys to reach their goals and I will do everything I can to help them do just that, but Matt Fullowan (174lbs) and Colin Ely (197lbs) have become my special projects.
Matt wrestles a style almost exactly the same as mine (don't worry those who know me, he shoots much more than I did) with lots of pressure and cerebral leg attacks. Over the last 4 weeks he has become a very different wrestler. He will be a threat in the EIWA this year and anything less than a trip to NCAA's would be a huge disappointment for Matt, something I feel comfortable saying he didn't recognize prior to this season. Every day at 11am I can look up at the office door and Matt will be standing there asking me to workout. He has not missed a day since I got here and it is showing in his wrestling and success in the room. From what I hear, there are still a bunch of seats left on the Fullowan band wagon if anyone is interested in getting on board early (no guarantee there will be room later in the year!).
Colin Ely is a different animal all together, literally. Colin has hands like dinner plates and they do not feel very good as they come crashing down on the back of your head/neck. He has a never ending gas tank on his feet and has no problem bending your knees 90 degrees in the wrong direction should you turn your back on him during a live go. When I first wrestled with Colin he would dive in at the legs and hope to hold on and if he was luck score. Those who know my style know that is not the best strategy when wrestling me. After countless front headlocks and reshots, Colin learned how to select his shots with more caution and he is now starting to get in and finish them on most of the guys he wrestles. The gains he has made in 4 weeks are amazing and I look forward to his continued improvement throughout the year.
Time to watch my Yankees figure out how to hit against Philly. I am working on a special guest poster for early next week which I am sure you will all enjoy. Until next time....
MG
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