Let me start out by thanking everyone that helped provide the wrestling team with our first full time assistant coaching position. We have to start somewhere and this is a huge first step in bringing F&M back to its rightful place within the EIWA Community. I’m convinced the combination of Coach Schuyler and Coach Greenberg will bring the best out of our team. It’s now up to us to make this happen and I’m convinced we’re up to the task.
For those of you who may not know me I am a sophomore economics major from Berkeley Heights NJ currently wrestling at 174 pounds. Sports have been a large part of my life and my family (my two older brothers Rick and Mike were great athletes there as well) as I played football, baseball and wrestled for Governor Livingston High School. From a college selection standpoint I selected F&M because of the chance to compete at the Division I level without sacrifices the academic aspect of school. Also, my high school coach (Coach I) knew Coach Schuyler and thought it would be a good match for me. I believe life is all about challenges, and to reach your potential one must compete against the very best. At F&M I’m challenged everyday both academically and athletically. In order to navigate through my semesters I have to be very goal oriented. I’d not only like to wrestle in the NCAA’s but also earn All American honors. This is no easy task but I feel my coaches and desire to be successful provide me with the necessary tools it takes to achieve said goals. Last year I had the honor of backing up Justin Herbert (National Qualifier) and getting in a match here and there. Although a majority of my matches were at 184lbs. I was able to compile a winning record. Personally I think I could have done a lot better, but that’s what this year is about and I have a long hard road ahead of me with no reason to focus on the past.
What were my first Impressions of Coach G? The first time I met Coach Greenberg was during a scheduled individual drill session with Coach Schuyler. I was in the wrestling room at the time warming up waiting for Coach Schuyler to arrive, thinking he was running his usual couple of minutes late. As it turned out, Coach arrived 20 minutes later and introduced me to Coach G. and apologized for having to cancel our session since he had to show Coach G. around. I was disappointed since I had been dreaming of double legging Schuyler all week and was ready to get this season started. Before I could get too upset Coach G went on to tell me that we would be having a lot of workouts this year and kind of smirked and looked over at Coach Schuyler. I could tell this guy meant business and he was going to do everything in his power to help make us a better wrestling team.
I figured lets find out what this guy is all about. The next day I went up to the coach’s office at 11AM to ask Greenberg to get a drill in. He said yes and off we went to the wrestling room where after about 30 seconds of drilling I was already hitting better shots than I ever had. After about 10 minutes of drilling Miley Cirus’s new song “Party in the USA” came on and out of nowhere I just start singing and telling him how much I loved the song. I don’t even know what Greenberg must have thought, and not really knowing anyone on the team at the time, he must have thought I was crazy and asking what he got himself into…haha. For the record I believe it’s a pretty good song even if every teen girl in the world loves it. Anyway… back to the drill session. After a little while of drilling we went into live wrestling where Greenberg beat the crap out of me and put my body into positions I didn’t even know existed. For those who don’t know me I am the most inflexible person in the world (I can’t touch my toes) and I think Coach made me kiss my toe while almost snapping my back. Well I’ve been coming back ever since, (Sunday is our day off) and Coach G. is there ready to teach and challenge me more and more. It’s clear that he’s in this for the long haul and if he cares for my teammates and me so much we have to show him that we care about the sport and our team that much as well.
What it takes to be the best: After our initial drill session I talked to Greenberg for about an hour about his experience at Cornell and what it’s like to wrestle for a nationally ranked team and finish your career as an All-American. After this meeting I could tell this guy has a great passion for the sport as he’s left the business world to help make us better. Emerson say’s “Nothing great happens without enthusiasm” well Coach G. brings enthusiasm to a new level. Between Coach G and Coach Schuyler I’m convinced that if we work hard and listen we’ll be able to reach our fullest potential.
Our normal practice: We start at 4:30PM on the dot everyday and they are intense. As Coach G said in a previous blog I lost ten pounds in one practice when I usually only lose about four. Even though they’ve been hard it’s been great! Practice flows nice and smoothly starting off with a warm up then getting into a nice high paced drilling session then making our way into live wrestling where we crank the music up. Live wrestling usually consists of me “funking” with Bongarzone, banging heads with Latessa, or a first to blood match with Ely. I can feel myself improving each day and the techniques I’ve been learning in the drill sessions with Coach G. have been working nicely. We end practice with Koll Krawls and running, which is very punishing and have made many a grown men cry.
Outlook: Our team this year is very consistent with strong, tough, hardnosed wrestlers at every weight class. I think we can expect big things this year and we’re going to surprise many opponents because we’re putting in the hard work it takes while receiving great instruction. I’m looking forward to starting the season off this Saturday at the Clarion Open on a positive note. We have a very challenging schedule and I’m convinced if we put in the work and take advantage of the unique opportunity to train and listen personally to two NCAA Division I All Americans we’ll make great strides.
We’ll it’s been an honor to share my thoughts and experiences in Coach G’s “Matt Burn” Blog. The addition of Coach Greenberg to Coach Schuyler’s staff and the F&M Wrestling Family is going to help F&M wrestling achieve great things. In closing I’d like to say I’ve committed to doing my best to help bring F&M back to it’s rightful place within the wrestling world and to challenge myself everyday to reach my fullest potential while helping my team once again become a force in the EIWA. In the not so distant future I want people to look at our team and say, “oh ****, I have to wrestle a kid from F&M.”
Matt Fullowan
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