Last week our team stepped onto the mats and finally did what they have been training to do for the last 4 1/2 months. They WRESTLED. Obviously you can argue that they have been "wrestling" for the entire season but from my perspective they really haven't been. Outside of Colin "The Warden" Ely aka The Funny Car, who only has one speed, FAST, all of our guys have stepped onto the mats with one main goal - wrestle to win. Let me back up for a second and say that "wrestling to win" is a major improvement from years past where they were basically expecting to get beat or not expecting to win, and if you told me in September that in February our entire team including non-starters would be wrestling to win when they went out on the mat I would have accepted it with great pleasure. Especially since we did not win a single dual the entire year, including NYU! That being said (anyone see the Curb Your Enthusiasm about "that being said" ?), Coach Rogers and myself always saw and asked for more from the guys and have been talking about a week like this past one since our first competition. A week where everyone clicked, everyone wrestled to their potential, and everyone stayed within the system and game plan we have been hammering into them from day 1. A week where we acted instead of re-acted, and pushed instead of getting pushed. We dictated the pace, forced the action, and capitalized on scoring opportunities. When you do all of these things together, you STOP wrestling to win and START winning from wrestling.
As we go into our last dual of the year we can only hope the guys continue on their current path and build on this past week's successes and learn from the mistakes. We will be ready for Millersville and will hopefully return the Rupp Cup back to its rightful place, here in Lancaster, Pa. I would like to thank all of the parents, friends, and of course alums who made it back for our match on Friday night against NYU. It was a great evening where we were able to send our seniors off in style with 2 pins and a major decision between the three of them. We also had an opportunity to hear from the seniors as they accepted a gift from the F&M Wrestling program and it was emotional for everyone. While it is only my second season at F&M and the first of the Mike Rogers Era, being here last year has given me a good enough sample size to gauge where this program is heading. This is a different team and program since Mike's arrival. The guys are confident, work hard (cliche but was not necessarily the case here) and have legitimate goals and expectations both self imposed and coach imposed that they are working to achieve. Losses are no longer acceptable here in Lancaster and wrestling has moved from a winter activity to a year around sport and lifestyle. We have guys who are beating top Div. 1 talent on a regular basis and with our recruiting efforts we will be bringing in a bunch more to continue this trend. I was looking for an appropriate saying or quote to help convey the point of this post and have had a very hard time finding one. Finally I was sent this quote from somebody who has watched our team over the course of the year and has commented frequently of the improvements and changes they see among our wrestlers and program so here it is:
"...That's how ancient samurai warriors viewed their battles. They lived for them. They were trained to see warfare as a a joy and conflict, as a sign that they were drawing more energy. The issue for them was not winning or losing - or even living or dying. The issue was bravely engaging, fighting with great style, and learning from the encounter...and because the warriors welcomed warfare, they were less likely to be tense while engaged in it, less likely to shut down and forget their training..."
Thank you to everyone for their support and amazing fandom during this exciting time for F&M Wrestling. We coaches will continue to improve and work hard to provide the best experience for our student athletes both on and off the mats. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me anytime.
MG
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