2010 - 2011 Division 1 NCAA Wrestling Finals Week

To most college students, the third week of March means 'Finals Week' (for those in the quarter system but in the semester system its Mid-Term) but for the winter D-1 collegiate athlete, in particular, a wrestler, the third week means NCAA Division 1 Finals Tournament. However, the first two weeks of March is the grind into making it into the 'the tournament'. Its pretty similar, if not the same concept, as March Madness but for the sport of Wrestling. This year the event is being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 17, 18, and 19. This is the culmination of the 2010-2011 wrestling season and the thought of not winning their respective weight class more or less placing (the accomplishment of being the top 8 in the nation in their weight class) is an utter failure. Consequently, this is what a D-1 NCAA wrestler has looked forward too since the beginning of the season. Being a Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, I am cheering for the three wrestlers that are representing Cal Poly to win it or accomplish a place. I wish all the wrestlers luck because it is already an achievement to be able to participate in such an event, just like it is an achievement to participate in Basketballs coveted 'March Madness.'

2010-2011 Winter Sports Awards Dinner

Every year and every season, there is an awards dinner that the athletes attends to recap the season, in this case, winter sport of wrestling. This year has a personal feel because of the five seniors that are graduating, I have coached since their freshman year. Not only are they my students but they feel as all five of them are my little brothers.

The dinner was the usual dinner that has been giving in the past - pasta and meatballs and an it's-it ice cream. Once the dinner was consumed, the wrestlers and the parents congregated in the auditorium where wrestling awards and speech's were given. Awards were given to the most improved, most promising, and most valuable on all three levels - Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity. At the end of awards and speech's, a parent created a video reminiscing the awesome season that was shown on a projector. Unbeknown to the coaches, the parents constructed a money tree for all the coaches that was given at the end of the video that signified their appreciation of the coaches time that was invested throughout the season.

In summary, the awards dinner was such a gratifying yet sad because of the five seniors that I was privileged to coach are now moving on with their life to pursue their dreams and aspirations. I wish them all the luck in the world and remember that we all start from somewhere. Good Luck guys!!

The End of the 2010-2011 Wrestling Season

You Have Successfully Chosen The Right Blog Path From All The Blog Catacombs of Sports

The beginning of the end started on Thursday March 3rd on the way to Bakersfield, CA for the state meet (tournament) of the season. Although this tournament wasn't for the whole team rather the only two wrestlers that achieved a top three finish at the Central Coast Section Finals two weeks prior, the head coach decided to bring six other wrestlers to support the participating athletes. After the four plus hour van ride to the state meet, the team finally arrived at the Hotel at around 10PM PST.

On the first day of competition at the Rabobank Arena, the event hosted all the qualified wrestlers throughout the whole state of California on 10 mats. At a regular tournament, the most mats that an event has is around 6 or 7 in two gyms. With that being said, first time wrestlers are amazed how big the venue is and tend to perform solely on nerves, thus creating a tense and uncomfortable environment for them. Consequently, they do not perform at the level that got them to such an event.

One of the two wrestlers suffered from first time jitters and lost his first match to a wrestler that was not on his level but got the better of him that match. However, the next three matches he performed at a level that the people that have seen him are use to him wrestling and came out victorious. To make it to second day of competition, he wrestled against a tough kid that score on him and did not want to get scored on for four plus minutes, which lead our wrestler to lose and be eliminated from the event. He ended his sophomore career, top sixteen in the state at 130lbs.  The second wrestler did not have first time jitters and won convincingly against his opponent 10-3. However, he lost to a wrestler a kid ranked second in the state and ranked nationally in his next match. On to his third match, he wrestled a kid equally to his skills but the other kid committed less mistakes than our kid which gave him the victory.

The end of the state meet was Friday March 4th after both kids were eliminated, however our team stayed the weekend to see the best California High School wrestlers. The team saw history in the making as a kid has not lost a match nor has given up an offensive takedown in two years, in California and throughout the nation. In addition, a kid is vying to become the second high school wrestler to be a 4x state champion next year after he won his third this past weekend. Once the finals were over, we decided to return back to Northern California and congratulate the kids on a great season, wish them luck on their future endeavors and hope to see them next year!!!

What Should An Athlete Do?

What would you do; if someone where to tell you that 'you can participate in your last competitive and important tournament of your entire career but chances are that you will require surgery is more likely than 100%?'

That is what one of the athletes is going through - He broke his hand, during an intense practice. This kid has been working hard for four years (off-season included) to achieve a top six spot at what could be his last tournament of his high school career. According to the rankings, this kid is in the top five wrestlers that could accomplish a top five finish and even though rankings are nothing but stats on paper, more so than anything, rankings are a good indicator on the abilities of such athletes.

That being said; what is the best course of action that an athlete can take? Risk surgery for a cause that the athlete has been working so hard for four hard years? Risk regretting not participating in the last tournament of a grueling career? Participating in the tournament till the body tells the athlete that it can no longer keep up with the mind set and withdraw?  In the end, a dedicated athlete will not be in the right mind set in terms of knowing whats best for them, so the coach will have to evaluate the situation/outcomes of all scenarios and suggest the best course of action with the athletes best interest in mind.

A Few Very Important Wrestling Concepts

...(I can not get up, I just can not, Coach has too much pressure) 'Coach has been telling me all year long to put a lot of pressure in the form of making the bottom wrestler carry your weight, now I understand'....One of my wrestlers telling another coach on why he could not get up when I was on top holding him down. Wrestling is a pretty simple concept to grasp - a wrestler controls the other wrestlers' hips, advantage goes to the one who has control- and the other concept is - body positioning with regards to the other wrestlers' body which creates the unbearable pressure. If someone can master yet alone grasp these concepts, I can rest assure that wrestler will be extremely successful. After practice was done, the wrestler told me that he finally understood the concept of creating that pressure on top, which the bottom wrestler would carry for a round (2 minutes championship bracket or 1 minute consolation bracket). A season worth of trying to make him understand came to fruition today.

Thoughts on Post-Season Success for a Coach and Wrestler

The week of February 14, 2011 is the week after WCAL Finals or as I like to call it - The 1st week of CCS practice. This week is pivotal to the kids success @CCS for it will be the backbone/foundation for the 2nd week of CCS practice. CCS practice is important because it sets the tempo and mentality that a successful wrestler will need to have on the days of February 25-26. Those two days are extremely critical for the wrestlers but especially the coaches since the coach is constantly giving the wrestler advice/tips on how to improve every match, to the round, to the minute and especially to the very last second. However, a coach's job could be easier in the sense that the coach does not have to yell advice because of the hard work the wrestler put in during the first and second week of wrestling practice.
A determined and motivated high school wrestler ultimate goal is to win state but if the wrestler comes short for whatever reason, they will settle for a medal at the state meet. A few years ago, CCS qualified the top four wrestlers to the California State Meet in Stockton, CA usually a week or two later, however, as years went by, CCS became weaker (amount of wrestlers earning a medal at the state meet based on the amount of qualifiers representing the section), it has dwindled to the top three.


To sum it all up, a wrestlers success lies within themselves and how much they are willing to sacrifice, in terms of social life and the advice that their coaching staff gives them. In other words, a wrestler in return as much as the wrestler puts in. For example, if the wrestler has been training all year round -physical, technical and mental- they are bound to achieve their goals and for some greatness but if a wrestler does not train year round or has a bad attitude, they will probably get as far as their talent takes them, which for some can be far but for most will not.

Another League Finals

...So it was February 12, 2011 also known to the Riordan Varsity Wrestlers as WCAL Finals @ Serra H.S and for the seniors on the team also known as 'last time to be league champion.' This was the fourth WCAL finals that I have been apart of as a coach, yet feels like its still my first. The day ended off well with twelve wrestlers going off to the post-season (Central Coast Section Championships) with two league champions - 130 and 160; two second places finishes - 103 & 145 and the rest were either third or fourth. To be fair, the finalists at 103 and 145 for the other school have a pedigree of wrestlers that started with their parents, thus making them a 'veteran' in comparison to other High school wrestlers whereas my kids only have two years experience. This year has been a special one especially since I have seen the growth and maturation of the kids that I have coached since their freshman year. I wish them all the luck in their post-season, education, and especially in life. It has been truly an honor to have met and coach such wonderful young gentleman.