Love it or leave it!

Do You Love Wrestling? 

By Steve Fraser

October – 2014

 

Do you really enjoy wrestling? Do you look forward to the fight? Do you long for the moment when you can get into a battle with that other wrestler?

 

Recently, I visited the University of Michigan’s wrestling room and practice. Michigan is where I got my college education and where I wrestled back in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. What a fantastic wrestling room they have now, named the Bahna Wrestling Center. This five-year-old facility is state of the art, from top to bottom.

 

After watching the practice, head coach Joe McFarland asked me to say a few words to the team. I could not help thinking how jealous I was to see all of these young guys soaking wet from sweat that was produced from this tough work out. 

 

I had a “flash back” of when I was wrestling at Michigan. I remembered how much I loved to wrestle; how much I loved to mix it up with people like Mark Churella, a three-time NCAA champion and my teammate. Churella and I wrestled almost every single day. Talk about a tough training partner, Churella was the toughest!

 

Churella was also someone who loved the sport. He absolutely loved the act of wrestling. He loved learning new skills. He loved conditioning his body in a way that would crush his opponents. He loved the mental game. Churella loved all of it! And of course he taught me to love it as well.

 

Having fun with the sport of wrestling is very important in being successful at it. We must constantly remind ourselves to “Love the Battle.” We must love the process, love the fight and love the struggle as well as the breakthroughs. Loving success is easy. Loving the whole process of achieving success is what helps one to advance to a new level of competitive skill.

 

So have some fun this month. Think humorously to create those positive emotions. When you think goofy off the wall thoughts, your nervousness and fear will disappear. When your emotions start getting the better of you, internal laughter will put you back on track. Life is too short to be stressed out.

At first, Churella used to beat the living tar out of me. But because I stayed in there with him, coming back for more every day, I began to improve. Slowly, I started to give him a better fight and then eventually I improved enough to get him back, even with some of his own stuff. 

For example, I was not a leg wrestler in high school, but before I knew it I was throwing legs in and successfully turning him (on occasion) and my opponents. To this very day, I know I shock many people (especially because most look at me as a Greco guy only) when I throw the legs in and turn them. Churella, as most know, was awesome with leg wrestling. Learning these new skills for me was fun.

Practice using your mental focus in the present time. Operate in the here and now, especially during competition. This will enhance your “ideal competitive state” and your talent and skill will come alive. During the battle, if you are thinking about the past or future it will hamper your ability to really open up and go for it. Enjoy the present moment and your performance will flourish.

Think energy, which is everything. Generating a high level of positive energy will create that “dynamic fight.” It will help you to heighten those positive emotions that will make you strong with confidence. Think “fun” and more positive energy will start flowing immediately. Say to yourself, "I love it! Isn’t this great! Show me the pressure!"

Churella always seemed to thrive on the pressure, the more the better. 

When you get in that close match, remind yourself how you love it. You love the pressure, you love the excitement and you love putting it all on the line. For you, life would be too boring if you did it any other way. No holding back, no excuses, you are going for it. Do the best you possibly can. Wrestle to win it at all costs and then, win or lose, be proud because you gave it every ounce of everything you had. 

 

Last blog at 2014 Worlds

Rough day for the American Greco Team today. 

Joe Rau was winning against his Suisse opponent and got pinned. 

Bryce Sadoris pinned his TJK opponent and then lost 1-0 to the Georgian wrestler who is very good. The GEO did not pull him through though. For his first Worlds, Bryce looked great!

Robby Smith beat Korea 8-2 then lost to Bulgaria 9-0. He got rolled up in a flurry of gut wrenches which put him behind by 7 points. To win at this level Robby will have to really focus on three things:

1. Get in "Rulon Gardner" type cardiovascular conditioning. He must become an expert at out moving all of the 130 kilo guys, gassing all of them out.

 

2. Get his opponents put down in parterre first. 

3. Execute his tremendously successful front headlock. 

If he can become a master in these three areas he will be in the hunt for a world medal in the years to come. 

All three guys are out of the tournament and USA is done for the day. 

Tomorrow our three WCAP athletes will be up. Spenser Mango, Justin Lester and Caylor Williams will all be testing their skills in the big game. 

I will be taking the long journey home tonight. 

Greco still has a chance to do very well here at the World Championships. 

Spenser has been doing all the right things in his training and preparation. Even with 59 kilos being a very tough weight class I think Spenser has a great shot at winning a medal. 

Lester is a veteren and even though he hasn't won a medal since 2007 (he has 2 world bronze medals to his name) he is talented enough to still win. 

Williams, in only his second world championship, is very explosive and hungry to do well. He could very well surprise some people here. 

My overall experience here in Tashkent was a good one. Yes, the 2014 World Championships were not the best run championships I've been to. And yes, I along with many others, got a bit stomach sick from the food or water or something. But as usual the Tashkent people were wonderful hosts and friendly as I have seen. 

There were many interesting sites and customs with-in the city. Personally I loved the UZB food and totally enjoyed the experience. 

Next years World Championships will take place in Las Vegas, Navada. And I promise you it will be a spectacular event!

Best Regards,

~sf

Pics

Bisek and Rod back stage

And Elaina warming up

Day 5

The finals are about to begin. Pretty good day for the US Greco and Women's team so far. 

Elaina is going for gold. And Andy Bisek is wrestling for bronze. 

Elaina had another tough draw (just like Gray did) this morning and came through with flying colors. Her first two bouts required her to beat opponents that have beaten her before. Latvia and Mongolia both have beaten her. Mongolia has beaten her three times in fact. 

She wrestled well to say the least. She seemed to have that "eye of the tiger", coming from behind in both bouts to win.

Four victories and she is now wrestling for the world title!

Andy Bisek also had the "eye of the tiger" as well. In his second match he faced off with the Russian. Down 5-2 he came storming back to gut wrench him twice and then take him down to win a 6-6 tie. 

It was stupendous! 

In his quarter final bout against Croatia he wrestled toe to toe the entire match. 0-0 at the half. Then, in a totally even bout, both guys fighting hard and even, the ref decides to caution Andy which gives the CRO a point. Why the ref chose Andy to caution is like flipping a coin. 

No additional points were scored and the ref never cautions the CRO (which would have been fair) and Andy loses the match 1-0. These are the matches that are extremely frustrating because they are soo close and the ref just decides who he thinks should win. 

Anyway, this is life in the international wrestling game. 

Andy then had to beat the Finland wrestler who is very strong. This was the match that would advance him to the bronze medal match. Again Andy had to come from behind to score big points to win. The heart of a true champion!

Andy is an example of someone who is doing all the right things to become world class in this sport. Not only is he coachable and hard working, he also works a job in between practices everyday in Colorado Springs to support his wife, son and baby on the way. He is paying the price in everyway to try and acheive in this great sport of ours. 

Later...

News flash!!! 

Elaina loses a close one to end with silver. She gave it all! Proud of her!

Andy crushes Japan to win bronze!! It was outstanding! In a flurry of spectacular parterre moves Andy Bisek 8 points Japan to take his (and the Greco teams) first medal here in Tashkent. 

So proud of this kid who works so hard to win in this tough grueling game. 

The women's team ends up with three medals, one in each color. And third place as a team!

Congrats to both the women's and Greco coaches for their exhaustive work preparing their teams for battle! 

Terry Steiner and Matt Lindland leading the way! 

Day 4: wrestling

The women had a pretty good day today, so far. Semi-finals are over and we have two going for medals. 

Adeline Gray and Alli Ragan will wrestle tonight for their world medals. Gray will go for gold and Ragan will go for bronze. 

Whitney Conder wrestled very well too but not quite there yet, going two and two on the day. Trust me, if she keeps working like she has been in recent years she will eventually reach the top podium step. 

Terry Steiner and his staff are doing a great job with the program. They are very organized and have created a strong system and strong approach in preparing and developing our young women athletes. Everyone of the women - win or lose - wrestled with a good aggressive style (so far) and all showed they were in great cardiovascular shape. 

Adeline Gray had, by far, one of the toughest draws of the entire tournament thus far. She was losing in her first match against the Chinese opponent by a score of 9-2. However, she never quit. She stayed focussed and continued to attack her foe, non-stop. In a exciting comeback she rallied late in the match to out point her 11-10. It was tremendous! 

In her next match agianst the Turk again it was high scoring and quite back and fourth. She again prevailed by pinning her. 

And then two big wins over Japan and Estonia to put her in the finals where she is guarenteed nothing less than a silver medal. But I can tell you with great confidence that she will NOT settle for a silver tonight. It's nothing less than Gold tonight. The Brazilian athlete stands little chance in my mind. 

Congrats to Coach Steiner, his coaches and the women's team!

Gray warming up before her first match:

Day 4: Embassy visit

Kiki Kelley, who is the Greco Team Leader, organized a visit to the US Embassy - Tashkent yesterday between sessions. We attended a meeting that included about 40 local UZB people that come to learn more about the United States culture, ideals and language. Mostly college age students were in attendance. 

What a wonderful experience for the five of us Americans that went. We talked about the American cuture, wrestling and a lot about our society. The group asked many questions about the USA. They wanted to know about many things, like:

* how dangerous is it in the bigger cities

* do all people carry guns

* why we drive bigger cars

* what Americans thought about health and fitness

* how wrestlers make a living

* how we balance job and home

The session was suppose to go for one hour, but the group was so interested and engaged, they let the session go for 90 minutes. We gave out many gifts, like USA caps, t.shirts, and pins. A group photo was taken and autographs were signed. Face book addresses were exchanged and a lot of shaking hands. 

The US Embassy was beautiful, standing on a large peice of property. Security was very tight and no phones or cameras were allowed on the grounds. About 100 Americans worked there along with about 200 UZB staff. 

Day 3, more women

What a heart breaker for Lampe! In the bronze medal match against PRK she totally out-wrestled her opponent. She missed big points at the 1st period buzzer and then just missed getting the match clinching takedown with 30 seconds to go in the match. Ugh!

Then with 15 seconds to go Lampe gives up a double leg attack which ties the score. Last points scored gives PRK the match and Lampe loses the bronze by the skin of her teeth. 

That one hurts! She deserved to win that medal. 

Helen Maroulis is in the midst of destroying the POL for the bronze. No, I take that back, she just destroyed the POL, 10-0. Helen wins the bronze medal!

Helen wrestled so very well today. In the match against the Japanese girl, in the semi, she wrestled with great aggressive intensity, taking it to her opponent the entire match. She was in her face the whole time, leading the match 2-0 with about one minute to go. Then out of no where the Japanese wrestler shot on Helen and took her down, exposing her back for 4 points. Another heart breaker because Helen wrestled so intense the entire time. 

Helen in the warm up room before one of her matches: