what does it take

[front 1/4]

recipe for success in youth/high school what does it take to be a state champ? does to much wrestling hurt?

[catzfan]

first, the wrestler must want that and then be willing to put in the effort, whatever that is. more is not always better. there are kids that have been 2 or 3 time state champs that did not do FS/Greco and very little summer wrestling. good coaching and good partners are important but attitude and desire get it done. with my boys, I let them participate in almost any wrestling event they'd like to and never make them practice/compete if they are not up for it. they've been fortunate to have great coaches/partners for all of their wrestling years.

[front 1/4]

Thanks catz i agree. I talked to many wrestlers and  coaches about this mainly high school. just wondering what the brother hood of Wisconsin wrestling thinks.

[kpugh8680]

The 2012-2013 season my son wrestled over 90 matches, this year he did 60 and we plan on cutting more for next year. He looked fresh this year, for Youth State, compared to last year and made the podium. Talked to a dad who's son hates tounaments and wrestes his first tounament at Regionals, he made the podium as well. He said his older son loves to do tournaments and made the podium as a youth as well. You know you wrestler the best, pay attention to their attitude and you will be able to figure out how much wrestling they should do.

[padre]

Catz and kpugh are correct.  At the end of the day it goes on the wrestler and his desire to be a high school state champ.  Kids stuff is great and I believe putting them in settings(youth state, nationals, etc.) where they get over their fears helps the wrestler to be better earlier due to no "deer in headlights" syndrome come freshman year.  But, if the wrestler is not willing to put in the extra time and sacrifice many of the "fun" things all of their friends are doing they will not be a state champ.  It is impossible as a parent to "make" them do these things as it becomes unproductive...they have to "want" to do it for themselves.  

Don't go looking for wins on the weekends especially when you hit 5th grade and above...look for losses.  The mental grind is not always fun but the wrestler has to be able to get over it if they are truly going to be on the podium in high school.  Many kids that can't take the losses fade away as it gets tougher and tougher.  You do have to know when your child needs a bit of success though and sometimes a non-grind tournament is exactly what they need.  Taking off a few weekends definitely does not hurt I have noticed...practice is where the kids get better and for them not to have to get up early every weekend can many times be a positive.

I will add the weight room is a necessity these days without any doubt...so get them there early(late junior high) and often.  While it may not be real beneficial to certain body types right away it does give them a mental edge I have noticed....the "I've trained harder than you, so come get some" theory I guess.   Make sure you work with someone that knows the ins and outs of lifting and get on a responsible and safe program.

[front 1/4]

thanks for all the in put. This is not a personal conquest for my son is a multi-time state champ its for all the young men who want to know what others do to be on top and how much work it takes. And what they did to reach there goals. I seen high school kids do every thing right and come up short. looking for common bond. mat time, luck ,god given talant, and so on.

[padre]

Parents of youth wrestlers that succeed very early really need to be careful also as I have seen tons that won youth state and national titles yet never did much in high school...sometimes burnout, sometimes they rested as they thought they could just continue to be the best...the top of the hill changes every year.

I don't know how much luck comes into it as you have to beat the top guys to win it, but strength(sometimes God given and sometimes through extremely hard work and many times both) is definitely a huge part.  What is overlooked a lot is the mental aspect of the sport.  I have seen many wrestlers never get to the top tier because of this...too much of hearing they can't beat certain people until they actually believe it.

In the end, you can do everything right and still not win a high school title as it will come down to a point or 2 almost every time...but you have to work to put yourself into the position to win.

[hammer]

I have to agree that it is really up to the kids as to what they want to achieve and such. 90 matches may be rocking for some and as little as 10 matches may work for others. I think the bottom line is good hard practice and goal setting with coaches, athletes and parents.

Not trying to start anything but a few years back I was told that in some kind of study that in high school less that 40% of the state place winners placed at youth state. That means that 60% of the state place winners in high school did not place at youth state.

This year I did my own look at it and it was alot of looking back at past youth states. Not many of the champs were not place winners as a youth. Though I did find quite a few high school place winners that I could not find in the youth state place winners. I think that as time goes on and the way wrestling is, I believe that number if true will be much higher at the high school level.

Good luck with all the wrestlers and parents. A very nice topic and I hope it stays that way because some very good input on the subject.

[ChargerDad]

Hammer, I think you are right.. Over time, there will be very few wrestlers that didn't make the podium at state that place in high school, because of the growth of youth wrestling.  I do think though, that there is danger of some kids making podiums in youth and burning out before they even get to high school.  It's something I think about a lot with my 9 year old..  You can't just listen to what they say, because they probably always want to go wrestle, you have to learn to read them..  I backed off on the number of tourneys this year, and decided instead to spend more time watching the HS kids wrestle.  He wrestled much better this year in his down year than last year in his up year (2nd at state vs not qualifying).  Obviously not all of that is just wrestling less and getting motivation by watching the older kids, it's also hard work with good practice partners, and good coaching that finally sunk in to my thick headed kid!  I do think though that wrestling fewer tourneys left him more hungry and fresh at the end of the year.  The most important thing that any wrestler can get is a good practice partner that pushes you, and a good coach to help both of them get better and keep pushing each other.

[rugby]

I agree 100 percent that it is all about practice partners. My son had great wrestling partners two years ago and won state.  Last year he didn't have such great partners and took 6th at state.  This year again had excellent wrestling partners and he won state again.  If you look at high school wrestling, if a team has a solid 152 pounder then most likely their practice painter is also going to be good.  So, if a kid qualified for state at 152 then usually their 145 or 160 pounder also qualified or wasn't far behind.   I know that some kids just do is wrestle, and that is fine as long as they don't get burnt out.  My son plays three sports (football, wrestling and baseball) and I strongly believe by doing this, hopefully he doesn't get burnt out in one sport.  So far it is working.  Right now he is very excited about baseball, and towards the end of baseball he starts to get excited about football, then towards the end of football he starts to get excited about wrestling.  At the beginning of the wrestling season it is tough for him to beat a kid who has been wrestling all year long, but with good practice painters, he is ready at state time to compete.