The U.S. Freestyle and U.S. Greco team have joint training camp in Colorado Spring

The U.S. Freestyle and U.S. Greco team have joint training camp in Colorado Spring

This past week with the U.S. freestyle team in Colorado I had the honor to run three workouts. What? Greco teaches freestyle? Yes, I wrestled my share of FS and won a couple national titles. Also a senior Pan-Am Gold medal, but that’s not why I was asked to run a few training sessions.

Greco wrestlers have a deeper and richer understanding of some particular positions. In layman’s terms the clinch position. For us wrestling guys controlling and clearing tie-ups, 2-on-1’s and under-hooks. How to not just clear a tie-up but to clear and put your body in a position to score. We also spend quite a bit of time in the Parterre position working on gut defense.

It was an absolute honor to have the opportunity to work with not just some of the best guys in the country but also some of the best wrestlers in the world. These guys are the best in world because they are humble students that are hungry to improve and get better. The positions we worked on is not necessary even where these guys want to be, but they understand that they will be forced into these positions and they are willing to be uncomfortable to get better. What an incredible way to approach your craft. You have to understand that at this level in the sport you always need to be adding and improving your techniques to stay ahead of the competition.

The freestyle athletes I got to work with were so grateful and appreciative. The Greco athletes enjoyed the joint training and I know the FS guys found a whole new level of respect for the Greco wrestlers. What a blast! One team training together, The U.S. Wrestling Team.

Young wrestlers can learn these skills and positions early if they are humble enough to wrestle Greco. If Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Dake, Kyle Snyder, Jake Herbert and Tony Ramos and the rest of the freestyle national team can do it why not you.

For some wrestlers they are fearful they may get beat in Greco or the tie-up positions. They run away, literally and metaphorically. Personally, I love being in uncomfortable situations. That is where I know I can learn and grow. If you want to become a better wrestler, listen to the top Freestyle athletes.

“Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable”

Coach Matt​ 

Dream big don't think small

Dream big don't think small. How big are your goals?

It was an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to work with Henry Cejudo this week on MMA skills. Henry just competed in the UFC a couple weeks ago and came away with a win against the #3 ranked fighter in the world. Henry should be next in line for UFC Title fight.

 In between fights is when you have the opportunity to grow and build new skills, not when you are trying to peak for a performance. Henry does not have a fight scheduled yet so now is a time to add new skills, to help reach his goal in MMA of being the best martial artist in the world. Henry’s next fight should be against DJ Johnson one of the most dominant MMA fighters in the world.

When an athlete takes on a new sport there are many new skills one must train and develop. Henry wants to be the best in all areas of the sport of MMA. I have been recognized as an expert in the art of Dirty Boxing, which is a hybrid of Greco-Roman wrestling, Muay-thia and boxing. Henry is and will continue to improve his skills in this area of the sport. With a strong base in wrestling a work ethic that it takes to be an Olympic champion and his mental toughness there is no doubt in my mind that Henry will become an expert in this area of the sport and dominate his opponents when they are clinch fighting. 

Henry Cejudo was an Olympic champion at age 21 when a lot of the best wrestlers in the US were concentrating on wrestling a style that no one else in the world competes in. Henry recognized that NCAA college wrestling is the equivalent to a kid’s tournament, and choose to focus on the international style of wrestling, in hope of becoming the Olympic champion. 

There is no doubt that wrestling is one of the toughest sports in the world but the college system in America is just an age group competition that Americans compete in while the rest of the worlds best wrestlers are focusing on Olympics and world championship. 

Yes there are some damn good college wrestlers in the US and I want them to come over to the Greco style of wrestling. It’s worked here in America, we take the cream of the crop wrestlers from NCCAA and develop the skills and we can win world and Olympic medals, but is this the best most efficient path? It’s like what Henry is doing now learning an entirely new skill set, and it takes time.

It makes it difficult for the US to be the best in the world in wrestling when our elite athletes are just getting started at 23/24 years old after they compete 4 or 5 years of competing in a different sport. We have to re-learn new skills that that didn’t transition over from the American college system. I know wrestling is wrestling and a lot of the skills do transfer over but there are also many skills that most of our American post college wrestlers have to re-learn or develop.

The other problem that Henry touches on is the “Grind” we take athletes and encourage them cut weight to get in a lower weight class to be competitive rather than focusing on developing better skills. These college wrestlers over train and over competes. This builds grit and mental toughness, which is an incredibly important part of wrestling, but how many of our tough college wrestlers actually compete on the international stage? 

We loose so many quality wrestlers that are tired, injured and just grinded down. You can only grind an athlete so much before they loose the love for the sport. 

We see it at all levels kids that are done before HS, high school athletes that were great got burned out before they were done with high school and the biggest attrition is college wrestlers that never get the opportunity to wrestle on the international stage because they are done. For whatever reason, maybe their coaches never told them they were good enough to continue and make it on the international stage. Maybe college was such a grind that they burned out? Injuries or maybe they learned not to love the sport any more?

Is the American system really the best system to be internationally competitive?

Maybe there is a better path? 

It seemed to work for Henry?

NCAA is a business and the athletes are the product. What do they get? Some tuition covered to go to school? 

Henry got paid to go to college after the Olympics now he is working on his master’s degree and its all paid for.

What are your goals? To be NCAA Champions? All American? Or do you have goals of being the best in the world? 

Like Henry Cejudo every athlete must find his own path. It takes courage and belief in your self and a the road less traveled. 

When I was coming out of HS my goals were to wrestle in Olympics and world championship and my coaches told me that the path was through the NCAA system, but that was the only path they knew. No we have guys like Henry Cejudo that have shown us there is a more direct path. Be different, dream bigger, reach higher and find your own path.

I am asking the question, there is a section for comments for you to add your thoughts. 

If your goals are bigger than NCAA age group competition is there a better path? If an athlete dreams of becoming an Olympic Champion or World Champion how does college age group wrestling help him reach his goals?

I recently met some young wrestlers with big goals Jayden and Aidan from Boise Idaho and here is what they had to say.

#getyolked4rio

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE?

Happy Thanksgiving from the Greco-Roman Team in Baku

What are you thankful for?

Thanks Giving is a time to spend with family and love ones, I pray you are doing that, or if you are reading this after thanksgiving I pray that you did that. Family is not perfect and times we want to avoid being with them but remember that that everyday is a gift from God and being able to do what you love to do is by his grace.

This thanksgiving we are away from home and immediate families.  For me that means I am missing my wife and children, face-time helps but missing them all the same on the holiday.

I am so blessed because I get to be with my extended family, all the sons and brothers of the Greco-Roman family that are here with me in Baku.

We woke to today to and went to the gym and trained. I am thankful that I had this opportunity to do what I love to do. I was on the wrestling mats working with elite US wrestlers training along side the best wrestlers from many different nations. 

This is the day we list all the things we are thankful for and reflect about how blessed we all are, so today I want you to think about what person in in your life this past year are you most thankful for and why?  

For me it’s my amazing wife Angie. She supports and loves me. She understands me and understands that I am on a mission to create a legacy in Greco-Roman wrestling in this country. She understands that we may not always get to be together on holidays. When we are back together we enjoy each other company.

What experiences are you most grateful for this past year and what have you learned?

For me it was the chance to lead the US Greco-Roman team in the world championships in the US. As an athlete I never got to compete in the worlds in the US in 2001 the worlds were scheduled to take place in NY City in mid September. On 9-11-2001 we all remember what happened in NY that changed the world forever.

I learned that I want our team to compete in the US every year. I also learned that the men on US Greco-Roman team are fighters and they will give everything they have on the mats, win or loose.

What life lesson have you learned this year?

I’ve learned and I am still learning to slow down and take time to make decisions. Think more about all the different angles I can attack a challenge. I personal pride on being a take action guy. If there is something I want I start attacking and figure out how I am going to attack as I get going. This past year I have really start planning and strategizing how I am going to attack more. I still what to move forward and take action, but there is always time to think and plan so at least I know I am heading in the right direction.

Take the time to be with friends and family that’s what’s important in life. Take time to be grateful for the people, the experiences and the lessons that come into your life.

I am grateful to be here in Baku with the US Greco-Roman team training and competing. We are just getting started.

Building a legacy, movie night at OTC

Building a legacy, movie night at OTC

We have the theater reserved for 7pm Thursday December 3rd 

We are showing a favorite film of mine “I AM”

Park at the Bolder street entrance near the visitors center at the Olympic Training Center

I want to invite the entire Greco program. Current athletes young and old, veteran athletes, USA wrestling staff, coaches, volunteers and anyone who is apart of the wrestling family, or wants to be apart of the Greco program that lives here in Colorado, kids, parents, spouses family members bring them all. 

I may not have everyone’s email so please help me spread the word. Since I am planning this from Baku I will not be making calls so let someone, know about this and join us.

The Greco team is all over the world right now some in Finland and others in Azerbaijan training and competing. We will all be back by the 30th of November. That first week back will be a rest week for all the athletes that have been traveling.

Before me there were some great Greco-Roman US wrestlers. The teams I was on had awesome Greco wrestlers. The generation after me was apart of that amazing team in 2007 that won the world championships in Baku.

The goal is not only to be the best team in the world, it’s to be the best team in the world consistently. To build the legacy of Greco-Roman in this country. To build a program that others want to be apart of athletes, donors, media, sponsors and fans. We are moving in the right direction but there is still a lot of work ahead.

You build a legacy by cultivating the right culture, leadership, expectations, beliefs, mindset, relationships and habits before you ever step on the mat. Culture drives expectations and beliefs; expectations and beliefs drive behavior; behavior drives habits; and habits create this future. 

 

It all starts with building the right culture.

I love the sport of Greco-Roman, not only do I think it’s tougher, and more fun than the other styles of wrestling or MMA. I also think it’s a better product and more exciting, especially when we perform the way we did in Las Vegas at the world championships, fighting for every point and leaving it all on the mat. 

We may not have gotten the results we wanted but the attitude and effort was there. This is something we can build on.

Are you what I'm looking for?

If you have followed my plan to build the best Greco-Roman wrestling nation in the world you know I don’t talk about getting every wrestler in the U.S. to focus on Greco.

I know in this country we have so many great athletes that wrestle. I believe we can become the best wrestling nation in the world with III%.

III% was enough to win the American Revolution. Greco-Roman is like the American Revolution, not everyone believes in the cause. Only 3% of the colonist actively fought the British for a chance to be an independent free nation.

There was another 10% that actively supported the cause. In addition to these revolutionaries there were perhaps another 20% who favored the cause but did little or nothing to support it.

A third of the population sided with England and another third that didn’t give a shit. By the end of the war there were more Americans fighting for the King than were in the field fighting to be free.

History, for good or ill is made by determined minorities.

In this country Greco-Roman is the minority. Everyone is so focused on the folk-style. A style of wrestling that is contested in high school and college that no other nation in the world competes in. Yippee! We are the best folk-style wrestlers in the world. 

I would love to see folk-style eliminated so we can focus on the international styles of wrestling like every other county in the world. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

This is not realistic. The powers that be have invested too much in their precious folk-style.

Coaches would have to learn and grow to be able to teach international style and not every coach out there is willing to do that. These are like the men that fought with the King or the ones that don’t give a shit.

I’m not even proposing we eliminate folk-style. What I am proposing is, if you want to win at the international level let the other kids play folk-style and focus on international wrestling. Be a patriot like the III% that fought for this nation’s independence.

A role model of mine, Jesus, lead a team of twelve disciples.

Rather than trying to preach to the greatest number of people, Jesus focused the majority of his effort on a small group of twelve men. Jesus taught his disciples about the Kingdom of God and how they must learn to truly love; "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Jesus intensely taught his twelve closest disciples, he taught so they would be prepared to serve in the Kingdom of God:

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus provided a model for effective ministry. This model can be followed in building the best Greco-Roman team in the world.

In my last blog I wrote about juniors and cadets forgoing opportunities to compete in big folk-style tournaments and instead head overseas to represent the United States. These young athletes have bigger goals than winning a state title or earning a scholarship to wrestle folk-style in college. These young men are dreaming of representing their nation, the greatest nation, USA in the Olympic games, competing for world and Olympic gold.  

I’m looking for the III% of athletes that dream big about representing USA on the biggest athletic stage in the world. I’m also looking for the 10% that support what these young men are doing and I’m looking for my 12 disciples (Coaches) that are willing to serve and build up the III%. We are all blessed with different gifts and different opportunities to serve these young athletes that are brave enough to follow the Greco path and chase their dreams of winning world and Olympic gold.

I’m also looking for 12 Greco disciples, some to be evangelists, teachers and supporters to build up the III% to teach and lead them. The focus of a disciple is always to serve.

If you are willing to be a disciple let me know, I am ready to get you the tools to serve in whatever capacity you are lead to serve. 

Sweden Tour 2015

The Junior & Cadet Sweden tour was an amazing camp & tournament experience for our Greco wrestlers.

The camp was broken into two practices a day and separated into Cadet/Junior level. The cadets had the best of both because in the Junior Practice they wrestled more and in the Cadet practice they learned various techniques from all the great European coaches there. This beat any training camp a high school age athlete will ever find in the US. The young athlete’s not only got great training but they also got to see that wrestling is bigger worldwide than they could ever of imagined.  

The camp was coached well and was organized  in order to get the wrestlers ready for the weekend tournament. The Swedish coaches used all their resources to provide the best coaching and wrestlers for this camp. The US wrestlers participated in every camp practice. I felt our athletes really learned a lot and got the opportunity to experience this new culture. We stressed throughout the camp to every wrestler that the training camp was as important as competing over the weekend.

The wrestlers stayed with host families and ate most of their meals with the hosts or at the Best Western motel. The coaches were put up at Best Western where our Swedish hosts provided meals. The food was Fantastic!  The day of weigh-ins, we departed Klippen to Vasteras where the tournament was hosted and went by a commercial bus. The trip was around 6 hours drive and we had about 1.5 hours to make weight for the tournament when we arrived in Vasteras.  

Its great to see that the tournament was double elimination so everyone was guaranteed at least 2 matches. They used cross bracketing to guarantee the athletes that were winning would get more opportunities to compete. Everyone of the American athletes got at least 3 matches in the tournament, which means everyone won an international match. 

What made the trip great was the Swedish coaches, wrestlers and families enjoying having us part of their training and competition experience. We are grateful for our Swedish hosts, taking care of food, travel and all the incidentals. After the competition we headed back to Klippen after we all showered to catch the train to Copenhagen for our flight home. 

USA Greco-Roman will continue supporting this tour because not only is it cost effective, and the wrestling experiences both in the camp and tournament was priceless,  but also to continue the growth of Greco-Roman wrestling in the US.

Coach Lucas Steldt did a great job both getting updates and results back to the US. Coach Lucas was great coaching in the corner and helping at the camp. Thank you Coach @combatwc1

* Coaches we need you

We need to keep taking young coaches on these tours for the experience and developing future Greco coaches. 

* We can also use a international Cadet/Junior Greco age group tournaments in the US.

This way all Cadets have the opportunity to participate and get the experience they need to make the decision to wrestle Greco full time as their choice of style.

The superior Camp is the next opportunity to get international training and competition without traveling the world. 

If you want to take the next step in you’re wrestling career and get to an international training camp and tournament, the Austria tour is an incredible experience. I was able to attend this tournament last year and it was an incredible experience.

Austria Junior Open

Gotzis, Austria Feb.23-March 5th 2016

• February 26th weigh in/27th tournament
• February 29th – March 4th training camp
• Eligible wrestlers born between 1996-99
• Countries enter: FRA/ITA/CZE/FIN/DEN/SUI/USA

COST OF TRIP: 

• Airfare from Chicago $1000.00
• R/B ($45.00 per night) X 10= $450.00
• Fila License: $50.00
• Bus round trip from Zurich airport= $50.00
• Entry fee= $50.00

TOTAL COST = $1570.00

For more information about this tour contact: Coach Rob Hermann rhermann@nmu.edu

Malar Cup Results From Sweden

“Team USA having a great experience in Europe winning at a tough dual meet in Sweden before traveling to the tournament. This is exactly the kind of training the US athletes need to continue to grow and improve to reach our goals of being the best wrestling nation in the world.”

— Coach Matt Lindland USA Greco-Roman head coach

Martinez, Schultz win golds as USA takes six Greco medals at Malar Cup in Sweden

BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | NOV. 01, 2015, 3:07 P.M. (ET)

VASTERAS, Sweden – Two young stars from Colorado won gold medals in the UWW Cadet division and the USA came home with six medals overall on the way to a third place finish at the Malar Cup of Greco-Roman on Sunday.

Jordan Martinez of Colorado Springs, Colo. won the gold medal at 54 kg and Cohlton Schultz of Highlands Ranch, Colo. was the champion at 100 kg in the UWW Cadet division.

Martinez, who attends Pine Creek High School and trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, went an impressive 6-0 for the day, including two pins and a technical fall.

Schultz, who is a freshman this year at Ponderosa High School and also works out at the OTC, won three straight matches to take the title.

The two U.S. silver medalists were also in the Cadet division, Alston Nutter of Fenimore, Wis. at 58 kg and Tyler Dow of Stoughton, Wis. at 69 kg. Both wrestlers had very impressive 6-1 records, only losing in the gold-medal round.

The two athletes winning bronze medals were in the Senior division, both members of the Northern Michigan University Olympic Training Site (NMU-OTS): Ty Pelot of Two Rivers, Wis. at 59 kg and Parker Betts of St. Michael, Minn. at 130 kg.

Pelot finished with a 3-1 record for the day, with a victory over fellow American Randon Miranda in the bronze-medal bout, 8-0.

Betts finished with a 1-2 record in a four-athlete roundrobin, with all of the matches by decision.

Overall, the USA team was third with 20 points, behind only the champion Huddinge BK club with 32 points and Team Nyland with 20 points, which won the tiebreaker by having more silver medalists.

"Our Cadets came to wrestle, with four guys in the finals and two champions. Fifty percent of the U.S. wrestlers have not competed overseas before. What a great way to start their international career! Nine senior athletes made it to the second day of competition. Every athlete had three to six matches. It was a total Team USA effort to earn third place as a team," said U.S. coach Rob Hermann

The U.S. Cadets won the team race at the Cadet division with 14 points. The U.S. Seniors were in fourth place on the Senior level with six points.

MALAR CUP
At Vasteras, Sweden, Oct. 31- Nov. 1

Senior champions
59 kg – Christoffer Svensson (BK Pan)
66 kg – Houssam Omar (Gallivare Brottning)
71 kg – Michael Widmayer (Germany)
75 kg – Andre Isberg (Varsbergs Bois BK)
80 kg – Bogdan Kourinnoi (Huddinge BK)
85 kg – Oskar Meggerle (Marsvinsholms IF)
98 kg – Emil Sandahl (HBK Bergania)
130 kg – Oskar Marvik (SP09)

U.S. athletes competing in the Senior division

59 kg - Ty Pelot, Two Rivers, Wis. (NMU-OTS), 3rd
WIN Mattias Poutanen (Turun Voimamiehet), pin
WIN Andrew Ibarra (USA), 6-2
LOSS Christoffer Svensseon (BK Pan), pin
WIN Randon Miranda (USA), tech. fall, 8-0

59 kg - Andrew Ibarra, Santa Maria, Calif. (NMU-OTS), 6th
LOSS Christoffer Svensson (BK Pan), 2-4
LOSS Ty Pelot (USA), 2-6

59 kg - Randon Miranda, Palmdale, Calif. (NMU-OTS), 4th
LOSS Shamil Mamatsuev (Belgium), tech. fall 0-10
WIN Dilo Abdi (Falkoping A0BK), tech, fall 8-0
WIN Emil Johannson (Hallsberts BK), tech, fall 4-12
WIN Dalton Roberts (USA), 7-6
LOSS Ty Pelot (USA), tech fall, 0-8

59 kg - Dalton Roberts, Fowlerville, Mich. (NMU-OTS). 5th
WIN Dilo Abdi (Falkoping AoBK), tech. fall 9-0
LOSS Shamil Mamatsuev (Belguim), 5-7
LOSS Randon Miranda (USA), 6-7

66 kg - Jamal Dearmond, Sacramento, Calif. (NMU-OTS), 9th
WIN Mikkel Lassen (BK Thor), tech. fall, 4-12
LOSS Andre Jonsson (BK Trim), 5-6
LOSS Carl Agren (Soderhamms BK), 1-5

66 kg - Hunter Kelley, Ray City, Ga. (NMU-OTS). 5th
WIN Isak Selder (Huddinge BK), in
LOSS Tomi Eronen (Lotkcan Painimiehet ry), tech. fall 6-14
WIN Elias Pettersson (Norrkopings BK), tech. fall 10-2
WIN Markus Ahtianine (Peraseinajoen Toive), tech fall 8-0
LOSS Joussam Omar (Gallivare Brottining), tech, fall 4,13

71 kg - Logan Kass, New Prague, Minn. (NMU-OTS), 5th
WIN Islam Katsiev (Bjornekulla BK), pin
WIN Zaurbek Nuriev (Sparvagen Wrestling), pin
WIN Vegard Strom (Ostfold Brytkrets), tech. fall, 8-0
LOSS Michael Widmayer (Germany), tech. fall 11-3
LOSS Pontus Bergstrom (HBK Bergania), tech. fall 10-2

71 kg - Ali Khan, Elk Grove, Calif., (NMU-OTS), 6th
WIN Simon Pettersson (AK 77), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Artur Vardanyan (Sparvagen Wrestling), 2-8
WIN Ali Baber (Marsvinshols IF), 12-5
WIN Moneim Affane (Bjornekulla BK), tech. fall 10-2
LOSS Daniel Martensson (BK Pan), 8-0

75 kg - Michael Donato, Brooklyn, N.Y. (NMU-OTS), dnp/14th
LOSS Markus Fredriksson (Bjornekulla BK), pin
LOSS Andre Isberg (Varbergs Bois BK), pin

85 kg - Austin Chaon, Geneva, Ill. (NMU-OTS), 8th
LOSS Emil Johansson (BK Snar), tech. fall 1-9
WIN Mats Stovind (Kolbotn IL), tech. fall, 8-0
WIN Andre Castellan (Lorenskog Bryteklubb), pin
WIN Artuu-Petteri Klami (Kotkan Painimiehet ry), pin
LOSS Valiahdet Veeti (Team Nyland), tech. fall 10-0

98 kg - G’Angelo Hancock, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC), 4th
WIN Kevin Baumann (SK Kadrina), 10-9
LOSS Pontus Lundh (Arboga AK), pin
WIN Jakob Brandt (Huddinge BK), pin
LOSS Leon Kessidis (Hunddinge BK), 0-1

98 kg - West Cathcart, Genesco, Ill. (NMU-OTS), 7th
WIN Viktor Gustavsson (Lidopings AS), pin
LOSS Leon Kessidis (Huddinge BK), tech. fall 0-8
LOSS Emil Sandahl (HBK Bergania), 5-6

130 kg - Parker Betts, St. Michael, Minn. (NMU-OTS), 3rd
WIN Walid Said (Sparvagen Wrestling), 7-2
LOSS Oskar Marvik (SP09), 2-8
LOSS Mattias Viitanen (Hskt-brottning), 2-3

Cadet champions
46 kg – Sondre Svarstad (Snogg Bryting)
50 kg – Nikolai Mohammadi (BK Thor)
54 kg – Jordan Martinez (USA)
58 kg – Vusal Karimov (BK Orion)
63 kg – Didrik Silverin (Kungsbacka BK)
69 kg – Erik Soini (Huddinge BK)
76 kg – Toutaeiv Aboubakar (Belgium)
85 kg – Jannis Kessidis (Huddinge BK)
100 kg – Cohlton Schultz (USA)

U.S. athletes competing in the Cadet division

54 kg - Jordan Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo., champion
WIN Matthias Biorjna (Fauske Alteklubb), pin
WIN Timmy Skold (Norrtaikje), 6-0
WIN Erik Leikkari (Seinajoen Paini-Miehet), tech fall 9-0
WIN Anton Jaineskob (Gotteborgs Stadslag), pin
WIN Samuel Nyberg (SAIK-Sundsvall), 6-2
WIN Jussi Autio (Seinajoe Paini-Miehet), 7-2

58 kg - Alston Nutter, Fenimore, Wis.. 2nd
WIN Anton Holk (Marsvinsholm IF), pin
WIN Ferouz Shah (BK Orion), pin
WIN Oliver Eriksson (BK Loke), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Isak Bo Romes (Fauske Atleklubb), pin
WIN Dosjayev Magomed (Belgium), pin
WIN Mohammad Amiri (Orgryte BF), pin
LOSS Vusal Karimov (BK Orion), tech. fall 5-14

58 kg - Erik Spence, Elk Grove, Calif., dnp/13th
LOSS Lukas Hoier Jensen (BK Thor), tech. fall 0-8
WIN Aron Hervig (Lambertseter Bryteklubb), pin
LOSS Tobias Simonsen (Ostfold Brytekrets), 5-7

69 kg - Tyler Dow, Stoughton, Wis., 2nd
WIN Max Ringstrom (BK Pan), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Edward Skog (Ostervala AK), 9-0
WIN Sebastjian Lundell (Vasteras BK), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Anton Ritola (BK Snar), tech. fall 8-0
WIN Calle Norgerg (Heby BK), 6-1
WIN Leon Rylander (Enkopings BK), pin
LOSS Erik Soini (Huddinge BK), tech. fall 3-14

100 kg - Cohlton Schultz, Highlands Ranch, Colo., champion
WIN Fardin Anosheh (BK Atlas), 3-3
WIN Hendrik Kalme (Team 2016 Tallinn Open), pin
WIN Arvi Savolainen (Team Savolinen), 4-

Top Greco Juniors and Cadets training & competing in Europe

Right now in Sweden, the top Greco wrestlers in the US at the Junior and Cadet levels are training alongside their Swedish rivals. 

Traveling to a foreign country for most young people is a dream come true, for these young Olympic hopefuls it's more than just a fun trip with their team. This training and competition journey is helping these young men get one step closer to their goal, to make it to the Olympics and represent their country. 

These young Greco wrestlers will compete in at the Malar Cup in Vasteras, Sweden, October 31-November 1 against some tough competition, gaining valuable experience against other top wrestlers from different parts of the world that they would normally never get to compete against, let alone get to spend time training with. 

“While high school athletes across the U.S. are gearing up for folkstyle season, our top Greco prospects are training with the top Junior and Cadet athletes in the world. It’s great to see that young talented athletes have bigger goals than winning state title and getting looked at by a college. These young men decided their goals are international. These men dream of winning Olympic Gold and are making the sacrifice to train and compete overseas.”

— National Greco-Roman Coach Matt Lindland.

MALAR CUP
At Vasteras, Sweden, Oct. 31-Nov. 1

U.S. athletes competing in the Senior/U23 division
59 kg - Ty Pelot, Two Rivers, Wis. (NMU-OTS)
59 kg - Andrew Ibarra, Santa Maria, Calif. (NMU-OTS)
59 kg - Randon Miranda, Palmdale, Calif. (NMU-OTS)
59 kg - Dalton Roberts, Fowlerville, Mich. (NMU-OTS)
59 kg - Logan Kass, New Prague, Minn. (NMU-OTS)
66 kg - Jamal Dearmond, Sacramento, Calif. (NMU-OTS)
66 kg - Hunter Kelley, Ray City, Ga. (NMU-OTS)
66 kg - Ali Khan, Elk Grove, Calif., (NMU-OTS)
75 kg - Michael Donato, Brooklyn, N.Y. (NMU-OTS)
85 kg - Austin Chaon, Geneva, Ill. (NMU-OTS)
98 kg - G’Angelo Hancock, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC)
98 kg - West Cathcart, Genesco, Ill. (NMU-OTS)
130 kg - Parker Betts, St. Michael, Minn. (NMU-OTS)

U.S. athletes competing in the Cadet division
Jordan Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Alston Nutter, Fenimore, Wis.
Erik Spence, Elk Grove, Calif.
Tyler Dow, Stoughton, Wis.
Cohlton Schultz, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

USOTS head coach Rob Hermann, Marquette, Mich.
Coach - Lucas Steldt, Blue River, Wis.

Why Greco-Roman and why you should care?

If I could show you scientific evidence that Greco-Roman wrestling will make you a better wrestler would you try it? Coaches if your wrestlers will be better as a result of Greco-Roman will you give it a try?

The first rule of selling is what’s in it for the customer. Sure, I would love to see the US be as dominant in Greco-Roman as we have historically been in freestyle. I would love to see USA Wrestling be a dominant force in both international styles. I hate seeing Greco-Roman wrestlers in the US being treated like the redheaded step child of the wrestling world. I know there are wrestling fans, coaches, and even athletes that think we should just do away with greco here in the US. Why not just put all our eggs in one basket and focus all of our resources on being the best in the world at freestyle? I’m not going to try and tell these people why they should even care about greco, but what I am going to explain is how greco will help them be better at their folk style and freestyle or MMA for that matter.

I have always considered wrestling to be just that, wrestling. I never got caught up in the style weather its folk style, freestyle or Greco-Roman. I fell in love with the art of wrestling and I see way too many commonalities in all styles, rather than see differences. I have my club coach, Marc Sprague to thank for that.

As a first year wrestler my high school coach told me there was an opportunity to wrestle in the post high school season and he said he would show me some throws so I could compete. I had no idea if learning some new throws would not help me prepare for this tournament or not. I went to a few workouts and practiced my new throws and was shown what a gut wrench was and that was about the extent of my training for freestyle/greco training.

I showed up for the state freestyle and Greco-Roman tournament and fell into the cadet age group and also was able to compete against the high school age group in both freestyle and greco. This gave me the opportunity to wrestle more matches 0-2 cadet freestyle 0-2 cadet greco 0-2 HS free style 0-2 HS greco, not exactly the results I was looking for.

My high school coach treated this like it was a completely different sport, but somewhere in my mind even back then I though of it all as just wrestling. I heard how important it was to throw your opponent. My coach never tried to connect the commonalities because, he like many coaches think that anything outside of folk style is completely foreign. I went out and tried to throw my opponents, but I ended up being the guy thrown, taken down or turned.

I got a lot of feed back from that tournament, and what I discovered was I needed to find a coach that understood wrestling. I didn’t want a coach that just had a basic understanding of folk style. I needed a coach that could teach me how to wrestle. I decided if I was ever going to be able to compete with these guys I would have to seek out better training. That's how I ended up being a club wrestler and getting the opportunity to work with coach Marc Sprague.

Not only did Marc connect all the styles with basic positions and drills to develop these positions he instilled a love for wrestling in me that I still have to this day.

It’s no secret, the United States is a folk style focused country. Our high-schools and colleges wrestle folk styleand in the off-season wrestlers might do freestyle if they wrestle in the off-season at all. Most college coaches are like my high school coach and haven’t made the connection yet that Greco-Roman is a better style for improving your wrestling overall than freestyle.

I remember when I was in college and our club was willing to pay for post season tournaments only if I wrestled freestyle. My college coach didn’t care if I wrestled Greco, but I had to wrestle freestyle if the club was going to pay for my trip. All my training up to the University national tournament had to be in freestyle and I had to make the scratch weight for freestyle and after the tournament since I was already there and it was just another entry fee I could compete in Greco.

I am happy to say I won two national titles in freestyle wrestling and don’t regret anything or begrudge my coach for making me focus on freestyle. It allowed me an opportunity to go compete in the freestyle Pan-American championships. I won my first international tournament, a gold medal, that's another story for another time.

My focus of this article is not to tell you why I am a fan of Greco-Roman or convince you it’s the better style. First of all I don’t believe there is a such thing as a better style I think wrestling is wrestling, it’s all the same. What I want to show you is how scientific evidence suggests that Greco-Roman is the best for wrestling no matter what style you ultimately decide to focus on.

Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice. Daniel Coyle in his book "the talent code" calls this kind of practice deep practice. "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle is a book on how to grow talent.

Coyle like me doesn’t believe we are born with talent and it must be developed through practice, what he describes as “deep Practice”.

Coyle's belief is that talent comes from Myelin. Myelin is the insulation that wraps nerve fibers and increases signal strength, speed, and accuracy. When these certain signals are sent down the nervous system, myelin wraps around the nerve fiber. The thicker the myelin, the better the signal. Thus, "skill is myelin insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signals”. Skills and talent allow individuals to perform at a higher level, faster and better than those who don’t have talent.

Malcom Gladwell in his book "Outliers" describes the 10,000 hour rule, which basically states that if we practice any subject for 10,000 hours we can become world-class. World-class is Olympic medal caliber top 1% types. Gladwell never said you need 10,000 hours to be and expert at something. 10,000 hours is for the phenoms, the truly elite. If this is the case and you want to be the best in the world start logging the hours. If you want to be great, say win a state championship or a national title, I have some tips on how to hack the talent code in wrestling.

I have tested this for the past decade at Team Quest my MMA gym. We all know that wrestling is an essential skill for MMA. We have all seen what happens when a guy doesn’t posses enough wrestling skills or knowledge. They don’t go too far in the sport. We have seen the top strikers learn enough of the principals to stay competitive using a sprawl and brawl type style. To truly get to the top now days the top guys all have all become adept with wrestling.

I have had the opportunity to send over 20 athletes out of my gym onto UFC, some have fought in championship level fights and even held titles in UFC. I developed a style of fighting known as “Dirty Boxing”. Dirty boxing employ’s the basic principals of Greco-Roman wrestling with strikes. Just like greco dirty boxing uses control positions and angles to stop your opponents attacks and give you opportunities to attack or counter.

The two control positions that Greco-Roman emphasizes are 2-on-1 and the under-hooks. The third control, comes into effect when your opponent doesn’t want to engage in a chest to chest battle and back his hip away. That control is head, when your opponent tries to avoid the pummel for position he literally “gives  you head” which is the third control.

I have successfully been able to take guys who have never wrestled a single match in their life, to out pummel and out wrestle college level all-Americans. Coaches and other fighters often ask me where my fighters wrestled in college.
Using some basic principals and deep practice of these positions, my fighters have constantly out wrestled most all of their opponents in the cage fighting arena. I want to share these basic concepts with you in hopes that you will use them in your wrestling to improve faster and hack the talent code of wrestling.

Wrestling from the outside is wasted training time. 

In these moments this is time we could be building skills. Having to react and correct there actions, motions and positions. Building skills is literally myelin insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signal. When wrestlers are required to stay in constant contact fighting and attacking from the correct chest to chest position they get more circuits firing in the right parts of the brain and for the correct muscle groups which allows them to optimize there circuity.

These athletes are in the optimal position for greatest learning, forcing them into the deep practice zone, making and correcting errors, and constantly coming up with solutions and adjustments to correct those errors.

So if we can get to a position in wrestling where we are required to train in a constant contact chest to chest position this will create the right atmosphere and leverage our time on the mats and improve wrestling skills faster. This will compress the essential skills and place wrestlers in the deep practice zone, making and correcting errors, and constantly coming up with solutions and adjustments to correct those errors.

If you want information on myelin please do your own research. If you want to get better at wrestling fast, spend time training in a chest to chest head up position, like in Greco-Roman. I am not saying you can’t trip, sweep, prop or pick up a leg but all attacks should start in this position, in MMA it’s referred to as the clinch position. I am not saying there is not a time and a place for an outside attack, what I am saying is give my theory a try. Have practice once a week that requires from this position without separation. Make it a challenge for every time the coach see’s you not in constant contact taking a step back as he implements a penalty, I use ten burpees or push ups.

Make it fun and keep it light hearted, as you start to see the improvement, increase the time your spend training in this position.

Coach Matt Lindland