I spent a few minutes catching up with Princeton coach and senior level freestyle wrestler Nate Jackson earlier today. Jackson is coming off a Gold medal performance at the Medved last weekend. Look for him to compete in November at the Bill Farrell. Nate talks about his senior level success, confid...

There were some noisy crickets or cicadas that I didn’t hear during the interview that are apparent on the playback. Sorry if the audio is inconsistent.    

https://youtu.be/5nx74x6VrwU    

see http://www.dv8fitness.com for more information

1. Know what you’re training for and what your goals are. 2. Your commitment needs to be as serious as your goals. 3. Get professional help putting together a total training program. 4. Enjoy what you’re doing. It makes it so much easier. 5. If you’re not enjoying the majority of your training, find...

As more Americans are starting to follow senior level wrestling, I wanted to put together a list of the best men’s freestyle wrestlers since the late 1970’s. As a kid this was my favorite style of wrestling. Most wrestlers I’ve talked with have similar feelings, it’s more dynamic than folkstyle and ...

I had a long conversation with All American Jack Mueller last night. I’ve followed him since he attended Wyoming Seminary 5 years ago. I’ve always liked watching him. We cover everything from Spencer Lee to Texas wrestling. Grab a drink and hear what Jack has to say. You can watch on You...

https://youtu.be/duww2g0Y_9c Ty Walz just finished his second season as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Virginia Tech. He’s also on the Team USA’s national team. In his second season at VT, Walz helped lead the Hokies to top 11 finish at the NCAA Championships. They also h...

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1 Penn State 2 Ohio State 3 Oklahoma State 4 Iowa 5 Minnesota 6 Missouri 7 Michigan 8 Nebraska 9 Northern Iowa 9 Virginia Tech 11 Lehigh 12 NC State 13 Lock Haven 13 Oregon State 13 Rutgers 16 Duke 17 Arizona State 17 Army West Point 17 Cornell 17 Iowa State

I’ve heard nothing but good stuff from the coaches and through my grapevine about Beard. Very easy to coach and picks up the coaching fast. Look for him to compete at 197 next year no matter the roster situation. Penn State will be reloading with Beard. You can watch the video or audio only be...

10 Things that KILL team culture: Character- Lack of athlete leadership by top wrestLack of club leadership and integrity. Coaches and kids not giving 100% effort in practice or matches. Poor practice partners – going easy on teammates. Coaches only focusing on their kids. Poor sportsmanship o...

10 Signs that you need a break from Wrestling Lost motivation for practice and or competition. Goals don’t seem as important as they once did. Your body consistently aches or hurts. Can’t focus your mind. Nagging injuries are piling up and not healing. Losing matches to kids that you’ve beaten in th...

10 High Performance Habits Wake up at a consistent early time. Give 100% effort at everything. Deal with your most difficult challenges first. Find the lessons from failure, loss and not reaching your goals and then quickly move on. Pay attention to others and learn from their behavior. Choose your ...

Council Rock South ran away with another regional title tonight in Souderton. While they weren’t as dominating as they were at last year’s regionals, a nearly impossible task. The team race was never in question. The real surprise was there closest opponent was cross town rival CR North, who matched...

USA Powerlifting has banned all transgender women from competing as women, even as a trans powerlifter in Minnesota recently won a state championship with another association, setting a state record. The weightlifting governing body explained their reasoning on their website: Men naturally have a la...

Starting practice with a well thought out dynamic warm up is an important beginning to any training session. I’ll cover several reasons why a dynamic warm-up is key to performance and training longevity. Most teams that I see warm up do a static warmup which doesn’t prepare a body for high intensity...

Virginia Tech came into the Lehigh Valley this afternoon and dominated a Mountain Hawk team that has been on a roll lately but looked mostly flat today.  VT opened up the dual winning the first 4 bouts by pushing the pace before true freshman Josh Humphreys put a stop to the slide at 157. The [&#823...

Blair hosted Bergen Catholic at Lehigh University and put on a show of dominance tonight. One year after BC knocked Blair off and a couple weeks after Blair lost two of their wrestlers to Bergen, Blair totally dominated the 2019 dual. Video will be posted on Sunday Post match interviews with Coach A...

The Mountain Hawks pulled away from the Sun Devils in the last 2 match to win going away Saturday night in the Snake Pit. Both teams scraped to a 13-13 tie through 8 matches when Chris Weiler and Jordan Wood sealed the dual with a couple of bonus point wins. Check back for Video Sunday […]

Red Lion high school hosted alumni Chance Marsteller and  his Lock Haven Wrestling team in a major dual with Arizona State. The rise continues. Video will be up Sunday evening. 174lbs: #2 Zahid Valencia (ASU) major dec. Jared Siegrist (LHU) 14-4 / ASU, 4-0 184lbs: #18 Corey Hazel (LHU) dec. Jacen Pe...

Videos in process In a match that featured a bonus points in 8 of the 10 bouts there wasn’t a dull moment. ISU opened up strong at 125 but both wrestlers lost a team point for unsportsmanlike behavior at the close of the match. You can make the call watching the video. Rider bounced back […]

Video Highlights tomorrow After years of struggling to beat Cornell and in the midst of a very challenging year Lehigh rises in the Snake Pit. This dual had something for everyone: momentum swings, unexpected twists with the final match, but not heavyweights, deciding the entire dual. Lehigh jumped ...

Video will be posted soon Okie State came into New Jersey yesterday and opened up a winning two match Jersey road trip with upstart Princeton before running over Rutgers today. Jadwin Gym was packed and fans were offered early hope when Pat Glory looked solid in the first period versus Nick Piccanni...

Video will be posted tomorrow The Palestra was a roller-coaster of emotion Sunday afternoon for both teams. Drexel pulled out an early lead but a come from behind win in the last seconds of the penultimate match got the Penn faithful on their feet hoping for a minor miracle in the final match to com...

Video will be posted Sunday                 #16 North Carolina cruised into Princeton earlier today to face the #12 team in the country.  I know other wrestling organizations don’t have them ranked as I do. Princeton’s team is clearly on the move literally. Fa...

Video will be posted Sunday         Lehigh piled up the bonus points in a 34-12 win over Bucknell Friday night in its first home match since November. The Hawks got bonus points in five matches, including three first period pins to post their second straight dual win of the seaso...

As if wrestling needs one more adversary, the American Psychological Association (APA) has released guidelines that teach psychologists working with men and boys that “traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful.” This is a clear and direct attack on nearly every male wrestler (and every male...

Know why you want to get better. Example my son thinks it’s fun and that it makes him mentally stronger in all areas of life. Treat your food as fuel. Eat healthier foods. Give up all sweetened drinks. Protect yourself from mat disease better. Pick one goal a week. Try a new technique at practice. [...

What happens when high school and college kids study intersectionality and Social Justice? In most places it is merged with all courses. If you major in this area you learn through various diagrams showing matrices of privilege and persecution. It’s not only Caucasian privilege causing black oppress...

Americans unconsciously consume more sugar year after year – why don’t we think more about it? Until this century humans didn’t really have much access to sugar. Athletes interested in enhancing performance sometimes think that simple sugars will work. I’m not sure that real science backs that claim...

I’ve been around a long time and have participate and coached several sports. In my opinion what is very clear through the lenses of history and the world is that wrestling is the most valuable sport to a boy that society ever devised. Numerous wrestling programs have stayed off termination or scrut...

I talked with Erie Cathedral Prep coach Mike Hahesy earlier today. Maybe it’s because we have similar upbringings and coaching beliefs that I enjoyed talking with him so much. I felt like we could have talked for hours. His team looks to be in the hunt for medals in the state dual tournament a...

Top ranked Blair rode into Malvern last tonight without a few of their starters and still put on a show of dominance for the crowd of a couple hundred fans. All the teams were banged up, missing starters but there was a ton of talent in the room. Next up for Malvern and Blair is […]

Army came into Philly tonight and came out ready to compete hard for 7 minutes. They caught a young nicked up Drexel team flat footed and kept their foot on the gas pedal for the entire dual.  Next up for Army, Midlands Dec 29th. Drexel is next in action at the Southern Scuffle Jan. 1st. [&#823...

  The U Penn wrestling team bounced back from a close loss to Rider on Friday night to smack down the Terps at the Palestra on Sunday afternoon. The “new look” Penn team started 6 freshmen in new uniforms to win 8 of the 10 matches. While Maryland doesn’t bring a bunch of ranked wrestlers [&#82...

The Princeton Tigers bussed into the Lehigh Valley tonight with high hopes after a tough road trip through the Midwest. They faced off against an injured Mountainhawk team and won a dual for the first time in my lifetime in the snake pit. I’m not even sure that the administration at Princeton knows ...

If you weren’t in Lawrenceville New Jersey last night you missed a crazy early season match between to relatively new foes. Penn drew for a random weight class start and Jake Hendriz at 174 opened the match with a win. Then Rider cruised out to a 7-point lead before Penn had two falls to put [&#8230...

Still working on the audio quality. It will get better.

Penn State came into Philadelphia ranked a clear #1 in the country and showed a partisan and seemingly larger crowd than last year. They are so enjoyable to watch with a wide-open style that it makes even the casual observer a fan. PSU lost only one match in what might be considered an upset, 3rdpla...

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On You Tube here

Response to a Comment from Age of Enlightenment or Avoidance Great post Mike. I love the things you talk about here and the only question I have is what mirror do we use to look at ourselves (& more importantly our kids) when trying to evaluate our shared process. Every coach has different advic...

I talked with Aaron Brooks a few hours ago. Here is our conversation. Right after we talked he signed a NLI to attend PSU.

Starting off an article by telling you that I’m a child of the enlightenment won’t win over any new readers, but if you’re a regular you won’t be surprised by my thought process. Let me explain. If you have a goal and a current assessment based on evidence, reason will generally give you the straigh...

or Click here for the YouTube version

How you prepare for a workout can either enhance or take away from the exercise benefits. If you are a serious athlete or just want to improve yourself you want to make sure that you’re maximizing your workout effects, not detracting from them. Choosing the proper fuel is important, but so is the ti...

or on YouTube    

   

I spent a long time talking with Coach Spates today. It’s hard not to like this guy. or Watch on YouTube

Video will be posted shortly Some quick thoughts about the tournament. It’s the only preseason tournament that I’ve ever been to that finished ahead of schedule. It would have been over even earlier if the Track software didn’t need to pause the mats so often. You can click on any match with a hyper...

Over 1,100 fans filed into Grace Hall last night to watch Lehigh conduct its annual wrestle offs. Most of the wrestlers know each other so well that the action can be limited due to familiarity. Several likely starters were missing from the action and seemed to temper the already discreet crowd. Tim...

It makes sense that as life gets easier (less physical) the weaker our muscles become. Children become physically weaker from inactivity and a team of researchers who measured handgrip, arm-hangs and sit-ups found a dramatic decrease in fitness in the last generation of kids.   What most parent...

The top 30 D1 transfers. Eastern Michigan (closed) and Edinboro have the most wrestlers transferring. Not one Boro wrestler went to West Virginia. You got to wonder if they were blocked by the Edinboro administration (Bruce Baumgartner)? I could get one person to talk with me about it from Edinboro....

Lennie Zalesky was named the California Baptist University wrestling head coach coach in June 2011. The Lancers have enjoyed tremendous success in NCAA Division II and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference since they completed their transition in 2013-14. CBU looks to carry that over as it transiti...

What if I told you a week ago that America was within striking distance of repeating as Freestyle World champs without the face of American freestyle wrestling making it to the finals match? All four of the first day wrestlers medaled, with the Magic Man bringing home a gold on his first world team....

General Guidelines- Prepare your child for contact and lifelong body health. Warning! Driven wrestling parents won’t think that this is enough. I disagree. My goal with this is to protect a kid’s body and have them ready for serious competition around puberty. Disguise the workouts as fun or competi...

I just talked with Marco Vespa. Marco is a 2x NY State medalist, he took 3rd  in last years tournament. Marco is going into his senior year and just committed to Penn State. PSU is loaded with young light weight talent: RBY, Teasdale, Teske, Davis, Busiello just name the obvious. Can he take a big [...

Get back on your workout routine for strength, conditioning of the body and mind and dial-it-in to be lean and mean. Learn from previous years’ failures. The harder you train the harder it is to give up on a goal. Get more recovery time than you think that you need. Don’t even think about dieting. [...

If you want your strength to increase you need to grow your muscles. To grow your muscles you need to put them through stress. Wrestlers want strength with as little bulk as possible unless going up a weight class. If you are a wrestler or just an athlete you want the exercises you’re doing to [&#82...

The crazy, crazy money in college athletics keeps getting crazier. I don’t see how it can continue at this pace. That’s a huge payday for all parties involved and was to be expected given the recent changes to the Big Ten media partnerships. The advent of conference networks and new television...

A pair of attackers from ISIS hit a wrestling match in the Shi’ite part of the Afghan capital city of Kabul. The first attacker killed a guard outside the sports center, forced his way in, and detonated in the crowd. A second bomber detonated outside in a car, causing more casualties. More Here &#38...

There has been a lot of talk about strength training in the wrestling world spurred on by Kyle Snyder showing off much of his training on social media. Many old school wrestlers and coaches were brought up with the idea that lifting weights tends to make you slower. That may have been true with the ...

Have you seen the stats?  Kids aren’t enrolling in contact sports like they used to.  When parents wrap their sons in bubble wrap it is hard to get those same kids interested in a sport that requires rough physical contact. A young coach called me just the other day to talk about a problem that [&#8...

Have you seen the stats?  Kids aren’t enrolling in contact sports like they used to.  When parents wrap their sons in bubble wrap it is hard to get those same kids interested in a sport that requires rough physical contact. A young coach called me just the other day to talk about a problem that [&#8...

I see some many high school and college kids that want to get better but they are making decisions that won’t help them get better. I promise you that staying up late, playing hours of Fortnite (or any video game) and otherwise living a sedentary life style, punctuated by a couple hours of working o...

I see some many high school and college kids that want to get better but they are making decisions that won’t help them get better. I promise you that staying up late, playing hours of Fortnite (or any video game) and otherwise living a sedentary life style, punctuated by a couple hours of working o...

I talked with Pat earlier today. I enjoyed our rangy conversation. Downey is an individual that has taken a winding road to being a very good wrestler and it seems everyone has strong opinions about him. I’m a fan of individualism and of Pat’s unshakeable competitive mindset. I hope he finds a place...

I talked with Pat earlier today. I enjoyed our rangy conversation. Downey is an individual that has taken a winding road to being a very good wrestler and it seems everyone has strong opinions about him. I’m a fan of individualism and of Pat’s unshakeable competitive mindset. I hope he finds a place...

Men’s Freestyle Match 1 61 Joe Colon Fresno, CA (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) VPO1 Nahshon Garrett Tempe, AZ (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club), 7-5 92 J’den Cox Columbia, MO (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) VPO1 Hayden Zillmer Crosby, MN (Minnesota Storm), 5-2 125 Nick Gwiazdowski Raleigh, NC...

Men’s Freestyle Match 1 61 Joe Colon Fresno, CA (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) VPO1 Nahshon Garrett Tempe, AZ (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club), 7-5 92 J’den Cox Columbia, MO (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) VPO1 Hayden Zillmer Crosby, MN (Minnesota Storm), 5-2 125 Nick Gwiazdowski Raleigh, NC...

  Heal up the body and mind. If you have had any injuries go see a doctor of osteopathy (DO), a quality physical therapist (myo-fascial release) or sports psychologist to ensure that they really heal up. The mind is just as important as the body. The next step would be to strengthen the formerly wea...

  Heal up the body and mind. If you have had any injuries go see a doctor of osteopathy (DO), a quality physical therapist (myo-fascial release) or sports psychologist to ensure that they really heal up. The mind is just as important as the body. The next step would be to strengthen the formerly wea...

I talked with Alec Pantaleo earlier today.  Alec is a 2x AA place winner with his highest finish 5th last March in Cleveland. Pantaleo is one of my favorite wrestlers. He can go with and beat anyone when he’s on his game. Not sure what weight class he will be at next season but if […]

I talked with Alec Pantaleo earlier today.  Alec is a 2x AA place winner with his highest finish 5th last March in Cleveland. Pantaleo is one of my favorite wrestlers. He can go with and beat anyone when he’s on his game. Not sure what weight class he will be at next season but if […]

Make the Changes necessary to reach your goals. I promise that it won’t be easy. So you can dive into the pain of growth or delay the pain of failure until next season. The choice is yours. Good luck.   Be a multi sport athlete. Take a competitive break from wrestling but still get some [&#8230...

Make the Changes necessary to reach your goals. I promise that it won’t be easy. So you can dive into the pain of growth or delay the pain of failure until next season. The choice is yours. Good luck.   Be a multi sport athlete. Take a competitive break from wrestling but still get some [&#8230...

I recently had a long talk with Stuart McGill. Nearly 2/3’s of Americans and north of 80% of athletes suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives. Serious athletes are especially susceptible to lower back troubles. McGill has worked with many of the top athletes in the world. We mai...

I recently had a long talk with Stuart McGill. Nearly 2/3’s of Americans and north of 80% of athletes suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives. Serious athletes are especially susceptible to lower back troubles. McGill has worked with many of the top athletes in the world. We mai...

I spent some time talking with Pat Glory today. Pat is a 2x NJ State Champ, 3x State Finalist, Super 32 Champ, Beast of the East, Escape the Rock Champ etc… Pat is an interesting and engaging young man. He thoughtfully answered questions about his personal development into one of the best high schoo...

I spent some time talking with Pat Glory today. Pat is a 2x NJ State Champ, 3x State Finalist, Super 32 Champ, Beast of the East, Escape the Rock Champ etc… Pat is an interesting and engaging young man. He thoughtfully answered questions about his personal development into one of the best high schoo...

We spent close to an hour, on and off camera, talking about his wrestling history and future aspirations. Aaron just won an absolutely loaded US Open Junior bracket. The North Hagerstown Maryland senior won in the finals over University of Nebraska’s and PA native Michael Labriola 14-3 in 5:05. I&#8...

We spent close to an hour, on and off camera, talking about his wrestling history and future aspirations. Aaron just won an absolutely loaded US Open Junior bracket. The North Hagerstown Maryland senior won in the finals over University of Nebraska’s and PA native Michael Labriola 14-3 in 5:05. I&#8...

by Jim Beeghley April 27, 2018 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF STATE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS NEWS RELEASE  Clarity Provided to Out-of-Bounds Calls in High School Wrestling FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elliot Hopkins INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 27, 2018) — New definitions for inbounds and out of bounds highlig...

First of all, this was no easy task. There have been so many extraordinary wrestlers over the last 20 years that there can be no totally objective list. I tried to be objective with my subjective perspective, guys that I like to watch. I did include some guys that I flat out don’t jive with […...