10 Random Things Learned at NWCA Convention

1. More and more coaches are taking a faith based approach to wrestling, life and their training philosophy. My brothers and I were blessed to be able to talk to Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan for over 2 hours about the importance of faith and living the right lifestyle in order to succeed on and off the mat.

2. 82% of scoring (from neutral) at the NCAA Championship were from 4 moves: Single Leg, Go behind, Double leg, High Crotch. Zeke Jones did the research and broke down some amazing statistics. Make sure you are spending time on the fundamental scoring positions.

3. Zeke recommended spending 80-90% of your drilling time sparring as opposed to block drilling. Sparring is much deeper practice and is more fun!

4. Creatine is a good off season supplement for college wrestlers even if they will be cutting some weight during the year. This question was directed at Cornell Nutrition Expert Clint Wattenberg. He recommends training for power (more sets less reps) and watching to make sure you aren’t just putting on too much unnecessary bulk.

5. After intense workouts make sure to have some protein and sugar in your recovery drinks. Other than that stick to water or club soda.

6. Make a serious attempt to attack within 15 seconds of each whistle start- Zeke Jones. This is a high percentage time to score points.

7. Russians win with much less talent. They spar a ton and have incredible feel in key positions.

8. The maximum safe weight cut is about 5% of your body weight with 48 hours to go (college level athletes). From Clint Wattenberg presentation.

9. The highest level of learning is teaching others- from Wrestling Mindset presentation. When you teach others what you just learned you have a much greater chance of retaining the information.

10. Kyle Snyders greatest attribute is his mind- Tom Ryan. He is extremely positive, hard working and has an unbelievable perspective.