Coaches Corner with Mike Kulcyzcki
12/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
I think our team's work ethic and desire to be the best really comes through in practice every day. The guys come in with great attitudes and high spirits. We're sticking together as a team. We're helping each other out. Guys are working hard and wrestling hard. We're off to a pretty good start so far -- not a great start -- but we're progressing. The guys need to keep working on the little important things, try to stay healthy, continue pushing the pace and just get better every day.
As it's likely with every team in the country, we're a little beat up right now. We don't have any serious injuries, but we do have a few banged-up elbows and knees. But for the most part we're pretty fresh. We've been training very hard, and between our trip to Las Vegas and last weekend's dual against Central Michigan, we've had several tough competitions recently. We're emphasizing a lot of weightlifting for this short holiday break and maybe a little less time on the mats. That will allow them to heal up a bit. We still expect everyone to work out at home and keep up with their conditioning, but we really want them to focus on getting hard lifts in to keep the strength up so their bodies will hold up through the next semester. I think it lends a lot of confidence when guys feel strong and durable throughout the year.
We are placing a heavier emphasis on tournament competition this season. The point is to condition the guys to push through the soreness. It's one thing to wrestle two or three matches in one day, but it's even tougher to come back the next day, weigh in again and push through it. You're inevitably not going to feel as good the second day. We're trying to get our guys into that type of conditioning, where they can go six matches in a weekend and feel as best they can.
In dual meets, the focus lies on just one match. You weigh in, warm up and wrestle one match. In tournaments, however, the guys need to condition their bodies to wrestle 3-4 matches in one day. At nationals, they'll need to do that for three straight days. The body needs to be stable, and wrestlers need to be prepared to face that challenge. By getting more tournament competition this year, I think it will really help our guys adjust to that experience. They will expect their bodies to be sore and hurting a bit, but they'll learn to push through it. These guys will get a lot more matches under their belts, and hopefully it will play a big role to our success late in the season. Getting those extra matches in definitely helps in the long run. Every match, a wrestler is going to learn something different, learn how to react to different situations. The more matches you get, the better you're going to be.
At the Cliff Keen Invitational, we saw a lot of West Coast wrestlers as well as some junior college and Division II schools. Their style tends to be a lot more scrambling and getting into flurries. It's really important to experience that style during the season and try to get some of those matches in prior to the national tournament. Midlands is usually a mixture of everything -- some Big Ten schools, some West Coast schools and some open competition. It will provide a different look, and that will be good for our guys. I don't think they really know what to expect with this tournament.
I've been working primarily with our middle weights, many of whom moved up a class or two this year. I think that has been a good move for a lot of our guys. Their attitudes seem lifted, and they've been able to focus more on their conditioning and getting better in certain situations. We've had strong middle weights for several years, and I think they've been able to make each other better through their work in the practice room. When they're working with guys like Ryan Churella and Ryan Bertin and see those guys win and have great success, it makes them believe that they can do the same, especially when they're going toe to toe with them in the room. We've seen a lot of good things from the guys this year. We're still working on certain situations with them, trying to put them different positions and tie-ups. But they have a lot of confidence, and their expectations are high.
For example, Josh Churella's confidence level is as high as it could be right now. He's out there to dominate every match regardless of his opponent. He's wrestling with a vengeance this year, and he's ready to win a title and reach the top of the NCAA podium. The same applies to Eric Tannenbaum. He's been an All-American the last two seasons, and this year he's ready to step it up and reach the next level. He is comfortable at his new weight, and he's proving just as strong as any other 165-pounder out there. Steve Luke and Tyrel Todd have both made positive jumps from their first year to second. They know they can wrestle with anyone in the country and have proven their status among that top tier. Their attitudes have changed, and they are just working on getting better and stronger at every position. They're working hard, they believe in themselves, and I think that has shown in their early success this season.
Confidence means everything when it comes to wrestling. Every member of our team is in good shape. But once you step on the mat, I'd say 50-60 percent of it relies on what's already been done in the room, and the other 40-50 percent is all mental. The hardest thing in wrestling is to push beyond the comfort zone. In practice, we try to push the guys to that breaking point and get after them to push through it. Once that's done often enough in practice, it becomes habit and it breeds confidence. The guys can put that in their back pocket, know that they've been through it before and replicate that hard work and tenacity in a match. That's one of the most important elements of success, and it will play a big role in how we perform down the final stretch of the season.
Note: "Coaches Corner" runs in The Riding Times, an inside look at U-M wrestling.
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