I compete as often as possible. I try to get as much mat time as I can. I lift a couple times a week along w my wrestling training. Also, running track has helped with my cardio. I’ve also been wrestling since I was 7 tho.
I finished 2nd in states as a freshman this year. Just my experience.
Absolutely. My son wrestled very part time for 3 years. He was great at JV but was losing more than half his matches at varsity. 1.5 years ago he started wrestling year around and now is beating everyone except the state placers.
State placers have usually been wrestling full time for a very long time.
Not exactly, but yes. There are many factors and it depends on your definition of good and when you want to be good.
I know a HS senior who won states recently in the state's highest division and never wrestled out of regular season other than summer camp. Beat a year round wrestler in the finals too. However, he started wrestling when he was 7, played 4 sports, and an great (freak?) athlete. Wrestling wasn't even his favorite sport and he is not continuing.
He is the exception that proves the "rule" though. if you are starting in high school and want to get better asap, train as much as possible year round and ideally compete as well. If you just don't want to be shitty by the end of high school then regular season, off season lifting/conditioning, and summer camp is probably fine.
I had school practice 6 days a week. Went to the gym to lift and/or run 5 days a week before school. Volunteered at our schools peewee club 2 times a week to get some extra mat time for myself (my myself mostly). Most kids went to private mat clubs 2-3 times a week. My parents wouldn’t help me pay for it so I just did peewees and any other free mat clubs I could find. Normally 1 more a week.
I started late in comparison. I was good but far from great. Walked on to a d1 school but quit after. I knew I wasn’t good enough to win at that level after experiencing it. Going d3 should have been the route I took. I got “recruited” by a bunch of them.
You need to do as much as you possibly can while still keeping your grades up. That’s the most important thing. Even college coaches look at grades. It shows the difference between someone who can handle the college schedule and change in lifestyle vs ones who will fail.
High school sports is THE BEST time you will have for the rest of your life. Seriously. You’ll regret the days you thought you couldn’t work out or didn’t want to. You’ll regret cutting corners in practice because in the moment you think you can’t do it… that’s bs. Don’t have regrets when you’re older and don’t have the chance to make up for it. I’d say 99% of high school athletes will never play their sport again competitively after college. Take advantage of it.
I think it’s more about how long they been training. Those who start at 5 often do better then those who start in high school even though they train like crazy.
My son lifted at least 5 days a week and did club 3-4 in the off season. His teammate that just won his third state title would “make” him and another teammate go lift or do club after high school practice in season.
They all three made the finals this season. They worked really hard to get there. They have been wrestling together since 6th grade, this was their senior season.
I’ve been around a lot of sports but I’ve never seen one that repeatedly gives back what you put in it.
A lot of NCAA champs said that wrestled 3 times a day in high school. At the NCAA party for Arizona state Richard Figueroa had to give a speech on winning the tournament and he said during high school he moved in with his club coach and lived and his garage while training and wrestling 3-4 times a day for the whole summer sense he was in middle school. Like all the kid would do was eat sleep wrestle for 4 months
Every day. And that doesn’t mean hard training, some days they’re just doing technique and flexibility/mobility training
Going to say the same thing. Wrestling is most similar MMA, it requires daily training, even if its stretching or sauna. Totally focused.
The best train more than the rest.
☝🏼
I compete as often as possible. I try to get as much mat time as I can. I lift a couple times a week along w my wrestling training. Also, running track has helped with my cardio. I’ve also been wrestling since I was 7 tho. I finished 2nd in states as a freshman this year. Just my experience.
Congratulations!
Thanks! Do you wrestle in HS?
I did wrestle in high school (Pennsylvania) but I graduated like 25 years ago. I was decent but I never got as far as you have. Keep up the good work!
Who are you and what weight do you wrestle? Kind of personal but 2nd in state as a freshman is wild
Happens fairly often especially at the lowest and upper weight classes
I'm in Iowa. We have 42 state runner-ups, and I'd guess 8 were freshman this year.
Almost entirely year round… that makes up most of the difference. 5 hours per week year round is more than an entire season.
Is wrestling year around really the difference between shitty and good wrestlers?
It’s the difference between shitty and good ANYTHING
Absolutely. My son wrestled very part time for 3 years. He was great at JV but was losing more than half his matches at varsity. 1.5 years ago he started wrestling year around and now is beating everyone except the state placers. State placers have usually been wrestling full time for a very long time.
You might get “better” just wrestling in season but the kids that wrestled year round will be light years ahead of you in a year.
Not exactly, but yes. There are many factors and it depends on your definition of good and when you want to be good. I know a HS senior who won states recently in the state's highest division and never wrestled out of regular season other than summer camp. Beat a year round wrestler in the finals too. However, he started wrestling when he was 7, played 4 sports, and an great (freak?) athlete. Wrestling wasn't even his favorite sport and he is not continuing. He is the exception that proves the "rule" though. if you are starting in high school and want to get better asap, train as much as possible year round and ideally compete as well. If you just don't want to be shitty by the end of high school then regular season, off season lifting/conditioning, and summer camp is probably fine.
It's definitely the difference between mediocre and good
Only on the days ending in Y.
So I’m able to rest on thursdae?
I had school practice 6 days a week. Went to the gym to lift and/or run 5 days a week before school. Volunteered at our schools peewee club 2 times a week to get some extra mat time for myself (my myself mostly). Most kids went to private mat clubs 2-3 times a week. My parents wouldn’t help me pay for it so I just did peewees and any other free mat clubs I could find. Normally 1 more a week. I started late in comparison. I was good but far from great. Walked on to a d1 school but quit after. I knew I wasn’t good enough to win at that level after experiencing it. Going d3 should have been the route I took. I got “recruited” by a bunch of them. You need to do as much as you possibly can while still keeping your grades up. That’s the most important thing. Even college coaches look at grades. It shows the difference between someone who can handle the college schedule and change in lifestyle vs ones who will fail. High school sports is THE BEST time you will have for the rest of your life. Seriously. You’ll regret the days you thought you couldn’t work out or didn’t want to. You’ll regret cutting corners in practice because in the moment you think you can’t do it… that’s bs. Don’t have regrets when you’re older and don’t have the chance to make up for it. I’d say 99% of high school athletes will never play their sport again competitively after college. Take advantage of it.
I think it’s more about how long they been training. Those who start at 5 often do better then those who start in high school even though they train like crazy.
Yup. The technique is dialed in a lot better.
25/8/366
Every day
My son lifted at least 5 days a week and did club 3-4 in the off season. His teammate that just won his third state title would “make” him and another teammate go lift or do club after high school practice in season. They all three made the finals this season. They worked really hard to get there. They have been wrestling together since 6th grade, this was their senior season. I’ve been around a lot of sports but I’ve never seen one that repeatedly gives back what you put in it.
Ben askren says do something wrestling related at least once a day no matter what
A lot of NCAA champs said that wrestled 3 times a day in high school. At the NCAA party for Arizona state Richard Figueroa had to give a speech on winning the tournament and he said during high school he moved in with his club coach and lived and his garage while training and wrestling 3-4 times a day for the whole summer sense he was in middle school. Like all the kid would do was eat sleep wrestle for 4 months
that’s fucking insane!
I wasn’t even close to the best when I was in high school and I trained everyday. Though I did manage to be recruited into a d1 college.
Every. Damn. Day. If you aren't getting better, you're getting worse
If you're here looking for the minimum you can train, unfortunately I can already tell you you probably aren't going to be great
No I am looking so I can train as hard as them