Gilmore's Take: Klited Klassic

Kilted Klassic 2nd Place Finish

As a coach you are always hoping for improvements from week to week.  I feel we did make improvements from week 1 to week 2. I am very please with our performace this past weekend.  We were intense, kept alot of pressure, and we were working to score all the time.  You could see our confidence for the most part. There were a couple times when we squared off against some tougher competition that we lost our confidence and went back to old habits.  We train to beat the wrestler who is better than us, not to just dominate the wrestlers we should beat.  We have to have confidence in our style and stick with it in all matches not just the easy matches.  The level of competition can not change our mindset, we need to approach every match the same way and live in the moment.  Don't get caught up in the situation, stay focused on what you can control.

Wrestler of the Week: Jeremy Amons Kilted Klassic

Alex Sadowski 170lb Champion

Austin Peak 182 lb Champion

Freshman Alex Sadowski and Senior Austin Peak both earned Wrestler of the Week honors for their performances at the Jeremy Amons Kilted Klassic held at Sparta Highland High School.   Alex was crowned champion at the 170 pound weight class where he earned 3 pins and a 5-1 decision.  Austin stood on top of the 182 pound class earning 3 pins, 1 tech fall, and 1 decision.

Wrestler of the week: Beachwood

Michael Urban- 195

Michael Urban 195 Runner-Up

Michael went 3-1 this weekend with 3 pins, earning him a second place finish at the Beachwood Kick-off classic. 

Gilmore's Take: Beachwood Kick-Off Classic

We kicked off the 2013-2014 season off this past Saturday at Beachwood High School.  With only bringing 9 wrestlers we knew we were not going for any team title, but we were going for individual accomplishments.  I was not really worried about how many people we placed.  Of course I would have liked to have everyone bring home hardware, but I was more worried about seeing our guys wrestle with our style against all opponents.  Every wrestler showed glimpse of our new philosophy, but as the competition became greater our confidence in our abilities became less and we reverted back to old habits.  We have to get to a point where we wrestle every opponent the same way.  It doesn't matter if you are better than your opponent or if they are better than you.  We need to have the same approach for every match we wrestle.  I have seen a lot of progress since the 1st day of season, but old habits are hard to break.  We need to get to the point where we are so confident in what we do in the practice room that their is no room for doubt.  We doubt our selves in the big matches, and those are the ones that we need the most confidence.  We can't let situations determine how we are going to wrestle.  We need to live in the moment, and only worry about what we can control.   We can control our focus and our attitude toward the match.  If we are focused on how tough our opponent is then we our not focused on what we can do, we our focused on what he can do. To be successful we need to have an offensive mindset not a defense and protect mindset.