That's a wrap

The season is over and now its time to start thinking about what's next.

First of all, what's not next is sitting around on your butt.

I can certainly understand a need to take a break. Wrestling is a tough sport that requires a lot of dedication; especially if you're doing it right. However, you don't want to get burned out.

Back in my day, I went out for high school track. I pole vaulted. I did this because it was fun and because part of the training for this sport included strength training.

I grew up in a small town where there was no off season wrestling (Wasco, California). But, if you live in an area where there is such a thing, give it a try. The guy, and girls, you saw throwing everyone around on the mats last season were probably in an off season program.

The absolute best thing about wrestling is that you get out of it what you put into it. This means that how well you do is completely under your control.

Try to keep your stamina high as well. I used to go out for cross country. I was always the slowest guy on the team. But when wrestling started, I could go forever.

A lot of matches are won by the better conditioned athlete that is able to keep the match alive into the third round. That's where the conditioning becomes the decider. The guy that is out of gas may have excellent technique but still get beat because his opponent has a full tank.