23 Years Later

                                                   Morgan after winning the State Championship at 145lbs.

120 Pound 5A State Champion Cameron Hunsaker

145 Pound 5A State Champion Morgan Palmer

 Well as you can see by these pictures, the 23 year drought of not having a wrestling state champion is now over for the Caveman Wrestling team. Cameron Hunsaker became the first individual State Champion in 23 years. And the Great thing is it only took about 20 minutes before AF crowned its second State Champion, when Morgan Palmer also earned the title State Champ. The caveman wrestling team qualified 9 wrestlers to go the 5A state tournament, and ended up placing 4 of the 9. Jackson Wilson placed 3rd and Tayler Durfee placed 6th. Both Cameron, a junior, and Tayler, a sophomore,  will return next season for another shot at even more state competition. Make sure you come and meet the champions and also come and learn wrestling skills from the CAVEMAN WRESTLING TEAM. The spring season will start on Tuesday March 3rd. Hope to see you there.

Cameron while wrestling for the State Championship at 120lbs.

Spring Wrestling

The Spring wrestling season is here. We will have practices every Tuesday and Thursday starting in March. We will have classes for all age group and skill levels from those that have never wrestled to those with many years of experience. High School/Junior High aged youth are encouraged to come at 3:30 in the American Fork wrestling room. Pre-k through 6th are welcome to the first two weeks as a trial period to see if they want to continue the season. After the two weeks we will begin practices for the remainder of the spring season. Come join the wrestling team and meet the 9 state high school qualifiers, 4 placers and 2 State Champions.

Wrestling Video of AF vs Lehi

Here is a video that KaveTV put together last week. I figured I would show this the night before State as a pump up video to state.

News Paper article about Caveman Wrestling

Cameron Hunsaker at the 5A State Championships.

Check out the write up our Caveman Wrestlers received in the paper by clicking HERE. It is great to be a part of this team and the traditions they are starting.

I wanted give a big shout out to our Caveman wrestlers for their efforts last night vs West Lake. We traveled to the home of the Thunder and gave them a good fight. In the words of Coach Lewis, "Today is another day of training". What we mean by that is we are training each day to get better, make improvements, and become the best we can be. Better in wresting, school, and life. Last night we saw this young team (18 freshman, two of which have prior wrestling experience, of the 44 team members) fight and put it all on the line. It was a stepping stone in the right direction. If we can make the needed improvements each week and continue to get better, we will be in where we want to be in February at the State Championships. 

The team will be traveling to the Syracuse Scuffle later this morning. This will be another chance for us to lay the foundation for improvement. We hope to see many of you there and at our upcoming home duals. GO CAVEMEN!

I would like to thank all of those who have helped us get started this season. Though it has only been a week, we are seeing progress. As this season gets underway, one of our STAT Girls shared this video with me. I thought it was very relative to what wrestling and life is all about. 

Click here to see the video. Think about your goals. Think about your life. Why are you here? Why wrestling? I hope you're wrestling for the life lessons that can be taught in this great sport. I hope that you will remember that life is tough, but "once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easier."

I cannot believe that wrestling practice starts in 21 days. The official start date will be Monday November 10. We will start at 2:45 in the wrestling room. Those 9th graders will come as quickly as they can after school. They are usually there by about 3:15.

Before this all takes place, I wanted to send out a quick note to everyone in preparation for the start of practices. Before you are eligible to attend practice there are a few things that must be completed first. They are as follows:
1) you must have a current Physical Form turned in to me before the practice start date.
2) you must have registered on the Register My Athlete website before practice starts.
3) you must have paid $200 to the Financial Office. ($100 for participation fee and $100 for uniform fee).
4) you must print your 1st term grades for this current school year and then turn them into Coach Spencer. All wrestlers will need to maintain at least a 2.0 GPA.
5) sign and return the Wrestling Team Disclosure document which will be handed out at a parents/wrestlers meeting to be held at the High School on Thursday October 30th at 6:00 pm.

Please make sure you complete each of the above listed items before before November 10th. You will not be allowed to practice if you have not completed those items and turned them in.

 

Click HERE to watch a video about what makes Jordan Burroughs one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, on and off the mat. Jordan is probably one the greatest ambassadors for the sport of wrestling. He is such a great example to all of us.

I love how even given the adversity of an injury he refuses to make an excuse. He works hard, trains hard, and in the end he never backs down. He could have went and cried, made excuses, and even forfieted out of the bronze medal match. But that is not the way of a true champion. I think there are many times we are each faced with adversity. Do we continue to make excuses, or do we learn from it and continue to improve and get better? Do we have the attitude of a champion? A lot to learn from this great video. Thanks Flo Wrestling for all the work you do to market our great sport and champions like JB.

Season Head Start

I sometimes feel like this picture. But it is at that point that I remember something my parents always told me "If it's easy, it's probably not worth it". I really like this quote. It really puts things into perspective. It is difficult being a wrestler. Wrestling is time consuming, takes physical and mental strength far beyond most other activities, and yet it's worth it. As a team some of us are catching the vision of putting in the time in the off season. Champions are made from March - October. Our Season is November - February. All wrestlers are putting in hours at practice during the 4 months of the regular season. The biggest leaps and bounds will come during the off season while you opponents are at work, sitting at home, and anything else that might occupy their time in the off season. 

I don't think many of our wrestlers realize that their season goals will be accomplished as they put time and effort in during the off season. We have an opportunity to wrestle starting this week. For those that have not already signed up here is the link to do so. This is what we call the fall league. We will have practices at American Fork High School starting this week in the conditioning class (period B8). This is free of charge and will be for all 9 - 12 graders in the conditioning class. There is also a club located a few blocks to the south of the High School for any others. You can find details for the Mettle Wrestling Club here.

There are many other options available as well. It is my opinion that it does not matter which club you choose, but that you actually attend the Fall League. There will be matches held every Saturday at UVU in the wrestling room. This is a great opportunity to get a jump on the fast approaching season. The USA Full membership card is required to participate in all Fall League competitions. This card will also be used in the Spring and Summer events we will attend. Getting to the next level as a team will take more than the regular November - February season. Let's start the season with a running start.

Reaping What We Sow

I read an article titled God's Harvest. It was by Dieter F. Uchdorf. It struck me as very applicable to our wresting team. He starts with a story of a woman named Christa. Christa was the owner of a small seed company. She had customers that would buy her seeds and then expect to reap the harvest. She received a complaint that the seeds she had provided did not produce, even though they were guaranteed to do so. But come to find out the person who bought the seeds never planted the seeds for fear of getting their hands dirty. This is like some of those on our team. They are afraid of working toward their goal of making the Varsity team, qualifying for State, placing at State, or even being a State Champion. They expect to reap the fruit of the harvest, yet have not practiced, lifted, conditioned, and anything else that may get their hands dirty.

The next complaint Christa received was from a customer that had planted the seeds, nourished the soil, provided adequate water and sunlight, and everything else they should have done to reap a harvest. With further questioning, Christa found that they had only planted the seeds one week prior. One week! Do we as wrestlers feel like we can lift 2 weeks in the summer, condition the week before State, maybe even stay after practice a few times during the year and that will be enough. It takes not only effort but time. I have heard wrestlers mention that they have drilled the new move multiple times, but it does not work in a live situation. They get frustrated having only drilled the move a few times. Cael Sanderson used to drill moves hundreds of times each day, after practice was over. Can we expect to reap the rewards after only putting in a few hours of practice.

The third complaint that Christa received was  someone who was reaping a harvest, but not the desired harvest. They had planted, watered, nourished, and waited for the harvest to come, which it did come. But they were expecting pumpkins and got zucchini. They were upset because of this. But upon further research, Christa acknowledged that they had indeed purchased zucchini seeds. The customers thought that if they planted zucchini seeds in a pumpkin patch that they would somehow come out as pumpkins. I think as wrestlers we sometimes put in the time practicing, watching technique videos, running, lifting and doing all that we see needs to be done. Yet we are shocked when we reap losses instead of wins. Could it be that we were using a system of training and preparation that would not reap the desired fruit.

Wrestling is different than some of the other sports. It take more discipline, motivation and mental and physical toughness. It requires one to focus on nutrition, endurance, flexibility, speed, strength, technique, and all around athleticism. Wrestling is not for everyone, yet anyone can do it. To reach the top of the podium takes many, many hours of practice in all of the above mentioned areas. It is a science and art. Not all programs are created equal.

I hope that our wrestlers and their parents will buy into the seeds that we are planting. We are trying to give each wrestler the opportunity to excel both on and off the mat. We expect them to put in hours of work. We also hope that they will trust the coaches involved in the program. We invite all of you to buy in. Put in the time, effort, and maintain the determination and we will accomplish great things and reap the harvest.

21 days until Fall League

The Fall wrestling season is about to start. We will be encouraging all those that want to wrestle to start the year off by participating in the fall league. This has grown each year and looks to be a great jump on the season. Click HERE for more details about the fall league.

Also wanted give a big shout out to all those that wrestled in the spring and summer. I hope all of your hard work pays off this upcoming season. I sure wish there were more of you, but i can only encourage the off season workouts.

Also thanks to those that helped us move into the new wrestling room. It is slowly being put together, and beginning to look like a wrestling room.

Outdoor Camp and Match in the Park

K-6 Kids at the first Annual Outdoor Camp in the Park

 We had a great 2 Day Wrestling Camp in the Park located at 100 East Main Street in AF. This was a new experience and it turned out great. These pictures are just a few of the ones that we took during all the action. Thanks to all who came and helped and participated. We look forward to another great season starting this Fall. 

Camp Registration Booth

Water fight at the end of K-6 Camp on Day 1

Matches in the park under the Moonlight

Spectators at the Matches in the Park

Olympic Wrestling: The Path to Folkstyle Success

Making the Transition from Folkstyle to Freestyle

Below is a great article that highlights the reasons a wrestler should be wrestling Freestyle in the off season. 

By Matt Krumrie Special to USA Wrestling | March 18, 2014
 With most youth and high school wrestling seasons now complete, it's the time of year where many wrestlers will transition from competing in folkstyle to freestyle. "Freestyle wrestling really teaches the fundamentals of the sport," says University of Iowa Head Assistant Coach Terry Brands, a two-time Freestyle World Champion and 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist. "The more skills you master in any style of wrestling, the better wrestler you can become."
That's what Teague Moore learned in his wrestling career at Oklahoma State University, competing for legendary head coach John Smith, a six-time freestyle World Champion and a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. Smith’s ability to teach freestyle skills—and incorporate how they crossover into folkstyle—played a huge role in Moore becoming an NCAA champion and three-time All-America wrestler.
Now the head coach at American University in Washington, D.C., Moore said: "My freestyle experience and exposure are the only reasons why I succeeded in folkstyle. Without freestyle, I would have been mediocre at best."
Understanding the Differences
Folkstyle wrestling puts more emphasis on controlling your opponent, while freestyle puts more emphasis on exposure points. The goal from the bottom position in folkstyle wrestling is to get away. The goal from the bottom position in freestyle is to avoid being turned/exposed. In freestyle, the goal is to pin or expose your opponent’s shoulders to the mat. Learning each discipline provides crossover opportunities that can help a wrestler become as complete as possible.
"When training in freestyle, an athlete must have total body awareness and control," says Moore. "With proper positioning, a wrestler can execute with minimized exposure to defense.  The best executed offense eliminates an opponent’s defense.  The best example in wrestling right now is the (Jordan) Burroughs double, it secures a takedown and potentially secures back exposure while eliminating the opponents' quick front headlock defense or crotch lock defense.”  Although this is only one example, it can be applied to many other scoring positions. The athlete that trains to execute an offense that completely eliminates their opponents defense will excel in folkstyle because of this laser-like precision offense."
What’s more, freestyle wrestling teaches you things you can't get from training folkstyle only, says Dan Tramontozzi, head coach of the New Jersey Wrestling Academy, a wrestling club and training facility that serves wrestlers and teams throughout northern and central parts of the state.
Exploiting the Similarities
"Training freestyle in the offseason benefits your folkstyle game in many ways," says Tramontozzi. "Wrestling is changing and evolving everyday. I think freestyle training has a lot to do with that. You look at guys like Ben Askren and watch him "funk" and toss guys around after getting shot on. You normally don't learn that in folkstyle wrestling but that is what wrestling has become today. You have to train your body to be comfortable and know what to do in scramble positions and freestyle is a great tool to use. In order to keep up you have to learn freestyle, because that's what the best are doing."
And that's what the best have been doing. Moore rattles off a list of names: Cael Sanderson, Jake Varner, Jordan Burroughs, Henry Cejudo, Brandon Slay, Kurt Angle, Tom Brands, Kendall Cross, Kenny Monday, Bruce Baumgartner. These men were all Olympic Gold Medalists. In addition, says Moore:  They all wrestled folkstyle, but became legends because of freestyle."
"Folkstyle is the style that captures more media attention in our country,” Moore acknowledges, “but moving forward, the champions of folkstyle will be well versed in freestyle wrestling.  Learn freestyle and you will learn the best fundamentals for folkstyle."
When Brands was wrestling, his focus was on being the best he could during that specific season. During folkstyle season he wanted to be the best folkstyle wrestler. During the offseason, he wanted to be the best freestyler or Greco-Roman wrestler. He advises coaches and wrestlers to take advantage of the opportunity to learn new styles and combine them to be successful. The sport is always evolving and so should a wrestlers training and practice habits.
"Training and competing in freestyle wrestling puts you in positions and in experiences you are not in during the folkstyle season," Brands explains. "It helps you deal with different kinds of pressures. It helps develop a new set of skills that maybe your opponent doesn't have. And if he does, it will teach you how to counter different skills that opponent may be using. This is the time of year to work on something new. Freestyle is a great way to advance as a wrestler, become a more complete wrestler."
Five tactical benefits freestyle wrestling can provide folkstyle wrestlers
-from Teague Moore, head coach at American University
1. Front Head Lock Offense: This position is crucial to a successful freestyle career, if you can score every time you control your opponent’s head, your scoring potential becomes much better. This position is usually taken after defending an opponent’s leg attack (defensive FHL position).  The Russians have mastered the offensive FHL by snapping wrists to clear inside ties and snapping collar ties from neutral.
2. Head inside single, from contact: Most youth wrestlers in the U.S. learn from collar and elbow position so it’s a natural offensive leg attack to attempt while clearing the collar.  In the freestyle setting the finish to this offense forces a clean and “backside” finish that transitions easily to a leg lace offense.  Young wrestlers that learn a quick “swing single to lace” offense will naturally develop a solid folkstyle technique because by it’s very nature the swing single to lace forces you to control an opponent’s hips, which eliminates the typical “funk” defense that is popular in folkstyle.  The learned freestyle skill helps to develop a very proficient folkstyle takedown artist.
3. The backstep and backarch: It’s a basic technique for freestyle athletes to learn and should be one of the seven basic skills that every wrestler learns. The headlock, lateral drop, and body lock throws all utilize its skillset but folkstyle doesn’t appear to be emphasizing it with younger wrestlers.  An athlete that learns to properly backstep and backarch usually adds a deadly element to their offense in folkstyle, with a five-point move.
4. Bottom offense: Bottom offense in freestyle doesn’t seem to offer much to a folkstyle wrestler, surface, but, in fact, the freestyle bottom position teaches a vital element to the folkstyle wrestler.  Bottom freestyle demands a wrestler to learn a position to maintain a strong base.  Positioning is not one dimensional in freestyle. A wrestler must learn how to position to defend a gut wrench, which is very similar to defending a tight waist in folkstyle.  Defending and moving from an ankle lace attack can quickly teach a folkstyle wrestler how to reposition to defend an ankle ride in folkstyle. Although the bottom position in freestyle appears to happen with little movement, the reality is that it teaches a folkstyle wrestler how to reposition themselves and hold a strong base, which is a key element for younger wrestlers to learn.
5. The top position: Freestyle top position offense teaches a wrestler the importance of hip control. The wrestler on top in freestyle has to expose their opponent’s shoulders to the mat for points, but most of these scoring opportunities are presented after you open the bottom wrestlers hips. In a gut wrench, you must learn to properly lock and drive, but without popping the bottom wrestler’s hips, exposure can remain futile. Another common freestyle technique is the figure-four leg ride, or bent leg turk that allows you to hip your opponent over for exposure. This turn can be done exactly identical in folkstyle so this technique is a great way to transition the technique between both.  If a wrestler properly learns how to control an opponent’s hips, cheap tilts, leg rides, and dominance in top position become easily transitioned.

Wrestling Camp in the PARK

I am very excited to announce that we now have the approval from AF City to have a wrestling camp in the park. We will be hosting the camp on July 22 and 23 at Robinson Park located on the corner of 100 East and Main Street in AF (it will be held the week following the Steel Days celebration). We will be planning the event and are trying to get more information out as it is planned. W plan to end the camp with a dual in the park under the evening stars. We hope to make this a big event for all! Hope to see you there.

Banquet

The date of the 2013 - 2014 Wrestling Banquet is Tuesday April 22. Please email Coach Spencer to let him know if you are coming and how many will be in your party. More details will be forth coming.

Practice this week

Practice this week for those in the Elementary, Junior High, and High School club will be held on Wednesday and Thursday. Times are as follows:
3:30 - 4:45 for High School and Junior High
4:50 - 6:00 for Elementary aged wrestlers.

Spring Wrestling

Well I am trying to send out information about the Spring Club season. We will be hosting practices during the Conditioning class the rest of this week. I am still trying to decide whether on not to have them after school. We will also try and Start our Spring Junior High and Elementary teams on Thursday. So this week the schedule will be as follows:

High School will be held on Thursday during the conditioning class (B8) for those that have the class

High School and Junior High practice for those not in the conditioning class will be held on Thursday starting at 3:30 until 4:45

Elementary will be held from 4:50 until 6:00 on Thursday.

I will be letting each of you know the cost and details of where to pay next week. I do know that you will need to register for a USA Wrestling Card through Themat.com. Details will be forth coming if you have not purchased one before.

Please pass the word along to any and all who may be interested in these offerings. Again these times may change. We are looking at adding one more practice day each week (so that there are two scheduled practices at AFHS each week).

We are also looking for High School age boys and Dads to help us with the Elementary team. Please let me know if you are interested and willing to help. 
801-400-5932
evspencer@gmail.com

--

ERIC SPENCER
Wrestling Coach
Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Leadership
Computer Tech
American Fork High School
http://americanforkwrestling.blogspot.com
@afwrestling

Olympic Wrestling: The Path to Folkstyle Success

State Day 1 Results

After the first two rounds of competition yesterday our team is in ninth place over all. Of the 9 wrestlers that we took to the tournament there are 4 still alive and trying for a spot on the podium tomorrow evening.

Senior Tanner Durfee at 160 pounds is in the consolation bracket. If he can win his first two matches today he will be guaranteed a top 6 place.

Sophomore Cameron Hunsaker 106, Junior Jackson Wilson 126, and Senior Andrew Bartholomew 132 are all in the Semi-Finals tonight at 7:00. They are all guaranteed a spot in the top 6, but are trying to make it to the championship match. If they win today they will wrestle tomorrow evening at 4:30 for the State Championship. I will try to keep you posted by twitter @afwrestling. 

You can also follow the results by live scoring at trackwrestling.com using the following link
http://s401.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/MainFrame.jsp?newSession=false&sport=wrestling&TIM=1392395402741&pageName=&ie=false&frameSize=925

We hope to see some of you there tonight and tomorrow. All 5 divisions 1A - 5A will be there today and tomorrow. This will be the first time that I can think of that all 5 divisions will compete at the same time in the same venue for their individual titles. Wrestling will start today at 3:00 at the Maverick Center in West Valley City. Thanks so much for your support these past few months.

After Thursdays medal rounds at the Divisional tournament we ended up qualifying 9 wrestlers for this weeks State Tournament. This is the most we have taken to State that I know of. Great job guys.

Cameron Hunsaker was the champion at 106. He wrestled great in the championship match winning his opponent from Syracuse 5-0. (He's only a sophomore)

Jentry McGary at 113 pounds qualified by placing 5th. (He's a junior)

Tayler Durfee at 120 pounds qualified by placing 8th (He's only a Freshman)

Jackson Wilson at 126 pound wrestled a great tournament and placed 2nd. He lost a hard fought match to last years State Champion. He only lost by a score of 8-4. We hope to meet him again next week in the finals. (he's a junior)

Senior Andrew Bartholomew at 132 also placed 1st. He had to avenge a loss from earlier in the season, and did so in an amazing, hard fought match. He came from 5 points behind to win the match in overtime with a takedown. It even landed him the Outstanding Wrestler award for the tournament.

Craig Johnson, also a Senior, at 132 pounds qualified by placing 8th. Great to have two wrestlers in the same weight class qualify.

At 138 pounds Sophomore Porter Johnson did not qualify but rather is the alternate at his weight.

145 pounder Morgan Palmer also a junior placed 5th. He wrestled a great tournament and hopes to improve on his performance next week to place at the State Tournament.

152 pound wrestler Kalin Godwin will also be an alternate for next weeks tournament.

Senior Tanner Durfee had a great showing at the tournament in the 160 pound weight class. He placed 3rd, only losing to the eventual champion in the semi-finals.

Also at 160 pounds freshman Jacob Rhoton placed 8th which will allow him to wrestle at State as a freshman.

GREAT JOB CAVEMEN WRESTLERS. Now lets continue to show our support by coming and supporting those that are going to represent our team at the Maverick Center Thursday - Saturday.