W.O.W.

Something new this season that I hope to implement consistently throughout the season and into the summer is our W.O.W. program. What is the W.O.W program you might ask? It stands for Wrestler Of the Week. Each week as coaches we will try and evaluate each wrestler and their efforts, improvements and overall dedication to becoming the best wrestler they can. The number of wrestlers each week will vary, but the outcome will always be the same; and that is improvement as a wrestler and person.

Throughout the past several months I have been watching and identifying each wrestler and his abilities and strengths. I have come up with two wrestlers for this week and hope that each of these young men realize that their efforts and dedication have not went unnoticed.  Let me introduce to you our official W.O.W's of the past few months.

Our first W.O.W is Jackson Wilson. Jackson is one of the many young men deserving of this award. Jackson is a self motivated young man who is wrestling pretty much non stop. He travels to UVU 6 days a week to workout with Justin Ruiz. He works out on his own each evening, and also leads the team each day in the conditioning class. Jackson, as one of only a few returning Freshman Varsity starters from last season is well on his way to again going to the State Tournament in February.

Our second W.O.W of the past few months is Kolter Atkinson. Kolter, also a returning starter from his Freshman year, is also very deserving of this honor. Kolter returns this season having worked very hard starting clear back last March. He was one of only a handful of our wrestlers that chose to wrestle in the Freestyle and Greco season. Unfortunately an injury plagued his summer plans. But even his injury did not stop him fro wanting to improve. Kolter would come to workouts and do modified lifting as to allow his injury to heal. Once healed, Kolter and his father would come in quite regularly after our morning workouts to drill. I have seen great strides in his mental toughness, as well as his technique.

Thank you Jackson and Kolter. I look forward to seeing who else will be our future W.O.W's. Be on the lookout as we begin a new season. I am sure the competition will be very surprised at the improvements these two young men have made. I also see great things going on as a team as well. 

The Final Countdown

Today begins the final 2 week countdown to when the official season starts. Who is going to be our team leaders? Who will be varsity at all of the different weight classes 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, Hwt? There will be new comers like Cameron Hunsaker, Porter Johnson, Tanner Green and many others. Then we will return Seniors like Sam Bateman, Grant McKenna, and Gage McGary. We will also have other potential star power in Tanner Durfee, Andrew Bartholomew, TJ Larsen, Logan Sondrup, Morgan Palmer, Dalton Nelson and many, many others.

Will the Cavemen crown their first State Champion in 20 years, and if so who will it be?

These questions and more will all begin to be answered over the course of the next few weeks. We will have an answer to all of them as the season goes on.We have worked hard all summer long, and even at the start of the school year; waiting, anticipating, preparing for the next few months of battle. I believe the CAVEMEN are ready!

Youth camp and Mettle is #1

We started our youth wrestling camp last night. It was very good to see all of our future wrestlers out there. We had about 40 youth there. I also wanted to let you know of something else that we received yesterday. Our feeder program, Mettle Wrestling was honored by USA wrestling. It was given a banner to hang in the wrestling room as one of the top 50 teams in the country. We also received a certificate stating that we were not only in the top 50 club in the US but that we were the Largest club. We had 265 wrestlers in our club last year. It is great to see the growth that our club has seen over the past few years. About 1/2 of those in Mettle wrestling will eventually wrestle here at AFHS. Congrats to our club for their #1 ranking.

Annual Fundraising/Donation Campaign

Hopefully by now you have heard about our annual fundraising campaign that we are starting this week. All of our wrestlers will be coming up with a list of people they know who would be willing to donate to our team. We are looking for individuals, families, and businesses that love what we are doing as a team to build great young men. We are excited to have the help of all of you in our efforts to fund this program as we continue to build this program.

If you or anyone you know may be willing to donate $25 or more to our program please click on the donate button to the right on our blog. We appreciate any and all donations. We are trying to reach a goal of $10,000, but know that we cannot do it without your help. Thanks again and we hope to see you at our duals and tournaments cheering the caveman on.

2012 - 13 Schedule

Click HERE to see the 2012 - 13 American Fork High School Wrestling schedule. Make sure if you have any questions that you contact Coach Spencer.

Also be sure to friend us on facebook and follow us on twitter at @afwrestling.

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Welcome the 2012 - 13 School year

Welcome back. The school year is here. We are excited to get going. Thanks to all of those that were disciplined this summer and made time to attend our camps and weight training sessions each week.

I also wanted to let all of you know about our new twitter account. Be sure to follow us on twitter: @afwrestling
I am learning the ropes on all this social media stuff, so if you have any ideas on how to help us market our team and sport let me know.

Be sure that all of you 9th graders get in the 1st semester conditioning class. Come see me for details. All 10 - 12 graders should also be in the class but for an entire year.

Caveman Wrestling Camp and Toughman Olympics

There is still time to register for the Caveman Wrestling Camp and the Toughman Olympics. Spread the word to all wrestlers (AF and Non-AF) about the wrestling camp. Spread the word about the Toughman Olympics to all 9 - 12 graders from any school. Awards will be given away for the events at the Toughman Olympics. Follow the links below for more info. 

Click HERE to see the schedule and to register for the Caveman Wrestling Camp

Click HERE to see the event schedule and to register for the Toughman Olympics

Wolf Pack Duals in Salina

We left on Monday and got back Thursday afternoon. What a camp. We had about 13 or more matches (duals style) in 3 days, then had a single elimination tournament on Thursday. A great amount of mat time. They boys wrestled well, and learned a few moves along the way. We had 13 boys along for the ride.

We stayed at the Johnson (Morgan Palmers) family Ranch up Salina Canyon. What a great place. All the boys stayed on a bunk house and the Palmer family cook most of the meals. Great food. A big thanks to the Palmer/Johnson families for hosting us and feeding us.

Hopefully all of the boys that went learned something new and bonded with the others that went. I think we will make this an annual summer excursion. We may take an extra day next year and plan a hike or fishing trip or something not wrestling related.

Thanks to all the boys who attended and I hope to see all of you on Monday morning at our weight training session. Remember to bring running shoes, as well as wrestling shoes for technique after weights is over.

Delta Wrestling Camp Notes

What a success, again! 
We ended up taking 8 of our wrestlers and 1 cousin of a wrestler to the Millard County Camp earlier this week. The head technician was Mark Ironside. I would recommend you watch some of his matches on line. Great wrestler. He taught us some great things from all positions. He talked about what separates a good wrestler from a great wrestler is usually one thing, and that is that they not only can take anyone down, escape from anyone (which is what a good wrestler can do), but that they can apply Constant Grinding Pressure from the top position.

He also taught his famous sit-back series. Very good technique to add to our arsenal. He also taught about the front head and arm (short offense)  from the standing position.

Over all it was a great experience. All boys enjoyed the trip and I hope they feel like it was worth the money. We did spend both nights at a new location, which was a blast. It is a recreation type center, with racquet ball courts, basketball courts, baseball fields, pool tables and more. It was great. I think we will do that again next year.

Now we are off to the Wolf Pack Duals in Salina on Monday morning through Thursday of next week.

Links To Caveman Camp and Toughman Olympics

Click  Here for the link to the Caveman Wrestling Camp Flyer and Registration form.

Click HERE for the link to the Toughman Olympics Registration/Waiver Form.

Summer Camp Information

Summer Camp Information

Starting on Monday June 4 our wrestling team will be traveling down to Millard County for the annual Terry Brands wrestling camp. What a fun and enjoyable time we have there. This will take place at Delta high School on the 4 - 6th.

We will then leave again on Monday the 11th for the Wolf Pack Duals in Salina, UT. This will be a new experience for our team as we try this new camp/wrestling meet. This will be held the 11th - 14th at Blackhawk Arena.

We will then have a week of strength and conditioning training. We will workout Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:45 am (yes that is bright and early).

The following week we will host our 2nd annual Caveman Wrestling camp. This year we are adding a new addition to our camp. We are teaming up with the National Guard for the 1st ever Utah County Toughman Olympics. This will be a true test of skill, speed, strength and stamina. Please help us spread the word on Facebook, twitter, and all other social media sites. This camp will take place on June 25 - 27, 2012. The Utah County Toughman Olympics is for all 9 - 12 grade athletes.



Email Coach Eric Spencer for details @ evspencer@gmail.com

2011-2012 Wrestling Schedule

Nov. 7 Wrestling Practice Start Date
Nov. 12 Body Fat Testing 830 am at PGHS (meet there w/ picture ID)
Nov. 19 Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser 11 am – until finished
Nov. 22 Meet the team night
*Nov. 24-27 *Thanksgiving Moratorium
Nov 30 AF @ Westlake
Dec. 2-3 Titan Duals (Syracuse High School)
Dec. 8 AF @ Lone Peak
Dec. 9-10 Maple Mountain Duals
Dec, 14 AF @ Lehi
Dec. 16-17 Viewmont Invitational
*Dec. 23-27 *Christmas Moratorium
Dec 28 – 31 Practice Each Morning @ High School
*Jan. 1 *New Year Moratorium
Jan. 4 AF @ Provo
Jan. 5 Pleasant Grove @ AF
Jan, 12 Bingham @ AF
Jan. 13-14 Rocky Mountain Rumble in UVU (Varsity)
Jan. 13-14 Rocky Mountain Rumble @ Mountain View (Jr Varsity)
Jan. 19 Riverton @ AF
Jan. 20-21 Delta High School Duals
Feb. 1 JV & Open Region @ Bingham
Feb. 8 Region Tournament @ PG
Feb. 15-16 State Tournament @ UVU
Weigh-in: 4:30 P.M.
J.V. Matches: 5:00 P.M.
Varsity Matches: 7:00 P.M.

*Moratorium- On these dates practices and/or competition cannot be held. These are the best days to plan vacations.

Rankings

Our team finished its rankings the past two days. There was an excitement in the room that you could feel. The intensity was great and we had some really close matches. Now it is time to prepare for our first match on November 30 at West Lake in Saratoga Springs. We will then head to the Titan Duals at Syracuse High School that weekend.

Forms

Don't forget that these 2 forms need to be completely filled out before you can participate in practice on the 7th of November. I have attached the links here so there are no excuses. They can also be found in the front office and on the AFHS website under the forms tab.

Also you will need to provide a copy of your most recent Report Card.

http://afhs.alpineschools.org/forms/tryout-checklist

http://afhs.alpineschools.org/forms/physical-form

If you were the coach...

"If you were the coach"...What would you tell the team heading into the 2011 - 12 season?

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Wrestling Wish List

WRESTLING WISH LIST

Weight Lifting Sand Bags
Smaller Weighted Kettle-bells
1.5" Ropes for climbing, attaching to sleds, and used as battling ropes.
Power-wheel (about 5)
Wrist rollers (about 5)
Olympic Rings with adjustable straps (I have ideas of how to make them rather than buy them)
Prowler sled
Medium sized tractor tire for tire flipping
Regular sized tire and rope for pulling and carrying
Sledge hammers
Logs about 4 - 5 ft long about 8" diameter
Sound system and TV for wrestling room and iPod with iPod jack to put music on for practice sessions
Fog machine and materials to make a tunnel to have team run out of at home duals
Kegs for lifting and squatting
Numbered peg board for wall
Horizontal ladder (we may be able to get one from the Jr. High)
Spot lights to go in the gym to be used at home matches

Our K-6 grade introductory camp will start Next Tuesday November 5th at 6 pm. We need all wrestlers on the High School team to plan on being there. We will be going each Tuesday and Thursday from 6 - 7 pm. Please plan on helping us each week. These young wrestlers look up to and idolize you as high school wrestlers. Please don't let them down. They are our future.

Thought of the week

"Through wrestling, through the hard work and the sweat, through the victories and the defeats, we learn a great deal about ourselves. Wrestling shows you your limits, your weaknesses, your strengths and, ultimately, you grow because of what it shows you." - J Robinson

I really liked this quote. Coach Robinson is exactly right. Because of wrestling, I am a better person. I have learned so much from the great sport. I not only love it for the sport that it is, and for the competition, but also for all that it has taught me and continues to teach me about life.