2023 NCAA Tournament Recap
Another aspect of watching high level events, is the reinforcing of what we are working on in the room. It is one thing to learn technique from your coaches and another thing to see those techniques and concepts implemented by the athletes our kids are looking up to on the collegiate level. Here are a few moments just from the finals that stuck out to me while watching that are direct correlations to what we train on a daily basis
157: UNC’s Austin O’Connors head/hands defense and mat returns. O’Connor’s head hands defense is second to none. And he prevented Penn State’s Levi Haines from getting any offense going. Most importantly, he did not just stop the shot, but he immediately chased re-attacks scoring multiple times as the match went on. Secondly, O’Connor committed fully to his top game mat returning Haines over and over throughout the second period. Tough top wrestling is something that we preach every day at Grit. In folkstyle it can be a total equalizer by turning people (ie: Spencer Lee, Real Woods, etc)
165: Keegan O’Toole’s adjustments: Coming into the weekend, Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole had lost to David Carr in their last two meetings. And Carr is no slouch as a former NCAA champion himself. In a matter of two weeks he was able to make the necessary adjustments to beat him when it matters most. Adjustment between matches and mid-match adjustments are a crucial skill. Your brain needs to be able to critically think under stress which comes from knowledge of the sport, yourself, and your opponent.
184: Aaron Brooks Control of the Center and Ties: No team in the country controls the center/ties and cuts people off the mat like Penn State does. By controlling the center, they are able to force the opponent back into the circle which opens up a variety of offensive attacks.
197 and 125: Nino Bonaccorsi’s and Pat Glory’s commitment to their attacks: For those of you that don’t know him, Nino Bonaccorsi has been shooting the same shot since he was in elementary school. In Saturday’s finals his belief in his leg attacks and finishing was clear as he stayed offensive throughout the bout and when he needed to score the most he got to his signature head inside shot and finished clean making the adjustment from splitting the middle on his first attempt to cornering on his next. As for Glory, he patiently stayed on the attack and methodically went about finishing despite not being able to finish for a score on his first 5 attempts. He kept at it and finally got the finish at the beginning of the third period. Being able to not get frustrated in those situations allowed him to become a national champion. Having that belief in yourself to get to your #1 attack and finish on the biggest stage comes from endless attempts and drilling in the room.
Quick note: Every single finals match (except 141) featured some variation of finishing a single leg for a score. If that doesn’t prove that it is one of the most important skills in wrestling then I don’t know what does!
