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University of Missouri wrestlers climb the stairs at Memorial Stadium for their workout.
(Photo/Chelsea Sektnan for the Columbia Missourian)
If there's a sport that's more physically and mentally demanding than wrestling, we don't want to know about it. These demands go beyond what happens during an actual match. The workouts inside and outside the wrestling practice room can make a wrestling fan feel exhausted and sore just reading about them.
Here are two stories that illustrate the demands the sport places on young athletes at two top college wrestling programs: University of Missouri... and Penn State.
Missouri matmen take workouts to new heights. In a recent article in the The Columbia Missourian newspaper describing pre-season workouts for the Missouri Tiger wrestlers, writer Joan Niesen set the stage for the toughness of that workout in her opening paragraph:
If you’ve ever complained about the climb to your seat in row 70 of Memorial Stadium, don’t tell the Missouri wrestling team.
The 40 men of the Tiger squad trudge to the stadium once a week during preseason, which began last Monday, for their Wednesday stadium run. For at least 10 minutes, the ring of tennis shoes against metal bleachers and the grunts of overexertion and encouragement echo through the stands, drowning out the football team’s practice on the field below.
The weekly ritual is not the only element of the grueling preseason training that tests the team’s strength and willpower; the eight hours a week of practice that the NCAA permits before regular workouts begin are devoted to pushing the team’s physical and mental limits.
The article goes on to detail other pre-season workout rituals, from the perspective of head coach Brian Smith, and senior wrestler Nick Marable.
Penn State freshmen adjusting to college wrestling. The adjustment for any student moving from high school to college can be overwhelming... even more so for a top prep wrestler who suddenly finds the level of competition in college to be way above what he has experienced. Even if you're a highly-regarded, high school superstar.
That's the message in a recent article by Stephen Hennessey and Jocelyn Syrstad for the Daily Collegian, the student newspaper at Penn State. The opening provides a sense of that high school to college leap for one of the nation's top prep wrestlers:
David Taylor overwhelmed most of his high school opponents with little trouble, prompting every college to recruit him to wrestle for its program.
But as Taylor grappled with senior Bubba Jenkins at practice last week, Jenkins toyed with the freshman, laughing as he earned a takedown.
Taylor, who lost only two of his 182 high school matches, admits he hasn't scrapped with many wrestlers as strong as Jenkins, Frank Molinaro, or Cyler Sanderson. For a superstar lightweight high school wrestler, battling stronger teammates has taught Taylor to adjust to wrestling as a middleweight.
"I don't have the strength right now, but when that comes, it's not going to be as big of a surprise when I start wrestling [high-caliber] guys," Taylor said. "That's something that's going to come over time."
The article goes on to talk about Penn State's incredible recruiting class, with new head coach Cael Sanderson and assistant coaches Casey Cunningham and Matt Dernlan weighing in with their assessments.
"They're some of the very best kids in the country, in my opinion," coach Sanderson said in the Daily Collegian article. "We're going to provide them with everything they need and they know exactly what it takes to win a national championship."
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