Tuesday Morning Takedowns is a weekly blog written by Michigan Grappler founder & owner Tony Greathouse. Greathouse is the current head wrestling coach at Brighton High School, prepped at Mason High School, and wrestled collegiately for Michigan State.
It is back to school week for most schools in Michigan and with that comes the beginning of a ever-growing excitement for wrestling season that will continue to build from this week all the way up to December 10th when the High School season officially kicks off with the opening date of competition.
Many teams and individuals will begin their pre-season training in the next couple weeks and most of Michigan's studs are preparing for the major pre-season tournaments the Grappler Fall Classic (10/18) and the Super 32/Freak Show (Halloween weekend).
Speaking of the Grappler Fall Classic, this is our 5th year of hosting the GFC and I am excited to say that I am pretty sure this will be without a doubt the best one yet. The idea for GFC was originally created after I spent the better part of a year in 2009-2010 traveling across the country to cover and coach our best high school wrestlers. I made what seemed like a never-ending series of long trips to Greensboro, NC, Cedar Falls, IA, Fargo, ND, Daytona Beach, FL, Oklahoma City, OK, and so on and so forth to chase our best kids as they chased the best competition.
Then, as I was riding in the back of a crammed van on the way back from Fargo it dawned on me. The best wrestlers in the country come from the midwest - Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania are the most wrestling-rich states in America, so why in the world do we all drive across the country to wrestle each other? If the best kids in the country will travel to GREENSBORO, why wouldn't they want to come to Michigan? We certainly have better wrestling in Michigan than in North Carolina (by a lot), so lets bring the best kids to Michigan.
The result of this brainstorming session....the Grappler Fall Classic.
The GFC has grown year in and year out, not just in terms of total numbers, but also in terms of the competition level. We get more big-name out-of-state kids each year, in turn allowing for increasingly more great opportunities for our Michigan studs to compete with elite level competition from across the country.
Yet, it still perplexes me how each year a good number of our top Michigan kids pass on competing at the Grappler Fall Classic. I totally understand some people have football or other fall sports, and there are some guys recovering from injuries, and a rare few that have an official college visit on that weekend. However, we have built a meat-grinder national pre-season tournament that is within a couple hours driving distance for the vast majority of the wrestlers in Michigan, and some kids elect not to go?
Excuses I have heard include "Well I am getting ready for Super 32." Ok, that is great that you are wrestling at Super 32, but that event is 2 weeks after the GFC, do you think driving an hour and spending one day wrestling in 4-5 matches two weeks prior is going to hurt you at Super 32? If so, then tell your coach you want to sit out of Team States if you guys make it this year, because that is one week before states, and much more grueling of a weekend that the GFC in terms of stress, the length of the trip, and making weight twice (potentially). Your not going to do that, so quit using Super 32 as an excuse for not going to the GFC.
Moreover, in regards to Super 32, you are going to waste two days of your life driving, a couple nights in a hotel, and if you get a bad draw you could go 2-2 and the world will never even know you existed at Super 32, so do not pass up on an opportunity to wrestle some studs right here in your home state in the most convenient and affordable National tournament you will ever find.
Another reason I hear for kids not competing, and I never hear this directly, but more of a rumored reason for someone sitting out, is that they are protecting their recruiting stock. I hope this is just a rumor, but in case anyone actually believes in this, let me be the one to tell you that college coaches would rather see you COMPETE and lose than take a 6 month hiatus. Not to mention, that you should focused on getting better and preparing your self to be a Division 1 wrestler as opposed to tricking college coaches into thinking you are better than you are by being selective in the events you compete in. Competition makes you better, so get signed up for the GFC and show em what you got!
WHAT RECENTLY GRADUATED MICHIGAN SENIORS DO YOU THINK WILL WRESTLE RIGHT AWAY IN COLLEGE? OR WILL THEY ALL REDSHIRT?
Well first off what I think means nothing and redshirting or not is a completely apples to oranges comparison. There are a lot of factors that go into each program's decision as to what to do with their freshmen. For the most part, probably over 95% of the time, the answer is going to be redshirt them. Give them a year to adapt to all aspects of college life - academics, freedom, training, and the competition level.
There will be certain scenarios where a college coaching staff will have a true freshmen who meets a certain set of criteria - 1) he is ready to compete right away 2) a year of redshirting will only bore him and will not make him any better, and most importantly 3) we need him right away to fill a void.
The third criteria is probably the most influential almost every time in the decision making process of whether or not a freshman will redshirt or wrestle right away. In today's day in age, as opposed to 10 years ago, high school seniors are typically 18 or 19 years old when they arrive in college and much of the time they have some exposure to wrestling college guys at the FILA Junior level or at training camps, so incoming freshman seem to be more "ready" to compete right away, more often.
However, it still comes down to program needs, and due to that I think the most likely of our graduated seniors from 2014 to wrestle right away will be Cole Weaver. Weaver, a freshman at Indiana, was most likely the best 141lb option for the Hoosiers before he stepped foot on campus, so I am fairly confident that after a couple months of wrestling in a college room he will be the clearly best bet for them at 141lbs, and as a program that has been down for a few years they don't have time to wait, so I could see them putting Cole out their right away.
Guys like Zac Hall, Drew Garcia, and Nick Bennett are quite possibly or even obviously ready to compete right away, however, given their team situations I do not see a high possibility of them or any of our other top graduated guys from 2014 wrestling right away in the lineup. We will get to see them show their stuff on the open circuit though.
I HEARD THE MHSAA WAS ADOPTING ON-SITE WEIGH-INS ACROSS THE STATE, IS THIS TRUE? AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
I hope this is true, however, I have not heard anything of it and pretty much every conversation I have heard has led me to believe that the MHSAA is nowhere near moving in this direction.
As a coach, I do trust my fellow coaches and I truly believe that the overwhelming majority is honest with their weigh-ins, so my desire to move to an on-site weigh-in system has nothing to do with "cheating on weigh-ins" like many would suspect.
More so, I want to take any doubt or questions away from wrestlers, fans, parents, etc. about "how big someone is" or "if he made weight". There is nothing that bothers me more than hearing grumblings from people, questioning whether someone made weight or complaining about how "big" they look. Especially when I know those same questions probably get directed at my athletes and program as well, and I know very well that my guys made weight. I think it creates too much room for discussion, and could simply things a ton if we just all weighed in together and took the whole discussion out of the picture.
Also, as a former Michigan high school wrestler who made the transition to college wrestling, I can tell you that one of the biggest challenges for me and many other MI wrestlers going to college is weight management and getting used to the concept of on-site weigh ins one hour before competing. In high school I (and many other Michiganders) got used to being able to not eat much and suck down to make weight the night before, than have a whole day to recover and feel great when I wrestled. In college, however, that is not the case. In college you HAVE to be able to diet properly and maintain your weight close to scratch weight so that you feel good one hour after making weight. I think that our current home weigh-in systems actually hurts our college bound wrestlers and ironically creates a less healthy system that promotes MORE weight cutting.
I know my opposition will say a lot things, such as bus issues and getting officials there early, and a bunch of other stuff. But my response is simple - almost every top-tier wrestling state in the country uses an on-site weigh-in system, so it is obviously possible to get around the issues, why not us?
Many wrestlers across the state are probably in the midst of shifting gears and trying to shave off any loose weight to get lean and starting getting your weight down for the season.
My advice is to start now and do it right, changing your body composition by eating right, maintaining your muscle mass and strength, and burning fat by cutting back on your empty calories.
Empty calories are those that serve you no purpose, and the most common example is simple sugars that give you a quick burst of energy and then fade away quickly. You want to fuel your body with complex carbs like breads, pastas, potatoes, etc. - NOT with sugars. The most common source of simple sugars and empty calories is from high calorie drinks such as Soda, Gatorade, and other juices. While gatorade has some good electrolyte replacement qualities, it is really high in sugar and if you drink a lot of it you will pack on a lot of extra calories.
Losing weight requires burning more calories that you take in, and drinking a ton of calories each day is a sure fire way to hold yourself back from losing weight.
WHAT TO DRINK:
1) Drink Lots of Water - no calories, drink lots of water, you will sweat it out
2) Replace sodas/energy drinks with SPARK - AdvoCare Spark is the healthiest energy drink out there. It does have caffeine, but if your drinking soda, monster, etc your drinking caffeine already. But what it also has is 21 vitamins and minerals, as well as amino acids that will help your body recover from your workouts. It is an athlete's soda or energy drink, Spark serves as a great pre-workout, gives 4-5 hours of clean energy, and has under 50 calories per serving.
3) Replace sports drinks & juices with REHYDRATE - AdvoCare Rehdyrate is a great replacement for Gatorades, Powerades, Fruit Juices, etc. Rehydrate has the best ratio of electrolytes potassium and sodium to give optimal rehdyration and is also filled with amino acids like sustamine to help muscles recover while also rehydrating the body. The best thing about Rehydrate is that it only has 40 calories per serving. If you buy a canister, it is about $1 per serving, not bad! Mango Pineapple is my favorite flavor, give it a try.
OTHER PRODUCTS TO CONSIDER:
The single most powerful product for wrestlers to take as you start on your journey to getting down to your optimal weight is a branch chain amino acid called "CATALYST". Catalyst protects your muscles in times of calorie reduction so your body targets fat and helps you maintain your muscle mass and strength while cutting weight. A bottle of Catalyst costs about $30 and comes with 90 capsules. You should take 2-3 capsules 2 or 3x per day, either in-between meals or right before you workout. It is probably the single most valuable supplement you can purchase for a wrestler. This product was originally designed in the 90s for the Olympic Wrestling Team to keep them strong while getting down to weight.
If your looking for weight management, Metabolic Nutrition System (MNS) is the most powerful bundle of Advocare's best nutrition supplements and they are all packaged together in a daily regimen of supplements to take throughout the day. The MNS packets are taken before and after meals throughout the day and among the areas the supplements address are appetite control, energy, metabolic rate, and total nutrition. A box of MNS comes in a 14 day supply and this product is the driving force behind the very popular "24 Day Challenge" that Advocare has become so popular from.
Any questions on nutrition, please contact me at anytime at associatedwrestlingpress@gmail.com. All AdvoCare products can be purchased through www.GRAPPLERNUTRITION.com
We have a ton of stuff to look for. First off, keep an eye out as we will keep posting all the big name studs who register for the GFC. Also, a full GFC preview will be out soon.
Michigan Grappler's pre-season rankings will be coming out as well as team and individual previews over the next couple months.
The Associated Wrestling Press College Preseason Rankings are out, check out who the best guys in the NCAA are at www.associatedwrestlingpress.com.
The Associated Wrestling Press will also be releasing College Team Previews for the Top 50 teams in the country, so keep an eye out for those as well.
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