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Wrestling
is not a sport for the weak of heart. The
sport of high school wrestling requires a level of training and
dedication unparalleled to any other scholastic sport. The
sport of wrestling is also guaranteed to deliver the greatest
highs and lows that one can experience. How
is a wrestler to manage the roller-coaster ride to get to the top
of his game? Develop and
maintain the mental flat line.
Why the term "flat
line?" Well, it's pretty graphic and easy to
remember. Sure, there are other terms. But when you
see that ole EKG go flat line, well, a line just doesn't get any
straighter than that. Over the course of a tournament, or
over the course of a season, or even over the course of your
career, developing and maintaining a mental flat line will be a
key to your success.
Whatever goal it is that you
want to achieve, one of the first things you should do is to look
at how others have achieved that goal. This applies to both
wrestling and in life. In managing the inherent ups and
downs in individual performance within the sport of wrestling, one
needs to emulate others that have endured and managed
the roller-coaster of winning and losing.
Let's start by taking a look at
some great wrestlers who did battle with winning and losing.
And how one wrestler who wasn't at the top of his game in high
school went on to become one of the most prestigious names in the
sport.
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"Winning After Losing"
CAEL SANDERSON
Iowa State
4x High School Champion
4X NCAA Division I National Champion
NCAA Win/Loss Record: 159-0
2004 Olympic Gold Medallist |
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Pick an undefeated 4x NCAA
Division 1 national champion to write about winning after losing?
You bet.
Some consider Cael Sanderson to
be the best wrestler in the history of the sport.
He's not.
Not yet anyway.
What you can say is that Cael
Sanderson is arguably the best college wrestler in U.S. history.
Like most sports, the sport of
wrestling is a progression. A ladder so to speak.
There is elementary wrestling, junior high wrestling, high school
wrestling, college wrestling, and international/Olympic wrestling.
Each one is separated by one fact. The honors and
achievements you garner along the way "do not" carry
over to the next level. A junior high district champion
finds that out when entering varsity. A high school state
champion finds that out when entering college. An NCAA
champion finds that out when they enter the international stage.
Cael Sanderson found that out.
Especially when he lost. Losing was something that happened
to Cael during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and also in
international competition. Not once, but several times.
Losing was something that didn't previously happen to Sanderson
for a very long time.
Sanderson said it best, and in
the most simple and purest form possible, "The hardest part
about going undefeated is..... winning all my matches."
"I Don' Know Anything
About Him"
Cuban world champion Yoel Romero defeated Sanderson twice.
The first was the most memorable because after Romera won he was
approached by American reporters who asked him what it felt like
to beat Sanderson. Romero replied something to the tune of
"I don't know anything about him." So much for
isolationism from communist Cuba.
Sanderson also lost twice to
Russians including Sazhid Sazhidov by the score of 4-3. In
fact, all of Sanderson's losses were close. But as every
wrestler knows, whether by 1 or by 10, a loss is a loss.
An Olympics Almost Without
Cael
Keep in mind that Cael Sanderson came a hair away from not even
making the U.S. Olympic team. Sanderson initially lost to
former Iowa wrestler Lee Fullhart. Sanderson then had to
come back and take three very close decisions to win his spot on
the Olympic team back from Fullhart.
Of all the members on the U.S.
team, Cael had to do more than anyone to earn his spot.
Quite a bit of work for one who many considered a shoe-in.
Cael The Wrestler -
"The Total Package"
While Cael is the most winning wrestler in the history of NCAA
Division I wrestling, he may not be the "most naturally
skilled" wrestler to possess such a long and impressive
resume. Rather, Sanderson is the "total package,"
combining skill, quickness, drive, intensity, and mastery over the
mental component of athletic competition.
Arguably it can be said Cael
was never as physical as Dan Gable, the man that held the previous
title of most winning NCAA wrestler. But Sanderson is also a
cerebral wrestler. He's a thinker and uses his brain.
Cael's quickness also makes him one of the quickest wrestlers to
ever compete. Iowa State coach Bobby Douglas says Sanderson
is "the fastest big man in U.S. wrestling history."
Overall, Douglas hits the nail
on the head by saying "You can say all you want about talent,
but Cael has the heart of a champion." Talent is great
but its not going to guarantee that you get to the podium's top
step. It's about heart. It's about work ethic.
It's about desire.
The Run For Olympic Gold
For Sanderson to make a run for the podium's top step at the
Olympics, he had to overcome losing. This was something new
for Sanderson.
Think about this, the average
high school state champion has a few losses. How does one
react when its been years since their last loss? How does
one react when they are losing matches en-route to the most
important thing they have ever attempted to achieve - an Olympic
Gold medal in wrestling?
Sanderson used one main
motivator - the very thought of losing.
Contrary to what most hear in
just about any sport, Sanderson wasn't using winning as a
motivator, but losing. Said Cael, "I thought about
losing. How much I hate it. I didn't plan on going
undefeated my whole life, but I hated that feeling."
Sanderson had to forget the great highs in his life. He had
to forget the lows in his newfound losses that he had experienced.
Sanderson needed to obtain the
"mental flat line." It is the only thing that gets
a wrestler through the roller-coaster ride one is certain to
experience. Never too high, never too low. The same
approach to every match. The same determination applied
after a loss as applied after a win. I've always said there
are only 2 things that can happen after a big loss. You
either stick your head up your butt, or you learn from your loss
and rise to the occasion in your next big match.
Sanderson learned and rose to
the occasion. Cael had the mental flat line. Sanderson
took his hatred of losing and channeled into dedicating himself to
improving his game. Douglas says "Sanderson is becoming
ever wiser." Notice the choice of words. Not
tougher. Not stronger. But ever wiser. It's
cerebral. When all things are equal between two wrestlers
(strength, technique, quickness, etc.) the winning difference is
mental.
Cael was on fire and relentless
at the 2004 Olympics. But it was not an easy ride to the
top. He was forced to rally from behind in two of his final
three matches. After winning two matches in his pool
competition, Sanderson then defeated Iran's Majid Khodaei 6-5.
Cael then went on to defeat his international thorn-in-the-side,
Cuba's Yoel Romero, by the score of 3-2 in the semifinals.
In the finals for Olympic Gold,
Cael defeated South Korea's Moon Eui-jae by the score of 3-1.
In capturing the gold, Cael not only had to come from behind in a
couple matches, he won his last three matches by a combined total
of 4 points. Sanderson used the mental flat line.
Sanderson grew from his past
losses, an experience that was as foreign as a space trip to a far
away galaxy.
Cael took his hard-knock lesson
of losing, learned from it and became "ever-wiser" to
the new level of international competition.
Sanderson, the most winning
wrestler in NCAA Division I wrestling, walked away with Olympic
Gold around his neck.
Cael achieved the ultimate
accomplishment in international wrestling competition.
Pick an undefeated 4x NCAA
Division 1 national champion to write about winning after losing?
You bet.
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"Turn Today's
Losses Into Tomorrow's Wins"
BRUCE BAUMGARTNER
Indiana State
NCAA DI Runner-Up: Sophomore & Junior
NCAA Division I National Champion In Senior Year
Senior Year NCAA DI Season Record: 44-0
Graduated College With 3.77 G.P.A
Top 5 Award For Academic & Athletic Success
1996 U.S. Olympic Flag Bearer
2x Olympic Gold Medallist
4x Olympic Medallist
1 of 4 Athletes In U.S. To Medal In 4 Olympics |
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Question: How many high
school state championship titles did Bruce Baumgartner win?
Answer: 0
Think about that for a minute.
Here is Baumgartner, a two-time Olympic Gold medallist and U.S.
Olympic Flag-Bearer, four-time Olympic medallist, one of only four
total athletes in U.S. history to medal at four Olympics, a NCAA
Division I National Champion, a three-time NCAA DI medallist, and
guess what? Bruce never won a high school state championship
while wrestling for New Jersey's Manchester Regional High School.
Picture Baumgartner in high
school never reaching the top step of the podium at his state
championship tournament. Picture him losing. Picture
him maybe being thought of as not having "the natural
skills" to become a state champion. Picture him as
someone that others may have thought of as a kid that maybe should
stick to concentrating on his proven academic skills. He was
a good wrestler and he was smart, but maybe he didn't have what it
takes to get to the top step. Perhaps many people thought
those things, perhaps even his coaches, when Bruce was in high
school.
But Baumgartner didn't think
that way.
It doesn't matter what other
people think or don't think.
It's your journey. No one
else's.
Staple it to your brain.
"It's your journey."
Coaches instruct and teach you
how to improve technically, physically, and mentally.
Your parents and your family
will help support you.
But when you step on "the
mat of manhood," you walk into the circle of battle by
yourself. No one is able to turn on and control the
all-important internal drive - but you.
It's your journey. It
will be a journey that includes winning and losing.
And when you do lose, do not
let the loss deter you in your journey's quest of excellence.
Losing did not deter
Baumgartner in his journey's quest of excellence.
Losing "drove"
Baumgartner.
Bruce had the mental flat line,
a frame of mind that did not allow himself to sink mentally during
the lows of his wrestling career. Sure, he wanted to become
a high school state champion, but that didn't happen. It
also didn't stop him. Baumgartner took the lows of losing
and made it the driving force to thrust him to improve.
Looking back at Baumgartner's
history, he just never stopped improving. And not only from
his high school losses. After two tough losses that resulted
in two consecutive NCAA DI runner-up finishes during his sophomore
and junior seasons, Baumgartner was undeterred and won the
national crown with an undefeated 44-0 record in his senior year.
He was also undeterred in his individual relentless pursuit of
excellence after college. That same "individual
determination" carried over to his international/Olympic
competitions that resulted in 2 Olympic Gold medals.
And what about being the U.S.
Flag Bearer at the Olympics in 1996? That honor is bestowed
upon a U.S. athlete by a vote taken from of all other U.S.
Olympians. His fellow Olympians chose him.
Baumgartner, a wrestler that
never won a high school state championship, became a two-time
Olympic Gold medallist, four-time Olympic medallist, one of only
four total athletes in the history of the United States to medal
in four Olympics, a NCAA Division I National Champion, a
three-time NCAA Division I place winner, and was chosen to carry
the U.S. flag at the Olympics.
Baumgartner is a
"real-life lesson" to learn from.
Bruce Baumgartner believes in 4
keys to success.
1. Setting goals.
2. Surround yourself with good people.
3. Take care of your mind and body.
4. Work hard and be prepared.
Those are just not keys to
success in the sport of wrestling.
They are life skills.
Keys to success in life.
The Toughest Match In Any
Wrestling Tournament, Mental Flat Line In Action
It's not the championship final.
The absolute toughest match in
any tournament is the first consolation match after losing the
championship semifinal. Wrestlers losing in the championship
semifinal by overtime, overtime ride-out, or by just 1-point or a
last minute takedown. So close to the championship final,
but yet now so far way. One is mentally devastated.
The goal of being "the champion" is now shattered.
The fuel tank that holds the gas for the inner drive that
witnessed success in all earlier rounds in the championship
bracket is now almost on empty. You have fallen to the
consolation bracket. The absolute best you can now achieve
is third place. But you didn't want third, you wanted to be
"the champion."
The mental flat line is now in
dire need.
You want to be bummed
out? Be bummed out for a few minutes. Then tap into
this emotion.
In order to strive to be a
champion, you must strive to be a champion in all that you
do. You now lost and you are faced with a challenge, the
toughest challenge a wrestler can face. You can either
wallow in your self-pity, or you can use your "champion
mindset" to keep a "mental flat line" to now
compete in the consolation bracket with the "same
determination and resolve" that you competed with in the
championship bracket.
Build-off the loss. Make
it the driving force to propel you in your next match.
Define yourself by how you
approach difficulties and challenges and not by your victories.
For every competitive wrestler
there is always a next match. There is always a tomorrow.
Your task at hand, however, is to now complete today's
competition, to wrestle every match no matter what bracket you are
in, with the same mental and physical prowess.
You must now focus on winning
after losing.
It's Easy To Talk About
Winning After Losing
You bet. Exactly. Talking and reading about how to
improve are simply the easiest things in life. If fact, they
are so easy that they "mean nothing" unless followed-up
by drive, desire, a second-to-none work ethic, and a level of
personal dedication in being a champion in all things that you
pursue.
It's easy to talk the talk, but
a whole different ballgame to walk the walk.
It's for you to choose.
Keep talking and reading. Or start walking your walk.
The wrestler you are today
doesn't have to be the wrestler you " can be" tomorrow.
Maybe you're not the most
naturally gifted wrestler.
So what. You then have
great company with some of the best wrestlers of all time.
Develop and maintain the
"mental flat line" and do not allow yourself to get too
high or too low in your pursuit of excellence. When you
incur a loss, build off of it. Learn from it. Channel
the loss by making it the internal drive that compels you to work
harder to improve both the technical and mental components of your
wrestling.
For today, wrestle at your
highest level with the greatest intensity.
Prepare and train, both
physically and mentally, for your tomorrows.
Adopt the champion mindset in
all that you do.
Because "it's never just
about wrestling." It is "always" about
developing life skills. Those traits, those lessons learned
and gleaned from the sport of wrestling, that can guide you
through life.
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