August 24-26 Back-to-School & the USOTC in Colorado Springs

School...Watched the new recruits at the U of Iowa assemble in, like I have for the past 34 years. I've always liked the looks of those new guys, but better yet, I always enjoyed how they looked down the road in later years, especially with new credentials and a winning attitude. But I didn’t stay long for I needed to see, in person, the new rules and how our teams were adapting to them at the World level. So, I headed to Colorado Springs to he the USOTC.

I scheduled it so I could see several practice matches in one day. Coach Jackson and Duroe were running the show and had given me the current status of the team and their practices. On the way, I stayed in Kearney, Nebraska. I wanted to give my business to a town that has a college wrestling program. I stayed at the AmericInn because of their health and recovery facilities – sauna, whirlpool, and swimming pool. I also toted a Schwinn Airdyne out in my daughter Mackie’s truck to give to new head coach Doug Moses. He purchased it because I had the opportunity to buy one at a great price. Doug needed one at his new location in Las Vegas, New Mexico where he is the new coach of a brand-new program (see New Mexico Blog) at New Mexico Highlands University. Doug doesn’t have any local recovery facilities, yet now he has located some outside hot springs that are close-by and do the job well. He has visited them daily. Great for stress-release, feeling good, relaxation and for analyzing and planning ahead. We, in this regard, are out of the same mold.

Back at the OTC – I observed the practices and had a chance to express a few thoughts with the team after the second workout and actually the final one for their training phase. A pretty talented group, but they will probably run into some other talent in the upcoming Worlds in Budapest. Lots of little things along the way will be the determining factors on Gold Medals.

Speaking of Golds – congratulations to Coach Burnett and the three Gold Medalists at the recent University Worlds in Turkey. Doubled…or more than doubled…our total overall Golds in one event – impressive!

I drove back to Iowa City with Coach Duroe and again stopped in Kearney. Glad to spend money there. Go Kearney State! Thanks for the opportunity to wrestle, for there are several thousand wrestlers who graduated from Nebraska high schools last year.