Preseason Comes To An End With 5 Mile Run

HLG wrestling finished preseason today with a five mile run! Boy did the wrestlers finish well! Collectively we saw every wrestler improve their times and some experienced dramatic improvement in their finish times. The fifth T of the Trojan T’s (something I will say more about in the future) is Transformation and as a whole we have seen much of that happen over the course of the last 4 weeks take place in the conditioning of our wrestlers. Dethroning Sophomore Kasey Cates reign in 1st place and finishing in 1st place today was Freshman Nathan Downs with a time of 32:28. Finishing in 2nd place with a time of 33:05 was Kasey Cates. Finishing in 3rd was Daniel Yuraitis with 34:10. Finishing in 4th place was Ryan Stark with 34:43, and in 5th place Josh Smith with a finish time of 35:38. The wrestler with preseason most improved time goes to Kyle Blankenship who ran a 44:36 in his first 5 mile run and finished today with a 38:57 which equals a 5:21 improvement. Jeff Kirwan had the second best improved time with a 51:14 first 5 mile down to a 46:07 run today which equals a 5:07 improvement. Great Job Trojan Wrestlers!!!

Last Week of Preseason

This week has been a busy week wrapping up pre-season conditioning with weight certification. Each year every wrestler has to weigh in hydrated to help determine what their lowest allowable weight is for the season. The first part of the certification process is the hydration test. If wrestlers don’t pass the hydration test, they don’t pass at all. Not every wrestler chooses to wrestle at his lowest allowable weight, but instead he may choose his optimal performance weight instead. Contrary to popular opinion the lowest allowable weight doesn’t always end up being the weight class where wrestlers choose to wrestle. The NWCA does a great job providing tools for wrestlers in healthy ways to lose fat (and saunas are not part of the NWCA’s weight loss strategy!) Wednesday started our process of certifying our wrestlers for this season. Every wrestler must be certified before they can start practicing with the team in season. Therefore, these last days of preseason are very important for the team being able to start the season together. Unfortunately, we had several wrestlers who did not pass the hydration test on the first try. However, today most of the wrestlers passed with only a few who missed hydration by a few thousandths of a point. I’m fairly confident that tomorrow we should see the rest of our wrestlers pass the hydration test and be able to complete their certification for this season.
On another note we had our first recruit visit HLG for this recruiting season, and we are looking forward to having many others. I will not list names of wrestlers we are recruiting or those who make campus visits, but we are very glad to have them visit our campus. If you know of any wrestlers who would be a good fit for HLG wrestling, feel free to contact me at Shawes@hlg.edu . I would be happy to pursue any wrestler you think would be a good fit for our program.

HLG Wrestling's First Car Wash

After Saturday morning’s conditioning practice HLG wresting ran its first Car Wash! We were blessed with a beautiful and sunny afternoon. HLG wrestlers were faced with some challenges in getting vehicles into our carwash as there were at least 3 other carwashes in Hannibal at the same time as ours. One car wash was actually holding signs up at the same intersection as us. I guess we had nicer signs and our wrestlers had a better power of persuasion than the other group, because we stayed busy pretty much the entire time of the car wash. Also it probably didn’t hurt that we were at a Farm and Home which was conveniently located right across the street from a real car wash. Along with the normal cars and trucks that you would expect at a car wash we also had a motorcycle and a tractor with a wagon attached to it. The day couldn’t have been as much fun with-out the help of Mrs. Stanger!;-) She wasn’t afraid to spray the boys occasionally with the hose or throw a soapy sponge at them either. Mrs. Stanger brought cold water and Gatorade for the wrestlers and as well she helped make sure the cars were actually getting clean. Mrs. Gauch dropped off some awesome hot-dogs and chips to make sure the wrestlers weren’t going hungry. As a result of the car wash we were able to raise $372 dollars in donations. The money raised at the car wash will help towards the purchase of a Schwinn aerodyne stationary bike that we will use at the Secker Field-house.

Tommy Pickens

Future HLG Wrestlers!

Second Year NAIA Wrestling Program will Start Season with Added Protection from Bacteria & Fungi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 18, 2009
Contact: Mike Brinich, Director of Communications, CSG
Office: 248-997-3270, Mobile: 586-703-6966
Second Year NAIA Wrestling Program will Start Season with Added Protection from Bacteria & Fungi
…Hannibal-LaGrange College treats mats environmentally friendly bacteria-fighting technology…

Rochester Hills, MI….Missouri’s Hannibal-LaGrange College Wrestling Program will enter the 2009-10 season as one of only two NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) athletic programs with added protection from the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi. Hannibal-LaGrange Wrestling and CSG, the sports world’s leading-provider of antimicrobial products and services, today announced the team’s wrestling mats and wall mats have been treated with CSG’s long-lasting SurfaceAide® XL antimicrobial treatment. The unique bacteria-fighting product creates an environmentally-friendly and non-toxic antimicrobial coating that works non-stop for the entire season to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, fungi, and mold.

Scott Hawes, Hannibal-LaGrange Head Coach, discovered CSG’s antimicrobial products while attending the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) convention this summer and decided using the technology to minimize spread bacteria and fungi could play an important role in his team’s success.

“Obviously we can’t control what bacteria and fungi our team comes into contact outside of our facility,” said Hawes. “However, it important that our wrestlers are confident that we are taking extra steps to keep them healthy.”

Hannibal-LaGrange joins Nebraska’s York College as the only other NAIA wrestling program to use SurfaceAide XL. Applied by spray, just one treatment of SurfaceAide XL will inhibit the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungi on surfaces for three months. It is the world’s most environmentally-friendly antimicrobial product, as it creates an antimicrobial coating on surfaces that is non-toxic, non-sensitizing to human skin and hypoallergenic. SurfaceAide XL is vastly superior to any other technology for several key reasons. The water-based antimicrobial fights a wide array of microbial growth 24/7, but more importantly SurfaceAide XL will not create adaptive organisms or “super bugs” like MRSA.

The unique antimicrobial technology powering SurfaceAide® XL has also been applied to over 35 million square feet of surfaces in schools, professional sports franchises, universities, hospitals, and United States Military installations. Prominent users include the New York Yankees, U.S. Olympic Basketball, Washington Redskins, Miami Heat, and the University of Missouri.

About CSG
CSG is the worldwide leader in environmentally-beneficial surface treatments. Its PURETi™ and Surface Antimicrobial System™ (SAS) products and services are used to minimize the spread of disease and improve the environment by some of the world’s most prominent organizations. To date, CSG’s unique and innovative technologies have been applied to over 50 million square feet of surface area and millions of pounds of laundry. All of its unique treatments and services can be applied to virtually any surface or textile. For more information on CSG, visit www.csggrp.com or call 888.510.2847.

Streaming Video Planned for HLG Wrestling Home Meets

I found out today that my proposal to have our home duals broadcast live on the internet was approved! I'm very excited about this opportunity, but now I have my work cut out in lining up the technology and workers to help carry out the broadcast. However, this challenge is one that I'm happy to take on. We need to have our alumni and fans who live too far away have the opportunity to watch HLG wrestling. As a result of this proposal other sports on campus will also have the opportunity to have their home competitions broadcast live as well. Women's Volley ball will probably be the first athletic program to utilize this new technology. Web broadcasting will be a new and welcomed addition to HLG Athletics!;-)

Character Champions and Olympian visits the HLG Wrestling Room

Last spring while I was the Mastor of Ceremonies for the Mark Twain Region Fellowship of Christian Athletes Banquet I had the privilege of meeting a gentleman by the name of Jim Benz. Jim is the Co-Chairman of Character Champions. Jim Benz explained to me that Character Champions is program that has been designed to promote, teach, and recognize sportsmanship in local high school athletic programs in this region of IL and MO. Every year one school is chosen to receive the Character Champions award which includes a $500 donation to the recipient school in honor of their achievement. Jim asked me if I knew of any excellent motivational speakers who may be interested in participating in the Character Champions annual student athlete and coaches meeting. Right away two people came to mind. One being my college coach and Olympic champion Ben Peterson and the other person being my fellow Maranatha wrestling alum and friend who is a two time Olympian and world team member Jim Gruenwald. Gruenwald recently left the US Olympic Education Centers assistant coaching position to become the head wrestling coach at Wheaton College. After considering both individuals Benz decided to invite Jim Gruenwald to be one of the keynote speakers for this year’s Character Champions meeting which took place yesterday. Since Jim is a friend and I have an interest in the Character Champions program I decided to attend the meeting. Gruenwald provided an excellent motivational message on setting high expectations and doing what it takes to reach those expectations.
During yesterday’s meeting Quincy High School was selected by area business leaders and sports media for their leadership in demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship and character throughout last year’s sports seasons. Unfortunately, I don’t believe any Northeast MO schools participate in this program. I’m not sure for their reason why, but after seeing and hearing firsthand what Character Champions promotes and hearing the messages that were shared I would think that MO schools would take advantage of the convenience of having their athletes challenged by world class athletes and excellent area college coaches on the topic of character and good sportsmanship. Traveling from Hannibal it only took me less than 30 minutes to find myself sitting down in the Pepsi Arena on the campus of Quincy University. I don’t know of any other program within a 30 minute drive of Quincy that has the potential to impact high school athletes like Character Champions does. I would like to challenge Northeast MO schools to utilize a program like Character Champions in conjunction with whatever programs they may already have going on in their schools. I believe if more voices are speaking to our athletes in this area of sportsmanship and sports ethics that it can have a positive impact later on in the lives and culture that our student athletes are destined to be leaders in. After the Character Champions meeting I was able to enjoy a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings with Jim Gruenwald, Jim Benz, my assistant coach Ian Northcott and one of my HLG wrestlers Jeff Kirwan. We had a nice time talking about wrestling, sportsmanship and management. If anyone knows Jim, you would have to assume that there were a few funny stories shared as well. As Hannibal was only 5 miles out of the way of Gruenwald's trip home I invited Jim to stop by Hannibal-LaGrange College to take a look at the Secker Field-house which the is home of Hannibal-LaGrange Wrestling and Jim accepted the invitation. While Jim was on campus he was able to meet the HLG wrestling team as they were arriving for open mat practice. I’m sure several of them were wondering who this little man with a goatee was, and little did they know that they were about to meet a two time Olympian in the wrestling room of Hannibal-LaGrange College. I’m thankful Jim took the time to stop by HLG to visit. His character, testimony, and work ethic have been a tremendous asset to USA wrestling and he will be an outstanding addition to Wheaton College’s athletic department. I’m looking forward to coaching against Jim this next season as we will see Wheaton at a few tournaments, and I can’t wait to get them on the schedule for next year.

Injuries Report and 5 mile run improvement

Last Wednesday afternoon I was looking forward to attending the first evening service of “Three Days in September” which is an annual event here at HLG before I realized God had other plans for me that evening. To make a long story short I ended up spending the evening in the emergency room. Thankfully, it wasn’t me that needed to see the doctors this time! I had two wrestlers injured in one practice. One had to get x-rays of his ankle and the other received probably about 50-75 stitches to reattach part of his ear to his head. It sounds gruesome and when you see the picture you will say that it looks gruesome. Thankfully this wrestler was able to return to conditioning today and will get his stitches out sometime this week. One might assume that he should have been wearing headgear while he was wrestling, but his injury did not occur as a result of a hard go. His injury was a result of playing a cat and mouse type game towards the end of the open mat time. He caught a knee to the side of his head which included part of his ear. In all my years of coaching this was the worse cut that I have seen happen during the wrestling practice.
The highlight of last week was seeing all the wrestlers, with the exception of one, improve their Five Mile time. 3 of the top five improved their placing in their top five finishes. Finishing in 1st place Kasey Cates, up from 3rd place and finishing in 2nd place Daniel Yuraitis, up from 4th place and finishing in 3rd place Ryan Stark, up from 6th place and finishing 4th Shane LeGrand, and finishing at 5th place Jobi Hambrick. On Saturday, we wrapped up the week with 1 mile hard runs 3 times with line drills and weight check after practice. We set the goal of having everyone within 10 lbs of their wrestling weight on Saturday by the end of practice. We only had one wrestler who was .1 over his target weight. The new wrestling weigh in procedures instituted by the NCAA this year require that wrestlers weigh in wearing at least underwear. So Dad’s, the memory of the old tradition of stepping on the scale and being a .1 over and dropping your drawers to make weight has come to an end. I wonder if a new tradition will start with wrestlers taking scales to the store to find out which underwear brand makes the lightest underwear.

Labor Day Fun!

“I had a lot of fun today!” were the words that came to Tommy Pickens mind describing his experience at the first ever HLG Wrestling Labor Day Picnic. The Yuraitis family graciously opened up their home and property to us for the picnic. It was somewhat ironic that the first HLG Wrestling Picnic was held close to LaGrange, MO the town where Hannibal-LaGrange College was founded. The day included a smorgasbord of picnic foods like bratwurst, hamburgers, chips, potato salad, brownies, and watermelon to name a few. The activities of the afternoon were swimming in the lake, fishing, target shooting contest with .22 rifles, and Mr. Yuraitis taking us on a hike to a honey bee hive hidden in the hollow of a tree. After Tommy Pickens decided to put his hand near the hollow in the tree we decided it would be best for us to leave. I forgot to take my camera with me to capture the fun of the day, but I did manage to download a few pictures off of my phone of some fish that Josh Smith caught. Josh caught the biggest fish of the day. It was a nice sized catfish. We did not eat any of the fish. They were all thrown back into the lake to live another day. Don’t let Nick and Jobi fool you! I don't think they caught any fish. I think they are holding the small fish that Josh caught. Curt Trimmell won the dead eye shooting contest and was able to score 12 points in the contest. Because this first picnic was a lot of fun, I think it is safe to say that we will try to have another one next year. We may have to limit the amount of food we allow the wrestlers to put on their plate after we check their weight today during open mat time!;-)

First 5 Mile Run of the Season

I’m just returning from our first 5 mile run of the season. Man am I tired!!! Well at least I ran about 2 of the miles then I caught a ride from one of our check point people! ;-) As I reported in an earlier post, I’m going to list the top five finishers. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the run to go along with this post. 1st place finisher Kasey Cates 34:37, 2nd Place Nathan Downs 35:22, 3rd Place Daniel Yuraitis 36:19, 4th place Ryan Stark 36:42, and 5th place Jobi Hambrick 38:26. These times are not good times but this is the first time they have ran the 5 mile in this season. Kasey Cates best time last year was about 7 minutes faster, but then again Kasey is recovering from an injury as well. I’m looking forward to the improved times in weeks to come. I’ll keep you posted! After the hard run today we are taking the weekend off. Many wrestlers will be able to spend some time with friends and family back home. For those who are unable to head home for this Labor Day weekend we will be having a family style picnic at Daniel Yuraitis’ families home up in LaGrange, MO. We plan to do some fishing and swimming in their little lake. We will probably also do a little target shooting as well. Today is my daughters 3 month birthday and I have to post at least one picture of her on this special day!;-) Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!

Team Study Hall

Last night we embarked on another new mission with this new group of wrestlers. That mission was the first installment of team study hall. We will be meeting for the first month of classes from 7-8 pm for study hall. After the first month we will evaluate the progress of our student wrestlers and see if they have developed enough study habits to handle their studies on their own. The only student wrestlers that are exempt from study hall are sophomores and above who have a 3.0 from the year before. Notice in this blog report that I have used the title Student Wrestlers in reference to our wrestlers. We want to see our wrestlers graduate from this institution with a degree that will have helped prepare them for life. Wrestling is just one part (VERY IMPORTANT PART;-) of their overall education experience. We want to make sure they maintain this perspective when it comes to finishing the course of a college education. This afternoon will be the first of many 5 mile runs along the scenic back roads that lead to the Mississippi! ;-) I will post the top five finish times tomorrow!

Day One Conditioning Report

Yesterday afternoon the HLG Wrestling Team embarked on a scenic run up the stairs leading to the Hannibal Lighthouse. The view and the run were both breathtaking! Earlier in the summer my two sons (Austin is 11 and Chase is 9) and I ran the same steps just to see how tough it was. We ran about half of what the team ran in totality and what we ran was definitely a good work out. The team received even a better work out as they did twice as much. I would say that everyone was working hard. However, we are out of shape. We could have done more, but it was apparent that some were starting to fatigue prematurely and we don’t want muscle injuries on the first day of conditioning. Because this was only the first day, I expect that we will see much improvement over the next couple of weeks as these wrestlers have a mind to work. After running the lower portion of stairs, running from the very bottom to the very top, running sprints at the top the wrestlers ran about 20 partner sprints, ran back down to the bottom, and then back up to the first level, the wrestlers did several sets of push-ups and mountain climbers. The one thing I noticed that we need to work on with our push-ups and mountain climbers is keeping our heads up/short necks. Coach Peterson use to hound us for letting our heads down when we did the same type of work outs activity. After a while and as a coach I understand a little better why he did this. If we kept our heads up all the time in practice, it wasn’t hard to do in a match. Sure there may be times that you need to duck/tuck your head in a match, but it better recoil back to the short neck very soon or else your opponent will be dominating your head. Coach Northcott closed us with prayer then we loaded up and headed back to campus.

Follow-up story of the NWCA Coaches Leadership Academy which Coach Hawes attended

Leadership in Wrestling Shines Bright at NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy
9/1/2009 5:17:03 PM


The inaugural NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy kicked off the 2009 Convention with tremendous momentum. Twenty nine young, aspiring college coaches and twenty four mentors (seasoned veteran coaches, administrators, and business leaders) gathered for a one-day workshop, which was led by internationally renowned coaching development expert, Dr. Dan Gould of Michigan State University.The purpose of the focus group was to utilize "peer group discussion" among college coaches, athletic administrators, and CEOs to develop "best practices" for protecting and strengthening intercollegiate wrestling programs through this challenging economy. Specifically, the goal of the Leadership Academy is to help coaches strengthen their CEO skills and better align their programs with educational values (i.e. improve eligibility and graduation rates, etc.).The NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy features three key components. • Online educational modules that help coaches understand general CEO principles required to protect their teams. • An "in person" workshop where coaches and mentors can collaborate to customize the general principles (learned in the online modules) to meet the unique needs on each campus. • Assigned mentor program so the coaches can receive ongoing help to overcome unique challenges on their respective campuses."The NWCA, mentors, and the college coaches who attended cannot begin to express their gratitude to the Academy benefactors: John Harmon, Irv Naylor, and Greg Hatcher," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "These three donors collectively provided enough grant money to pay all travel, lodging, and convention registration expenses for the coaches to participate in the Academy, many of which would not otherwise been able to attend. "Many thanks also needs to be given to Dave Bunning and Mark Mestemacher who collectively have underwritten all of the development costs associated with the Leadership Academy course curriculum. Both of them played pivotal roles in underwriting the entire development of the College Coaches Leadership Academy." Lt. General Martin Steele, retired United State Marine Corps, was also on hand as the keynote speaker for the Academy. His address to the attendees was, "Making Transitions: A Key to Effective Leadership." His message was extremely motivating to all in attendance."This was a tremendous opportunity for those who have given so much to the sport, but it was also more importantly a time to reach out to those who will shape the future. This will eventually help their athletes, colleges, and communities to shape the future leaders of this sport," said Lt. Gen. Steele.He encouraged the coaches in the room to seize off of each other’s strengths rather than attack each other’s weaknesses. Also to be better tomorrow than they are today.One of the primary purposes of this Academy was to group coaches according to "likeness of institution," then to assign mentors to each group, and through the use of professional facilitators, stimulate discussion aimed at establishing "best practices" for overcoming some of the greatest challenges on each respective campus.
All twenty nine coaches will complete "part two" of the Academy next summer and then their graduation will be celebrated at the 2010 NWCA convention.Coaches and mentors from all collegiate divisions (Division I, II, III, NAIA) were represented at the Academy. One of the primary topics discussed at the workshop was the importance of building relationships with key decision-making people on campus, in the community, with athletes, parents, and alumni.Todd Hibbs, who recently retired as head coach at Olivet College and has now stepped into an administrative role, was brought into the Academy as a mentor and a presenter. His message was delivered on topics that focused on character, integrity, ethics, alumni and administration as opposed to the technical and tactical aspects of coaching. "What I admired the most was the cross learning that took place between the mentors and the coaches. This helped the sport so much more than I have seen before. You had rivals both young and old sharing their experiences with one another, focusing on the important topics that effect our sport daily, not talking double legs and single legs," said Hibbs. "I left that Academy proud of this sport, because we worked together; we shared our faults and our victories."There was talk of the Leadership Academy all through the convention that followed, all of which was extremely positive. "I am very proud that not only do I serve the role as NWCA President, but that I was also selected to be among the mentors for the inaugural NWCA Leadership Academy. To be part of this group is an honor as so much was shared between the experienced coaches and those who are just beginning their coaching careers. Each and every one of us was able to walk away with something," said NWCA President and University of Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner.Coaches who participated in the Academy came from different backgrounds and divisions, some who are just within their first few weeks as a head coach to those within their first five years.Second-year head coach Trent Goodale of South Carolina's Limestone College said, "The NWCA Leadership Academy has been the most beneficial coaching experience I have ever been involved in. I was able to learn from some of the greatest coaches in the country. It showed me that there are many different ways in which a team can be successful, and even the greatest programs and coaches have overcome much adversity. I am very appreciative of the mentors taking time out of their busy schedules to help educate some of the coaches, such as myself, that could be the future of our great sport."A recurring theme throughout the Leadership Academy and the convention was that no program was safe from being discontinued. The coach should be doing everything in his power to make sure that his program is well represented on campus and in the community. All intercollegiate wrestling programs are being evaluated against other teams at their respective schools. It is important for every one of our wrestling programs to outperform the other sports at their school in every evaluated area. Tom Layte, at MIT, and Shawn Charles at Arizona State attended the Academy and both represented very challenging situations. They must all figure out a way to completely endow their programs or face certain elimination in the future. In this deteriorating economy, there are many more coaches who will likely find themselves in similar situations. The key is to be proactive with your fundraising and make sure the money is flowing in from alumni and friends before there is a crisis on your campus. Once the announcement is made to eliminate a program, it is generally too late to save it.Charles, who took over the Sun Devils program this summer, is in a unique situation. A little over a year ago, the program was announced as being dropped effective immediately. In a very unique turn of events due to some influential people, the program was reinstated within two weeks, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done by Charles and his staff. "What stuck out to me through this Academy, was the ability I had to sit down with mentors and talk about how to raise money towards an endowment," said Charles. "ASU is in a unique situation thanks to Art Martori who is currently funding the program; however our overall goal is to get the program endowed. I was able to sit down with (Cornell coach) Rob Koll and some of the other mentors to discuss how to effectively fundraise for our program.""This experience has taught me that I need to constantly be cultivating relationships with our alumni, boosters, and community right away. I would recommend this Academy to all coaches."Tom Layte, the part-time Head Coach at MIT, is at another school that desperately needs fundraising help after being dropped this past spring. He at this point is hopefully that the funding is there and that the university will rule in their favor to reinstate the program."What I took back with me from the Leadership Academy, was information from the areas I did not focus on as much before being a part-time coach. As I have come to learn these areas are vital to my program as our school dropped the program in April due to budget cuts throughout the university. I need to focus my efforts to have a better relationship with my administration, engage my alumni, to grow support in the community and to fundraise at every possible turn. My goal after this Academy is to begin to model our program after more successful programs, and hopefully we will soon see our program reinstated for the 2009-10 season," said Layte.
The goal is to eventually have all college coaches and their assistants go through this course, in small groups each year. The NWCA is also discussing trying to expand this Academy to college seniors who are planning to become coaches after graduation.Former Iowa head coach Dan Gable was on hand throughout the Academy as one of the featured speakers but also to listen to what these coaches were saying, along with giving some of his personal advice."What was interesting to me as an observer," said Gable, "was that I really did not see one person in that room that wasn’t taking in every aspect of what was said in that 24-hour workshop. Even for those seasoned veteran coaches, who have been successful like Tom Borrelli, Jim Miller, and Jeff Swenson, when you see coaches like that sitting there taking notes and being entertained and energized about our profession, it gives me a sense of pride.""I looked around and wished that all 265 programs were represented; it would have been a huge momentum leap for this sport, together. If you were at any point questioning what you were doing as a coach this Academy was energizing. We still have a lot of work to be done, and the key is staying energized, which will happen with these coaches. That is where the impact is, in keeping the momentum from what took place with those coaches; that is the impact we are looking for," said Gable.The 24 hours these coaches and mentors spent together hopefully will leave a lasting impression. This was not a time to talk about wrestling and how to coach your athletes to make their skills stronger. This was a lesson in life that many situations will come the way of a college coach, no matter the size of the school you coach at and down the road seeing how to react and what can be learned. It was not about winning and losing, but a lesson in humility and sharing those learning experiences with others.
Participants included: Shawn Charles (Arizona State), Mark Branch (Wyoming), Teague Moore (Clarion), Beau Vest (Dana), Tim Homan (Sioux Falls), JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State), Risto Marttinen (Cal State-Fullerton), Ben Stehura (Cleveland State), Todd Roberts (Millersville), Jason Borrelli (Stanford), Heath Eslinger (Chattanooga), Dax Charles (CSU-Pueblo), Trent Goodale (Limestone), Ryan Smith (Newman), Ben Berogan (Mary), Jason York (Bridgewater State), John Garriques (Centenary), Tony Islas (Knox), Tom Layte (MIT), Casey Brewster (Sacred Heart), Joey Rivera (East Stroudsburg), Joe Pollard (College of New Jersey), Mike Kocsis (Muhlenberg), Clint Manny (Simpson College), Greg Ilaria (Merchant Marine Academy), Casey Stouffer (Mt. St Joseph's), Brandon Brissette (Olivet), Scott Hawes (Hannibal-LaGrange), and Thomas Prairie (Plymouth State).
Mentors and Presentors included: Lt. General Martin Steele (ret.), Derek van der Mewre, Dan Gould, Alan Utter, Joe McFarland, Brian Smith, Greg Strobel, Pat Pecora, Paul Kendle, Jim Beichner, Jim Fallis, Ron Beaschler, Jim Miller, Jeff Swenson, Dan Harris, Jim Makovsky, Todd Hibbs, Col. Billy Walker, Tom Borrelli, Rande Stottlemyer, Dave Icenhower, Darrell Randall, Rob Koll, Dave Kemmy and Tom Kessler.
To learn more about the NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy view our five minute promotions video. View Video. (Coach Hawes' nose and chin made this video. See if you can find it!;-)
Click to view the list of testimonial quotes from the 2009 NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy.

Day One Lifting

The highlight of my morning this morning, besides holding my newborn daughter this morning ;-), was seeing our HLG wrestlers working hard in the weight room. Yes, today is the first of many days that our wrestlers will spend together shedding sweat and improving their strength and physique in the weight room. We had two wrestlers on both ends of the weight class system ending the session with their head over a trash can doing you know what. After a quick ab work out I quoted Psalms 118:42, This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. I challenged them to rejoice in this good day and to live their lives for the fullest and to the Glory of God. I challenged them not to sleep in class or drift off in their thoughts, but to do their best during this day that God has given them to live. I told our wresters to live this day well because they will never get to relive this day. I then closed with prayer and Daniel Yuraites broke us out with “1…2...3…Hard Work!” I will take my camera this afternoon as we do our conditioning on the lighthouse steps. Hopefully this evening I’ll get some pictures posted hopefully not of anyone doing you know what.