Wrestle to win. Attitude wins when it matters the most.

It’s time to Go For It! Be extraordinary.

Why not u?!? Why not now!?!

“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” – Proverbs 24:10

Show your strength. Kick some rear end.

You have to attack and keep shooting if you expect to hit your target.

This is not the time to be conservative and hang out. Make it happen.
Time for war!

Check out this awesome song. A PSU alumni in Afghanistan, who works in counter terrorism, sent it Coach Cunningham. What they do every day is where the real pressure is. It’s because of our military that we even have the freedom and opportunity to even have a NCAA tournament. The courage, focus, sacrifice, and commitment that our military displays every day is very inspiring.

I have listened to the video several times today. It is in the video section of my site. It doesn’t get any better than this. The lyrics are at the link below. If this doesn’t get you fired up, check your pulse.

http://www.thewarriorsong.com/video.html

question: Cael, I want to wrestle in college but im not an outstanding wrestler. wrestling has been more of a hobby then a lifestyle to me but i want to make it a bigger part of my life. i actively lift weights and run so conditioning isnt a problem of mine, its my technique that i have a problem with. any advice that i should know to help me get into a college program?
———————————-
Erik,

Most colleges have tryouts but you are probably going to have to earn your spot on the roster. To earn a spot on the team during the tryout process (and for the rest of your time on the team,) work hard, be hungry to learn, and be committed. Most programs only have so many spots on their roster. Every wrestler the staff puts on the team costs thousands of dollars over the years, takes up space in the room and so on. So show the coaches that you really want it, and make that commitment.
Show that you love the sport.

Coaches are always looking for hard working, committed kids. Be a wrestler that is pulling the team forward. There are a lot of ways to do that too. It’s not all about who can win matches, teams need the great students, they need leaders, people who live the lifestyle morally, etc. Be an asset.

If you don’t want to make that commitment, then consider joining the university club team and/or wrestle in intramurals. If your school doesn’t have those programs then get some people together and get them started. The club programs around the country are growing. I think Penn State has a club team that practices a couple times a week. That’s more of a hobby type of situation but there are some good wrestlers on the club teams.

If you are going to try and join a college team I would email the coaches and even stop by and see them. I would guess most coaches don’t advertise that students can try out for the team. Coaches don’t have to have tryouts and I don’t think many do. What they do is allow the kids that ask and pursue that they can tryout. So if you want a shot, don’t wait around for it. Let the right people know what your intentions are. Find out what you can do, and then do everything in your power to make it happen.

Vallimont takes third at 165 as Penn State has six automatic qualifiers for NCAAs

ANN ARBOR, Mich.; March 7, 2010 – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team had a solid final day at the 2010 Big Ten Wrestling Championships and held onto fifth place for its best finish since 2007. Senior Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah) finished off a perfect run at 157 with a win in the title bout to claim the 2010 Big Ten Championship and become Penn State’s 20th Big Ten titlist.

Sanderson used three takedowns to dominate Purdue’s Colton Salazar, the top seed at 157. The title is Penn State’s first Big Ten Champion since Phil Davis claimed the crown in 2008. Sanderson becomes Penn State’s 20th Big Ten Champion (among 14 different wrestlers). His 3-0 mark at the tournament sends him to nationals with a 28-4 record.

Four other Nittany Lions punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships, giving Penn State a total of six automatic qualifiers while one more will await the announcement of the at-large bids on Wednesday. Senior Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) won his first bout of the day at 165 to clinch a bid to NCAAs and move into the consolation finals where he beat Iowa’s Ryan Morningstar. Vallimont was working to pull the Hawkeye back in bounds as he was trying to finish off a winning takedown, tied 2-2, when Morningstar was injured and could not continue, giving Vallimont the win by injury default. Erwin went 3-1 over the weekend and heads to Omaha with a 26-7 mark. Classmate David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) earned his first trip to NCAAs with an early win at 184. Erwin then dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to Ohio State’s Mike Pucillo in the consolation finals. Erwin’s 3-2 tournament and fourth place finish have him making his first trip to the NCAA Championships with a 29-8 record.

Sophomore Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) was upset in his first action of the day and moved into the fifth place bout against Michigan’s Ben Apland with the winner getting the Big Ten’s fifth spot at heavyweight. Wade answered the call in the fifth place bout, however, pinning Michigan’s Ben Apland in the first period to take fifth and earn a trip to Omaha. His 2-2 tournament sends him to nationals with a 20-9 record. Senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.) was beaten in his first consolation action of the day and then suffered a technical fall at the hands of Wisconsin’s Cole Schmitt in the fifth place bout. With the Big Ten only getting four automatic bids, Lynch’s only hope at NCAAs would be a wild card. Lynch leaves the Big Ten tourney having gone 2-3 and with a 13-13 overall record.

Two other Nittany Lions had already earned trips to nationals, but had solid days as well. Junior Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.) majored Ohio State’s Nikko Triggas in his first bout at 125 before losing a tough 13-11 (sv) bout to Zach Sanders of Minnesota in the third place bout. Pataky went 2-2 at the tournament and heads to Omaha with a 26-8 record. Sophomore Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) won his first consolation bout and then took on third-seeded Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. Molinaro was in control of the bout and was in the process of finishing off a high double when the Badger forced a scramble the resulted in a defensive type pin for Ruschell at the 3:27 mark. Molinaro went 2-2 to take fourth and heads to NCAAs with a 29-5 record.

In all, Penn State had seven wrestlers place. Sanderson was first at 157, Vallimont was third at 165, Pataky was fourth at 125, Molinaro was fourth at 149, Erwin was fourth at 184, Wade was fifth at HWT and Lynch was sixth at 141. Penn State took fifth place with 91.0 points, the team’s highest finish since taking fourth in 2007. The Nittany Lions placed seventh in each of the last two tournaments. Iowa won the team race with 156.5 points while Minnesota was second with 118.5.

Last night, three Nittany Lions had their season come to an end. Freshman Bryan Pearsall (Lititz, Pa.) lost his first consolation bout and went 0-2 at the tournament, ending his season with a 3-23 mark. Classmate Justin Ortega (Oxford, Pa.) also dropped his consolation bout and went 0-2 at the tournament. Ortega ends his season with a 6-20 record. Sophomore Clay Steadman (McKean, Pa.) was beaten in the consolations and, after a 0-2 tournament, ends his year with an 8-12 record.

Next up for the Penn State Nittany Lions is the 2010 NCAA Championships on March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb. You can follow Penn State’s run at Nationals on Forever Broadcasting’s WRSC (1390 AM) and on www.GoPSUsports.com. The ESPN family of television networks will also offer extensive coverage of the final four sessions of the NCAA Championships. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

Tournament’s seeding will be finalized Friday afternoon in Ann Arbor.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.; March 2, 2010 – The Big Ten has released the pre-seeds for the 2010 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, held this Saturday and Sunday at the University of Michigan. Penn State has received seven top four pre-seeds for the event, as determined by the league’s coaches. The final seeds will be determined at the coaches meeting prior to the event on Friday, March 5.

Seniors Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah) and David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) received Penn State’s top seeds, with each getting a No. 2 pre-seed. Sanderson is the early two-seed at 157 while Erwin is the pre-seed No. 2 at 184. Sophomore Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) is the No. 3 seed at heavyweight.

Four other Nittany Lions all earned No. 4 seeds at their respective weights. Junior Brad Pataky is the No. 4 seed at 125, senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.) is the No. 4 seed at 141, sophomore Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) is the No. 4 seed at 149 and senior Dan Vallimont is the No. 4 seed at 165.

Only Iowa has more seeds in the top four with nine. Minnesota has six top four seeds while Ohio State has five. The Hawkeyes lead the way with three No. 1 seeds, Indiana has two, and Minnesota has two.

No. 10 Penn State closes out the 2009-10 season with a 13-6-1 dual meet record, 5-3 in Big Ten dual and ending the year in fourth place in the dual meet standings. The 2010 Big Ten Championships take place on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. The two day event is hosted by the University of Michigan. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting’s WRSC (1390 AM) or 3WZ (95.3 FM) and on www.GoPSUsports.com as well. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

I don’t think you ever stop “wrestling.”
Wrestling is competing, working hard, pushing yourself, never being satisfied, and just simply refusing to be anything but the very best you can be. Attack your next goal and all the other aspects of your life with that same wrestler’s mentality and you will be fine.

You have faced some difficult adversity, no question. The test and real important thing is how you deal with it. Winning is fun and that’s the plan but it’s not the most important thing. Keeping your head up is more important. Never giving up is more important.

If you really want to go on and continue to wrestle, you can and you will. You might hurt your arm again that’s true. There is usually risk in everything we do. But, just think how much you gained from your four years of high school wrestling.

It is very clear that you know how valuable wrestling has been to you in your life. Looking back, and knowing what you know now, that you would have injuries and frustrations, would you have still wrestled? I bet you would. You are still very grateful for the experience you had as a wrestler, right? You know that you are a stronger person because of your wrestling experience.

As you look forward to the next phase of your career, you can’t avoid all adversity of injuries. I wouldn’t let the fear of an injury keep you from doing what you want to do. If you think high school wrestling was good for you, you won’t believe how great college wrestling will be for you. The commitment of college wrestling is very exciting. Nothing can teach you what college wrestling can teach you. If you are determined and smart in how you train, and disciplined to stay out of risky situations with your arm, you can do it.

You can wrestle in college if you really want to.

It is obviously up to you, I’m just looking at it from a different perspective. Maybe you can’t wrestle at the next level, or maybe you just decide it’s not worth it. That’s fine, it’s your decision. You know what is best for you. I just wouldn’t give up on something if you truly want to do it. Anything is possible.

To know you are prepared, it is very important to realize everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Work as hard as you can and prepare as well as you can. You can always look back and think “I should have done 52 push ups, not just 50.” You can always try and find a “could a, would a, or should a” type of thing. That is part of understanding that everything doesn’t always have to be perfect. You might have an injury; you might forget your lucky rock or something like that. It doesn’t matter. Attack regardless! My last blog was just a couple lines that said “Don’t question yourself, Question your doubts!” That is a brilliant thought. Human nature is to try to find reasons to doubt ourselves and to question everything. If you flip that around and say forget this I’m not going to question myself, I am going to question every negative, doubtful thought that comes into my head. If you attack your doubts head on you will see that they are not legit. Figure out why you can and deserve to win. Most people figure out why they can’t win. The cup of doubts will not hold water. It is full of too many holes.

Be different. Stand up for yourself and all the hard work you have put into it. Speak positively to yourself. Remember from the words of Larina Kase “Don’t listen to yourself, talk to yourself.”

Allow yourself to have fun and go the play the game….and play hard!

As long as you have worked hard and have been committed, you are ready. I once heard the idea in spiritual terms speaking about God saying “You don’t know everything, but you know enough!” That term applies to athletics and wrestling. You will never know everything, or at least, not be perfect at everything. But you know enough, and you are ready now. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to know everything. Hustle will neutralize areas of weakness. Each athlete has his areas that he is better at and those are the areas that he should spend the most time in. If there are positions that you are weak in then avoid those positions.

I remember Lincoln McLlravy telling me that at the Olympic Training Center once. He said “If it’s not your position, don’t hang out there. It might be your opponent’s best position.” He was talking about wrestling internationally when you are not very familiar with your opponent. That’s great advice. It takes hard work to wrestle in the positions that you want all the time. It’s not easy. Especially if your opponent knows where your strengths are. You have to be relentless. Most of the time an opponent will fight you for position for a minute or two. However, if they see that you aren’t going to stop fighting to be where you want, the majority of people will just accept it and surrender the position to you. Work hard to make winning easy.

Don’t just take what you are given. Fight for the angles, tie ups and positioning that is going to give you the best chance for success.

You don’t have to be better then everyone at the same time. You don’t have to be better at every technique then everyone else. All you have to do is be better then your one opponent now. If you aren’t more talented, out hustle him. Out fight him.

All right, once I start typing I start I have a hard time stopping. It is time for practice.

Hey if you haven’t tried my Undefeated Cookies, you should. They are amazing. There is nothing on the market even close. My partner bakes them himself. They taste awesome and they make you feel great. We designed them for a perfect after weigh in snack and for tournament days when you don’t have the time to get a meal in you and you need quality calories. They are perfect for all endurance sports. Check them out!

Thanks all,
Cael

question: Cael, I recently stumbled across your blog and was completely blown away by the Positive Perfectionist. As a mother I think I am completely guilty of shaping my kid into a “Head Case” He had early success as an 8 year old and we came to expect that and even though I say to my son it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just wrestle your best and that is always good enough for us. I think he feels my actions when I am visibly more excited when he wins and find myself saying things like if you had not made that mistake in the 2nd round you would have had him. Then I try to cover it up by saying it’s ok that’s how you learn and grow. I guess what I really have is a thank you.
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Carman,
Thanks for the email. My blogs are from a coaches/ athlete’s perspective so it is much easier to look from the outside in. Being a parent is tough. It is easily the toughest thing in the world imo. I have a young son and I have a difficult time even thinking about him stubbing a toe.

I’m sure you are doing a fine job. What’s great is that you realize that you could tweak what you are doing to better help your son. The quality of being coachable is a huge deal. Regardless of where we are in life, being coachable is huge, whether we are a coach, athlete or parent.

The truth is that we put our kids in sports to have fun, exercise, and learn life lessons. It’s not to beat Billy down the street, even though that is pretty fun. Competition is fun but not why we put are kids in sports.

When we remember this and it’s in our hearts, it is much easier to help our kids. Kids are very perceptive and really smart; they pick on the smallest clues. They will figure it out if you are concerned about the results more then the effort. We won’t be able to hide or cover up those feelings. Our kids will know our true intent.

So the first goal I would think would be for the parents to know that they put their kids in wrestling for right reasons. You put them in the sport to learn the life lessons. Of course you want them to win, but you want them to win because you want them to be happy and to see results for their hard work. But you don’t want them to win for you. It is their career and as parents we are just here to help them. You help them by being positive, and encouraging them. As a parent or coach it is our job to find the positives and to exploit them. Coach Cunningham talks about exploiting our kids positives. It is a big deal to do that.

You should expect a lot out of them too, but what you expect is hard work and a great effort. That’s the goal. I could go on and on here so I will write a blog soon. Best wishes and keep up the great work. It’s all about making progress.

Congratulations on your great season . You have done a great job at PSU. I plan on attending the NCCA finals in Omaha, I hope I can get the opportunity to meet you in person. I sent the following email to my 16 year old grandson (Parker Moses) who lives in Austin Texas .This was his first year of wrestling, as his family lived outside of the country until this year. I did lots of tele, and internet email coaching with him. It paid off well. He made the varsity his first year, had a 20 and 5 record, had the most pins, and most first period pins. On a point system he was the first one to earn his wrestling letter. this year. I am hoping that he and some of his wrestling friends, can attend your camp this summer. I would love your comments and or any suggestions in regards to what I said in the email, as I would like to send the email to other youth wrestlers that i know. Feel free to post my email on your ask Cael. blog. Keep up the good work for all of wrestling.

Sincerely, DONNIE SPANGLER, THE OLD HUSKER

KEEP YOUR HEAD(MIND) ON THE MAT!

As the youth and high school wrestling season winds, I thought I might share some thoughts and ideas for those wrestlers who want to successfully wrestle in the off season or get ready to prepare for next season. It is perfectly fine to take a break from a sport now and then, but if you want to really excel in this sport of wrestling, you need to keep your mind and thinking on the mat on a regular basis. ALWAYS do it in a FUN and positive way. The following are some ideas that I think that work very well.

1. In the off season do some conditioning training alone or with some friends .I.E sprints and long distance running, biking, exercises I.E. push ups , pull ups, sit ups ect.

2. Get some wrestling friends together, maybe once a week, say on a weekend night and practice some moves and drills on the carpet or on the grass in the yard. then watch a movie together eat some pizza and talk about girls.

3. With your wrestling buddies, watch and analyze wrestling videos of your self and your friends wrestling in previous matches. Look for things in the videos that you think you can improve on.

4. Go to at least 1 wrestling camp during the off season either folk style or free style .

5. Enter some wrestling tournaments with your friends. Make it a fun time and positive experience. MORE MATCHES MEANS MORE EXPERIENCE, MORE EXPERIENCE MEANS YOU WILL BECOME A BETTER WRESTLER.

6. Watch wrestling videos on the internet often. I.E. flowrestling , youtube, Cael Sandersons site ect.

7. SET SEASON GOALS !!! Without goals you have no direction. make goals like I will win districts or I will win state and be a state champion, or I will win at least half of matches by first period pins. Write these goals down and place them where you can read them often. I.E. bathroom mirror, dash of the car, car sun visor, refrigerator , ceiling of your bedroom directly above your bed.. Then say them out loud often and to who ever will listen to you like your friends, relatives, coaches and every body else you know also.

8. Devise a written plan on how to achieve YOUR goals. I.E. I will run__ miles each week. I will do ___pull ups each day . I will improve my technique I.E. improve my take downs by doing __ shadow drills each day with my bedroom door mirror, or practice on my mom and dad. I will sign up for at least ___ tournament on or before _____date. I will sign up for a summer camp on or before _____. I will contact other area wrestlers about my same weight, and see if they would like to practice with me, at some place, either on a mat, carpet, or grass.

9. Seek council and advice from my coach and other knowledgeable wrestlers about my goals and planning strategies. They will be honored and be glad to help you. So humble your self, and get some good free advice.

10. Read a good motivational book over the off season I.E WRESTLING TOUGH by Mike Chapman, or Rulon Gardners book NEVER STOP PUSHING.

THE BOTTOM LINE! If you have a passion for wrestling, and for excellence and you focus on being a Champion, you can be the CHAMPION that God wants you to be. Pursue your goals , and live your dream, always in a fun way, it will make your life exciting!

(By DONNIE SPANGLER, THE OLD HUSKER)

Six Nittany Lions head into post-season with individual national rankings from Intermat

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.; February 24, 2010 – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, will end the 2009-10 dual meet season with a top ten national ranking. Sanderson’s Lions received a No. 10 ranking in the final USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll for the dual meet season. In addition, six Nittany Lion individuals will head into the post-season with national rankings at their respective weights from Intermat.

Sophomore All-American Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) will be Penn State’s highest ranked individual heading into next weekend’s Big Ten Championships. Molinaro is 27-3 overall and ranked No. 4 at 149. Fellow All-American Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah) is ranked No. 6 at 157 and sports a 25-4 mark. Senior All-American Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) has a 23-6 record at 165 and is ranked No. 7.

Senior David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) continues his ascent at 184 and is now ranked No. 9 with a 26-6 record (including a team-best tying 7-1 mark in Big Ten duals). Sophomore Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), 24-6 overall and also 7-1 in conference duals, is ranked No. 12 at 125 and sophomore Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) is No. 17 at heavyweight.

Penn State is one of eight Big Ten teams listed in the final rankings. Iowa (1), Ohio State (3), Minnesota (5), Penn State (10), Indiana (13), Wisconsin (14), Purdue (21) and Illinois (23) are all listed among the nation’s top 25 teams.

Penn State closes out the 2009-10 season with a 13-6-1 dual meet record, 5-3 in Big Ten dual and ending the year in fourth place in the dual meet standings. The Nittany Lions will head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the 2010 Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. The two day event is hosted by the University of Michigan. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting’s WRSC (1390 AM) or 3WZ (95.3 FM) and on www.GoPSUsports.com as well. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

Pat Donghia, Assistant Director — Penn State Athletic Communications — 814-865-1757; –www.GoPSUsports.com / Wrestling Twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstatepat

“Holding a feather won’t help you fly, to rise above yourself and touch the sky. Standing like a lighthouse, oh how it shines — The light is shadowing the darker side.” — Rising Gael, 2008 (…listen… www.risinggael.com )

“If I had a chance for another try, I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s made me all of who I am inside……And every day I wake, and tell myself a little lie….The whole wide world is mine.” –AVA, 2007

question: My question is im a 3 year wrestler about to be 4 years and i want to strength train and try to wrestler during the offseason but my technique is fine at 171 but i get overpower should i strength train more or wrestle more in the offseason 3 times a week?

Raymond, Do both. Wrestle and strength train. Wrestling would be my first choice if you had to choose between wrestling and strength training. Wrestling is a form of strength training. Nothing gets you wrestling strength like wrestling. Also, I know you said your technique is fine but don’t be satisfied. The better your technique becomes the stronger you will be.

If you are small for the weight make sure you are eating well. Eat good, nutritious foods. The key to putting on weight is eating. You can lift all day but if you aren’t eating correctly you won’t gain weight. Wrestle as much as can and lift a couple times a week. I am not a big promoter of heavy lifting for high school aged kids but find a good coach/ plan and attack it.