9781422278772

Chapter Meet Day

“I don’t want to hang on to win a match by one point. The sport needs guys that are going out there to score points.” – David Taylor, two-time NCAA national champion and College Wrestler of the Year

In the sport of wrestling, there is no one else to rely on. There is no one else out there on the mat with an athlete to pick you up when you make a mistake. There is no opportunity to

substitute out of the match for a few minutes to rest, collect yourself, or refocus. Teammates can only offer encouragement from the sidelines. On the mat, facing the opponent, it is just athlete versus athlete and nothing else. That is why when the day of the meet arrives, wrestlers need to be well prepared. Sleep Being well rested is critically important to the performance of an athlete. There are studies that show that getting even two hours less than the optimal amount of sleep can affect performance on an equivalent level to having a 0.05 blood alcohol level. Sleep is not only key in making sure the body has energy to perform well at the next day’s meet, but sleep also helps the body recover from the stresses of that day’s meet. What is the optimal amount of sleep? While there are ranges and some people do better on more or less sleep than others, experts

“Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”

– Dan Gable, Olympic gold medalist

7