Today I want to talk about wrestlers who completely commit to the sport. Wrestlers that are almost possessed with reaching their goal. Many times it might be an event that helps make the individual completely commit, or it might be one match that defines the wrestler and his career. I also believe that a coach can be the positive catalyst for the kid as well. Either way, whether it is a coach or a match, it is awesome when a wrestler completely commits to his goal. This is when the kid is “all In.” This type of wrestler just wants the coach to believe in him as well as guide him in his quest to be the best.
When I look at my career, I was fortunate to have won 4 state titles at Graham High School. I then went to the University of Wisconsin to wrestle in college. My first year I redshirted and at the end of that year I herniated a disc in my neck. I then had surgery and made it back the following year in February and got 4th in the Big 10 and qualified for NCAA’s where I did not win a match. My Sophomore year I got 2nd in the Big 10 and broke my hand in the semis and went 0-2 again at NCAA’s.
Then the catalyst to my wrestling career happened when Dave Schultz became my coach. He built a relationship with me as well as believed in me. I then started believing in myself and made a bigger commitment to wrestling and became a 2 X All American. Coaches, I really hope you understand how crucial it is to build relationships with your wrestlers as well as showing them how much you believe in them. For me, Dave Schultz was my catalyst. Many times, it is a coach that helps the wrestler make the complete decision, but sometimes the wrestler himself decides to make the complete commitment. This was the case for a kid named Dan Bair. He made the decision to be a state champ in 1994 when I was an assistant coach at Graham High School.
Dan, as a freshman and sophomore, did not qualify for the District tournament. In the state of Ohio our state tournament series is a 3-tiered tournament. First is sectionals and you need to place in the top 4, then you qualify for the districts. If you place in the top 4 at Districts, then you will qualify for the State. So, Dan did not place in the top 4 at sectionals his freshman or sophomore year. His junior year Dan made a bigger commitment to wrestling, training in the off season, and training hard during season. His goal was to place in the State, and we knew he had the ability to do so as well. He lost in the district semi-finals in a tight match to a kid ranked 2nd in the state. He of course dropped down to the consolation bracket and was now one match away from heading to the state tournament. Many coaches and wrestlers call this the “blood round”, or the “go to match.”
Dan was winning this match by 2 points and got hit with stalling as he and his opponent went out of bounds with 4 seconds left on the clock. This is the second stall call on Dan and his lead now has shrunk to a point. His opponent timed the whistle perfectly and hit a low double and took Dan down to beat him by one at the buzzer. I was devastated and crushed. I swear I lost two years of my life after that match.
Dan was beyond crushed. He shook his opponent’s hand as well as the coaches, then took off running and went under the bleachers. As I went behind the bleachers, Dan was screaming and pulling his hair out with his hands. I had no idea what to say to him. I finally yelled. “Do you like the pain you are feeling right now?” He screamed, “NO.” I then said, “Then do something about it so you won’t have to feel this pain next year.” This was February 1994, and that is when Dan Bair made the complete commitment to the sport of wrestling. The following year Dan qualified to the state tournament by winning the Districts. He was ranked somewhere around #8 or #10 in his weight class.
I would always get the State Brackets on Sunday. Back then it was dial up internet where I would go to the school library and download the brackets for the kids that qualified for the state. I would then take these brackets up and tape their individual bracket on the top of their lockers. I would do this on Monday morning.
When I went to practice that Monday afternoon, the head coach told me to go look at Dan’s bracket because he filled it out completely. As the kids were warming up, I walked over to Dan’s locker to check out his filled-out bracket. I forgot who he had his first, round match but he had Dan Bair winning. He had Dan Bair winning in the quarters. He also had Dan Bair winning in the semis, and of course he had Dan Bair winning in the finals. He had these two words listed for every other line on the bracket….” WHO CARES.” The first match he wins, the second match he beats “Who Cares.” The semis he beats Who Cares.” In the finals that year he had the kid ranked #1 in the state and Dan was losing 4-3 with 4 seconds left in the match when they went out of bounds. I am convinced there were only two people in the world that knew that Dan was going to beat “Who Cares” to win the State. One was the good Lord and the second was Dan Bair. He hit a double leg to a peek out and scored the takedown to win 5-4 over “Who Cares.”
Coaches, I know this sounds crazy on what I honestly believe, but I know that Dan Bair won the state in March of 1995. But I am convinced that the true date that Dan Bair won the state was one year and one week earlier when he lost in the blood round at the district tournament. The pain of losing that one match was the catalyst that made him make the full commitment to wrestling.
Coaches, I really love that story about commitment. Sometimes coaches you are the catalyst and other times the kid has an event or match that is the catalyst. Our job as coaches are to build that relationship as well as show our wrestlers how much we believe in them.
Hope you enjoyed this story and we will see you next week. Stay safe and keep training hard and remember…. Noah didn’t wait for his ship to come in…. He built one.
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