Training Camp Blog

Camp was officially opened at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this week as the teams prepare for Cadet Pan Am’s, Senior Pan Ams, a couple European trips, Cadet and Junior Worlds, and of course, The World Championships in Las Vegas in September.

The training camp began on Wednesday and athletes leave next Thursday, July 2nd. My trip started on Thursday as I flew from Austin to Denver and drove to The Springs from there. They say Colorado has some of the most dangerous highways, and I can see why. The landscape here is breathtaking, with features you don’t see most places. It was a chore to keep your eyes on the road.

It was FloWrestling’s first trip to the OTC since the remodel took place in October of 2014. Bill Zadick gave me a tour and some details of the new facility, which has eight mats and allows for large camps like this which include six different teams (one each for Men’s and Women’s freestyle at the Cadet, Junior, and Senior level).

Greco was out of town, having prepared for the Curby Cup, where they were to wrestle Iran. Unfortunately, Iran couldn’t get their visas on time and the event was cancelled. But the Greco team still travelled having workout sessions in Chicago and Northern Michigan with Sweden and

Below is a rough sort of blog of the schedule and the things I noticed at camp.

Day I - Wednesday - Athletes arrived at the OTC

Day II - Thursday
AM - Men’s Freestyle of all age groups had practice at 9AM. They focused on Stance & Motion and then Push-outs from tie-ups. They went to lift at 10:30. Coach Burnett had individual office meetings with Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder.

PM - The PM practice featured situational live goes and 1 live match.


Day III - Friday - I Arrive at the Training Center
AM - The focus here was on shot defense, particularly on heavy hips when the opponent takes a shot, and finding a corner to counter. The first thing I noticed, beyond just how many stars were here, was that Ohio State had virtually their whole team in Colorado.

It was interesting to see that partners went inter-age groups such as Molinaro-Pico, Micic-Ramos, Burroughs-Bo Jordan, and Herbert-Zahid. Coach Slay said that athletes pick their partners but that it’s encouraged they go with unfamiliar guys so they get different looks and feels.
Jake Herbert lead the warm-up.

Kyle Snyder looks like he added sigifcant muscle. He’s big, ripped, and jacked.

There was a fun little sparring match between the monster Jake Varner and the diminutive Gavin Teasdale.

PM - The guys went back to practice at 4PM and it could only be described as a wrestling fan’s dream. There were so many stars going against guys from different age groups and different weight classes. It was tough to film because you wanted to watch everything, and our #1’s were off-limits to the cameras - which meant no Burroughs-Bo Jordan or Brent Metcalf-Logan Stieber.

Halfway through practice, the OTC got a surprise visit from Steve Mocco.

Looking particularly tough were Nathan Tomasello in a four-man group with Johnny D, Micic, and Tony Ramos.

I also thought Anthony Cassar looked great. He showed a ton of scrappiness and athleticism in live goes with Pat Downey and in a group with Kenny Courts and Anthony Valencia.

Mark Martin looked HUGE.

I’m sort of proud of myself that I got a clip of Zach Rey hitting an inside trip in a live go. It’s the equivalent of catching a sasquatch on film.

The Women - All age groups on the Women’s World Teams practiced at 6PM and they went hard - 4 full six-minute matches. The staff is very high on Mallory Velte, our JR rep at 63 kilos. Helen looked great, showing incredible technique and hitting very high level stuff on Kayla Miracle, a JR World Bronze medalist. Also, if you haven’t heard of Becka Leathers before, you will soon. She’s incredible at positioning and she’s still a JR.


Day IV - Saturday
AM - Coach Burnett had top official Zach Errett come in for a video session on rules interpretations. Athletes could ask questions about certain situations. Coach Burnett then cut the guys loose, except for optional weight lifting sessions.

Aaron Pico did an 80-minute cardio session on his own. He said for maintenance he likes to keep his heart rate between 135 and 145 bpm’s in sessions like these.

Women’s Session - Coach Tomeo began a Cadet session earlier than the JR and SR practice. She focused on stance and motion and built to solid double legs.

After the tough Friday evening session, the JR’s and SR’s backed off a little. There was no live wrestling. Instead, Coach Steiner and Coach Kalika taught upper body situations and proper throws.

Particularly good at throws were Alli Ragan and Elena Pirozhkova. Helen Maroulis worked tirelessly on a level change and lateral drop.

Some of the ladies stuck around after formal practice ended and Coach Steiner taught par terre defense.

PM - Before the session started Coach Slay put Burroughs through and individual workout.

It was a quick session for the Men who did a few situational live goes and then one live match. Situations involved 50-50 positions: head-to-feet or hip-to-hip, etc.

The live matches had interesting match-ups: Green vs. Metcalf, Molinaro vs. Humphrey, Spencer Lee vs. Tommy Thorn, Fredy Stroker vs. Jayson Ness, Nick Reenan vs. Bo Jordan. But two ‘grudge’ matches stood out: Mark Hall vs. Anthony Valencia and Nathan Tomasello vs. Stevan Micic.

It should also be noted that Kyle Snyder stays and works on things on his own after every practice. He might have been the last one to stop working out each session.

Coach Burnett announces that Sunday will be an off day. Coach Slay announces a group going to Sunday church services.

Most of the campers are expected to be at the special wrestle off on Sunday.


Day V - Sunday
Today is an off day. All teams have rest. But it’s the day for the special Junior wrestle-off at 60kg with Brock Zacherl, who won the trials and Joey McKenna, the returning JR World Silver Medalist.

We should have the matches up immediately.

Feel free to ask me anything regarding the OTC Camp via twitter @WillieAtFlo