My hat is off to another great Ironman tournament this past weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.  Bob and all the gang at Walsh Jesuit did an outstanding job in running this tournament.  Congratulations to Jeff Jordan and his St. Paris Graham team of Ohio for winning this very prestigious tourney.  

It was nice to be able to watch and follow some former Colorado Wrestlers as well.  Jared Cortez formerly of Broomfield, who now wrestles for Marmion Academy in IL, Nick Brascetta formerly of Aurora, wrestling for St. Paris Graham, OH and Duke Pickett formerly of Berthoud now wrestling at Woodberry Prep in Virginia.  Congratulations to Travis Himmelman of Conifer, CO for placing 3^rd at 145 pound weight class.  As always it was good to watch the Broomfield Eagles compete in the Ironman.

What I did take notice of this year and what I’ve seen in the past years at the Ironman is that Colorado needs to step up to the plate if we want to be recognized as a national power.  I am not writing this to upset my fellow coaches in Colorado, because they all do a fantastic job and I’m proud to have been associated with each and every one of them.  However, in the 15 years of the Ironman tournament Colorado has only had two finalists, Ian Heinish of Ponderosa and David Marone of Broomfield.  Colorado has only had a handful of placers from the very first year of the tournament when Centaurus was competing to this year when Travis Himmelman placed 3^rd.

Colorado wrestling needs to step out of its comfort zone and compete against some of these powerhouse teams that attend the Ironman.  I’ve heard it said before that I was lucky to be allowed to travel and have money to attend the Ironman, I feel that is an excuse.  Centaurus, Broomfield, Ponderosa and Conifer figured out ways to get out there so can you.

Another thing I have noticed is that the Blair Academy, St. Paris and other national powers are physically stronger than our wrestlers in Colorado.  You have to actually see these kids to believe how much stronger physically and mentally they are compared to us.  There hand fighting skills and physical banging on the head is just something that we don’t see in Colorado.  They compete against the best week in and week out; they don’t try and protect an individual’s record.  Whereas here in Colorado I’ve noticed state champions who have pinned the same wrestler 5-6 times in the same season, again the comfort zone for the wrestler and coaches.

We could assemble the 14 best wrestlers in Colorado this year and we would not be in the top 10 of the Ironman Tournament.  I do not believe we would have had a finalist let alone a champion.  Please don’t get me wrong we have amazing wrestlers in this state and I am proud to have been a coach here for so long but this tournament is like no other.  The wrestlers at the Ironman chew and spit out state champions and Fargo All Americans from all over the country.  

There are many ways I feel we could help our wrestlers and this comes from the top on down. 

 

• Our governing body for high schools, CHSAA finally made it legal for all winter sports to practice over the holiday break.  Now we need to be able to also compete during this time as well.  

 

• Colorado USA Wrestling needs less conflict on the board, this conflict is being noticed around the country and needs to stop.  Remember we are here for the kids!  They also need a better selection of wrestlers that attend our national duals and Fargo.    

 

• We need more events here in Colorado such as the Rocky Mountain Nationals.    

 

• Colorado USA Wrestling needs to increase their fundraising to help support our dual teams.  Colorado has many outstanding wrestlers that are not participating in Cadet and Junior duals because they are not pushed by their high school coaches and not being selected by Colorado USA Wrestling.  

 

• Last but not least there must be more coaches involved.  This is no longer a 3 month sport.  There are too many coaches that show up in November for the first day of the season and leave after the state tournament.  No involvement the rest of the year.

 

So Colorado let’s start competing and not complaining.  We can be on a level playing field if we just work harder and compete with the best week in and week out as well as year round.   

Finally, to my buddy Bill Barger of Walsh Jesuit, I wish you a speedy recovery and my thoughts and prayers are with you.   I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, see you next year!!

 

Mark Schmidt