We are Knight's Wrestling

I noticed that my last blog update was on November 9. Not that I have a huge cadre of followers, but I want to keep updating my blog so that people check every once and a while. But I do not want to blog so much that it bores people. It's quite a delicate balancing act that I have been neglecting recently.

Why?
I attribute it to the "Hole".

The "Hole" is wrestling season. If it sounds like I abhor wrestling season, that could not be further from the truth. I adore the opportunity I get to coach and be a part of a special sport and the role I play in lives of a couple dozen young men each year. I don't know how to do it right without committing lots of time and energy. College and Pro football coaches are notorious for coming into the office at 4:00 in the morning or just sleeping at their facilities because that is how hard they prepare for the next game. I feel like I do that on a smaller scale. My friends all know that I sort of fall off the face of the earth during wrestling. That's the "Hole".

As of now, we are carrying 30 wrestlers on our roster. It's a mixed bunch consisting of diverse backgrounds, talents and abilities. As a group, I really like my team. My assistant, John Williams, and I had, over the course of the last 8 months, monthly dinner meetings with our five rising seniors to build relationships and better model leadership. The hope is that they will responsibly assume leadership roles within the team.Our roster is quite different from the last few years. We lost a few returning starters to various things (academics, choices, NC School of Science and Math) but still have a strong nucleus. Our success will depend a lot on whether our young guys take to the coaching and how quickly they mature as wrestlers.

So far the season is off to a great start. We placed 6th at the Old Appalachian Invitational in Boone and finished 3rd yesterday at our own North Knight Invitational. We've been working hard to get them in shape and teaching technique. We've still got a long way to go, but we are getting tougher, better and closer as a team. We are Knights Wrestling!