Top high school wrestlers can improve by training at U.S. Olympic Training Centers

It has been well documented that training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) can help athletes achieve the highest goals at the World and Olympic levels. A perfect example came at the 2006 World Championships, where the two World champions for the United States, freestyle star Bill Zadick and Greco-Roman star Joe Warren, were full-time USOTC resident athletes. There has been a history of excellence established for many years by athletes who have come to Colorado Springs for training opportunities.

Many people do not realize that the USOTC has also made a major impact on the careers of wrestlers at other levels of the sport, including high school students. There is direct evidence that wrestlers who take advantage of USA Wrestling’s elite age-group training opportunities rise to the top of high school wrestling ranks.

USA Wrestling has established a series of opportunities for the nation’s most talented young athletes, a system of Junior Olympic Programs. Athletes must enter major age-group USA Wrestling competition to earn the right to come to the Colorado Springs USOTC or the other Olympic Training Centers to train with the National Coaching Staff and other elite young athletes.

USA Wrestling has finalized its elite training camp schedule for the 2007 year, and the nation’s top young athletes can begin making their plans. Below are the opportunities for men wrestlers to train in freestyle and Greco-Roman competition:

Big Brother/Future Freestyle Program
March 18-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
March 25-April 1 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
April 29 – May 6 at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at NMU in Marquette, Mich.

Big Brother and Future Freestyle Training Camps are developed for top-ranked Cadet and Junior wrestlers to travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center with the Senior-level Greco-Roman and Freestyle Resident Teams, as well as all of the USA Wrestling National Coaches. Special coaching attention is given to each young wrestler in addition to their opportunity to work out alongside the nation’s best athletes.

The FILA Junior Worlds Training Camp/Team Trials will determine the FILA Junior World Team in men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. Based on specific achievements, athletes who meet eligibility requirements will come to the OTC and train with the national coaching staff. At the end of the week, the World Team Trials will be held, with the winner earning a spot on the 2006 U.S. Junior World Team. For the last two years, this event has included many of the best young wrestlers in the nation, and the competition for the team was at an extremely high level.

The 2012 Junior Olympic Training Camp is an intensive, one-week training opportunity for the elite wrestlers on the age-group levels, to be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., July 9-16. Only 55 spots are available in this program This is a comprehensive, highly structured program specifically designed to develop the top young athletes into world-class competitors. The coaching staff includes World and Olympic champions, national champions and coaches and athletes from USA Wrestling’s National Teams.

For young women wrestlers, there is a series of Women’s Olympic Developmental Camps that have also been organized for this year. Just like the camps for young men, the athletes are trained by the National Coaches along with other top instructors and quality training partners. The first was held in at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Nov. 8-12. The remainder of the schedule for this year is:

Women’s Olympic Developmental Camps
December 27-31 at the San Diego Olympic Training Center in Chula Viosta, Calif.
April 25-21 prior to Women’s Body Bar event at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
June 25-30 alongside Canada Cup at Guelph Univ. in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada
August 5-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

How does an athlete get the chance to participate in these special training opportunities? The answer is simple. They must enter USA Wrestling’s major age-group national championships. If they are able to achieve a high placement at these competitions, the athletes are invited by USA Wrestling’s National Coaches to attend the camps.

A list of the qualifying requirements for these camps will be published in the Feb. issue of USA Wrestler magazine, and will be posted on TheMat.com soon.

The programs have already earned a reputation among young athletes and their coaches as a tremendous way to learn more wrestling and improve performance on the mat.

One of the strengths of these camps are the quality of the coaches available to the athletes who attend. USA Wrestling has a National Developmental Coach in all three styles, each who are nationally recognized as outstanding in their field. They are Dave Bennett (freestyle), Ike Anderson (Greco-Roman) and Izzy Izboinikov (women).

In addition, the other members of the USA Wrestling coaching staff are also able to provide coaching support for these young star including Kevin Jackson, Terry Brands, Steve Fraser, Momir Petkovic, Anatoly Petrosyan and Terry Steiner.

How can you tell for sure that this training works? All you need to do is look at the results of the major high school wrestling competitions, or scan the most recent high school rankings, and you can find numerous athletes who have

Among high school boy wrestlers, you can find dozens of athletes who have participated in the various Junior Olympic Training Program camps in the past. The national high school rankings published by W.I.N. Magazine on December 6 included at least 50 ranked wrestlers who have participated in these camps.

Among the No. 1 ranked wrestlers on Dec. 6 who have spent time in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the various training opportunities are:

David Taylor of St, Paris OH Graham (103)
Zach Sanders of Wabasha MN W-Kellogg (119)
Tyler Graff of Loveland CO (125)
Zach Kemmerer of Pennsburg PA Upper Perkiomen (145)
Kirk Smith of Boise ID Centennial (171)
Clayton Foster of Kamiah ID (189)
Dom Bradley of Blue Springs MO (Hwt)

Check the high school girls rankings published by the USGWA, and you find the same pattern. Most of the wrestlers ranked in the top four of their weight classes have trained with the USA Wrestling staff at its various age-group elite camps in recent years.

Among the No. 1 ranked wrestlers going into the season this year among high school girls who have trained with USA Wrestling are:

Nicole Woody of Odenton MD Arundel (100)
Amy Whitbeck of Duanesburg NY (105)
Michaela Hutchison of Soldotna, AK Skyview (114)
Joey Miller of Woodward, OK (118)
Beth Johnson of Garden City, KS (122)
Cheyenee Stokes of Tulsa OK East Central (126)
Tatiana Padilla of LaVerne CA Northview (130)
Paige Rife of Fowlerville MI (152)

Building champions is a process in which experience and quality instruction is a foundation for success. Athletes who attend major USA Wrestling events, then take advantage of the opportunity to train with USA Wrestling coaches at elite training camps, are the ones who reach very high levels of achievement. Are you ready to take the challenge in 2007?

Gary Abbott