RUDIS Wrestling Podcast

Lean into Discomfort This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 7 “Stand Up to the Bullies” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter goes over standing up and overcoming adversity. Not only reacting and learning from tough situations but really leaning into discomfort in order to grow. Kolat says, if you want to get stronger you lift weights and the only way to improve is to put more weight on the bar. Once that new number becomes easy you have to put more weight on. The same process applies to wrestling. In order to get comfortable in a wrestling position, you have to put yourself in it enough times until you harness the technique and understand what to do enough to be comfortable there. Then you move on to the next area you’re not comfortable in. Seek out the Bully (3:00) Dernlan and Kolat talk about the idea of bullying yourself and creating bully situations. What they mean by this is pushing yourself to and past your conceived limits. Not allowing yourself to settle for mediocracy and ultimately achieving the goal you’re working toward. Admiral McRaven talks about during training they would swim in shark-infested waters. It’s a real-life scenario of literally seeking out and swimming with the sharks (your fears or bullies), not backing down, and overcoming. Kolat talks about the teaching moment for parents when your child is bullied. Bullying is a fact of life that is as old as time but it’s also an opportunity to learn, improve, and get stronger. The life lesson you’re teaching is the power in standing up for yourself. Overcoming bullies is something people deal with their whole lives and learning early on how to handle them is important. Getting Bullied on the Mat (10:55) Kolat uses his experience at a recent event as an example. A friend’s son was being bullied on the mat. Kolat’s advice for him was that part of wrestling is not allowing that to happen. When it does you come back and show your opponent you won’t allow it and return the favor. A part of wrestling is not only physically but also mentally dominating your opponent. Going through these tough matches is how you get stronger and learn how to not let it happen again. Be an Overcomer (15:00) Just as there are physical bullies there are metaphysical bullies surrounding us every day. The more we lean into the discomfort in them and learn to overcome the better we’ll become as people. Do Dernlan and Kolat approve of bullying? No. What they do approve of is standing up and the learning from those situations. They will ascend you to greatness.

The Very First Interview On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren sits down for an exclusive interview with founder and former CEO of FloSports and current founder and CEO of Rokfin Martin Floreani. Askren kicks off the podcast by asking Floreani how the past year has been moving away from Flo and to reflect on his new endeavor with Rokfin. Askren thinks back to when he was first introduced to FloWrestling when he was competing at Missouri being able to watch interviews with the best college and Olympic coaches. This was information, entertainment, and coverage that hadn't ever been done for the sport of wrestling. Floreani talks about one of the very first interviews with John Smith and how accommodating Smith was to a kid he didn't know and who didn't have a product or legitimate company yet but came to him with an idea of what he wanted to create for wrestling. Floreani expresses his gratitude for all of these individuals that were so helpful and accessible to him during the beginning days. Cael Sanderson (8:03) Askren asks Floreani his opinion on coaches like Cael Sanderson who are very protective of information and don't tell the media much of anything. Floreani understands Sanderson's thought process of not allowing even the smallest crack in the dam for his competitors to get an edge on how they can better compete against Sanderson and Penn State. Askren hopes that in the future Sanderson will feel comfortable talking about the way he is able to run such a successful program for so many years. First Live Event (11:57) Askren asks at what point did Floreani get the idea to execute on live streaming wrestling events. Floreani takes it back to the first event he filmed, Midlands 2006. He filmed it on a tape camcorder, drove back to Texas, uploaded all the matches and the site started to gain a lot of attention. The first live streamed event came 6 years later when Kyle Dake beat David Taylor in a super close match at the All-Star Classic. This was when Floreani was able to step away from advertisers support and turn to a subscription-based company. An idea is meaningless without the proper and best execution of that idea. Floreani was extremely detail oriented in how he went about developing this idea. How We Can Grow the Sport (20:43) The topic is brought up about how much Flo has contributed to the growth of wrestling. Floreani thinks back to the people that told him while they love wrestling, it's a boring sport and not for the masses. He talks about how context is everything for sports. Knowing the different storylines, drama, and adding the production adds enormously to the energy and enjoyment. He wanted people to witness the sport the way he was and he knew once they did they'd know there isn't anything more exciting out there. Speaking on the different ways the sport will and can grow over the next decade Floreani talks about women's wrestling and improving upon the competition experience for not only fans of national wrestling but local and youth wrestling. Floreani's Newest Endeavor (32:13) Floreani founded and is the CEO of Rokfin. Rokfin is a subscription media company and live digital platform that rewards it's content creators for the full value they generate. This is opposed to a non-subscription platform such as YouTube that can be monetized based off a percentage of Ad click revenue and deals with a host of issues that arise from external advertiser influence.

Great Wrestlers Dare Greatly This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 6 “You Must Dare Greatly” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about pushing your limits, taking risks, believing and going out and executing on your goals and dreams because if you never take the leap you'll never know what's possible. Kolat says one attribute that he doesn't like in a coach is one that steers his athletes away from "high-risk techniques" when that athlete has found success there before. When Kolat was competing he had the ability to learn technique quickly and also had the confidence to try it out in competition. Kolat says there is no such thing as a bad move if you've put in the reps and practice and there's no hesitation or doubt in competition. Two Things Everyone Can Control (8:55) It's easy to say what you want but it's difficult to really commit to it. It's hard to commit because there's a risk you won't reach that final goal. Dernlan explains something he would tell all his athletes, "You can't control your natural given talent but you can control your effort and attitude." If you're controlling your effort and attitude every day you'll be prepared and have the freedom to take the risk when the moment arrives. A coach will not begrudge you or be upset if you put in the effort and keep a positive attitude. Make Mistakes. Be Vulnerable. It's Good for You (12:13) The time to be daring first is in the practice room. Some athletes fall victim to practicing safely and not allowing themselves to fail therefore not growing and learning. Dare in practice and it'll come out when it matters in competition. vulnerability turns into comfort which turns into confidence which turns into execution. You don't take a loss as a failure you should look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Great Wrestlers Dare Greatly This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 6 “You Must Dare Greatly” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about pushing your limits, taking risks, believing and going out and executing on your goals and dreams because if you never take the leap you'll never know what's possible. Kolat says one attribute that he doesn't like in a coach is one that steers his athletes away from "high-risk techniques" when that athlete has found success there before. When Kolat was competing he had the ability to learn technique quickly and also had the confidence to try it out in competition. Kolat says there is no such thing as a bad move if you've put in the reps and practice and there's no hesitation or doubt in competition. Two Things Everyone Can Control (8:55) It's easy to say what you want but it's difficult to really commit to it. It's hard to commit because there's a risk you won't reach that final goal. Dernlan explains something he would tell all his athletes, "You can't control your natural given talent but you can control your effort and attitude." If you're controlling your effort and attitude every day you'll be prepared and have the freedom to take the risk when the moment arrives. A coach will not begrudge you or be upset if you put in the effort and keep a positive attitude. Make Mistakes. Be Vulnerable. It's Good for You (12:13) The time to be daring first is in the practice room. Some athletes fall victim to practicing safely and not allowing themselves to fail therefore not growing and learning. Dare in practice and it'll come out when it matters in competition. vulnerability turns into comfort which turns into confidence which turns into execution. You don't take a loss as a failure you should look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

It's All About Perspective This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 5 "Failure Can Make You Stronger" from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about persevering through failures and allowing those moments to teach you and strengthen you. Dernlan starts by asking Kolat how about his summer training at Campbell and how it's developed from his first few seasons there. Dernlan points out there are a lot of parallels between learning from failure and running a wrestling program. During SEAL training, they have something called "Circus" where people who came in last during the different training they did throughout the day had an extra few hours of training. Admiral McRaven was consistently in the back of the pack and was forced to do extra training. By the end that extra training made him one of the best swimmers. Kolat breaks down and relates this to a coach and athlete relationship. You have a choice between viewing a coach pushing you as a punishment and develop a bad relationship or you can understand the necessity and reasoning to get you better. The only way to improve is to spend extra time and it comes down to the perspective you decide to take. Put in the Work (10:08) Kolat talks about the people who are afraid to put it on the line and fail or lose a match. You can't enter a competition with the fear of losing. The athletes who don't put the extra time in are the ones with the highest anxiety entering a match. If you know you put in the work you can have full confidence stepping on the mat knowing you did everything you could to prepare. Dernlan brings up the fact that if you're focusing on doing everything you can do that's recognized by everyone in the group. You can't go wrong with the mindset of being the first one in and the last one to leave the practice room.

It's All About Perspective This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 5 "Failure Can Make You Stronger" from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about persevering through failures and allowing those moments to teach you and strengthen you. Dernlan starts by asking Kolat how about his summer training at Campbell and how it's developed from his first few seasons there. Dernlan points out there are a lot of parallels between learning from failure and running a wrestling program. During SEAL training, they have something called "Circus" where people who came in last during the different training they did throughout the day had an extra few hours of training. Admiral McRaven was consistently in the back of the pack and was forced to do extra training. By the end that extra training made him one of the best swimmers. Kolat breaks down and relates this to a coach and athlete relationship. You have a choice between viewing a coach pushing you as a punishment and develop a bad relationship or you can understand the necessity and reasoning to get you better. The only way to improve is to spend extra time and it comes down to the perspective you decide to take. Put in the Work (10:08) Kolat talks about the people who are afraid to put it on the line and fail or lose a match. You can't enter a competition with the fear of losing. The athletes who don't put the extra time in are the ones with the highest anxiety entering a match. If you know you put in the work you can have full confidence stepping on the mat knowing you did everything you could to prepare. Dernlan brings up the fact that if you're focusing on doing everything you can do that's recognized by everyone in the group. You can't go wrong with the mindset of being the first one in and the last one to leave the practice room.

How Do You Rank the Top RTCs? This week, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan have a unique episode where they give you their Regional Training Center (RTC) power rankings. One question while coming up with this list Askren had was if they should count international wrestlers or only USA wrestlers. Another was how exactly do you qualify the strength of these RTCs. They bring up the New Jersey RTC and everything Scott Goodale is doing there. They have a true Regional Training Center in the sense that they have both Rutgers and Princeton training there whereas most others are only one school. Askren thinks it would be beneficial if more schools combined and had that added benefit of more high-level athletes learning from one and other. Dernlan brings up the concern of most regions just don’t have schools within a close enough proximity to each other. If there is an opportunity to pool resources together it would help with funding and supporting more athletes. Number 5 (16:01) Depth played a big factor for Askren while making his picks. Number five for Askren is Michigan RTC. Michigan will have multiple wrestlers competing at the World Championships this year not only representing the USA such as Adam Coon in Greco but also internationally like Stevan Micic, Myles and Malik Amine, and Dave Habat to name a few. Dernlan also took Michigan as his number five choice. Number 4 (19:55) Dernlan picks the Hawkeye Wrestling Club as his number four. When considering the HWC you have to weigh in the fact they have three women that just secured their spots on the world team. Askren’s number four is the Minnesota RTC or the Minnesota Storm. They have someone at almost every single weight class that is high level and right at the door of being world team members. Dernlan speaks about how MTC is creative with how they have their athletes play a bigger role within the organization. They might be a part-time coach or hold other roles and this could be extremely beneficial for them and their lives after competing. Number 3 (26:55) Askren’s number three is the Ohio RTC. When you’re talking about the Ohio RTC you compare them to their recent success and as an absolute powerhouse of producing World and Olympic team members. This year Logan Steiber announced his retirement, Nathan Tomasello has been dealing with injuries and a few other athletes didn’t have the results they hoped. One year’s results doesn’t discount the level of depth and talent they have on their roster. Since 2011 they’ve put 16 wrestlers on World and Olympic teams. Dernlan also puts Ohio RTC at number three based off this year’s results. Number 2 (30:20) Dernlan picks the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club at number two. NLWC has a lot of top guys but has struggled with getting their college national champions onto World teams with the exception of David Taylor. Askren takes New Jersey RTC. This was a great year for NJRTC. They have Tyler Graff and Pat Downey on the World Team as well as a stacked roster of top contenders on the national level. Number 1 (35:45) Dernlan takes NJRTC as his number one because of their success in the last three years. Askren has NLWC as his number one. He talks about the unparalleled depth the NLWC has and the opportunities for athletes to train together. They also host a number of top international wrestlers. UFC 239 Askren vs Masvidal (38:40) Askren talks a little about his upcoming fight Saturday, July 6th at UFC 239 against Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal recently missed his second UFC press conference promoting the fight and the UFC 239 card. Askren talks about how from a mental perspective if you think playing games will impact your opponent that means games likely work on you. He talks about his path to a shot at the title and how he is set up nicely after the fight on July 6th to get chance at the belt next.

Securing the Lineup This episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk NCAA Wrestling, World Team Trials Format, and who is most likely to medal at the World Championships. Askren starts by discussing the news 2018 All-American Shakur Rasheed announced he will be returning for another year of collegiate wrestling. This comes a few days after 2019 NCAA Champion Anthony Cassar announced his return. This secures Penn State’s lineup at the upper weights for this upcoming season. Dernlan says the lower weights are always hard to recruit and when you get interrupted by injuries and transfers it’s hard to rebuild. These announcements tip the scales in Penn State’s favor continue their dominance and win yet another team title. That being said, it will a tough task for the upper weights to carry especially losing bonus point machines in Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf. Final X Format (17:54) Askren talks about the benefit of having Final X added to the world team trials format. Dernlan discusses the much deserved raised exposure and visibility Final X brings to the senior level athletes. The access to watch these events and follow them on social media allows fans to really get into wrestling more than ever. Getting to know the athletes through their college careers is huge for growing a fan base that follows you after graduation. As women’s wrestling grows and schools start adding NCAA women’s teams their fan base will grow. Most Likely to Medal at Worlds (24:49) Askren and Dernlan give their predictions on the most likely U.S. team members to get a medal at the World Championships. Askren’s No. 1 is Kyle Snyder being that every world championship he’s been a part of he’s got a medal. Dernlan agrees and adds the improvements we got to see at Final X with Snyder’s parterre offense. Askren’s No. 2 is J’Den Cox who is also in the club of medaling every time at Worlds. Dernlan agrees and says in a list of most likely to medal you have to have Snyder and Cox tied for first. Dernlan’s No. 3 pick is Daton Fix. Fix has made 6 consecutive world championship teams. Askren’s No. 3 pick is the winner of Kyle Dake vs Alex Dieringer and Dernlan takes this as his No. 4. Askren’s No. 4 is Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs has had a lot of close matches recently but Askren still thinks he’ll likely medal. Dernlan agrees talks about the undeniability of Burroughs and his ability to win. No. 5 for Askren is Nick Gwiazdowski he sees the toughness at heavyweight and if he receives a hard seed it’ll be a tough path to the top. Dernlan’s No. 5 is our representative at 65 kg whether that is Yianni Diakomihalis or Zain Retherford. No. 6 for Askren is Fix and he’s excited to watch him at the first Team USA international tournament. With a mix up in the numbers, Dernlan and Askren both take James Green at No. 7. No. 8 for Askren is either Diakomihalis or Retherford. Dernlan’s No. 9 is Tyler Graff and Askren agrees. Lastly, that leaves Pat Downey. Having Downey at the bottom of this list of world beaters is not a slight to Downey. Compared to the rest of the team he doesn’t have as much international experience. Askren and Dernlan wouldn’t be surprised if he goes and shocks the world as that has been his thing as of late.

Final X Lincoln During this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan recap Final X Lincoln and breakdown all the exciting moments. Askren talks about the excitement surrounding United States Wrestling and the level our team is at compared to previous years and the world. Dernlan gives some insight behind the four RUDIS athletes that competed at Final X Lincoln and the RUDIS + MARVEL singlets they were wearing. Sarah Hildebrandt (5:08) Hildebrandt didn't give up a single point in her two matches against a crafty veteran Katherine Shai winning 3-0 and 8-0. Speaking to how elite of a competitor Hildebrandt is, Dernlan talks about how Hildebrandt still sees the small mistakes she made even in the wake of not giving any points up. Kayla Miracle (6:32) Miracle wins by Tech Fall in her first match 12-2 and then allows zero offense from her opponent in her second win 4-0 over returning bronze medalist Mallory Velte. Miracle had been the alternate the previous two years and had been so close to making a senior world team at such a young age. Miracle said it best in her post-victory speech “About damn time, We’re from Iowa. We don’t get tired. We live for this two-out-of-three, but I wanted to make it two, make a statement, and create that separation.” James Green vs Ryan Deakin (11:50) Green came out with an 18-second tech fall in the first match. Deakin was able to slow Green down in the second match but ends up losing 4-3. Askren talks about how Green is one of the United State's best chances to medal. Tyler Graff vs Joe Colon (13:54) Colon took the first match but Graff dominated the next two. Dernlan talks about Graff's perseverance and determination. It was a great and heartwarming moment to see Graff earn his first world team membership. The New Jersey RTC has made a statement this year with multiple world team members on the senior level. Askren doesn't see NJRTC slowing down in the slightest. Isaiah Martínez vs Jordan Burroughs (20:30) Askren gives credit to how much Martínez closed the gap between him and Burroughs this year. When you look at their battles last year compared to this year it's incredible and Askren was impressed. Burroughs doesn't claim his weight cut impacted his performance. Stopping a weight cut and then having to get a sweat going again in 15 minutes is not easy. During their first match, Burroughs is down 3-4 and gets a takedown with 10 seconds left. Dernlan and Askren talk about how many times they've seen Burroughs do this. You can never count him out especially at the end of a match. Next year will be extremely exciting with elite wrestlers from three world weight classes filtering into the Olympic 74 kg weight class. Burroughs will have to fend off the likes of Kyle Dake, Isaiah Martínez, James Green and many more. Daton Fix vs Thomas Gilman (34:57) This series was one of the most exciting of the entire night. Fix dominates in the first match winning 9-1. Match 2 Gilman comes back and gets a second-period takedown to win 3-2 making adjustments from the first match. Fix then battled and got the 6-3 win in the third match. Fix beat the best version of Gilman we've seen. The level of scrambling in these matches was through the roof and always makes for some of the best wrestling you'll see anywhere. Fix has a great chance of medaling at worlds if not winning it all.

Failure Is a Product of Long Term Success This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 4 "Life’s Not Fair. Drive On." from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about the way you look at life and how you react to adversity and obstacles in your way. It's hard to be confronted with this so directly but it's a reality. Success is built up by a series of failure and struggle that you learn to overcome. This is why you need to learn to embrace failure and truly reflect on those times in order to improve.  Take a Risk (6:45) Kolat has always advocated for self-sufficiency. You can't be fully dependent on another person or group and you can't blame them when something doesn't go right. When coaching, Kolat won't discipline a wrestler who is doing everything right by getting good grades and competing his hardest the same as one who is lacking in the classroom and not giving their all on the mat. Kolat talks about life not being fair and uses the example of the workplace rewarding the best. Being forced to take accountability you are going to fail but you'll reap the rewards of learning from those experiences. A good parent and coach have a balance between knowing when to hold someone's hand and when it's better for them to try themselves and learn. Failure Is Giving Up (15:40) Navigating his career, Kolat distinguishes the differences between a setback and a failure. If you give up, that's a failure but if you get up and try again or learn for the next time that's a setback. Kolat also discusses reality is everyone is clawing their way to the top and people don't have a problem stepping on you to get there. Where success becomes a real possibility is when you're comfortable being uncomfortable. If you learn how to truly lean into discomfort is when you open up opportunities for success. The last thing Kolat mentions is not giving up doesn't mean you endure discomfort for a week it means you dedicate months and years to the goal you're working towards.

Failure Is a Product of Long Term Success This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 4 "Life’s Not Fair. Drive On." from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about the way you look at life and how you react to adversity and obstacles in your way. It's hard to be confronted with this so directly but it's a reality. Success is built up by a series of failure and struggle that you learn to overcome. This is why you need to learn to embrace failure and truly reflect on those times in order to improve.  Take a Risk (6:45) Kolat has always advocated for self-sufficiency. You can't be fully dependent on another person or group and you can't blame them when something doesn't go right. When coaching, Kolat won't discipline a wrestler who is doing everything right by getting good grades and competing his hardest the same as one who is lacking in the classroom and not giving their all on the mat. Kolat talks about life not being fair and uses the example of the workplace rewarding the best. Being forced to take accountability you are going to fail but you'll reap the rewards of learning from those experiences. A good parent and coach have a balance between knowing when to hold someone's hand and when it's better for them to try themselves and learn. Failure Is Giving Up (15:40) Navigating his career, Kolat distinguishes the differences between a setback and a failure. If you give up, that's a failure but if you get up and try again or learn for the next time that's a setback. Kolat also discusses reality is everyone is clawing their way to the top and people don't have a problem stepping on you to get there. Where success becomes a real possibility is when you're comfortable being uncomfortable. If you learn how to truly lean into discomfort is when you open up opportunities for success. The last thing Kolat mentions is not giving up doesn't mean you endure discomfort for a week it means you dedicate months and years to the goal you're working towards.

#65: Exclusive Interview with Cornell Head Coach Rob Koll by RUDIS Wrestling

Elevating the Sport On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk about and recap all of the exciting stories revolving around Final X Rutgers. Dernlan attended Final X Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) and speaks about how phenomenal of an event it was. Dernlan’s opinion echos the online consensus of how much everyone enjoyed it. Wrestling is a winter sport which makes tailgating very difficult so having a huge wrestling event during summer is a welcomed change. Dernlan also gives kudos to the RAC for staging the event and making the environment spectacular. Yianni vs Zain (4:19) Wasting no time Askren jumps into the topic everyone is talking about the controversial official call during the second match of Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford. After the first period and a series of exciting scrambles, Diakomihalis was up 8-6 at the end of the match. Retherford’s coach Cael Sanderson challenged the sequence that awarded Diakomihalis two exposure points with just under a minute left in the second. After a long review, they took away the points and awarded Retherford the win 6-6 with criteria. Askren’s first issue is that in the rule book although ambiguous clearly states you only have five seconds after the scoreboard changes to challenge it. Controversy (8:40) In Askren’s estimation, he sees the scramble as a 2-2 scenario. Dernlan talks about how the three officials all had different scores and from his understanding whenever that happens they should meet automatically and make a call. He also states that even if Sanderson would have thrown the challenge brick during the sequence they wouldn’t have stopped the wrestling until the sequence was over. In freestyle, they don’t restart the clock to the time of the challenge like they do in folkstyle. If that would have been the case, Diakomihalis would have had 45-50 seconds of time to wrestle with the knowledge he needs to score. This is why Dernlan says they should have stopped the sequence because they know they have to get the score right because they can’t restart the clock. Technicalities (22:30) Reading from the rule book Askren talks about the rule that states no challenge can be requested after the regular time of a period (In this case it was). It goes on to say, except when the points are added to the scoreboard after the referee’s whistle (ending the period). In this case, it was not because the points were added about 50 seconds before the end of the period. Overall, both Askren and Dernlan are on board for a third winner take all match and have the wrestlers decide and not leave it up to the officials. Bo Nickal vs J’Den Cox (28:08) Bo Nickal weighs in at 87.7 practically 10 kg underweight and extremely close to 86 kg weight class. This is surprising because it means he most likely could have made that weight and wrestled against Pat Downey instead of facing J’Den Cox. This is if he had a heads up from his close friend David Taylor when he knew he wasn’t going to be able to compete this year. Askren understands the concept and principal of not wrestling one of your best friends but if they’re the same weight class they may not have a choice in the future. All this being said, Cox didn’t win the matches because he was the heavier wrestler, he won because he was the better wrestler. Askren’s advice for Nickal would be to go wrestle-off for a spot on the U23 team at 86 kg and get some world experience. Gwiz vs Steveson (38:18) Askren gives credit to Dernlan for calling Nick Gwiazdowski’s ability to get second and third re-attack points in their Final X Technical Breakdowns. Askren was also extremely impressed with Gable Steveson and his athleticism. Golden Era (40:55) Askren speaks about how this is the first time in a long time the U.S. has second and third guys that could medal at Worlds. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason why the U.S. has the depth of talent we do right now but we are not taking it for granted.

Determination Over Talent This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan continue onto Ch. 3 “Only the Size of Your Heart Matters” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter speaks about the size of your heart being a direct correlation and causation to the level of success you achieve in wrestling, life, and business. What McRaven means by your heart is your determination, resolve, grit, and ambition. It’s not the person with the most talent or genetic gifts but the person who does the most with what they’ve been given. Prove Yourself To Yourself (4:35) Kolat talks about how many of his favorite athletes he’s coached were not the starters. You can’t go wrong surrounding your program with people who are willing to give you everything they got every day. While Kolat was competing he was the starter who got a lot of attention. He’s not sure if he was a backup for four years if he would have stuck it out. It takes a tough kid to show up every day and pour their heart into their training knowing they probably won’t start. SEAL training is about proving something every day to yourself and everyone around you. The best wrestlers understand this as well. They continue to set new limitations and expectations on themselves. A Mindset for Life (15:46) McRaven gives an example in the book of seeing a skinny gentleman in a waiting room and thinking to himself how hard of a time that gentleman will have in training. He later finds out he was a retired SEAL who had won a medal of honor. It’s a perfect lesson of not judging a book by its cover. Kolat says this is true within wrestling. You can’t judge your opponent or anyone by their body shape or looks. He also points out that some of the best wrestlers in the world are long and thin and use their leverage in their favor. Dernlan and Kolat discuss how all-encompassing being a coach is. They also speak on how as a coach if you instill within your athlete the mindset of going all in and being the hardest worker in the room. This mindset will not only help them win wrestling matches but they can carry it throughout their life and find success anywhere.

Determination Over Talent This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan continue onto Ch. 3 “Only the Size of Your Heart Matters” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter speaks about the size of your heart being a direct correlation and causation to the level of success you achieve in wrestling, life, and business. What McRaven means by your heart is your determination, resolve, grit, and ambition. It’s not the person with the most talent or genetic gifts but the person who does the most with what they’ve been given. Prove Yourself To Yourself (4:35) Kolat talks about how many of his favorite athletes he’s coached were not the starters. You can’t go wrong surrounding your program with people who are willing to give you everything they got every day. While Kolat was competing he was the starter who got a lot of attention. He’s not sure if he was a backup for four years if he would have stuck it out. It takes a tough kid to show up every day and pour their heart into their training knowing they probably won’t start. SEAL training is about proving something every day to yourself and everyone around you. The best wrestlers understand this as well. They continue to set new limitations and expectations on themselves. A Mindset for Life (15:46) McRaven gives an example in the book of seeing a skinny gentleman in a waiting room and thinking to himself how hard of a time that gentleman will have in training. He later finds out he was a retired SEAL who had won a medal of honor. It’s a perfect lesson of not judging a book by its cover. Kolat says this is true within wrestling. You can’t judge your opponent or anyone by their body shape or looks. He also points out that some of the best wrestlers in the world are long and thin and use their leverage in their favor. Dernlan and Kolat discuss how all-encompassing being a coach is. They also speak on how as a coach if you instill within your athlete the mindset of going all in and being the hardest worker in the room. This mindset will not only help them win wrestling matches but they can carry it throughout their life and find success anywhere.