This is a topic I have discussed with our coach exhaustively over the years. There really is no right or wrong answer, just what works best based on the personal goals of the wrestler. The only definitive answer that we have come up with is that there has to be more of a desire and true teamwork between wrestler, coaches, and family in the smaller school setting. My son had goals of going to state when he was in 5th/6th grade. We worked as a team to get him to the right training, learning the Olympic styles that lead to multiple trips with Team Indiana, and working with other coaches. There were always other coaches willing to help a kid that wanted to learn and wrestle like Jake O’Neil and Quinn Harris. We have worked out quite a bit when time allowed at the Warrior RTC. If you want a look at who was in that room, there are around 9 boys in the number 1-3 positions in a lot of the weight classes in the current Fort Wayne Semi State ranking. Many will be going to Gainbridge in a little while, hungry for better results than last year. Those kids traveled to GFC and to Super 32 together as well, constantly getting better for this season. It definitely helps when you have some college kids around to help and wrestle, helping cement those goals that there is wrestling life beyond high school. When they went on a hiatus, we went to a different wrestling room in Indy. The biggest difference versus the bigger school is we had to do a lot more traveling. Sometimes our coaches went, a lot of times we had help from the others. The greatest thing about the wrestling world versus other sports I have been with, is that if the kid has the desire, there are people who will give of their time to help along the way. However, like everything else in life it has to start with the wrestler and their support team. The main question is how do you get the wrestler to not only have the right goal, but the willingness to do what it takes to achieve that goal. Yes, it is much easier to find opportunities in the bigger cities, but in the end isn’t wrestling the instrument to teach we get what we put into it?
