Dear Fargo Wrestlers...

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Fargo! The crown jewel of our nation’s national high school tournaments. A huge undertaking for all involved. I've watched girls prepping, planning, excitement stirring... it's the biggest tournament of the year for high school athletes who continue on to Freestyle and Greco wrestling. For a small percentage it's triumph and success, and for most, it's heartbreak and disappointment. In my first year coaching at Fargo, I had competed just three and a half months earlier in the 2016 Olympic Team Trials, where I finished in 3rd place. Switching gears on my perspective was a challenge. I had just spent a career completely focusing on myself and my own training. You often forget the similar struggles of your youth, especially after years of conditioning yourself to maintain a mindset focused on progress and improvement. However, it was exciting to coach and support young athletes through a pinnacle event, as I had just done the same at the Olympic Team Trials.

When you arrive at the national tournament, the seasoned Fargo coaches stand out. They know the stats of the wrestlers, who’s beaten who, and why so-and-so shouldn't lose to so-and-so. It was hard to bring myself to the same state of mind. I knew the stats were important to these athletes, but as a coach with my perspective as an elite level wrestler, I saw it as an advantage to be unfamiliar with everyone's record. I was able to stay grounded in the moment along with my athlete, and I believe they appreciated the redirection and focus on the present. The more a coach is centered on what should have happened, the less their attention is placed on the process for the athlete. It is immensely important for the coach to stay in the moment. It’s a false notion that you need to tell your athlete everything about their next opponent. Give them key points on offense and defense, then allow them to put their focus back to their warm up, back to their process.

My advice for coaches:

Help your athletes understand the importance of properly preparing for a big tournament, and how those skills will transfer into every aspect of life. Teach them how to move forward quickly, win or lose. It's important to not ride the high highs, or the low lows. It is easy to get caught up in all encompassing magnitude of Nationals. It’s important to also ground yourself so you're athletes can also see that it's not the end-all-be-all.

Some of these young athletes will continue on and have college careers, some will decide to go even further and test out an elite level career, and some will be done after their senior year in High School. When I competed at Fargo, I thought this tournament would decide my future. I thought it would give me the perspective of what level I was on, and potentially predict how I would move forward with my career as a wrestler. Fighting through mostly disappointing performances at Fargo became the true test of how my career would be shaped. I was the one who continued to an elite career even though I wasn't on the top of the podium.

The lesson for the athlete:

Use the experience, excitement, victories, and heartbreaks to fuel your next move. Never allow one tournament to shape the choices you make, or the path you take. Wrestling is a sport about not only inches, but centimeters. Success at Fargo can create opportunities, but only you can take full advantage of what is presented.

Ways to be a supportive parent:

Fargo comes with so many additional pressures, the magnitude of this event alone creates unexpected nerves for your athlete. Be the person they can rely who adds zero additional pressure. Ask your athlete how you can best support them during the event. If they aren’t sure, or they are too nervous to tell you their honest opinion, volunteer yourself as food manager, mat assignment tracker, or tournament logistics. Your support to make sure your athlete and even their teammates have what they need to perform well goes immensely far. The team behind the team is not there to create more demands for the athlete, but instead to lessen the load so they can focus on their performance and absorb instructions from their coaches.

Best of luck to everyone involved this year!