It is vital that we start off the school year strong academically.  Here are a few reasons why: 

First, this year eligibility is based on a quarter basis.  So if grades are not acceptable after the first quarter, the wrestler sits out of wrestling in the second quarter. 

Also, doing well in school opens up many opportunities in life.  We have numerous guys on the team that can wrestle and even receive scholarships to wrestle in college…that is if their grades are acceptable.

Finally, as a teacher at Ponderosa I am sick and tired of the “dumb wrestler” stereotype that many teachers/students have toward our boys.  Lets shut them all up and shoot to be the Ponderosa team with the best GPA.

First impressions are so important.  These first few weeks show your teacher that you care about his/her class and work as hard in the classroom as you would in practice. 

Plus, girls really dig smart rugged guys!  

The Mustangs had another productive and fun team camp in ‘08.  The team left from Parker on July 5th on the Macedog express, beginning a 16 hour drive to Madison, Wisconsin.  UW is my alma-mater, and they have become very competitive in the Big Ten, a powerhouse conference in Wrestling. 

(The Macedog Express is named after Macy Adam Meyer. 47 Passenger touring bus that transports area teens to all kinds of activities safely.)

Provided by: Suki Meyer

The drive out to Madtown was smooth, and we arrived around 11 a.m.  We checked in and walked to the wrestling complex to participate in an Iron-Man competition.  The events in the Iron-man included a giant tire lift, a weighted 40 yard dash, a backwards monkey-crawl, and a run where the wrestler had to hold 45 lbs plates in each hand.  The guys did well and it was a fun way to start out the camp.

The next two days consisted of dual matches.  Fortunately, we did not travel 1,000 miles to dominate everyone.  There were 21 teams total, traveling from Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, and Wisconsin.  The dual scoring was a little different, as all exhibition matches counted in the dual score.  On the first day we went 5-0 in duals and were not really pushed.  The next morning we came out flat and lost to the eventual team champion by 3 points.  It was a good lesson for the younger guys to learn that in the morning of tournaments you have to get a great warm-up in.  One of the best parts of the duals was we were given Donny Pritzlaff as our team “Councelor”.  He had an amazing wrestling career, winning two D1 national titles and a world bronze medal.  After most matches he would talk to the team about things that we could improve upon. 

After the team camp was over, we traveled to practice with a club team.  The name of the club is “Advance” School of wrestling run by Troy Steiner and Brad Owens.  The practice was phenomenal, as we wrestled many of the Wisconsin kids traveling to Fargo nationals.  Brad also showed us some creative drills and technique.

The last two days of the trip we went to Wisconsin Dells and had a great time.  The only bad part of the trip was traveling home.  About 4.5 hours away from Denver the Macedog broke down in “beautiful” Gothenburg Nebraska, population 140. 

   (picture of town courthouse, Gothenburg NE)

This breakdown could have been much worse, but fortunately we have the most supportive parents around to come to the rescue.  Three Dad’s (Lewis, Douglass, and Davis) drove the 9 hour roundtrip to get the boys home.

Thanks to all for a great camp and don’t forget to improve yourself over the next few months!

This is a reminder that we are having a brief team camp meeting this tuesday July 1st up in the wrestling room at 7 p.m.  I will go over a few things and answer any questions that you may have.

I was lucky enough to watch the Freestyle Olympic trials held in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago.  I was reinforced in what I believe makes a champion at any level in wrestling:

1)  Do the basics well.  There were a few exceptions of extraordinary moves, but for the most part the wrestling consisted of  perfect stances, head placement, positioning, and angles coupled with singles, hi-c’s, and great defense.  Not to mention the same old Gut Wrenches, and leg-laces on top.

2)  Be in great shape.  This is obvious but I did not see one wrestler that looked like he had’nt worked out at least twice a day for 4 years straight.

3)  Have heart.  I’m not sure you can teach this, but I still hold out hope.  These guys fought for every second of the match.  Often, wrestlers get caught up with what the score of the match is, or relax when they get up big.  The wrestlers at this level have such pride and heart that they want to destroy there opponent, win or lose.

4)  Show no emotion during the match.  Even in freestyle where there are 3 referee’s to make sure the right call is made, I saw several bad call’s.  The one thing that was constant was I never saw one wrestler complain or lose his composure.  This reminds me of the old saying “Only worry about the things you can control”

It is inspiring to see the absolute best compete in the best sport ever invented.  We can learn a lot from them in wrestling, but more importantly what they show us about success in life.

Wayne is currently updating the GPA’s on the homepage but I wanted to quickly congratulate a few guys who give their efforts in the classroom:

 Those who earned a 3.0 and higher last semester:  Kolten Kreymborg, Jon Kazmeroff, Alec Hinojosa, and Mason Douglass

3.5 and higher:  Michael Rowack and Austin Gabel

And finally a special congrats to Colter Flenthrope and Steven Kelly who earned a perfect 4.0!

For those left off this list, its not about how smart you are.  Its about giving effort and respect in class…

There is one last opportunity for your son(s) to improve their wrestling skills before next season.  I understand this is last minute, but if the dates/funds are available this is world class technique in our own back yard…

Excel Wrestling, headed by Steve Knight, has decided to move its 3 day wrestling camp from Chaparral H.S to Ponderosa on the dates of June 18-20.  The camp will be headed by Steve and fellow technician Tom Clum.  The camp is usually $175 but since it is being held at Ponderosa, any Pondo wrestler (Junior or H.S) will pay $125.  Here is a little info. on Tom and Steve:
                                                                         TOM CLUM

 Pan Am Silver and Bronze Medalist
 2x NCAA Division 1 All-American
 2x Big Ten Champion
 Big Ten Tournament Outstanding Wrestler 2006
Cadet and Junior All-American
3x Colorado State Champion 148-1.
STEVE KNIGHT
Pan Am Gold Medalist
 NCAA Division 1 All-American,
National Freestyle All-American,
USA Olympic Coaching Staff,
USA World Cup and Pan Am Staff
2x USA World Championships Coach
Member of US National Teams Staff past 10 years.

I would love to hear ideas for the Poster next year…  Just use the “Comments” tab and tell me your thoughts.  Make sure to explain the saying/theme and what picture would be on the poster.  Remember we have won 6 consecutive state championships, 8 total, and going for an all-time Colorado record of 7 consecutive wrestling state championships.  Also remember there are no stupid ideas, only stupid people. 

Great news Mustang Wrestlers!

Tom Clum has agreed to come to Ponderosa on Tuesday, June 17th to run a two hour practice. The session will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m up in the wrestling room. Tom will show a lot of great technique that gave him success over the years.

If you are not familiar with Tom, here are some of his accomplishments:

*3X Colorado State Champion
*Career high school record of 141-1
*Cadet and Junior All-American
*Wrestled in College for the University of Wisconsin
*2X Big Ten Champion (Big Ten outstanding wrestler in 2006)
*2X Division I All-American

This is a special opportunity for all Ponderosa wrestlers. If you have paid for the Freestyle/Greco program this is FREE. If you have not paid for the offseason program but would still like to come, the cost is $10. This opportunity is only open to Ponderosa wrestlers and Ponderosa junior wrestlers.

Mark your calendars!
Coach McNellis

This saturday May 17th plan on heading down to Pueblo for the Rocky Mountain Regionals (info can be found at www.cusaw.org in the schedule tab).  Also state is May 30-31.  After state we will focus more on the collegiate style in practice.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me…

Donny Pritzlaff was my college roommate at Wisconsin for 5 years and one of my best friends.  He is currently one of the favorites to represent the US in Beijing at 74 kilos.  If you click on the link below, Donny talks about what “Inner Drive” is.  I love his attitude that everyone has daily choices of doing the right thing or the wrong thing.  It is up to the individual to listen to the “good voice” in his/her head and do the right thing, even if nobody sees it. 
Good people do what is asked. Great people do what is asked very well. The Best have an inner drive to do more than what is being asked. 

(http://www.flocasts.org/flowrestling/speakers.php?sid=373&vid=4378)