By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling/Themat.com
[email protected]
There has been a tradition in the sport of wrestling that goes back decades which will continue this year during the week of the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 16-18. In addition to watching the best college wrestlers in the nation battle for national titles, fans can also witness the best international wrestlers in the nation during special training sessions.
This year, in between the sessions of the NCAA Championships, on all three days of the tournament, Freestyle Team USA will be holding public workouts for fans to enjoy. The team will have a special mini-training camp during the NCAA Fan Festival, which will be held at the Cox Business Services Convention Center, directly across Reno Street from the Ford Center.
The wrestling mat for the workouts will be placed right in the middle of the Fan Festival area. National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson, along with other USA Wrestling national coaching staff members, will put our nation’s top freestylers through workouts each day. Although the actual wrestlers involved have not yet been completely confirmed, you can expect to see many of the current World Team members in action, as well as other top Olympic hopefuls. In addition, there may be some Olympic-caliber women wrestlers and Greco-Roman wrestlers who also take part in some of the training.
On Friday, March 17, prior to the workout at 2:30 p.m., for a half an hour, the Team USA athletes will be available there for an autograph session. This will allow fans to meet these great athletes and bring back signed souvenirs from the experience.
The best part is that the Team USA workouts, along with all of the other activities at the NCAA Fan Festival, are FREE.
The NCAA Fan Festival will feature the Coca-Cola Spirit of Champions, a experiential event with interactive sports that captures the challenges and spirit of NCAA championships. There will be daily presentations on the Fan Festival stage, including expert analysis of upcoming matches and flashbacks to the greatest matches in NCAA Wrestling history. A number of exhibit boots will be set up from major wrestling associations, including USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In addition, souvenirs and food will be available for purchase.
The last time that Team USA workouts were a part of the NCAA Fan Festival was in 2003, when the talented athletes and coaches thrilled fans with the intensity of their training. This year should be no exception.
The tradition of top international wrestlers training at the NCAAs goes back decades. When the NCAA Championships were held on college campuses across the nation, there used to be informal workouts of the top post-collegians, often in the wrestling rooms of the colleges that hosted the tournaments. People who could get access to the wrestling room would stand along the side of the wrestling room, watching World and Olympic athletes practicing against each other. There was no official organization for these workouts, and no coaches in charge. These workouts were quite spontaneous, but you could always count on finding a few amazing athletes having practice matches for others to enjoy. These wrestlers were getting prepared for the U.S. Nationals and other top international events, and this gave them an opportunity for some great workouts with talented training partners.
After 1988, USA Wrestling developed its National Team Program, and hired full-time national coaches in the international styles. Once the U.S. national team was developed, often the coaches would plan specific training for the team members during the NCAA week. In many cases, top Olympic-level athletes served as assistant coaches for college teams, and they were able to get together between sessions for workouts. There were some years where this was part of the training plans for the U.S. World Cup team, which competed only a week or two after the NCAAs were held. There were years when the NCAA and the event hosts allowed the U.S. team to practice on the actual competition mats right in the arena, which allowed some fans to see the workouts if the schedule allowed for it.
As things have evolved, the workouts have now been included as part of the NCAA Fan Festival, which is itself becoming a tradition at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. According to NCAA officials, they would like to continue having the Team USA workouts as part of the program when it can be organized.
In the past, USA Wrestling has received letters, calls, e-mails and bulletin board postings from fans saying how much they enjoyed watching the workouts.. USA Wrestling is very committed to always trying to set the workouts up for their athletes during NCAA week, as March is a very important month in the training schedule for elite athletes. Fans are encouraged to let the NCAA know how much they enjoy being able to see the training sessions.
The NCAA Fan Festival will be held each day of the tournament, March 16-18, from 12:00 noon until 7:00 p.m. daily. It will be in the Cox Business Services Convention Center, in Exhibit Halls 1 & 2. When you get there, you won’t have any trouble finding the workout area, as the mats will be right in the center of the entire display.
If you are attending the NCAA Championships, pay attention to PA announcements during the sessions. Updates on the workouts, as well as the other activities at the NCAA Fan Festival , will be announced in the arena. Sometime during the week, when you are looking for something fun and interesting to do between sessions, come out and watch the nation’s top Olympic hopefuls working out. If you have never seen an Olympic-level workout, this will be a great treat for you.
Tentative Team USA Training Schedule
Thursday, March 16
Training Session from 3:30 p.m. “5:00 p.m.
Friday March 17
Autograph Session from 2:30 “3:00 p.m.
Training Session from 3:00 “4:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 18
Training Session from 2:30 p.m. “4:00 p.m.
* Event times are approximate and may be adjusted due to NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships session completion times. Further announcements about each event will be made inside the Ford Center during various sessions.
Gary Abbott is the Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling and is a founder of the National Wrestling Media Association and is a 2005 recipient of the NWCA Meritorious Service Award.
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