2006-07
Season
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ENTRY NUMBER Six: Josh Arnone
Entry
Number 6: February 15, 2007
Winter break is finally over. I’m pretty
upset about it, those two-a-days were nothing
but fun. Unlike one of my roommates (Jordan
Leen, who I could take a dig at right now but
I’ll be the better man because that’s
what I am, a better man) would have you believe
the appearance of females back on campus is
a relief, spending a month with thirty dudes
is not exactly a great college experience. Back
to wrestling……Over the break and
entering our Ivy schedule our team has started
to click and is closer to full strength than
we have been all season. It is so exciting to
see all of this talent start to shine, the Hofstra
and Columbia duals opened some eyes and it is
about time.
Individually, I’ve been blessed with great
health this season. Starting the year off with
mono was fun, and then getting hurt at the scuffle
was even better, top it off with those annoying/semi-serious
injuries and the season gets pretty frustrating.
On the bright side I have established myself
as the #1 Schwinn Airdyne rider in the room;
I have logged well over 200 miles in the saddle
the past few months. As much fun as riding the
bike is I would say just having the opportunity
to train in our room far exceeds pedaling my
life away. I believe that I have the best training
situation for any upper weight in the country.
If I wanted I could train one day a week with:
Rob Koll, Damian Hahn, Clint Wattenberg, Tyler
Baire, Mitch Clark, and Jerry Rinaldi. Needless
to say I have tough work out partners. One thing
that is tough is keeping my confidence up, I
want to beat these guys but it is difficult
from time to time (if you can believe that).
When I need a boost I just set up a work out
with Wattenberg, since I own him. Seriously,
he can’t handle the heat. I do tremendously
appreciate all of their effort and time, and
I want to pay them back by becoming an All-American.
I’ll see what I can do about that come
March, but for now I’m trying to stay
sane and healthy.
Since I dominated Troy and Jordan in Need For
Speed: Most Wanted, I occupy my leisure time
with watching TV and by watching Joey Hooker
and Zach Hammond almost kill each other every
night about the dumbest stuff. Rinaldi and I
find it quite entertaining. Thanks Zach and
Joey!! Other distractions include the normal
winter sports of sledding and skiing with other
non-conventional forms of entertainment such
as pretending to be mad at Charlie Aggozzino
just to mess with him. So as much as I am looking
forward to NCAA’s and using all the work
I’ve put in, it will be a relief over
spring break to have a social life again. Not
to mention lick my wounds so I’ll be 100%
for next year, GO BIG RED!!
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ENTRY NUMBER FIVE: Steve Anceravage
Entry
Number 5: February 2, 2007
Time to identify my weaknesses and make them
my strengths.
I am really starting to kick it into high gear
and make the final month and a half push to
the NCAA Tournament. The changes I have made
are an increase in my conditioning and better
weight control. These two issues have definitely
been my weak spots since I came to college.
With my weaknesses identified, a new game plan
was developed and it is off to the races. With
the combination of my efforts and Coach Koll’s
guidance and expertise I have made huge gains
in conditioning and weight management. Coach
Koll has been torturing me several nights a
week with different conditioning workouts. I
also have set weights I must come into practice
at everyday.
My conditioning and weight are now much improved
and I am moving on to other weaknesses that
must be remedied. For the majority of the season,
the overall team attitude has not been too delightful.
With one setback after another, it was difficult
for the team to find a rhythm. When the team
is down I find it difficult to stay positive.
While at national duals I had a great conversation
with Troy Nickerson, Jordan Leen and Jordan’s
father. We decided that if the attitude was
going to change on the team it had to start
somewhere, and we figured it should start with
us. Each of the ten starters must take it upon
themselves to put our setbacks behind us and
start fresh in February. If we all work at accomplishing
our individual goals the team goals will be
a guarantee. The only tournament that counts
is March 16-18 in Detroit, Michigan!
Before I can help the attitude of the team,
I need to adjust mine. Since coming to college
I have become a minimalist. Doing just enough
to win. Not pushing hard for seven minutes,
but doing the bare minimum to get the victory.
That isn’t the way I should be wrestling.
I am capable of wrestling harder and it does
not set a good example for the rest of the team.
I have worked hard on my conditioning and my
weight management, preparing for seven hard
minutes and wrestling up to my full potential.
I am now looking for bonus points every time
I step on the mat.
Outside of wrestling life is going pretty good.
I have a great class schedule. No classes on
Mondays or Fridays and no classes before 11:15AM.
The schedule leaves me plenty of time for studying
and extra workouts. When the season ends, it
will leave me plenty of time for studying and
relaxation.
Outside of practice and class, I watch a lot
of movies and TV. I have been attempting to
teach myself how to play the guitar (it’s
a lot harder than people make it look) and I
shoot a lot of darts. I have a dartboard in
my room and have certainly become the best dart
player on the team.
Other than that, my life is rather boring.
I’m just focusing on school and wrestling
right now. Next up is Hofstra, I have the number
6 ranked guy in the country. He placed 4th last
year at nationals at 174. I’m looking
forward to the match and cracking into the top
8 in the rankings. Back to work!
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ENTRY NUMBER Four- Jordan Leen
Entry
Number 4: Winter Session: January 18, 2007
Christmas
was short and sweet as usual. It pretty much
consisted of “hey mom, hey dad, well see
ya later.” On December 26th I headed back
up to the not yet snowy Ithaca to train for
the remaining 27 days of winter break. As a
veteran of this routine, I returned to school
well prepared for the long stretch of two-a-days
that awaited. I arrived with a refreshed mind,
Guitar Hero II, and a stack of DVDs that came
up to my knees. To my pleasant surprise, I was
met by my two roommates, Josh Arnone and Troy
Nickerson, who had also prepared well for training.
Troy arrived with an X-box 360 while Josh carried
with him three little corn bags, that when heated
can be draped around your neck to keep you warm
and comf.
Besides competing
on the weekends, each weekday has been crazy.
I mean it. Crazy! Each day typically starts
with a 9am wakeup followed by a 10am drill/lift/technique.
By about noon I make it back home for a tuna
salad sandwich and an argument with Josh about
eating all of his tuna. The three of us then
microwave our little corn bags, sit on the couch,
and begin building up the blacklist in order
to face our arch rival, Razor, in Need For Speed
Most Wanted. Razor cheated his way to the top
of the blacklist, took my sweet ride, and has
threatened to take my red-hot smokin girl, Mia.
Nevertheless, revenge with Razor is something
I am extremely passionate about. I am stopped
short of redemption each day at about 2:15 pm,
when I head back to the wrestling facility for
the second workout. This practice consists of
hard, structured drilling, live wrestling, and
conditioning. The conditioning comes in all
shapes and sizes: riding the air dyne, a treadmill
workout, running sprints, or Koll Crawls (sprinting
across the room on your hands and knees). The
treadmill workout seems to be the unanimous
favorite. You jump onto the treadmill, set to
full speed and full incline, and see how long
you can last. Sounds safe, right? Not at all.
In fact, when I came here on my recruiting trip
three years ago, I was surprised to be introduced
to a Travis Lee with a badly scuffed up face.
My only thought at the time was, “I don’t
want to mess with the guy who uglied Travis’s
face up.” I soon found out that it was
not a man who dieseled Travis, but rather, it
was the treadmill. Apparently he pushed himself
so hard on the treadmill workout that he passed
out and bounced down the machine, face first.
Since the incident with Travis, our coaches
have built a harnessing system that we strap
into before beginning the workout. It may not
actually work, but it does make us feel safer.
The second
workout is followed by a shower and dinner (with
the exception of a shower by Mike Rodriguez
because he claims that showering goes against
his cultural norms). By about 7 pm in the evening,
the real competition begins. Charlie Agozzino
comes over and we have a face-off, best 3 out
of 5, on Guitar Hero. While Charlie and I are
lifting our goblets of rock, Troy watches Josh
facebook stalk. The final event of the evening
is a movie. We all try to stay comf and cozy
with several blankets and our little corn bags.
Turning on the heater is not an option in our
apartment. After fending off a few gay passes
from Josh, the movie eventually reaches its
end and bedtime calls. We hit the hay sometime
between 10 and 10:30 pm each night, with the
exception of New Years Eve. We had just made
it back home from the Southern Scuffle on New
Years Eve, so we all agreed to make a bedtime
exception, and we went to bed at 9:30 pm.
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ENTRY NUMBER Three- Corey Manson
Entry
Number 3: Starting as a true freshman by Corey
Manson: January 5, 2007
I am a freshman this year at
141 lbs. Starting as a freshman has been tough,
because I have had to make huge adjustments
to be competitive at the college level, but
I couldn’t be in a better wrestling program
to make these adjustments. The first few weeks
of practice were rough, because I was getting
thrown around a lot, but I have made huge strides
in my wrestling due to the competition in the
practice room.
Our 10 day break over Christmas was nice, because
I was able to go back home to Tennessee for
the first time since I came to Cornell in August.
Over the break I was able to mentally recover
from the months of intense training and school.
Even though we were on break the coaches had
a strict training regiment for us, and Jordan
Leen who is also from Chattanooga, TN and I
prepared together for the Southern Scuffle.
This past week has been an extremely productive
week for the team as we are preparing for the
Penn State dual this weekend. For the most part
the whole team is healthy, and we just came
off of a strong showing at the Southern Scuffle
where we finished 3rd behind Minnesota and Missouri,
so everyone is in good spirits and ready to
compete. Upon our return from the Southern Scuffle,
we immediately began training hard. We have
been wrestling, lifting and running, and we
have had plenty of time to get individual workouts
with coaches. Personally I have been working
on my mat wrestling and scramble positions,
because those are positions that I didn’t
have to focus on in High School. Although we
have been training hard all week, some of the
coaches and I have found some time to duck hunt
a couple of mornings, which I feel helps me
recover and become more energized for the tough
day of training.
I am excited about the remaining months of the
season, and I know that our team has the ability
to achieve some great things this year, but
we must to take the season one match at a time,
and right now we are focusing on the Penn State
dual.
Hope to see you at Sundays match!
BLOG
ENTRY NUMBER TWO- Adam Frey
Entry
Number 2: Ready to compete by Adam Frey: December
26, 2006
Good day and
happy holidays to everyone. This is my first
blog entry, so I do not really know where to
start, but here I go!
Training has
been going well, I am still up here in Ithaca
working out and preparing for the Southern Scuffle.
Workouts are going great and finally stepping
back on the mat is becoming a reality. I can't
wait to just get out there again and feel the
excitement of competition.
Day one of the
Scuffle will be 17 months to the day since my
last match. That said, I am not really looking
forward to making weight, but I do not think
anyone looks forward to that. Training wise,
I am feeling great and able to go hard. I have
been wrestling in the morning, followed up by
a hard cardio/wrestling in the evening. My workouts
have been going well and every day that passes
I get more eager to take the mat. Also, my weight
is coming down much better than I could have
hoped and it should not be the problem I thought
it would be coming into this season.
My body feels
great and is responding well to the weight adjustment
and with the increase in work outs. I hope my
body continues to feel great for these next
80 days leading up to the NCAAs. After that,
well lets just say I could care less how my
body feels, because I will have time to recover
and eat as much as I want.
I am also thankful
for the support the coaching staff has given
me with my weight and preparation for my return
to competition. To think, a year ago I was preparing
to get my shoulder rebuilt at a nice fat 165.
The injury has given me a new perspective of
the sport that I truly love and I just can't
wait to compete again. With the support of the
coaching staff and my teammates, I am ready
and wrestling at what I feel is the best I have
ever wrestled. A lot of people have asked me
if it is going to be different stepping back
on the mat to compete, and I believe it will
be. Competing is going to be the same, that’s
just something you never lose, but my outlook
on the sport and the enjoyment factor I think
will be much greater now that I have come to
the realization that wrestling is not always
going to be there.
Well, to wrap
it up, hopefully this little tidbit was interesting
and I look forward to letting you all in on
how the season and everything is going from
my perspective again soon. Happy holidays to
you all.
BLOG
ENTRY NUMBER ONE- Troy Nickerson
Entry Number 1: Team Update by Troy Nickerson
: December 14, 2006
A day in the Life of Troy Nickerson…Christmas
Break is finally here and the only thing that
comes into my mind is that wrestling season
is finally kicking into high gear! Unfortunately,
I have yet to compete due to a few setbacks
and minor injuries. As I have been focusing
on school work and rehabbing myself back on
track, I think it is finally safe to say that
I am back 100% and I cannot wait to compete.
It has been very hard so far this season watching
my teammates and competitors getting at it while
I have been sidelined. One match in particular
that I was looking forward to was against Sam
Hazewinkel of Oklahoma. Not being able to go
to Dallas and compete in the All-Star Classic
was a opportunity hard to pass up.
I have been back on the mats for about two and
a half weeks now and have felt great everyday.
Training has been going well. Although our team
has yet to show its full potential, my teammates
have been working their butts off day in, day
out all year long. The last two weeks, we have
been very busy finishing up with our finals
and trying to finish the semester off right.
Inside the Friedman Center, we have been continually
working and improving everyday. Our conditioning
is top notch along with our focus and determination
being incredible. Practices have consisted of
a lot of drilling and long “grind”
matches. This is all on top of our perpetual
lifting schedule and conditioning workouts that
occur outside of practice times. Today we had
a pretty light day in practice as a result of
the last three days being very structured with
lots of live wrestling and conditioning. It
was a much needed rest day for many of us including
myself. The soreness had been getting to me
and I couldn’t wait to jump in the ice
bath after practice today; it was very refreshing.
As of right now, our team should be back to
show what we are really made of at the end of
this month. A lot of our guys are shooting for
being back at the Southern Scuffle. Other than
the Scuffle, our team is looking forward to
our next home dual meet competition against
Penn State on January 7th. I myself will meet
up against #4 ranked Mark McKnight. I have seen
him wrestle on tape a few times and he is real
funky and a good scrambler. It should be a very
exciting match.
In Summary, I would just like to say again how
excited I am to be back in the middle of everything.
Our team is gearing up right now trying to end
a great week of training before most of us will
head home for ten days to celebrate Christmas
with our families. I will be staying here in
Ithaca for another week of training and getting
myself in optimal shape for the coming events
before I head 40 minutes down route 79 to celebrate
the holidays with my family. Upon returning
after Christmas, I hope to be mentally fresh
and ready for a couple more days of training
before our team heads south. Hopefully my teammates
take advantage of the Christmas break and come
back to the grueling mental challenges with
the same relentless attitude that they left
with.
Ending, I would like to say Merry Christmas,
Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and a Happy New
Year to all of wrestling’s fans and see
you on the mats!
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