Grapplers’ grueling workout regimen paying off

As the wrestlers shuffle along their practice room’s mat-covered floor, IU coach Duane Goldman barks out orders.

“Keep your head up,” he implores them. “Touch the ground.”

Assistant coach Joe Dubuque, who wrestled for Goldman for two national championships at IU, works with team members, bending low at the knee, lifting his head and showing them proper technique.

“Gotta get better today,” he shouts.

From this form drill to running sprints up inclines to a 40-minute live wrestling drill, this team has embraced whatever Goldman and his staff have implemented.

And it shows.

The No. 14 Hoosiers (12-1, 1-1) have finished in the top 10 of every scored tournament this season and have four top-15 wrestlers on its squad.

And those four, Goldman said, are the four that work the hardest in practice.
Seniors Angel Escobedo (No. 1 at 125 pounds) and Nate Everheart (No. 2 at heavyweight) and juniors Kurt Kinser (No. 6 at 157) and Paul Young (No. 13 at 165) exemplify athletes buying into a system and benefitting from it.

Although they might not enjoy it sometimes, they know the workouts have immense benefits.

“The goal in every practice is to push yourself physically and mentally,” Young said. “I think that’s something Duane’s really done through lifts, through running, through drills, through wrestling live.”

They also trust their coach, who has been around the wrestling and coaching block. An 18-year veteran at IU, he was also a four-time All-American at Iowa during his collegiate wrestling days, compiling a 132-10 record at 190 pounds and earning an NCAA Championship in his senior year.

“He’s been doing it his whole life,” Young said of the team’s rigorous practice schedule. “He was trained that way growing up as a wrestler himself. He knows exactly what he’s doing. What we do on a daily basis – it all has a purpose for later on.”

It’s not just running until they vomit or doing leg lifts until the room becomes blurry that has this team among the top groups in the country. It’s also based in technique and mental toughness generated by drilling and getting through the daily grind, Kinser said.

“It makes you improve everywhere,” he said. “Of course, athletically, you get better, but the mental building is just a really, really big key in college ... Mentally, I’m the best I’ve been ever since I’ve been here at Indiana.”

A more physically imposing wrestler, Kinser said he is not so much a technician as others in his weight class. That has forced him to work harder every day so he can outwork every opponent on the mat.

From there, it’s a matter of what the coaches see from their team that determines what they’ll do in practice during the next week.

“If they feel like we need conditioning, we’ll do a lot more running and stuff,” Kinser said. “If it’s a matter of we’re getting out-techniqued on the mat, we’ll definitely put a lot more into drilling and situations. All that stuff translates directly to our matches.”

With their top four men totaling 94 wins and eight losses this season, it’s clear that the “stuff” Kinser speaks of is getting through to some.

And as they sit at practice’s end, shirts drenched in sweat and eyes glazed, Goldman talks about instilling it in every team member.

He tells them to make the most of each day, that people compete harder when Big Ten season comes and everyone, even the non-starters, has to step up their wrestling to push the varsity wrestlers to a higher level.

In the end, it’s about doing the little things right. And when you’re in a conference that made up nearly half of the NCAA tournament last year, those are what matter most.

“Sometimes the things that you hate the worst are the best things for you,” Young
said.

And that’s not just a lesson for this team.