My experience this year at the world championships wasn’t what I had envisioned. I felt great leading up to the tournament. I was well rested, confident in my training and ability to win, and I was having fun wrestling. Unfortunately the day of competition I wasn’t able to do what I needed to do to win the matches to allow me to have a winning wrestling tournament. I lost first round to Sweden’s Jimmy Lidberg. He made it to the finals which pulled me back into the tournament. Then, in the wrestle backs, I beat Tunisia, and I lost my next match before the medal round to Belarus. It was disappointing, but I was able to glean a few lessons on what I will do next time in my preparation for my competitions.

1) The first lesson is to not change too many things right before or at the competition. When you are doing something at the elite level, you are always looking for things to do that will help you to gain an advantage. I got some advice that I really took to heart and tried to apply. I am not saying that it wasn’t good advice, but the time of implementation was not ideal. I was really focusing on trying to wear my opponents down to get them tired, but the way I was going about it was not ideal for me. I spent too much time hanging on my opponents head trying to wear him down instead of making more attacks at an angle. When an opponent makes attempts to defend themselves, that is when they get tired not when you bang on their head. If you are able to bang the head and make combinations out of it into an attack, that is when you will be successful.

2) I needed to trust myself more. Again I take 100% responsibility for my training, competition, wins, and losses so I am not saying that I lost because of what other people did. In the matches that I lost, I didn’t stick to what I usually try. I will usually try to go for a gut wrench and later try to combine it with a lift. Many times the gut wrench can work as a great set up to the lift. However, at this tournament the corner was telling me to lift. Instead of testing my gut wrench first and then going to my lift, I went straight to the lift, and the attempts weren’t solid enough to produce any points. Perhaps I might still not have scored even if I did try to gut wrench first, but in the very least I wouldn’t be wondering later if it would have made a difference or not. So make sure to stick with your style and your game plan. Changing things in the heat of the moment is not always a good idea, but hey then again sometimes improvisation is what pays huge dividends.

3) Don’t rush things. A lot of things can happen with a few seconds on the clock, and it is crucial to take the time to use every one of those seconds effectively. I tried a lift in my match against Belarus, my back was up against the wall, and I needed to score or I would lose the period anyway. I lifted him, but as I rushed the throw, I got countered and lost the period. If I would have taken a split second to readjust the throw might have worked, or it might have failed, but once again I wouldn’t be thinking about it afterwards. I also saw some photos of that match, and my opponent clearly hit me with a leg foul. If I would have thought for a second after the failed attempt, I could have challenged the call. That at least would have given the officials the opportunity to review the action and determine if it was a leg foul or not.

So the tournament didn’t go as well as I had hoped and planned, but sometimes that is the nature of competition. I have plans to move forward, and I have concrete things to improve. When you win you party, and when you lose you ponder. I want the pondering now to pay off with some partying in the future.