The Mental Aspect of Wrestling

[TMH]

As someone who never wrestled competitively, I have always been intrigued on how much effect a super competitive/almost cocky attitude has on the playing field. IMO, that may be the most evident in wrestling.
It seems that it is almost a natural part of their DNA. Mike Frick blatantly claimed that he would beat Dan Sherman in only his 2nd collegiate match and then went out and did it. Sherman became a National Champion that year. Caruso's confidence was legendary as was John Hughe's'.
I was always mystified by Cael Sanderson. He never seemed to me to be the fastest wrestler nor the strongest. He arrived at college from the state of Utah so the level of competition was likely less than stellar and yet never lost. Losing was never an option to him. Kyle Dake had a similar attitude. Cael has transplanted that same mindset to his wrestlers at Penn St.
I'm not sure if that mindset is pervasive in our room. It's very, very early but I saw a lot of wrestling not to lose. These freshman are very talented physically. Many could go on to do great things from a wrestling perspective. Many just seem to need the confidence to attack.
Again just my observation.

[jdalu75]

Mark Lieberman and Darryl Burley always struck me as having absolute confidence in their talents. When they attempted a move they committed to it totally. Fulfilling Sheridan's dictum: "Whatever you do, do it quickly."

Funny thing about Cael Sanderson. After his sophomore year I joined in a discussion on The Mat about who was the greatest 177/184 pounder ever; I remember a couple of guys holding out for Mark Schultz, but nobody had mentioned Cael. So I threw out his name, saying that although he had just wrestled two seasons what more could he have possibly done? The response was "No, no, he hasn't wrestled anybody good!" Wonder what those guys think now?

Jon Trenge said that, when wrestling Cael, getting to his legs wasn't a problem. The problem was that his legs couldn't be budged. Insane superhuman strength is always a nice edge.