My opinion doesn't hold nearly as much weight as some other coaches. Understanding that many wrestlers are reading this forum, I will use Dan Gable's words on what pressure can do to a kid from a chapter on "Bringing Out Athlete's Potential":



Gable says, "... on the other extreme are the athletes who look like superstars in practice but who don't perform up to their potential in matches. Most often this problem is more psychological than physical, and it can be extremely frustrating for coaches and athletes. Such a problem is probably more prevalent at the high school level, but it can happen as well at the college level. Sometimes it can happen to a wrestler who has been successful in the past but who has recently suffered some difficult defeats.

Whatever the circumstances, you need to analyze what might be holding your wrestler back and help him over this psychological hump. It is not an easy task... where you are working with an athlete who has years of a psychological debilitating pattern already ingrained. Each athlete has a different set of experiences and a certain button to push in terms of motivation and match performance. One unusual case was the wrestler who responded best to his father's blunt criticism. I [Gable] asked the kid if he wanted to avoid his dad's harsh comments, but he said it helped him push himself to improve and that treatment was okay. Although unusual, this approach worked well for him."



Back to Coach DeYoe's advice: Let the brackets be drawn, support and encourage your children and wrestlers, and make the focus be on winning against the opponent that the bracket places on the mat in front of them. All the other stuff is added pressure that kids don't need during finals week. They are reading this, they know who they need to beat. We, as coaches, know who they need to beat and have been doing what it takes to help them achieve success.

We are molding young men in high school; not college or professional athletes. Until they are wrestling on a scholarship, rankings mean nothing. Ask Jordan Keller (unranked H.S. National Champion). I personally don't think they need any more pressure beyond what they have from school (with finals this week), their own teams, and most importantly- the pressure they put on themselves.

If you want to really help Kansas wrestling improve: encourage more kids to participate in summer programs and send letters to the colleges and universities in the state to start up programs. Thank you to everyone who has already taken on this role.