I wanted to do a quick write-up on what makes a great wrestler. I put a couple pictures of Graettinger-Terril’s most recent state champions- Jared Enderton & Nate Howard. I just referred to myself in the 3rd person- that was weird haha! One thing is very evident- both of us committed ourselves to the weight room year round. Being in the weight room doesn’t just make you physically strong…It makes you mentally strong as well. That is where I gained a lot of my desire and willpower. Because I knew that others weren’t doing that. So I felt I deserved to win more than they did. It makes it a LOT harder to quit when you think you have outworked everyone else. If you truly believe you deserve it more- you will do anything to win. The last thing in the world you can even imagine is losing- because you have worked so hard in that weight room and in practice. It is easy to quit if you’ve only invested a small amount of time. But, if you’ve sacrificed a lot of time it makes it almost impossible to quit because all that time is just thrown out the window!
When I entered the state tournament my senior year. there was ZERO doubt in my mind about who was going to win it all. Every other year I was just sitting WAITING all day sunday for those brackets to come out. My senior year I could care less.. I didn’t care one bit who I had on my side of the bracket or who I had first round. It didn’t matter to me. I just knew I was better prepared. I decided I was going to go workout while I knew all my opponents were sitting at home waiting for the brackets to be released. I knew I had 1 up on them. I didn’t even look at it until late sunday night- hours after it had been released.
I knew the same was true for Nate this year. Heading into the season he was equally prepared. He basically lived in that weight room. Every time I visited back home he was in there when I went down there. It gave him a certain level of confidence that was obviously very evident. He pinned 45 out of his 46 opponents this year. He was excited to wrestle the 2nd ranked kid (who was also undefeated) in the quarterfinals so he could “get him out of the way.” Normal people don’t have a mindset like that…Normal people get worked up because they have a bad draw that they’re on the same side of the bracket as the #2 kid…Of course Nate isn’t normal either- He’s a State Champion. And also extremely committed to the weight room.
My point is this: The weight room gives you time to develop your mentality. It gives you time to really believe in yourself and gain confidence. When I worked out I was extremely cocky…I worked out alone a lot or with Brandon Murray. But, I would yell and say things I’d normally NEVER say in person because people would say I was cocky. But in the weight room when I’d lift a weight I had never lifted before I felt on top of the world. It gave me confidence to say those things and to believe in them. It carried over into schoolwork (graduated from high school with a 3.86 GPA)(graduated from UNI with honors and a 3.82 GPA- 3.93 in my major), business (creating Enderton-Strength), and of course athletic success. It gave me the platform to break through barriers on a daily basis and to leave there with a sense of accomplishment every single day…because I knew I was one step closer to my goal.
Don’t just lift…lift with a purpose. With intent. With a chip on your shoulder. Lift for you. Lift for confidence.
