August 23, 2024
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High School
Sometimes, wisdom doesn't come from age. Often, wisdom comes from experience. The more often we experience challenging events, matches or life's adversity, the wiser we become. A teenager who has wrestled at the toughest tournaments in the United States can become wise beyond his years. The same teenager with large amounts of success and setbacks learns early what it takes to be a champion at wrestling. And from this writer's perspective, what you know on the mat translates well to being a champion in life. With struggles, of course.
Nothing is ever a linear path. Life is filled with peaks and valleys. The peaks remind us of the valleys -- the hard times, the failures. The peaks remind us of what we've been through. The valleys, on the other hand, are where we develop grit and discover that we are more capable than we ever thought. We need both, though, to be successful as wrestlers and people.
So what can we learn from an ultra-successful 17-year-old wrestler? Ignore his age for a second and think about the competition Jax Forrest has wrestled. Forrest, heading into his junior year at Bishop McCort High School in Pennsylvania, has wrestled and beaten NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello. He has beaten other twenty-something college and senior level wrestlers. He wrestled a one-point match with world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman. Oh yeah, two of his coaches were NCAA Division II champions, Jody and John Strittmatter. Forrest trains their club, Young Guns, one of the nation's best wrestling clubs.
MatBoss caught up with the PIAA champion and Olympic Team Trials placewinner and picked his brain for advice for aspiring wrestlers and coaches. Below are some of Forrest's points on becoming a better wrestler or coach.
Forrest emphasizes that at the highest levels of wrestling, matches often come down to just a few critical moments where executing one or two key moves can make all the difference. He suggests mastering a couple of high-percentage takedowns that you can rely on under pressure. "At the highest level, almost all the matches depend on one or two takedowns, so if you can get really good at a couple of moves and score them on anyone you wrestle with, only good things will happen from it," Forrest said.
Forrest stresses the importance of drilling specific positions that commonly occur during matches. He suggests that wrestlers focus on the nuances of each position, like maintaining balance in a crackdown or properly applying pressure in a shin wizard. "Crackdown, head in the middle, shin wizard, leg in on top, starting on the feet from the bottom, positions like that where you will 100% get in during your matches are important to get good at," he said.
Mental preparation is key to Forrest’s approach. He acknowledges the inevitability of nerves but shares that staying grounded in the present moment and reflecting on the hard work done in training can be a powerful antidote. "Just like any person, I will get nervous, but praying and staying present helps with that a lot. In a hard match, I just try to think back to the hard work I've put in, and it's made me ready for this moment."
Forrest is a firm believer in learning from others, particularly those who have achieved success at the highest levels. He advises wrestlers and coaches to observe and adapt techniques from the best in the sport. "See what the best wrestlers do, and then you do something similar," Jax advised.
Forrest’s final piece of advice is to find joy in the sport, which he believes translates into better performance. "My mindset (at Fargo) was to stay present in the moment, make sure that I'm having fun and wrestling my hardest in every position," said Forrest after winning his second Fargo Championship in July.
Jax Forrest’s tips offer a glimpse into the mindset and strategies of a young champion who’s faced top-tier competition. Implementing these techniques can help wrestlers and coaches sharpen their focus and performance. To further elevate your wrestling program, consider leveraging tools like MatBoss, designed to streamline coaching and maximize success on the mat.
