BLOG 1--LUCAS STELDT

I am currently packing and noticing those last few items I need that I have to run back to the store for. With the joy of that, I thought this would be great time to write my 1st “Blog” and to give me a chance to sit down for a second.

Wisconsin Greco Junior World Team wrestlers include, Alston Nutter, Tyler Dow, and Brady Koontz.  I am attending the Junior Worlds as a “Personal Coach” to Alston Nutter and Tyler Dow.

Life is always busy for everyone. Everyone has their own definition of “busy”.  The life of an athlete and for myself as a coach is very busy but strategic.

Alston and Tyler’s training has been organized and focused.  After winning the World Team spot in June they both took some time off to get ready to endure the training needed to win a World Championship.

In July, we started our training by analyzing past mistakes.  We used DartFish to help identify their strengths and weaknesses. Then we organized offensive strategies for them to remain in scoring positions and improve upon deficits.  By the time they participated in the Las Vegas World Team Camp in August they had offensive schemas in place and their weakness were accounted for.

In August, our WI athletes attended the World Team Camp in Las Vegas that included the U23 and Senior Teams.  Two other Wisconsin athletes were invited to attend, Cadet Greco World Team Member Cale Anderson and junior athlete Nick Rogge. After the Las Vegas camp the Junior World Team traveled to the Colorado Olympic Training Center (COTC) for additional training.  After returning from the COTC the athletes were off to their respective colleges. Alston Nutter returned to Northern Michigan Olympic Training Site at Northern Michigan University and Tyler Dow started at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Brady Koontz headed out to Ohio State University.

The guys training started tapering down early this week. The Junior Greco World Team traveled to Trnava, Slovakia on Thursday.  They are currently in Trnava getting acclimated to the area. I will arrive Sunday midday and am looking forward to the colimatnation of this journey.

WI also have a strong presence on the Junior Women’s Freestyle Team.

Stay tuned for updates from Trnava, Slovakia. Please comment on social media to show support for our WI athletes and all of the US World Team Members.  

BLOG 2--LUCAS STELDT

Today started out with my wife taking me to Jamie Nutter’s residence to catch a ride to the Chicago International Airport. Checked in through security and then boarded the plane.

Next stop: Vienna, Austria then private driver to Trnava, Slovakia. Riding with me will be Jamie Nutter and Pat Kilty. It’s just over an hour drive.

Update: It’s Sunday Sept 16. We landed in Vienna and had a little scare. Our luggage never appeared on the carrousel. Most of the passengers received theirs.  We all lined up at the luggage claim just to have them send us back to the carrousel and start it back up. Finally everyone’s luggage arrived and we were back on track. That was very relieving and too close for comfort.

Note: All people interested in traveling internationally have to have two things, patience and problem solving skills. Patience is not my personnel strong suit but I am a problem solver!

The car ride through the countryside was beautiful.  Very similar to the terrain in Wisconsin.

After checking into the hotel it was time to walk around and get some groceries. This is always an adventure when traveling internationally.

After checking weight we took a walk to the grocery store.  World Team Coach Nate Engle, Tyler Dow and Alston Nutter are with me this time. With this being my second trip to the grocery store I felt confident navigating the city.  We ran into Tyler Dows parents and they joined us as well.

After returning from the store it was time for supper. A buffet type style is the layout for the  World Championships it included chicken, pork, fish, rice, potatoes, pasta, veggies, salads, and a small desert selection.

At this time coaches are focused on researching our match ups.

With a short talk (1-2min max.) to Alston about his first round match up we both are left feeling like “this is business as usual”. Then our handshake and he’s off to bed. Nothing dramatic here or dissertation like in this conversation, we're in the implementation phase.

Brady Koontz has his coaches preparing him as well.

Tyler Dow awaits his competition start date on Tuesday. His “draw” will be Monday.

Nightcap: Post supper and our last team meeting, we were able to find the Packer vs Viking American football game on in the lobby. It was the perfect ending to the day spent watching the game with several people from the USA delegation.

Bedtime: 22:00:00

Monday September 17, 2018

8:00:00

Weigh ins

10:00:00

Round 1 -GO TIME-

Stay tuned for updates from Trnava, Slovakia. Please comment on social media to show support for our WI athletes and all of the US World Team Members.  

WI Wrestling: State-Nationally-Internationally

#teamusa #wwf #wiscogreco #gogreco #womensfreestyle #worldmedals #teamtrophy

 

BLOG 3--LUCAS STELDT

Acclimating to the time change overseas  is always a test of will. I did pretty good this time. I stayed up for the most part and went to bed around 23:00:00. I had to wake up to attend a weight check at 7:00:00. Everyone was on and no additional workouts were needed. This is a good gauge of training, meal plans and focusing on the task at hand.

9:00

Warm up at our host hotel consisted of a traditional run, stretch, drill with added hard goes to prepare for the day. Tomorrow I will have Alston shorten this to about 20 min. Less running more drilling. Mainly to get him flowing in his offense. This way he will also have more rest time before his first match, which is early.  Due to tournament time adjustments warm-ups are one hour earlier tomorrow. I’ll have Tyler use a little longer warm up since he had today off and competes later in the day.

10:30

Competition starts and Alston Nutter is up early. He is competing against Erbol Bakirov (KGZ).  It’s a scramble and the opponent ends up scoring 4 points from a headlock. They’re back on their feet and Alston hits a beautiful duck under to a trapped arm body lock only to be countered and the closing 4 points is scored for the opponent to end the match.

Alston loses the match by tech fall 0-8.

We sat the rest of the day watching and hoping his opponent would make it to the finals so Alston could be pulled back in.

Brady Koontz suffers a heart breaker. Winning for most the match then is defeated 7-6. He opponent is beat later and Brady is eliminated.

18:00

Alton’s opponent makes the finals beating a very talented Russian via pin from a headlock. Alston is back in! Now it's time to come here for what he’s been training for these last several years, World Medals for the United States of America. He will compete Tuesday at 9:30. He weighs in at 7:30 with a 2kg allowance. He will face an athlete from Armenia.

20:00

Team meeting. Weights are checked and everyone is good to go. Alston and Tyler are dialed in. A short talk about Tuesdays itinerary and adjustments that need to be made. After I spoke with Alston and Tyler about tomorrow’s individual plans they were off to bed.

Notes:

What is said after a loss?

With Alston at this level I don’t say anything immediately. I let him walk off and we talk later. When we did talk it was simple and to the point advice, “stay within yourself”. “Sometimes the match has to come to you”. We outlined the offense, positioning and controls of choice we knew he needed to adhere to be successful. He is to write it down and then send it me so I can put it in his file. It’s system we have that serves several purposes.

Tyler hits the mat a little later since it is his first day. He is ready. His attitude is great and he’s in tremendous shape. I’m very excited to see him wrestle tomorrow.

I am currently researching his opponent online. Tomorrow at warmups we will discuss my notes.

Tuesday is a new day and it is ours to make.

BLOG 4--LUCAS STELDT

It’s a early morning and weight is made and the guys are getting ready for warm ups.  We’ll adhere to the plan. More drilling and less running for warm ups to save their legs for matches. Both guys have matches early today, Alston is 4th and Dow is 6th, so it will be busy right away. 
10:00
Nutter loses a battle to the Armenian. Dow drops a hard fought battle to the Hungarian. The Hungarian drops a match later and Dow is eliminated from the World Championships.
Post Match: At this point in this environment you shake the athletes hands or maybe leave them to themselves. Later, much later, a conversation is had about what happened and what needs to be changed to be successful in the future. For myself, I immediately make notes in their files and also my personal journal. The notes range from match performance to what needs to be changed from the beginning of training. I usually just start throwing thoughts and idea down and later organize and refine them. 
21:00
All in all a good day. Colton Schultz takes the Bronze at 130kg.  Andrew Berreyesa 82kg is in the finals going for Gold for the United States of America. Tomorrow the girls hit the mat.  We’ll be watching and supporting them especially the Wisco girls!
Wednesday September 19, 2018

8:00
Up early to the grocery store then to event center to watch the repechage greco matches to make notes and support the girls. 
Macey walks through her first two opponents. 
14:30
Working on this Blog and then to lunch with Nutter. The conversation is about future changes and the immediate tasks at hand. Also just enjoying our time here after years of work and breaking barriers. I am of course beyond proud and very motivated to get back to work and continue this awesome journey. 
22:00
What a night! Great Greco!!!! The Greco has been high level and very exciting. 
Andy Berreyesa 82kg brings Silver back to the States. Macey Kilty dominates in Freestyle and is in to the finals against Russia. I really wish I could stay to see that match. The energy in the air when facing Russia is electric. I respect them but at the same time despise the way they wrestle and the way they are so short sided. But that isn’t for this blog. 
23:00
Late night pizza with a some of coaches and trainers. The typical talk of how to improve our sport (greco) also the response to calls made during competition. We laugh as three Japanese Greco athletes walk by because we're outside of a restaurant that’s no longer serving. There is a large portion of our pizza left and we gladly give it to the athletes. 
The stories created on the tours I go on and at each World Championship are priceless.  I love Greco and the world of greco. I meet and associate with people all over the world that share a common interest. The greatest thing about Greco, and I’m sure Freestyle, is it’s a world sport and language is never a barrier. We fight, we train, and build the sport together. 
As a coach, trainer, and mentor I’ve always had goals and aspirations. State National Team Members, State Champions, Fargo All Americans, Fargo Champions, World Team Trials All Americans,  and World Team Members. The goal of World Medals and World Championships is next on the list besides the holy grail; Olympic accomplishments. With the ever changing landscape of wrestling and Greco I am always on the move looking how to accomplish my vision. 
It is a fact if you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result, it is insanity. 
Me and my athletes need different results. Changes will be made, not just in training but also the environments, which is needed to accomplish our goals. 
Thank you for following these blogs and supporting the athletes.  This blog was a new experience for me and I enjoyed sharing it with everyone.  My goal is to do this again during another World Championships.  I regret not doing this in my past World Championship assignments. I hope you enjoyed it. 
2:30
Our car arrives to pick us, Jamie Nutter and myself. Then to Vienna, Austria International Airport (VIE) and on a plane to London. Then over the pond and jump on our next flight to the Chicago International Airport (ORD). 
WI Wrestling: State-Nationally-Internationally 
#teamusa #wwf #wiscogreco #gogreco #womensfreestyle #worldmedals #teamtrophy