Summer Like No Other

The summer after my junior year I decided to go to another wrestling camp with a fellow teammate. We went to the University of Iowa to attend a week long technique camp.

I got to see Dan Gable, Mark Johnson, Barry Davis, Greg Randall, and other great wrestlers.

I think Greg Randall was the guy who checked me and my teammate into the dorm. I believe he told us to go to the recreation area downstairs because that's where all the babes were. Thank you, Greg.

One evening, Dan Gable gave us a very inspiring speech. He also gave some other short talks as well. In one talk I think he said that some times a wrestler has to change things if they aren't working even that means getting up to run at 5:00 in the morning. I wasn't so crazy about that idea.

He also said that a really dedicated wrestler will always get his workouts in. If a wrestler doesn't have a chance to lift weights until midnight then he will lift weights at midnight. He will fit that workout in no matter what it takes.

Mark Johnson (who went on to become the head wrestling coach at the University of Illinois) gave us some weight training guidelines.

Brad Smith (great wrestler and coach) taught me how to do a really good high crotch takedown. I was going to be a senior and had never learned how to do a high crotch. I was in the dark. But, Brad showed me the light. He taught me different set ups and finishes. That's the main thing I remember from the camp at the University of Iowa.

Before I left camp I bought a tee shirt that read, "I Had A Summer Like No Other. I Wrestled For Dan Gable."

I didn't do much running that summer before my senior year. I lifted weights. I actually used an old manual my father had lying around. The manual was written by a guy named Bob Hoffman. Bob Hoffman started the York Barbell Company and played a big role in the world of weightlifting. He was the founder of Strength & Health Magazine. So, I usually went through a set of ten exercises, doing one set of ten reps for each. I used to do the clean and jerk a lot for the fun of it. I tried to incorporate some of what Mark Johnson taught us but I really knew very little about weight training.

It might have been that summer that my older sister found me up lifting weights at a late hour and wondered why I was still up. I said, "Well, you know what Dan Gable says..."

I also had a subscription to a magazine called Sports Fitness (which later became Men's Fitness). The first issue of Sports Fitness had football player Lyle Alzado on the cover. My parents gave me the subscription as a gift. I learned about the difference between weightlifting and bodybuilding. I learned about nutrition. I learned a little bit about sports psychology. It was a cool magazine but I'm not sure if it helped my performance or not. I do recall that one article said to focus on the means needed to reach your goal as opposed to focusing on the goal itself. Focus on your moves and on one match at a time and winning the tournament will take care of itself. I think I also learned about visualization and positive self talk being two techniques for mentally preparing for competition.

I used to look at the ads for protein powder and energy supplements looking for an edge of some kind.

I dated a minister's daughter for a short time period during high school. One evening I was at her house and was wearing the Dan Gable tee shirt I had gotten at camp.

My girlfriend's mother asked, "Who is Dan Gable?"

Who is Dan Gable? How could anyone not know who Dan Gable is? I realized that these people weren't from Iowa originally but I was still surprised by the question.

After I recovered somewhat from my state of shock I meekly answered, "He's the wrestling coach at the University of Iowa."

The reverend sensed my unease and tried to help me out. He said, "Yes, Dan Gable is the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. Or, in Iowa he's better known as God."

Well, I was no Dan Gable. I had yet to win a conference championship. I had yet to qualify for the State Tournament.

Thinking of wrestling made me feel a bit uneasy that summer. I was tired of cutting weight and tired of the pressure to win. And, I was tired of always losing those important matches at the end of the season.