If I Were Going to Train a Wrestler From Beginner to Champion Again, This is What I Would Do.

The Map I Wish I Had

If I could go back in time and start the process of training a wrestler from a beginner to a champion all over again, knowing everything I know now, this is what I would do.

This isn't a list of regrets. It’s the opposite. It’s a distillation of every hard-won lesson learned in the trenches—from my time as a wrestler, mixed martial artist, combat vet, to the grind of becoming a national champion athlete, to the thousands of hours I've spent coaching, and most importantly, to the years I've spent raising my own sons in this brutally honest sport.

I’m writing this because I see parents and young coaches out there operating without a map. They’re lost in a sea of bad advice, flashy gimmicks, and short-term thinking. They mean well. They want their kid to succeed. But they chase quick wins, focus on the wrong things at the wrong times, and often burn kids out before they ever get a glimpse of their true potential.

So, this is the map.

This is the philosophy, the system, and the progression that I have personally tested and proven in the real world. The primary case study for this entire approach is my own twin boys. Their path is the living proof of this philosophy.

I watched them go from getting absolutely crushed on the mat as young kids, to standing on top of podiums as dominant champions. The difference wasn't a secret move or some hidden talent. The difference was a commitment to one core, unshakable principle from day one:

We were not just building wrestlers; we were building complete, dominant athletes, brick by brick, from the ground up.

What follows is the blueprint for that process. It’s a long-term game. If you’re looking for a shortcut, you can stop reading now. If you're looking for the truth, let’s get to work.

Phase 1: The Foundation - Building the Athletic Engine (Ages ~7-10)

Let’s start at the beginning. You have a young kid, maybe 7, 8, or 9 years old. They’re just getting into wrestling. They have that fire. Your job as a parent or coach is to protect and cultivate that fire, not extinguish it with misplaced priorities.

The single most important goal during these first few years has nothing to do with winning wrestling matches.

Read that again. The wins and losses on the mat at this age are almost meaningless. They are noise. Obsessing over them is a fool's errand.

In this foundational phase, we have only two goals:

To build a love for hard, disciplined work.
To forge a skilled mover.

If we accomplish those two things, the winning will take care of itself in the years to come.

The "More Wrestling" Trap

The first mistake I see parents make when their kid struggles is to throw more wrestling at the problem. They sign them up for another club, another travel team. They think 10 hours a week of just drilling moves will fix everything.

This is a huge mistake.

You are trying to build the roof of a house on a foundation of sand. You are creating a one-dimensional athlete. A kid who specializes too early in just wrestling becomes very good at one thing, but they are often physically fragile and athletically incomplete. They haven't built the raw materials—the strength, balance, and coordination—to support that high-level skill as they grow.

Priority #1: Hardwire Perfect Movement with the Real Tools

This is the central theme of this phase, and it's where my system is fundamentally different. A young athlete's brain and nervous system are like a sponge. The movement patterns they learn at this age—good or bad—will be hardwired into them for the rest of their athletic career. There is no reason to wait to teach them the most important skills.

We start teaching the master key lifts on day one. We just do it intelligently. The focus is 100% on skill acquisition, using the actual tools of the trade, scaled appropriately. We are coaching the skill of strength.

The Squat: We will use a PVC pipe or a light technique bar to teach the perfect, full-depth Back Squat, Front Squat, and even the Overhead Squat. We are building the motor pattern long before we add any serious load.
The Deadlift: We start with a light kettlebell to groove the hip hinge. But we quickly move to a light barbell to teach the proper setup and pull from the floor.
The Olympic Lifts: Yes, even at this age. The Clean and the Snatch are the ultimate teachers of explosive power and coordination. We use a 5-pound or 15-pound technique bar and drill the positions relentlessly. We are teaching their nervous system how to be explosive. This gives them a massive, almost unfair advantage over their peers who won't touch these lifts for another five years.
Bodyweight Mastery: We obsess over the perfect Push-Up (from a box if needed), the perfect Ring Row, and the fundamentals pull-up bar movements. We build the "armor" by mastering the ability to control one's own body in space.

Conditioning as a "Game"

A 7-year-old doesn't respond to a coach yelling "Get on the line for sprints!" To build their engine and their mental toughness, we have to frame conditioning as a challenge or a game.

It looks like this:

"Let's play 'The Ladder Game.' We'll do 1 burpee and 1 kettlebell swing. Then 2 of each. Then 3. How high can you climb in 7 minutes?"
"Here's the challenge: How many rounds of 5 push-ups, 5 squats, and a 20-foot shuttle sprint can you get in 5 minutes?"

The stimulus is the same as a high-intensity workout. They are pushing their limits, learning to keep moving when they're tired, and building their engine. But to them, it's a game they are trying to win. We are building the mental fortitude of a champion without them even realizing it.

The Mantra for this Phase: Learn the value of the Process

This is the message you, as the parent or coach, must live by. Fall in love with the process, not the results.

Your "win" for the day isn't if your kid won their match. The real win is noticing their Power Clean technique is finally starting to click. The win is seeing them push through a tough conditioning "game" without quitting. The win is them being excited to get their hands on a barbell.

If you can build a young athlete who moves with technical perfection in the foundational lifts and has fallen in love with the process of hard work, you have created an unstoppable force for the future. You have built a foundation of rock. Now, in the next phase, we can start building the fortress on top of it.

Phase 2: The Forge - Building the Armor & The Engine (Ages ~11-14)

Alright, the foundation is set. Your athlete has spent years hardwiring perfect movement patterns. They move with a level of skill and coordination that their peers, who have only been wrestling, simply do not possess. They love the process of training.

Now, we start building the fortress on top of that foundation. This is the phase where the real, undeniable physical separation happens. This is where we forge the armor and the engine. The wins and losses on the mat are still secondary, but they will start to come more frequently, and more violently, as a direct result of the work we do here.

The Barbell is a Teacher

In this phase, the barbell becomes our primary tool. And let me be clear: the barbell teaches more than just strength. It is a masterclass in discipline, honesty, and the power of incremental progress.

It teaches honesty because you cannot cheat a heavy squat. You either have the strength to stand up with good form, or you don't. The barbell is an objective truth-teller.
It teaches respect for the process. You don't walk in and add 100 pounds to your deadlift in one day. You earn it, five pounds at a time, week after week.
It teaches discipline because it requires you to show up consistently and do the work, even when you're sore, even when you'd rather be doing something else.

This is where we truly learn to "stack bricks." Every successful training session is another brick in the fortress of a dominant athlete.

The 4 Pillars in Action

The training in this phase now becomes a deliberate, weekly attack on all 4 Pillars. A single training session is no longer just a "leg day" or "arm day." Every session is a chance to build the complete athlete.

Here’s what a typical training day looks like in the forge:

We start with a heavy Back Squat session. This is an obvious deposit in the Strength pillar. But it's more than that. Demanding perfect form on every single rep, even when the weight is heavy, is a lesson in Skill. And pushing through that last, grinding rep of a heavy set of five is a direct deposit into the Mindset pillar.
We follow that with a brutal Metcon (Metabolic Conditioning). This is our tool for forging the Conditioning pillar—building the engine that never quits.

This is the system in action. Every single training day is a multi-faceted assault on weakness, designed to build a complete weapon.

Implementing the Hierarchy: Chasing ROI

Now that the athlete is older and has a solid foundation of movement skill, the temptation to do "fun," flashy, low-impact stuff is even greater. We resist it. We double down on our Hierarchy of Movements.

Our focus is on Return on Investment (ROI). Every minute spent in the gym must deliver the maximum possible benefit. This is why we now get serious about chasing numbers on the "master key" movements:

Heavy Squats, Deadlifts, and Presses to build overwhelming, absolute strength.
The Olympic Lifts (Cleans and Snatches) to build violent, explosive, athletic power.
Strict Pull-ups and Dips to build the kind of upper body armor that dominates in the hand-fight.

The difference in outcome between an off-season spent doing heavy, technically sound cleans and an off-season spent doing battle ropes is not small. It is a chasm. One builds a dangerous athlete. The other builds a kid who is good at shaking ropes. We are not here to get good at exercising; we are here to get good at dominating.

The Mantra for this Phase: The Off-Season is Where Next Year's Champions Are Built

This is the mindset we live by in this phase. While other wrestlers are taking a season off to play another sport, or just resting and playing video games, the dedicated wrestler is in the forge. They are stacking bricks.

This is their secret weapon. It is an opportunity that their competition is squandering. Every single training session in these "forgotten" months is a step ahead. This is where they build the strength that will shock people in November. This is where they build the engine that will win them titles in February.

The foundation is built. Now, in the forge, we build the monster.

Phase 3: The Peak - Sharpening the Weapon & Forging the Mind (Ages ~15+)

The foundation has been laid. The fortress has been built in the forge. Your athlete is now a different animal. They are strong, they are skilled in their movements, and they have a massive engine. They are no longer just a wrestler; they are a problem.

Now, in this final phase of development, the game changes. The training becomes less about building raw material and more about sharpening the weapon. This is where the physical and the mental merge. This is where we move from building a contender to forging a champion.

The Benchmark Becomes the Truth-Teller

For years, the focus has been on the process: perfect movement, consistent effort. Now, we start holding ourselves accountable to the results. Our Champion's Path Benchmark Tracker becomes the ultimate truth-teller.

It is no longer enough to just "have a good workout." We now have a clear, data-driven picture of the athlete's total capacity. The numbers on that sheet don't lie. They tell us exactly where we stand, and they expose any remaining weakness with brutal honesty.

The conversation in this phase sounds like this:

"You're getting pushed around in the tie-up? Let's look at your Bench Press and Strict Press numbers compared to the elite benchmarks. The data says we need to get stronger. Let's attack it."
"You gassed out in that overtime scramble? Your "Fran" time is still in the 'Competitive' category, not 'Elite.' Your glycolytic engine is the weak link. We're going to make that a focus."

The benchmarks remove all the guesswork. We are no longer just training hard; we are surgically attacking specific, measurable weaknesses. We are hunting down elite numbers, because we know that those numbers translate to dominance on the mat.

Forging the "Unshockable" Athlete

The most important work we do in this phase is mental. The athlete has now been through so many different "flavors of pain" in training that the chaos and stress of a high-stakes wrestling match start to feel... normal. They have been forged. They are becoming unshockable.

I'll never forget the moment I saw this transformation fully realized in my own son, Andrew.

He was in the State Finals, overtime, against a returning, multi-time champion who seemed unbeatable. The pressure was immense. And right there, in the thick of it, Andrew smiled. Just a small, almost imperceptible smile.

Why?

He wasn't being cocky. He was certain. He had been to this dark place a thousand times before in the gym—lungs on fire, muscles screaming. He knew he could handle it. But he sensed that his opponent, who was used to smashing everyone, was tasting a new flavor of pain... and he was panicking.

A few seconds later, the opponent tried a desperate move. Andrew, calm in the storm, countered it perfectly and won his first state title.

That smile was the physical proof that the system had worked. He was unshockable. The chaos of a State Finals match was just another day at the office. This is the ultimate goal.

The Graduation to Extreme Ownership

In this final phase, my role as a coach begins to shift. I am no longer the drill sergeant, the motivator, and the primary driver. The athlete is now becoming the CEO of their own performance.

They have internalized the principles. They understand the "why" behind the work. They take Extreme Ownership of everything. They own their nutrition. They own their recovery. They own their mindset. They come to me not for motivation, but for strategic advice.

They have learned the most important lesson of all: that every outcome, good or bad, is their responsibility. They have stopped looking for excuses and now only look for solutions.

The Mantra for this Phase: Numbers Don't Lie

This is the final mindset. We trust the process, but we verify with data. We are honest about where we stand, we have a clear vision of where we want to go, and we have a proven system to close the gap.

At this level, hope is not a strategy. We operate on proof.

The physical weapon has been built. The mind has been forged. The athlete is now complete.

It's a 10-Year Game

So that's the map. The full blueprint. From a 7-year-old learning to love movement, to a 14-year-old forging an engine in the off-season, to an 18-year-old stepping onto the mat as an unshockable, dominant force.

Notice a common theme? There are no shortcuts.

This isn't a 12-week "get shredded" plan. It is a long-term, year-round commitment to a disciplined lifestyle. It's a 10-year game. If a wrestler starts this path at 8, they have the potential to be a world-class competitor by 18. If they start at 13, that target is 23. You can't cheat the timeline; you can only honor the process.

And that process—the daily choice to do the hard, foundational work when no one is watching—is what builds the real prize. The wins, the medals, the podiums... those are great. They are the feedback that the system is working.

But the real trophy is the character that is forged in the fire. The discipline, the resilience, the unwavering self-belief, and the radical sense of Extreme Ownership—those are the qualities that a wrestler will carry with them long after they hang up their shoes.

You are not just building a champion wrestler; you are building a champion human being. A future leader, a great husband, a great father. Someone who knows how to face down a challenge, look it in the eye, and get to work.

That is the ultimate victory.

This is the path. This is the philosophy we live by every single day. If this is the journey you want for your wrestler, I have two ways to help you start.

1. The Blueprint: My book, "The Complete Wrestler," is the full, detailed manual of this entire system. It's the 12-week program, the benchmarks, the nutrition, the philosophy—all of it.
➡️ Get "Beyond The Mat" Manual Here

2. The Daily Work: The Champion's Circle is where this system comes to life. It's the daily workouts, the coaching insights, and the community of "hammers" all on the same path.
➡️ Join the Champion's Circle Now!

The map is in your hands. The work begins now.