Is College Wrestling Hard?

Recently a young high school wrestler asked me the question "is college wrestling hard?"

Initially the answer to this question seems obvious. A college wrestling room is full of all of the best high school wrestlers, of course college wrestling is hard!

After some thought however, I do not think this answer is all that helpful. Yeah, college wrestling is a challenge and it will require an immense amount of work to be successful, but coming into college with this mindset that "college wrestling is hard" can hold you back.

When I was a freshman in college I thought "everyone I wrestle in college is going to be good". This is true to an extent, but it led me to a place where I did not place high enough expectations on myself. I figured, since everyone was good I was supposed to lose quite a bit. This mindset was flat out wrong! It wasn't until my Junior year that I discovered I could truly dominate at the college level, even though most of my opponents were not going to be pushovers.

Midway through my Junior year I had a season ending injury, which left me with just one more year to compete in college wrestling. That injury gave me a lot of perspective on wrestling and life. I realized that you are never guaranteed next year or even tomorrow in wrestling or in life. So don't wait to place high expectations on yourself! It is never "too early" to be successful in college wrestling. If you are going into your freshman year of college do not sell yourself short on your goals for this season. You never know how many years you will have to compete, so make the most of every opportunity you get!

In short, yes, college wrestling is hard, but you can still become dominant. Someone has to win, why not you?