http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/interface/feed.png http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php Copyright 2008, Clint Wattenberg Clint Wattenberg en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080702-075946
Professionally, I have been staying busy. I helped host a successful golf outing which is a reasonable fundraiser for the FLWC on Saturday, and then camps began on Sunday. Those of you that have heard me talk about camps know how I love them. They are going alright, although I have fallen into the "Social Director" role for the HS coaches, so that means late nights.

Other than that, I am getting geared up to get back into the classroom in the Fall, as an undergrad. I have about 23 undergrad prerequisite credits to take in order to be eligible to begin a Registered Dietitian (RD) internship. So after a year of classes and a year of internship work I should be ready to (hopefully) begin a Sports Nutrition program here at Cornell in which I will integrate the nutrition with the strength and conditioning.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080702-075946 Clint Wattenberg Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:59:46 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080702-075946 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080618-154844
At the tournament, there were a couple things working against me. My back problem has actually turned out to be a beat up rib that was causing the problems. I actually got a shot of painkiller in my rib before wrestling. More problematic seemed to be my inability to lift heavy for the month or so leading up to the tourney. I didn’t seem to have as much power as I like and am accustomed to; I penetrated a couple times on shots and was met with hips which I couldn’t contain. Not to assume that I could have finished my shot on these strong guys under different circumstances, but I did not feel as strong as I normally do.

The last thing that I really felt was summed up by Rob saying “it’s obvious that you had been training too much specifically for Hrovat too much”. He said this because of my lack of penetration on my shot attempts. I listened to him, and thought about it, and realized he was kind of correct, but probably it is more likely that my inability to really commit on hard penetration shots is due to wrestling Damion so much this year. By no means is this in any way his fault, but the combination of his weight advantage over me and his killer defense along with his great chest-lock/ front headlock probably had the biggest effect on my steering toward snag-type shots. I have long known that I have problems shooting under Damion because even if I get in on a solid shot, I usually end up getting beat with it. For a while, we didn’t wrestle as much live, but rather sparred the positions to allow me to get to my strong finishes, but recently we got away from it and I think I in turn got away from hard shots to strong finishes and just relied on snag-single type shots.

These issues haven’t given me any real solace as reasons for my demise, especially as nemesis/ friend Andy Hrovat found a way to make the Olympic Team. I think that it boils down to fearlessness. Although I know that I worked harder than Andy and probably put more time and energy into training than him, he was fearless. Whether in practice or competition he just let it all hang out, while I think that I have been subconsciously reserved. Whether it was fear of getting too tired, showing my technique to opponents, not wanting to get scored on in practice, not wanting to getting hurt or just not wanting to developing bad technique, I was not able to truly let myself go and commit myself letting go. I think that letting go is an essential component in being able to get out on the mat and earn a win. I got caught in between. I could wrestle conservative and preserve wins pretty well, but when things went wrong and I got out of my game plan (as in when I got lateral dropped at the end of the 2nd against Varner) and I had to go EARN a win (in the 3rd period), I fell apart. I wasn’t used to going and getting it, and thus I ended up taking ill-advised shot attempts and giving up easy scores. Rather than having that attacking mentality and ability, I was afraid of going to the clinch so I forced bad action.

If I take anything from this past disastrous weekend, it is this; It takes big balls to win big matches and the only way you get big balls is by practicing having big balls. Getting that last takedown against Mo came from Andy letting it hang out in practice. Not just one day, but as a rule. I think that I was hindered by my inability to let go, and it will plague me for some time until I figure out how to let it go in my next battle, whatever that will be.

Actually, the last thing that I learned was the amazing friends and family that I have supporting me through all this. Starting with Sarah and all my friends and family that made the trip out, you helped me tremendously. It is taking my a while to come to grips with my painful departure from the sport, but everyone who has been supportive of me you should know how much I do appreciate it and will try to express that to you personally as soon as I can.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080618-154844 Clint Wattenberg Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:48:44 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080618-154844 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080612-131824 here. Also, worth checking is always themat.com and even sometimes the forums on themat.com, although there is dis-information there sometimes too.

I am feeling pretty good as I am getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. I get into Vegas at like 1pm, will get in a good sauna, then eat a bit before I relax and get ready for my final cut Saturday around 1pm. Should be no sweat, and I am just excited to get this thing started.

To all those who have written in, texted or call their support, I appreciate it all, and look forward to celebrating with ya when this is all wrapped up.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080612-131824 Clint Wattenberg Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:18:24 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080612-131824 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080610-200616
Since getting home, I have been relying on a steady workout schedule of drilling with Damion, mixing in live wrestling and lifting as my back can tolerate, getting in soccer (at 3/4 speed to insure no injuries) for cardio and trying to feel generally fresh. My lifting has transitioned to a combo of the typical core lifts and explosive versions of those lifts. E.g. Bench w/ push-ups to boxes, and squats w/ long jumps or box jumps. I am trying to turn my strong muscles into strong FAST muscles which = powerful muscles. Along the same lines, I am focusing my wrestling on being quick, handfighting hard while moving my feet to keep my opponent off balance.

I am feeling pretty good with all the preparations, and can't wait to get out there and perform. I will have unprecedented support out there as the usual suspects (Mom, Dad, Sarah, Koll and Coop) will be there supporting me, but also in the entourage will be Sister Cara, Brother in-law Greg, Nephew Dylan, Niece Jasmine, BFF Joey, Uncle Ted, Aunt Linda, Cousins Zoe and Ellen, Roommate Bogey, Wrestlers Boness, Moops, Nickerson, Brother-Arnone Joe, Arnone friend Gary and maybe even others. It should be a great time hopefully dominating and then of course celebrating.



]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080610-200616 Clint Wattenberg Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:06:16 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080610-200616 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080604-192827
An a side note, I have been training out here in Naperville. I broke out on Sunday, which actually only kept me off the mats for Monday. This was probably actually a blessing since my body, especially my back, were really wearing down. It got some much needed rest while I did some light cardio and lifting in the AM, then hard conditioning in the PM. Tuesday I drilled and wrestled with Keith Gavin in the AM, then wrestled matches against Tyrell Todd and Mike Tamillow in the PM. I wrestled pretty ok, but needed to just keep those damned hands and feet moving the entire match. Today I got a good little explosive lift in, then a sauna in the PM. My back is still tight, but very manageable. We just have 2 days remaining here, and the mat time should be reducing as we taper and really focus on must-win situations and positions.


On Saturday, Dam and I return home to Ithaca for our preparations for the OTT's. Next Friday we travel to Vegas, weigh-in on Saturday, then go balls out on Sunday. ]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080604-192827 Clint Wattenberg Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:28:27 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080604-192827 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080601-104535
More importantly though, I have been thinking a good bit about the reality of my nearing competitive retirement. My good friend Adam Smith asked me just the other day whether I will be treating the Olympic Trials any differently that other tournaments I have completed in previously. I responded that I wouldn't, but then realized that all the other tournaments in the past have really been practice for this opportunity. From wrestling at youth tournaments all the way to wrestling overseas against the world's best, all those experiences have helped prepare me for the training and the competition that is about to ensue. I am feeling quite prepared right now, and full of confidence. I will try to take this and all the experiences of my wrestling past with me into the Olympic Trials two weeks from today

I have been pondering the future of wattenbergwrestling.com as well. I have enjoyed expressing myself via this website to my friends, family and even strangers, but as this year has progressed and I have neared the end, it has become difficult to maintain a schedule of updating and blogging. I will make a concerted effort to get my ideas, thoughts and emotions out there these final days until the trials, and hopefully for the 2 months leading up the Olympics, but once it is done, I can't see a reason to continue. This kinda make me sad, like this is the end of an era. It feels like this website is an independent entity, and upon realization that this may the end I was left with an empty feeling. I will probably maintain the site for a while after I am done wrestling while I figure out what I want to do with it; I would appreciate some outside input from some of you regarding what should happen with wattenberwrestling.com.

]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080601-104535 Clint Wattenberg Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:45:35 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080601-104535 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080526-141915
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080526-141915 Clint Wattenberg Mon, 26 May 2008 21:19:15 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080526-141915 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080525-161426
I am feeling very good at this point going into the final training cycle. I have been working hard to focus on keeping active hands and feet, and I think that it is making me much quicker and keeps me safer from taking dangerous shots. This along with keeping my opponent off balance has been making me feel pretty tough.

I have been going live now too; I have gone a couple times with Dam, and once with Rob. Dam is real tough for me to score on. Actually it is nearly impossible for me to score on him when he is going good because of his great defense, his deadly front headlock and his massiveness (he goes around 230lbs). But keeping as active as I could last week when we went, I held off and kept him fairly off balance. I was not able to click with the attacks, but felt like I was in great position, and was really doing the right things (even though I got beat). I also wrestled Rob, and that was pretty good. We haven't gone much since I graduated; maybe something like once or twice a year. He always wrestles me very strategically, and I was able to control the positions and the matches completely.

I have had to keep focused on the conditioning, especially with the exaggerated motion while wrestling. I had been playing soccer daily to blow out the lungs and supplementing that with reel-runner, Bormet Box drill, UBE and others, but have had to utilize those as primary conditioning since we had to put the mats up (which destroyed our indoor soccer court) on Tuesday for a graduation ceremony being held in the facility.

My body is hanging on...barely at times. My elbow got re-stretched while drilling with heavyweight Pat Cummins on Thursday. He was here working out with Dam, and I got a good drill in with him, except for the stiff elbow. This hip seems to be continuing to slowly improving, although I feel it stretch precariously occasionally like this morning when I got out of bed and involuntarily stretched. The ankles and knees (yes, all 4 of them) are stiff and bruised and sore, but I think they are just nagging pains not to be confused with debilitating injury.

I have been able to really test my carpentry skills recently, which until about 11 months ago were at a zero. I finished up the deck on my own over the last 2 weeks. I had to re-do the porch part and totally re-build the stairs. It was an amazingly proud moment when I had finished. Now I can't wait to begin the next project, which I think may be siding the entire house or putting in a big workbench down in the basement. Of course, none of these will begin for some time, as I have a training camp coming up then a big weekend in Vegas after that.

On Wednesday I take off for Overtime. 10 days out there to hone in the skills then back here for a few then out to Vegas for the big weekend. And that is what it is all about.














]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080525-161426 Clint Wattenberg Sun, 25 May 2008 23:14:26 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080525-161426 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080513-113234 Yeah, the 'stache is back Baby! I know some of you have been wondering and disappointed that I haven't put up many pics in my recent posts, but the true reason is that I didn't want word getting out. It is full and fluffy, and now ready for public consumption. So...here you are. Enjoy.

As for the wrestling...My hip is steadily improving and I'd say is at 80-90%. I still feel it sometimes, but am able to squat, power clean and wrestle...all very cautiously. My weights are WAY down on my cleans, so I have remind myself that right now it is almost another form of rehab as I get stronger in those positions and develop the muscles back to where they were pre-injury. As for wrestling, my hip has been feeling strong enough to wrestle; so yesterday, that is exactly what I did. Until I crunched my elbow about 3 minutes in. It hurts and is swollen, but seems to be one of those "bumps and bruises" kinda injuries rather than real injury. I should be out just a few days before get back to it.

My schedule for training for the OTTs involves utilizing my Cornell guys until they are gone (mostly they are leaving by this weekend), then working with Damion next until the 28th when we go to Overtime for a 10 day training camp which should have us prepared for battle.

In academic news, I can now in good faith type MS after my name, even though I have been doing so since I finished my coursework.

]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080513-113234 Clint Wattenberg Tue, 13 May 2008 18:32:34 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080513-113234 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080505-115207
This week I plan to be on the mats much more. Today I lifted in the AM; squatting more than 135lbs for the 1st time in quite a while. I only surpassed that total by 90lbs, but squatting 2-plates for 4 sets of 10 gave me the Jell-O legs that makes your legs shock every step you take for the next hour. I can't wait for the pain to peak in 2-3 days. I also walking lunged, high-pulled heavy, bench pressed, incline bench pressed and did some weird push-up things. Overall, a pretty damn good lift. My hip felt pretty good squatting, but vulnerable lunging, but that's why I am doing it; I need to be strong in that specific ROM. I'll tell you what though; it's good to be back.

In about 10 minutes I am going to drill with one Mack Lewnes. He is a very competent driller, and I expect to have a pleasant afternoon drill with him. I plan to work some specific area of concern from the tourney (and before), and hopefully spare some areas too, health allowing. Either way, it should be lovely.

The rest of the week should be more of the same, as I am hopefully able to ramp it up a bit toward the end of the week. My feeling has been that my hip will be just about ready to go by the end of the week, and I will probably hold off going live until next week. My #1 priority though is "no setbacks".]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080505-115207 Clint Wattenberg Mon, 05 May 2008 18:52:07 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080505-115207 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080428-120512
That being said, I had a pretty good weekend. I tried to be stoic going in, but I really did have a good deal of concern about qualifying for the OTT's, especially with the hip being what it was, so just making it in the top 7 was a relief. On top of that, I felt that I wrestled pretty well, losing a tight match to eventual champ Mo Lawal which gives me further confidence going into the final domestic tournament.

Right off the bat I drew Matt Pell, who cruised through the qualification tournament. I lost a 2nd period coin flip and subsequent clinch, but won the other two periods to make it through. Pell actually wrestled back tough and placed 6th.

In the quarterfinals, I drew Mo Lawal again, and lost another pretty close one. I was in on the period tying shot with 10 ticks left in the 2nd, when my hip gave out (because of imperfect positioning and his solid defense) and I fell to the mat while he spun around to move the score to 5-3. I think I can tighten that match up and really be in a position to win it if I can find a way into the finals of the OTT's.

On the way back, I beat Yonishonis, Varner and Padden. I felt great handfighting and moving, but didn’t have a great shot due to the hip strain, and once I placed, decided that with the re-injury of my hip before when it actually felt as if it was getting better, and the necessity of total victory at the OTT's (meaning a seed wouldn't effect whether I am victorious or not), so the safe path was the one I took. I felt weird doing it, since I don't really condone defaulting out of tournament, but I felt very strongly that this was the right move.

So I was pretty pleased placing fourth, hopefully putting me in a good place to do some damage at the OTT's. This combined with the eagerly awaited release of Mario Kart yesterday on wii and my birthday being today makes this weekend a pretty decent 3-day weekend.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080428-120512 Clint Wattenberg Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:05:12 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080428-120512 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080421-170032
The rest of the week I will split between drilling through certain skill and saunaing. Unbelievably, there is no sauna on the entire Cornell University campus, but a local badass sports club (Island Fitness) was kind enough to throw a couple day passes my way. It's not so much a dire need to sauna now to get my weight down, but more in order to stay loose and get my body more accustomed to exposure to the heat of the sauna/ steam that I will encounter on Thursday and Friday as I do get down to weight.

I don't fly out until Thursday morning, and get there around 1pm, then hang out and work my weight down until Friday PM when I will spend the rest of the time eating, relaxing and finalizing some tactics for Saturday. Then comes Saturday, and where we all have to put it on the line. ]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080421-170032 Clint Wattenberg Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:32 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080421-170032 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080416-093815
At the recommendation of my trusted "personal" Athletic Trainer, I have been icing the hell out of it, and resting it. Yesterday I biked, lifted and Aerodyne, and today I Sauna'd and stretched and am going to try my hand at light drilling this afternoon. As of right now, it feels at about the same state as when I originally injured it last week, so if that is the case, I will be good by next week and near full strength next weekend when it really matters.

I was contemplating not posting about this injury, but since there are six 84kg wrestlers here at this camp and so many others wrestlers here I'm sure that the word would get out anyways, so don't see a need to hide it from everyone. Maybe a bad move, but I wanted to keep my friends and family updated (without having to call my entire phonebook). So don't tell anyone.

]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080416-093815 Clint Wattenberg Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:38:15 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080416-093815 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080413-082909
A recap of what caused this:

Friday AM- We drilled many specific areas, and then went a bunch of situational live. I wrestled with Hrovat, and did real well on the situations on our feet, but pretty poorly on situations on the mat (if got turned a bunch, although I did a good bit of turning too).

Friday PM- More specific drilling followed by more situational live followed by 1 match. This practice took close to 2 hours, so it was a doozy. I went with Hrovat and Yonishonis, and wrestled pretty well, although not perfect.

Saturday AM- A forty minute free-drill which was actually a controlled specific drill. It's funny how that works out. The we did Functional Training. It was raining outside, so we had to modify it from Tire jumps to bleacher jumps, sledgehammers to sandbag clean & jerks, and medicine ball slams to medicine ball slams inside. Either way, it was pretty damn hard, and those jumps are a killer. If it doesn't sound that bad, let me know sometime, and I can help put you through it. It would be my pleasure (those of you at Cornell reading this, don't worry, you will get to do it next season for sure).

Saturday PM- More structured drilling, along with some zone and clinch work preceded the hard wrestling. Live consisted of 2 matches then even more conditioning. Coach Kerry Boumans somehow made the argument (not that he even needed to really, cause he is the coach) that Functional training isn't really conditioning, so we needed to condition after this practice. Anyway, the matches went ok, I went scoreless with Hrovat as the tides have turned somewhat and he has become the aggressor, and I am defending mostly. I have been making him come to me, and relying on my handfighting and defense. It resulted in a 0-0-0 score, although I think I may have come out on top with the clinches, but it was close. The second match was with Terry Madden, and I wrestled ok, although I got a little over aggressive in the 1st when it was 0-0 with just ticks left, and got scored upon, and didn't capitalize on a short-offense score in the 3rd when I was tired, which is when I really need to convert that position. Other than that, a good day of wrestling.

Conditioning was tough, although not impossible as we ran through a 6-minute reel-runner and Aerodyne circuit. It was tough and blew out the legs and lungs even further, and may have even added to some of the soreness I have right now.

What did not add to this soreness was the amazing Monopoly game that I played last night. My star must have been aligned (although I emphatically don't believe in anything supernatural like that, so take it as simply a figure of speech) because I wrapped up a 4-person game in just under 3 hours. This even includes the time to go get a broom and dustpan to clean up a broken jar of PB that fell off the top of my fridge. Pretty impressive. We have a rematch scheduled for after the sauna this afternoon, so I need to represent.

Then back at it Tomorrow, and Sean said it's gonna get tough.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080413-082909 Clint Wattenberg Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:29:09 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080413-082909 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080409-083428
My lifting has moved to a maintenance phase, against my will. I would like to be pushing it right now, especially since I am backed off a bit from hard wrestling (until I go back to Chicago tomorrow), but my hip flexor really limits that. I am able to High-pull pretty heavy, but can only squat conservatively. I have tried to pick up the conditioning component of S&C, and instead of lifting on Monday, I crushed myself with about 50 minutes of conditioning; included were agilities (ladder and box), tire jump/ burpie progression, ube and versa-climber. After this I was spent for about a day and a half.

Like I said, I head back to Overtime tomorrow to finalize everything for the US Open which is only 17 days away.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080409-083428 Clint Wattenberg Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:34:28 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080409-083428 http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080404-180610
Wednesday was another lift in the AM, then a good sauna in the PM. I was able to continue to get the ice on the groin area, and rest it for another day.

Thursday morning I drilled with Donny, We had a hard warm-up, then 30 minute free drill, which with Donny sometimes may as well be live with the way he club you when he's drilling. It is good though, and I enjoy drilling with him as much as anyone. After the drill, Sean turned what seemed to be a pretty ordinary practice into a sort of tough one by running us through about 25 minutes of situation drills. I was able to do about 2/3's of them, but when it came to the "down by 1 pt." kind of situation, I had trouble keeping my feet on the sweaty mats let alone take or defend a shot. So I aerodyne the remaining 7ish minutes of practice.

The PM was a structured drill, then a bunch more situations then a match. I was one of 3 odd-men-out during the drill, and 3-man drills suck. It happens nearly half the time in any practice (according to the odds of there being an odd # of guys), but it really blows having to rotate in doing technique and drills with 3 instead of the appropriate 2 man PAIRS that are standard in the sport of wrestling. You get cold and stiff, especially when you're already milking an injury as I was. Not to mention the 2 partners (to remain nameless to save me from another fiasco) were both awkward drillers. Live was good though, and I went with Canadian Olympian Travis Cross for most of it, then Matt Lackey for some of the situations at the end and clinches to finish practice. I didn't get off a ton of attacks, but I was much more aggressive and offensive with my handfighting which led to stronger positioning and better scoring opportunities. My groin held up through the entirety of this practice, which was a great sign.
------------

So I flew home today, and did not exercise, unless you count winning a thrilling 12-11 game of The Bigz on the wii against roommate Matt Bogumil. Tomorrow I will lift and get in some conditioning before I head to the spring opening of the Ithaca Farmer's Market. Club on Sunday, Lift and wrestle with Kerber on Monday, Wrestle with someone (probably Damion, if his body is recovered) on Tuesday, then back to Chi-town for O.T T.C. #2 to finalize my techniques, positions and tactics.
]]> http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/index.php?entry=entry080404-180610 Clint Wattenberg Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:06:10 GMT http://www.wattenbergwrestling.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080404-180610