The first bite of the cherry! British Open Championships



Qualification has started

This week was really the start of the Glasgow 2014 Qualification campaign for me... I was Southward bound for the British Open Wrestling Championships in Wales. This time with a coach in tow to sit in my corner, it was the first time I had a coach who was there for me specifically at a wrestling event and it really helped put my mind at rest about strategy and what I should be doing.

The event itself was in Welshpool, North Wales, and a mere 289 miles from Edinburgh. An interesting location for a British Championships. I have actually asked Coach Michael Cavanagh to write a blog post for me and he has agreed. Michael is an incredibly busy man, so we might get it in the next few weeks or so depending on when he has time, but I’ll let him fill you in with details of the road trip,the weekend and progress to date from the coaching perspective. No pressure given the calibre of Steve’s post the other week.

Mark Cocker (2010 qualifier)

My preparation for the British was very good, I ate well, slept well and had trained hard to get ready for what was the start of the campaign. I managed to get a good bout of KCR in before heading down and a massage from Optimus Massage on the legs which massively helped. I weighed in again at a solid 116.8kg had a big meal that night which would have bumped me up a little. The event itself was great, I really enjoyed the atmosphere that was there and I met Mark Cocker, English Heavyweight who came 5^th in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Mark took me for a little bit of a warm up and gave me some pointers about my opponent in the first bout. That was great for me and I really appreciated him taking the time to help me out. He is a genuinely good bloke.

The target for the day was to finish top 3 British Competitors and that would secure me one of the criteria for the Commonwealth Games which meant that I could potential be nominated by Scottish Wrestling to Commonwealth Games Scotland.

The good thing (depending on how you look at it) was that there were only 6 Wrestlers entered into the 120kg category which meant in theory that I was entering at a quarter final stage and I needed to get to the semi - finals to be in with a shout of qualifying. I had a pretty unlucky draw compared to some of the others. There were two byes into the semi-finals I was not one of them which meant I had to fight Tomas Bujak from Poland. Tomas is a Greco Roman wrestler, strong but not to savvy on the leg attack / leg defence. The strategy was to not get sucked in close defend the attack and once the attack was finish counter with a leg attack. It worked beautifully. I defended well and saw an opening and had a strong leg attack which put him on his back and gave me a 3 point lead. Great! The Rules of Wrestling have changed a little over the last few weeks and the latest change was that instead of a 10 point margin for a win you now need a 7 which obviously got me a little bit excited because I thought if I could get another 3 point take down I could be left with just 1 point for the win. This is where “mat craft” comes into it and lack of experience on my part. Had I stuck to the game plan I probably wouldn’t be sitting here licking my wounds and wondering what may have been.

Costal Cartilage tear - rough area in green (hurts lie hell)

Yep, I attacked – for who knows what reason, confidence, stupidity, excitement. I didn't hear Michael in my corner but I'm sure he was telling me to defend but instead I dived right in...Well as you would expect, I got blocked and got caught in a headlock before finding way to the floor to concede 2 points. He put me in a nelson which stretched me across the chest. I felt a pop that was uncomfortable but I managed to escape and get out of the hold. I was half expecting to be called back to our feet but that didn’t happen and Tomas put me in the same move and tried to turn me. This time the stretch across my chest ripped the costal cartilage next to my sternum, connecting my ribs and I don’t think I have been in as much pain since I blew my knee in 2005. It was agony. The ref heard me yelp in pain and called an end to the match. That in theory would have been me out because Chinu Chinu was the next opponent for the winner of my bout but Bujak beat Chinu with a pin, an upset in the heavyweight world.  Meaning I was pulled into the repechage but couldn't compete. I finished 5^th Overall, 4^th In the British Athletes meaning this time I’ve just missed the Qualification Criteria Boat. I continue to dwell on what might have been but I guess there isn’t any point. Had I beaten Tomas I would have been through to the semi-final and really had a chance of competing for the bronze spot. You live and learn.

I lay on the mat for a couple of minutes, paramedics were there before I managed to get up and head to the side where my breathing returned to normal. Tomas helped me get there which was very kind of him and a testament to the character of wrestlers. Something that I learned a great deal about this weekend. The organisers whisked me off to hospital with Michael to speak to the doctor who diagnosed the cartilage rip and ramped me up on some pain killers that aren't nearly strong enough for this. If you haven’t done this to your ribs, the pain is horrific, it hurts to sit, stand, lie, rotate, eat,  breath and if you are really stupid and make a sudden movement. I had hiccups earlier and wow, that was ludicrously painful. The pain changes from an ache to a stab that is possibly one of the worst things. I was almost sick with pain twice but it quickly wares off. I was reading a bit about what I could do to help progress the speed of the recover and a couple of articles I read compared the pain of this injury to a heart attack! how nuts is that! 

Although my competition was over for the day, I went back to watch some of the remaining bouts. I saw Cocker wrestle for the first time, he defeated a lad from Birmingham called Khan 7-0 before beating Bujak 7-0 in the final to become British Champion again. I watched Chinu fall to Bujak and saw my first live suplex, Leon Rattigan 96kg suplexed a lad and it was a beaut the video is here...

The highlight of watching wrestling for me was watching the women’s competition. I watched Sarah Jones compete in her final against Spiteri, that match was intense. Sarah was in control but got countered and the other girl straight back into it. The match finished 10 – 9 in Sarah’s favour. It was a great spectacle to watch. Then there was the two lassies from Tullibody and the Institute, Chelsea and Shannon. They were great to watch, just very good wrestlers, strong, aggressive and technical.

I had the opportunity to speak to loads of wrestlers and that’s the nice thing, although you are going to have 6 minutes where you are trying to hammer the guy, you can always sit down and have a chat before or afterwards. The sport is too small to do otherwise in my opinion. I really enjoyed meeting folk and chatting to the other Wrestlers and that is one of the things that makes it a great sport.

Where does this me now? Well, the qualification criteria, in theory gives me two more attempts over the next year. Although getting through the British Open Championships would have significantly helped my cause, I wasn’t expecting to qualify at this event but what has really annoyed me was that it was in my grasp, it just wasn’t to be. The Commonwealth Wrestling Championships were supposed to be in July but have been postponed and possibly moved meaning that there may be a call to rejig the Scottish Selection criteria to another tangible event but failing that I have to wrestle as much as I can and get a result at the British Closed next year. 

If I’m completely honest, it’s a tall order and is going to be pretty difficult to qualify for next year but I’m going to continue training for it and still put in the work, even if I don’t make Glasgow 2014 I have got Gold Coast 2018 on the horizon and who knows what will happen. another 5 years wrestling experience under my belt I could well be in for a shout for something better than just making the team. I've had some really nice positive feedback about my wrestling so far and although its disappointing not to be able to say i've met the qualification criteria, I have plenty of time to throw myself into contention at the British Closed Championships next year and that is the focus. 

As always, thanks for taking time out to have a read… sorry I haven’t made it yet, but where would the fun in that be!

@shocksjr

Guest Blogger - Steven Cote

Hello...

This week, another guest blog entry for: the Road to 2014 - I pestered one of my coaches Steve  Cote to get writing a blog post without any steer on what I wanted him to talk about. Steve is an experienced wrestler but also been all over the world with his studies before coming to Edinburgh for his MSc. I am indebted to him for the help he has given me and the club in Edinburgh, so if anyone reading this is in a position to employ in September and needs a good egg - he could be your man.

It's a good read from someone who has ended up becoming a good friend of mine and even more so from someone who hasn't written a blog post before. He has done a good job. Thanks to Steve for that and for the kind words but rest assured I'm still going to try and kick your ass at training! For note - I picked the pictures of Steven for the blog... I should take a moment to say whatever you do - don't google safesearch Steven Cote Wrestling Netherland and go to images. That must be a different Steven Cote!

Hope you all enjoy!

@shocksjr

I have never written a blog before so bear with me, even if it is a little long.

Mike asked me to write a blog entry for him a while ago, and I have finally found the time to finish it. I will try not to make this thing too much of an ‘Ode to Mike’, cause let’s face it; he has been getting enough credit in this thing already! But will tell you a bit about me and my background as well.

Steven Cote - Culturally Open Minded

I moved to Edinburgh last September to start a MSc. in Tourism Marketing at Napier University. I am half Belgian/ half American who was living in France before moving here together with my fiancé. I have lived in Belgium, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Tanzania, France and now Scotland, which has led me to define myself as a culturally open-minded and sociable person. My Scottish experience has been great so far, I have been able to do loads of exploring of the country, with one of the main distinguishing factors being the friendliness of the people. Doesn’t matter if I am in the heart of city or out in the highlands, Scottish people have a general likability and openness about them that I can’t get enough of; mind you I have not been to Glasgow yet! But I am sure that won’t really change my general outlook on things.   

Having wrestled before and knowing I was going to be in Edinburgh for at least a year, during induction week at University, I was desperately trying to find a wrestling club within the city. For a while I thought I was going to have to get into Judo or grappling, but then one day the Engage gym staff came to Craiglockhart campus and someone told me about this wrestling club and Mike’s commonwealth ambitions. I immediately jumped on board, and initially just thought I would join a club so I could get back into shape, but eventually have become pretty invested in the club myself. Mike and the rest of the guys at Engage and the club have been great!  I am leaving over the summer for an internship in the Western Isles and am pretty gutted about the fact I won’t get to wrestle or coach over that time period.    

Steve - 2nd from left in the 

My wrestling career took place mostly during my high school days, when I wrestled for the DODDS system within Europe, which has over 50 international schools who participate against each in a variety of sports. Starting at the young age of 14, for me, was a critical issue in developing my skills and my passion for this great sport. My highest achievement came during my senior year when I placed 2^nd in the European Championships in 2006, which was the last time that I wrestled collegiate style competitively. After making the decision to stay in Europe for Uni, I started wrestling freestyle in The Netherlands where I became BENELUX national champion at 60 KG in 2007, which was the last time I ever wrestled competitively, and I have to say I do miss it sometimes.   

The guys at the Edinburgh club and in particular Mike have been egging me on to compete, I think a friendly wager should be made between the two of us to seal the deal. Something like, if I compete and do relatively well, Mike has to treat me to 5 orders at Los Cardos! Nothing like TEX-MEX for motivation, but to be fair if I do manage to find a way to stay in Edinburgh after University, I think a return to competitive wrestling will be in order.

Many people don’t understand wrestling and undervalue it tremendously; you might ask where is the appeal of two sweaty people in tights trying to grab each other? If that is not ample justification enough for you, let my personal experience provide some insight. Many people are adamant about their sports, but wrestling has taught me so much more than just techniques to play a sport. It taught me to be able to dig deep and do extraordinary things through self-motivation, mental toughness and self-confidence both on and off the mat. I think that is what I really love about the sport that success or failure is up to no one else but you. Both the physical and psychological development I went through made me a better student, a better athlete and an all-round better person in life. Wrestling provided me with skills that I was able to take with me into my adult life with some of the more important ones being leadership and confidence. As my coach during high school always used to say, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog, and that has always been my way of looking at both wrestling and life. I have no idea where I would be right now in life if it was not for wrestling as it transformed me from a scrawny, shy, aimless kid; into a confident, tough young man with goals. (Mind you I am still pretty skinny!)

Getting back on to talking about the Edinburgh Wrestling Club, we have two sessions a week right now at the club and on Monday practices, my role is usually to play crash dummy for Coach Michael to show moves on. Because of my previous wrestling experience, I generally know the techniques he is showing but also know how to fall, adapt my stance, and mirror correctly to what he is trying to show, which is beneficial for the other more inexperienced wrestlers to see. The other guys usually get in a laugh or two, when they see my painful facial expressions from Coach’s moves. The tables quickly turn when the expression ‘you won’t know until you feel it’ comes to play, where I persuade the coach to pick on someone his own size, like Mike! 

The Friday sessions which I coach are a bit more informal, but I still like to build on or go over what we did on Mondays and have a good thirty minutes for live wrestling at the end. The coaching perspective is something new for me, but I am really enjoying it. Seeing someone carry out a perfect technique you’ve showed them in a live wrestling environment is a rewarding experience. I have noticed a shift between my attitude when I am live wrestling at the club as well, no longer just focusing on winning the match but focusing on what the other person is doing right or wrong, in order to be able to give feedback afterwards. This shift towards a more coaching mentality has allowed me to think more about the technique side of things, and in the end will make me a better wrestler as well.     

Here comes the part of the blog entry that Mike is going to love, my praise to him! (Just don’t let it get to your head) Like I said wrestling is not easy, it’s a tough, both mentally and physically, demanding sport, which not everyone can do. It takes integrity, intelligence, and determination to succeed in this sport, and in the past few months of wrestling, Mike has been showing me these traits. I started wrestling at a young age and fell in love with the sport, it is great for me to see someone like Mike who started fairly late in life with wrestling taking such a liking to it. His commitment to his family, his job, his training and wrestling and juggling all of those together impresses me every time.

Reading through Mike’s blogs from the past, he has started being more honest about our wrestling matches during practice as well, and by honest, I mean admitting that I have been getting the best of him! That should drive our healthy rivalry up a notch! All kidding aside though, it is great to see the strides Mike has been taking during our live wrestling sessions. His mat awareness, wrestling techniques, stamina, and match mentality have all increased immensely, making him one tough opponent! I will even give Mike the recognition he deserves, by stating he beats me fair and square (occasionally) not just by his weight advantage, but truly because of his superior strength and wrestling technique. As an unofficial coach and enthusiast of Mike and his goals, I believe The British open in a few weeks will be the real test of his improvement, but I think it is safe to say that Mike’s objective of qualifying for the Commonwealth games needs to be changed to medaling in the Commonwealth games!

I leave you with this poem by Anthony Robles, who won the 2011 NCAA wrestling championship with only one leg. I think it really exemplifies a wrestler’s attitude towards life, check out the short youtube clip about him and you can hear these powerful words from the man himself.

Every soul who comes to earth
with a leg or two at birth
Must wrestle his opponents knowing
it’s not what is, it’s what can be, that measures worth.
Make it hard, just make it possible
And through pain I’ll not complain
My spirit is unconquerable
Fearless I will face each foe
For I know I am capable
I don’t care what’s probable
Through blood, sweat, and tears, I am unstoppable.