Coaches Corner with Joe McFarland
1/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
We're not quite where I'd like us to be right now overall as a team. We're just not as balanced at every weight class as we have been in the past, but we have some individuals who are wrestling very well and could go with anyone in the country. We have a number of guys who have the potential to win an NCAA championship this year. I'd like to get as many guys to the national tournament as possible.
We're a little young and inexperienced at the lightweights this season, but those guys are working really hard. Justin Chrzanowski and Mike Watts weren't able to have the same kind of preparation as other guys in our lineup. Justin had mono and was off the mat for about six weeks without the opportunity to train at all. That was tough for him. But he's a trooper. He stepped in and didn't have any concerns. He has the attitude that he's going to keep getting better and better. He's been working hard, and he will get better. It would have been nice to redshirt Mike this season. Mark Moos had some academic issues that will keep him off the mat this second semester. That has been a very disappointing blow to our lineup. I feel bad for him too, and I know that he doesn't feel good about it. So Mike stepped in for us, and he's been doing extra things and working hard in practice to get himself to where he needs to be. Both those guys will continue to get better as the weeks move along.
Chris Diehl is a great worker, and he's really mentally tough. He just needs to start his matches a little bit earlier. He's starting to realize it now that maybe he's been giving these guys a little too much respect, and I think now he realizes that he can wrestle with them. He has some technical skills that are really sound. He's got some great attacks. I think he's going to be very, very good. He just needs to get to the point where he believes he's the best and believes that he can beat these guys. I believe it. A lot of it is experience, and he's just feeling his way through it like a lot of young guys do. But he's got a great attitude, and he works hard and puts in the extra time.
We have fallen behind early in some of these meets, and that's been a concern of mine. We're working to get that turned around. There aren't shortcuts. There's only one way to do it, and that's by putting time into it. That's the only way to improve -- the only way to get in better shape, the only way to get better with mat skills -- to spend time doing extra workouts. For the most part, the guys have been doing it. They're putting themselves in the position to do well at the end of the year. But that's not anything new; it's what every team does.
Tyrel Todd, Josh Churella and Eric Tannenbaum have all been wrestling very tough. Steve Luke had been wrestling tough as well before sufferering an injury at the National Duals. He's going to be out for a little bit, and that's frustrating. We're going to get him back as soon as we can. He's been doubling up on workouts, keeping his conditioning where it needs to be. So, when he's able to get back on the mat we're hoping that he'll be ready to go. We're not entirely sure yet as to when that will be.
These guys have been going head to head with some of the best wrestlers in the country, and they've beaten some of the best wrestlers in the country. So we definitely have some individuals who can really make some noise at the national tournament. We're going to be a much better tournament team this season. As far as duals though, we needed to have some better balance.
I look at a few weight classes where we need to get more wins, and we have some guys who are capable of doing it. I'm going to keep filling guys in until I find someone who will step up and someone that I know is going to go out and get the job done. I'm going to give these guys opportunities to wrestle. I just want the best guy out there, who is doing everything possible to win.
It's going to be a challenge for us this year. I look at these duals coming up, and with every one we're going to need a couple guys to step up and get the job done. The Big Ten is extremely tough this year, and we're starting right at the top with Minnesota.
My approach is just to take it one week at a time and one match at a time and see where we are. We have a lot of work to do. These guys need to be committed to it year round. They need to come in every day with the attitude that they need to improve and put a little thought into it. As a program, we have everything in place to help them get better. But the bottom line is that they need to understand the importance of taking the responsibility upon themselves to get better. As an athlete myself, that's what I did. It was my sole job to get better. I thought about my workouts. I thought about my wrestling. I did everything I possibly could to get better, and that's what I expect from our guys.
Note: "Coaches Corner" runs in The Riding Times, an inside look at U-M wrestling.
Players Mentioned
