If you were to ask anyone what the goal of a wrestling match is, most, if not all, will answer, “the goal is to win the match.”

It is not.

At least, not for the wrestler who aspires greatness.

The goal of a wrestling match for the wrestler who aspires greatness is to win that match, his next match and every match that is to come in the future, against any opponent, at any time.

The purpose of a match is to showcase who you are, how hard you have worked and to clear the path for yourself so your future opponents part waves, give up, and don’t wrestle up to their true potential when they get the unfortunate draw of having you as their next opponent.

At this point I am assuming that you are a very good wrestler who aspires to become a great wrestler.

Remember if you think the way everyone else does, you will get what everyone else gets.

And by definition, only a few are allowed to be called great.

If you are trying to enter the narrow doorway into greatness you need to understand that greatness is not for the masses, it is for the unique individual who prepares himself to succeed under all circumstances, against all opponents, at all times.

If you are a wrestler that aspires to win a championship you must separate yourself from being very good, as greatness is only for a few.

You must have a unique way of thinking, of acting, of training.

For a wrestler who aspires greatness, the purpose of a wrestling match is to dominate.

Sounds intense.

It is.

It is a philosophy, when embraced, will catapult you to the top of the podium.

When you reach a certain level in wrestling your true opponent is not the wrestler who lines up across from you.

You have worked hard enough to create that separation.

Your real opponents will be more intangible.

Unseen.

And they will pop their heads up only at critical times in your journey.

Your true opponent is anything that you would expect and everything that you didn’t.

A bad call from a ref, a mistake at the scorers table, etc.

You need to be able to protect yourself from the unforeseen.

The philosophy to dominate and leave no doubt will drive you to become better, it will eliminate the major traps that there are in wrestling, it will best prepare you for post season and it will separate you from all else by being able to beat all of your opponents – the visible and the invisible.

It will make you fun to watch, crowds will form, people will talk, anticipation will build, fear will emerge in your opponents head, they will hesitate, yield and allow you to complete your mission.

Here is the secret.

Become a non-stop point scorer.

At all times.

Under all conditions.

Against all opponents.

Score 15 points a match.

Always.

When you embrace becoming a point scorer, every second, of every period, of every match will be utilized to scoring your next point.

You have to.

You only have 360 seconds to score 15 points.

You need to be jealous of your time.

You need to always be moving forward.

Never playing defense.

When you are up 7-1 with a minute left, you are not sitting on a lead, you are offensive.

When you are up 12-3 with 1:43 left, you are CRAVING to outscore your opponent by 15.

When you adapt this mindset you are eliminating many intangible opponents.

What separates great wrestler’s from very good wrestler’s is a wrestler’s ability to continuously put points on the board.

Everything else is noise.

In order to be able to put points on the board a wrestler has to be proficient in all three positions – neutral, bottom and top.

But it is the top position that will transform a wrestler from very good to great and give him the ability to beat great opponents.

Nothing breaks an opponent more than being on their back.

So after nationals, when next season begins and you start preparing for your run at a championship, commit to becoming a non-stop point scorer.

CRAVE 15.

Don’t set a win goal this offseason, set a points scored goal.

Your whole off-season should only be about putting points on the board.

600 points is a great number.

In order to score 600 points over the offseason you would need to have 40 matches where you score 15 points or more.

That should get you to train appropriately, to have the proper mindset, attention to detail and sense of urgency.

Getting back points is the key to being able to put 15 points on the board each match.

Getting back points wins matches.

Back points are generated from TOP.

End every period on top.

There is nothing more important to becoming a great wrestler than a wrestler’s ability to score back points.

Against any opponent.

In any circumstance.

At any time.

Everything else is noise.

Welcome to the philosophy of the Inner Circle Wrestler Development System...