This week: Strength Training, Wrestling, New Web Site

I have been doing a lot of recruiting over the last couple of weeks. For us here at Central we have struggled in the past to attract some of the top talent but things are starting to turn around. There is a unique opportunity here and that opportunity is apparent in the people around us.

Anyway, I am going to be starting my own website. At the moment it is an incomplete project but over time I will get a better idea of where I want to go with it. I know I want it to be more then most of the other sites out there but, there is no way I can devote hours to it per day.

http://www.CarrWrestling.com will be up soon! So start checking it.

This week’s article is going to give you a good look at a strength training program. There are programs out there that are great and some that are not but nothing is worth anything if you don’t get it done. One-hundred years ago wrestlers trained by doing farm work and guess what… It worked pretty well. With all of our great technology and science it is not worth anything if we don’t put it into practice. The Polio vaccine only works if your get the shot. A training program only works if you follow it.

The first program I will post will be a normal weight program from the Central Strength Coaches. I will later supplement it with some more functional training ideas. If you ever go to Europe you will see that they do a lot of gymnastics. What most strength coaches don’t understand is wrestling is more like gymnastics then football. Muscle will help but if you can’t change levels it isn’t worth anything.

Look out for that on Thursday.

New Head Coach @ Central

Van Kley to Lead Dutch

Form: http://www.central.edu/athletics/wrestling/archive/042307.htm

PELLA —Eric Van Kley, who started the wrestling program at the University of Great Falls (Mont.) in 2004 and turned it into an NAIA title contender, has been named the head wrestling coach at Central College.

Van Kley, who also became the Great Falls athletics director in 2006, replaces Eric Reed , who resigned after three seasons at Central.

“The potential of the wrestling program at Central is what attracted me,” Van Kley said. “As I looked at the landscape, the outstanding quality of the athletic department and Central as a whole is extremely impressive. There are several strong athletic programs and a very proud tradition with Dutch athletics. Being able to join that is something that excites me.”

A Rock Valley, Iowa native, Van Kley is an honors graduate of Minnesota State-Mankato where he was a three-time letterwinner for the NCAA Division II program. He served as captain for the 2000 team which placed sixth at the national meet and was a two-time Scholastic All-America honoree, while receiving the team's Maverick Achievement Award. Van Kley is completing a master's degree from Duquesne University ( Pa. ).

After three seasons as assistant wrestling coach at The Dalles High School in Oregon , he spent a year as assistant coach for Division I Millersville University ( Pa. ) while also serving as Leadership Program Coordinator for the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He worked with a Millersville squad that won the Eastern Regional dual meet title and placed second at the Virginia Duals.

At Great Falls Van Kley recruited a team with 45 athletes this past season. He compiled a 28-13 dual meet record over three seasons. His wrestlers earned NAIA all-America distinction 13 times with three top-10 national team finishes. In 2006-07 the Argos won the West Region championship and finished sixth at the NAIA national tournament. Van Kley was named the NAIA West Region coach of the year. His 2005-06 team received NAIA Top 10 academic distinction.

“Eric has all the qualities we were looking for in a leader for our wrestling program,” athletics director Al Dorenkamp said. “He's done a great job of starting a program from scratch, he's proven he's a great recruiter and he fits in with the mission and values of Central College .”

Great Falls met Central in the Desert Duals at Las Vegas , Nev. Dec. 19 and defeated the

Dutch 46-3. The squad Van Kley inherits at Central posted a 0-18 dual record and had nine underclassmen on the roster—all freshmen. But the Dutch are not strangers to wrestling success, with 10 top-20 NCAA Division III team finishes, including a second-place showing in 1983-84, four NCAA individual titles and four Iowa Conference team championships. Central wrestlers have received all-America honors 42 times.

Since 2005 Van Kley was also the Team Montana Junior and Cadet National Team Director, supervising a residential training camp with more than 100 wrestlers and a staff of 25 coaches and counselors. He was also elected as a board member for Montana USA Wrestling.

Van Kley said it's difficult to leave Great Falls .

“Any time you have such a great group of guys and a quality staff, it's tough to leave,” he said. “But the kids understood. It hurts, however they know the decision was for the right reasons and that the University of Great Falls program has a terrific future ahead.”

As the Great Falls athletics director he oversaw an 11-sport program and was named the university's staff employee of the year in 2006.

“Obviously in serving as athletics director as well, he knows about marketing and promotion,” Dorenkamp said. “We wanted someone with strong people skills who could recruit and promote the program and Eric fits that description. We're really excited about having Eric at Central.”

Van Kley is anxious to get started.

“The first thing we need to do is work on recruiting and building up the numbers,” Van Kley said. “We want to attract quality student-athletes who will be a good fit at Central College . More than anything, that just takes long hours and hard work.”

Van Kley and his wife Sarah, also an Iowa native, are the parents of a son, Jackson, born last summer.

Buckeyes Got Talent

As the week is wrapping up I want to share a great video with you. The Ohio State Wrestling Team has been getting a lot of press because of their talent show performance at the inaugural “Buckeyes Got Talent” event. The event is designed to raise money for local charities and the guys decided to do a dance skit.

Imagine how great they have to be feeling! 10^th in the NCAA, win a talent show that raised money for the Boys and Girls Club and make the news.

Beyond that this is great press for wrestling they are getting a lot of press for their team and showing that being a Buckeye Wrestler is something that people want to be part of. It is better then the NFL suspending a bunch of guys for their legal issues.

Anyway, here are the videos. Enjoy!

Buckeyes Got Talent Show


Columbus News


I have decided that I will at least post 1 time a week on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. I may post more but that will be the regular update time from now on.

ViVa LaS VeGaS

I just got home from the US Championships on Monday. I am excited that I have four friends that did well in this event. Over the next few days I will be updating you on what is going on and what I liked and did not like. As with ANY USA Wrestling event there are some things that need improvement.
FILA has made some changes to the rule but the US Officials need, no MUST, start to look at the Leg Clinch differently. This crap with a point being awarded whenever the defensive guys butt hits the mat has to stop. We would not award a takedown then any other time in the match. The point of all of this is to increase action and scoring so let the guys actually wrestle and let them attempt to counter the shot. From what I have seen that is the way it is working in the international community and that is how our refs should be doing it.
I have no idea how Sam Hazelwinkle did not get seeded. Anyone? He was 3rd last year, was an NCAA runner up this year and from all I can see is that the idiotic politics that caused the sport to get ripped apart back in the late 70s are rising again. We have matches getting tanked at International events for gambling money and we have USA Wrestling splitting into factions. I don't know the entire story but if the rumors are true someone at USA Wrestling better get their heads out of the sand and get everyone on the same page. The point of the event is to put the best guy at the top of the podium not clubs and organizations and training centers battling each other. I was happy that when Sam won the event he got ellected outstanding wrestler. He is a class act and is one of the things that is right with wrestling.
Now, On to life here at Central. I really worry that higher education is going back to being overly elitist. Great facilities and all of that make for great brochures. But, I think we are playing a dangerous game of keeping up with the Jones'es and then ask middle class America to give up half their family income per year for it.
The answers are not easy for me. I believe very much in the student loan program as an investment in you and your future. But, I don't like that the loans come with an interest rate. There are many things we as a country are wasting money on that we should probably evaluate and reduce. The cost of managing our goverment is huge. If we took some of that money we are spending on bombs in Iraq and invested it in science we could probably achieve some much better things.

Other thoughts. I really realized how important the Iowa Conference is to wrestling this weekend. Mike Duroe was coaching athletes, Jim Miller was there reporting on the event and coaching Blake Gillis, and I was there cheering but also doing what I can to stay involved in wrestling at the top level. There were 5 Iowa Conference Coaches that I saw. Behind the Big 10 and Big 12... Came the Iowa Conference. Next time someone tells you "they are only D3" ask them how many of their conference coaches worked at this event?



Rowlands after beatimg Conrad

Central Videos

Take a look at these great videos of Central College. They give you an idea of what fun it is to compete here and to be part of the rich athletic tradition.



This next one gives a good overview of the school and what goes on around here. The creators took a stuffed animal around campus for a tour. Interesting... I like it!