Rob Price

May be the most difficult hurdle for a wrestler to clear—trusting that the same offense that built the lead is what protects it. The instinct is to protect the lead, but the approach that creates better odds, less regret, and is simply more logical is to keep wrestling the same way that created the lead. Stay on the attack, stay in position, and keep applying pressure. The one who needs to change and create opportunity is the opponent who is losing. So why would you go ahead and assist them in this by back peddling and lead protecting, opening up two windows that weren’t there before? 1 – Stall points 2 – Allowing your opponent to solely focus on their offense as they no longer have to respect your attacks. You hear wrestlers in post-match interviews “We do this all the time in the room! Down 2 with 30 seconds left and working to find a takedown.” Not so much the opposite… “up 2 with 30 seconds left and just have to find ways to back up to protect the lead!” So why resort to something you don’t practice in the most crucial moments of a match—or your season? This is from the excellent series “The Climb” by Stilly Boys on YouTube — a segment from Episode 2: Road to the Big 12s.