St. Christopher's School Wrestling

Talk about a busy weekend! Friday night and all day Saturday at the VAWA Kids and Cadet States at Hopewell, and then Flo Wrestling at St. Chris on Sunday. Good thing next weekend is a "wrestling free" weekend for me. I need to recover from the overload. It's all good, of course.

Our 3Style kids did very well at States. Robert Janis definitely has potential in Greco; I think next year when he is a first year Cadet he will turn some heads! And Trey Tarr looked good too. He got to wrestle two of Virginia's best middleweights: Cody Allala and Jason Luster. Not bad at all. Congrats to Austin Coburn- 3Style's Cadet 171 State Champ. Despite giving up some weight (and definitely height), Austin was able to win his weight class and qualify for Nationals.

The St. Chris kids were really hyped up for Sunday morning's visit from Flo Wrestling- A NATIONAL wrestling web site that covers all ages of wrestling. This is going to be a great way to get our guys and program the type of exposure we need to help take things to the next level. Teddy, Tyler, Rennie, and Loren all did very well in their interviews. I think we did a great job of showing the true mission of what we do at St. Chris- eductating the WHOLE boy.

It became really apparent this weekend, what my true mission in coaching wrestling is all about. Not only do I want to develop National caliber wrestlers, but I want those National caliber wrestlers to understand that there must be priorities in life to be really successful. Some coaches put all of their emphasis on the wrestling only and more or less say, "Screw academics", but fail to realize that without sound academics, their athletes WON'T be able to take their wrestling to the next level. College coaches are not going to be willing to take kids into their programs who are marginal students. With Title IX, and the lack of financial opportunity in college wrestling, college coaches are not willing to give up scholarship money on somebody who may, or may not make it academically in college. We need to look at the bigger picture; wrestlers need to ask themselves where are they going to be in ten years, twenty years, etc. and figure out what are the most important things for them in life. It is important for a wrestler to use wrestling as the mechanism to get the best education possible at both the high school and college level. Success at the higher levels at wrestling is an additional bonus.

What is that national caliber kid learning from a coach who places all of their emphasis on wrestling and nothing else?  Believe it or not, coaches are role models for their athletes. A high school coach's mission should be twofold: 1. Produce the most competetive athletes and teams possible, and 2. Prepare the student-athlete for life, which includes school! We can not get blinded by the idea of success and not see the bigger picture out there. The most elite wrestlers spend such a short, fragile part of their entire life at the top of the mountain; what is there after the glory fades? If that wrestler is not prepared to face the world in the best way possible, they will try and cling to that peak and hold on for all of their worth for as long as possible. Without having any real plans or ideas of what to do after wrestling, the chances at being able to provide for your family  grow dim.

Don' t get me wrong- I want to win and produce as many top athletes as possible, but there is so much more to who I am as a person than just wrestling. I have a great job as a high school teacher, which I love. I am able to put two of my favorite things to do together and make a decent living at it. But there is so much more to who I am. I'm Rob- the son, the brother, the soon to be fiance, and so much more. I like to spend my time away from the mats with those who see me as more than just "Coach Prebes". And I firmly believe that I have my education to thank for this wholeness to my life. I'm crazy about wrestling, but I am also crazy about learning about history. And Science. And things that go boom.

The morale here is to keep your eyes on more than just the prize. Take a view from above and see how much more you can accomplish by getting a great education. St. Christopher's will prepare you for the next level athletically and academically. I think that's a pretty good combo, don't you?

We're doing the right thing at St. Chris. I firmly believe that we can be very successful and wrestle on a high level, without compromising our academics.  That's just me.