Mustangs Working Hard in the "Off-Season"

The Spring season is in full swing and the Mustang have been working hard for well over a month with Suburban Sprawl practices on Tuesday and Thursday and developmentals and match days on the weekends.  Numbers have been great at practices and we have been averaging double digits for the weekends in terms of wrestlers competing.

This past weekend we had a couple different training opportunities.  Thirteen current and future Mustangs went over to the Patriot Gym in Downers Grove for a training day.  Wrestlers from Downers Grove North, West Aurora, Barrington, and Hinsdale South also joined us for two and half hours of hard work.  Coach Manzello (more on coach later) set up two training stations in their gym area.  One station was an Olympic Lifting station where strength and conditioning coach Dave Anderson put the kids through the fundamentals of the Olympic lifts.  Many of the Mustangs were ahead of the curve on this one since we have been incorportaing the Olympic lifts into our strength program for the past couple of years.  The other station was full body exercises such as medicine ball tosses, tire flips, rope climbs, etc. where the wrestlers would go for 60 seconds straight then switch.  Coach Manzello then showed some exceptional technique in the Patriot Wrestling room, and we finished off with some live wrestling.  It was a great day for all who attended.

For those who have not met Coach Joe Manzello, I would encourage you to come by a practice on Tuesday night or to stop by Patriot Gym in Downers Grove.  Coach Manzello has brought his Greco expertise to our Suburban Sprawl practices and looks to not only provide additional training opportunites for wrestlers, but for family members as well.  Patriot offers classes in kick boxing, jiu jitsu, boxing, strength and conditioing, and soon they will have hot yoga.  We are extremely excited to have Joe in our area!  Patriot Gym is located at 2425 Curtiss St in Downers Grove by the Belmont Train Station.
http://www.patriotboxing.com/

Two other Mustangs, Sophomore Joe Nugent and Junior Mike Hobbs, participated in the Elite Freestyle and Greco Camp put on at Oak Park and River Forest High School.  It was an invite only camp where clinicians included two USA Wrestling Coaches of the Year, a former NCAA Finalist at Penn State, and a former Cuban National Team Member. It was also a great chance for Joe and Mike to wrestle against some of the best kids in the country.

The Mustangs off-season will hit its peak over the next few weeks as the Mustangs will be hosting a Freestyle Developmental, the 2013 IL Freestyle Club Cup, and participating in the IL Freestyle and Greco State Tournaments.  We are very proud of the kids and their efforts thus far!