Rulon and Cael

I finally have the wrestling class that I have been begging for over the last few years so that my junior high team could meet during school hours except for maybe two or so days after school. Not having a junior high coach makes it real tough to teach and have practice for my varsity and junior high teams at the same time. So now I have the chance to spend lots of time with these 7th and 8th grade boys from now until October when our season begins and have a jump on the rest of the teams.

Anywho, for the first time I have the forum to talk about sports with students. When wrestling season comes around I focus all my efforts on the mat and skills and drills and moves. There seems to be no time for study and learning about sportsmanship or leadership or building a team. In my class I am requiring the students to come dressed on time, perform skills tests on particular wrestling moves and holds and finally reflections on articles and handouts I give them each week. This past week was a chapter out of Rulon Gardner's Never Stop Pushing. I have not actually read the entire book but have read excerpts of it and I thought it would be a good jumping off point. We also watched a video entitled Cael Sanderson Portrait of a Champion.

Both of these wrestlers are relatively young and have had giant success. Rulon beating an unbeatable Russian in 2000 to win the Gold and then Cael wrestling four years at Iowa State and going 159-0 and winning four national titles (never been done). Wow. Dedication. Struggle. Adversity. Discipline. Champion. Many words come to mind when I think of Rulon and Cael. The last one is Mormon. Both men are Mormon. What's up with that?

I have no answers and I may not need any. I just thought it was interesting that two men I really hyped in my first week was two Mormons. Whoops!