Advise to High School Seniors

By Bruce Gabrielson
Head Coach - SMWC
Former Asst. Coach - Cal. State Univ. Long Beach

March 1992

What Do college Coaches Look For

MSWA's newsletter contained a great article recently about the emphasis college coaches place on awarding scholarships to wrestlers who are active in tournaments during their off-season. It's the old story of "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Many local programs and tournaments are available, but for some reason many seemingly good wrestlers feel they don't need to wrestle off-season or worry about scholarships until they graduate. As pointed out in the article, this attitude is almost self destructive, and has hurt high school wrestlers time and time again in this area.

If a junior or senior wants a college scholarship, it is a must that he competes against the best in his region during the off-season. Simply winning a high school state championship doesn't mean much to a college coach. We live in an area of small states and very active prep schools. In Maryland, the state champion might be a 1A-2A or a 3A-4A winner, and he might be only one of many good state contenders when all the prep school wrestlers are considered. Therefore, if you were a college coach, would you rather spend your money on someone proven against all-comers, or only someone who might have faced a weak or limited field in a handful of events.

My Recommendation

Speaking from my own experience as a college coach and recruiter, I always spent a lot of time looking for potential wrestlers at the off-season events. These I earmarked for serious recruiting when their senior seasons started. When planning for future team balance, I often had names of juniors and even sophomores on my list of possibles. I would also bet that some coaches consider off-season wrestling by high school recruites more important than whatever else they went out for off season. If you are limited in what you can spend, why not spend on a dedicated year-around wrestler rather then an equally good seasonal wrestler. This is just my own opinion, and not necessarily reflective of other coaches.

Think About Summer

Consider where you want wrestling to take you when you decide on wrestling this summer. Summer camps alone simply won't do it. Finally, don't show up once or twice during the off-season and then expect your off-season coach to get you a scholarship. The world doesn't always work that way.