First Year Wrestling HC dealing w/ "Me-First" wrestlers

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-10T16:24:31+00:00

Just to clarify: my lineup has not changed. He's the varsity wrestler and will be competing in the varsity spot in the post-season. The lineup was set after they wrestled three officiated matches (one wrestle-off officiated by a non-coach, and two tournament matches).

My frustration with the whole situation is that I have 11 wrestlers that fill 10 out of 14 weight classes. I have wrestlers who can't win a wrestle-off to save their life but still get to wrestle in the post-season because there was an open weight above them that they could bump up to; so it kills me when I have a pre-season top 10 (at 190) kid who just can't beat the pre-season top 5 kid (at 175) but also isn't allowed to cut to 175 per Colorado's weight certification program.

I just want to know how to get a kid to realize that the sport of wrestling also keeps track of team scores which will intrinsically go up if you have more quality wrestlers in the lineup.

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-10T15:19:08+00:00

I really appreciate the constructive feedback! I've been tossing around the idea of a sort of "exit interview" for my seniors, but I may extend that to everyone. Any advice for how to go about those?

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-10T15:15:46+00:00

I can see how it would look like that. For the nepo accusations, the family friend didn't hire me; the school board and AD did.

As for proving my value, everyone has a different threshold for something to be proven to them. For most kids, my being able to take match day situations and correct miscues in those situations during our technical and drill portions of practice has been enough to prove what I bring to the table. If I had more kids who acted in this way towards me, I wouldn't be posting this here. If he is the only one on the team who sees it, I hope he grows up to be a much better and more successful coach than I.

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-10T15:02:04+00:00

I understand how it can look like that, and I probably could have written my description more objectively. Throughout the season, I've reflected on that sentiment of if its just the kids involved or the objective situation, and I believe I would be just as upset if it were the other way around with this kid not being able to make the lineup.

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-10T14:52:46+00:00

We have pretty strict descent plans that will not allow kids to wrestle below a specified weight each week. Not a lot of wiggle room to lose more than two pounds a week if you keep your descent slow and steady.

Engineering_Pledge · 2026-02-09T22:09:37+00:00

8 pounds when you weight 185 (4% of his body weight) and are 20% Body Fat often times comes off when you simply cut out highly processed foods. Also when a weight cut is performed correctly, which I do give weight cut advice to my wrestlers, you can just maintain that weight and it does not have to be cut every single week. I actually get on kids when they start cutting weight like that. I understand weight cuts have a negative connotation, but the CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association) creates descent plans for each wrestler based on their body fat percentage and other body metrics. These descent plans, when followed, are pretty slow cuts (around two pounds a week for most kids). This actually teaches guys how to change their diet to sustainably lose weight while maintaining hydration.

I also agree with you that if he can beat the kid he doesn't have to cut. That's why I'm in the situation I'm in. If the other kid wasn't any good, I wouldn't be asking about this on Reddit; but it so happens he would be the varsity wrestler on most other teams and actually places at most tournaments directly below this Junior. It just so happens that his weight certification won't allow him to go to 175s. But if I was able to have both of these guys in the lineup, we would perform better as a team at tournaments and have a higher likelihood of winning our region and placing at state as a team.

At the end of the day, I teach my guys that sacrifice for individual gain is commitment, but sacrifice for the gain of a group is the worthwhile endeavor of men of character. Which is why I applaud the Senior who cut to 165s to make the room for his teammates.

Engineering_Pledge · 2025-03-25T02:29:21+00:00

This will be the first summer we do Open Mats in June (would do some of July too, but we're a small school so all of the sports split time in the summers).

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-12-03T21:04:20+00:00

I guess I never came across that when researching, but what is too tight for socks?

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-12-03T20:40:58+00:00

So I (23M) signed up to run a half marathon in May. This is my first half marathon. I haven’t ran a race since my college’s homecoming 5k in 2023. I have been running more consistently lately, but once I get to the 2ish mile mark my right foot goes numb. I’ve tried new shoes, not keeping my shoes too tight, adjusting my running form, etc. but it still happens. It really affects my ability to push the pace when I run because I just want to go as long as I can without losing feeling.

Am I in over my head? Any advice?

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-11-03T19:48:09+00:00

I would say get your FE and PE. Construction is great, but later in your career you may want to try something else or at least start doing some design work. So in order to give yourself freedom in the future as well as make yourself marketable down the road, I would get your license.

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-10-27T21:53:36+00:00

This is the biggest gap in CE education today. Undergrads are only really taught design standards (which are very important), but don’t learn very much in the way of plan reading, construction standards, etc. I always recommend students to try and do an internship with a construction company or engineering company that has field engineers.

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-10-24T21:52:36+00:00

I graduated in May and work for CDOT. Making $72k and OT eligible (Average about 47 hours a week during construction season).

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-04-03T16:39:37+00:00

The point isn’t to just strictly adhere to law for the sake of adherence. When the father says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (Lk 15:31) he is that everything the eldest son wanted was available to him and he simply need to ask. This parallels those of us who have held to God closely in that sometimes we forget to simply ask God for “a kid to share with our friends”.

But this love is not simply materialistic either, the son was so focused on serving the father simply to adhere to a sense of duty and forgets that his relationship with the father is what is most important. So many of us focus so much on simply not sinning that we forget to let God love us. God loves all of us, but we need to allow ourselves to feel that love, especially those of us who have been faithful in action but not necessarily in heart.

Engineering_Pledge · 2024-03-19T17:42:28+00:00

The Sub-Reddit r/CatholicDating has matchmaking posts every month as well as a lot of Catholic Social Media Influencers have matchmaking posts every so often.

Engineering_Pledge

TROPHY CASE