Ayres talks wrestling as Lehigh preps for second half

12/22/2004 5:00:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

The Lehigh wrestling team heads into the holidays on the heels of a successful start to the 2004-05 season. The sixth ranked Mountain Hawks opened up with a 7-1 record in dual meet competition including wins over three nationally ranked opponents. With the team done with final exams and preparing for the rest of the season, lehighsports.com caught up with Harmon-Rauch Assistant Coach Chris Ayres to discuss the current state of Lehigh wrestling.

 

“The first part of the season went well.  We had the toughest and most productive pre-season training since I have been here.  Then we moved into matches and although we beat Michigan early I wouldn't consider it a great performance...the dual was a 5-5 match split, but we were able to score more bonus points which was the difference in the match.  At the Penn State duals I feel we had a better performance than Michigan and we were able to beat Penn State at Recreation Hall, something I don't think has been done in the "Strobel era".  At Hofstra we wrestled very flat and the result was a poor performance, but I think it was necessary to motivate the team and give them a sense of urgency on the correction of areas we need work.  The bottom line is we were able to identify areas of weakness in the first half of the season that we will work to eliminate in the second half of the season.”

 

On how the team has spent the month of December:

“With the tough pre-season we concluded the first three months of training with Rutgers and Rider and began a period of active recovery.   During the time from the beginning of finals to the day after Christmas the team lifts, does cardio, and wrestles to maintain conditioning and improve on technique.  Some guys have minor injuries so it also a good time to heal.  Right now we are a very talented team that has to work on eliminating some weaknesses to achieve our goal of a national title.”

 

On first-half surprises:

“No wrestlers have really surprised us this year.  We see these guys wrestle every day so we know what they are capable of and I don't think any of them wrestled beyond what is expected by the coaching staff and the wrestlers themselves.”

 

On potential areas of improvement in the second half of the season:

“As a team we have to get better on the bottom position. We have to look to score during the whole match; and we have to work on getting each of our guys to perform to the best of their ability each time they wrestle.  Against Hofstra we didn't get out on bottom and it cost us a few matches and ultimately the match.  In terms of wrestling a whole match some of our guys stop wrestling when they get a lead and it could cost us down the road.  Finally, just figuring how to get each individual to wrestle the best they can each time they step out there is the ultimate goal...we don't worry too much about what other teams do because if we do what we are capable of we will win.”

 

On preparations for the second half of the season:

“The time from when they get back, until the Penn State match is going to be tough.  We plan on having two practices a day which we will improve strength, conditioning, and technique.  It is a really good time to really focus on each individual.  There are no classes so a lot of time can be spent on focusing on what it will take for each individual to go to a higher level.  Typically this is most intense training cycle we have. The work done in the next few weeks will really set us up for having a peak performance in March.  All the duals and tournaments including Midlands and Penn State are just practice for Nationals.”

 

Next week several Mountain Hawk wrestlers will be back in action as Lehigh has entered a contingent in the 42nd annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois. Lehigh returns to dual meet competition on Friday January 7, when the Mountain Hawks visit Rec. Hall for the second time this season to grapple with Penn State. The match gets underway at 7:30 and will be televised live on FSN Pittsburgh (DirecTV Channel 628).

 

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