The US Open in Wrestling is one of the most exciting weekends in all of athletic competitions. Athletes of all ages come together to prove who is the best athlete in all of America in Freestyle and Greco Roman.
While the resumes of these athletes is impressive and we can learn many lessons from them technically, you can learn so much from these athletes by how they prepare for and approach competition.
The talk of the town – or country that is – all weekend was Yianni Diakomihalis and how the youngster would navigate through the minefield of the 65KG weight class full of veterans. Yianni defeated a returning Olympian, a former US Open Champion, and a Former World team member to win his title.
Although Yianni’s wrestling was impressive – the 19 year old’s mindset was even more impressive. In his post match interview Yianni talked about making every day matter, because in the grand scheme of things although events may seem far away, they are right around the corner. Also, when talking about his matchup with his teammate Jordan Oliver, Yianni said he didn’t care that they were teammates and the two of them were going to “beat each other up” for six minutes during the matchup.
Pat Downey has been to hell and back over the last few years of his life. Throughout his time Pat has faced multiple legal issues, has been asked to leave multiple institutions and been kicked off his college team. While most people would have called it quits, Pat didn’t. Pat stayed the course and remained resilient to pursue his education and receive a degree. On top of that, Pat just won the US Open title at 86KG and attributes it to the lifestyle he is now living. The moral of Pat’s story is do not let what has happened in your past define where you are going in your future.
Mindset Makes the Difference!