Wrestling Stories

           First and foremost, the names in this blog post will not be provided (otherwise blogging may come to an end very quick due the fact I may be dead).  The exact terms of the dares done to others will not be provided; I will only share the dares that I had to undergo.  Some of these stories are not directly about what we’ve done to pass the time, but what happens to us as well.  I will also not disclose the names of the wrestlers on my wish hit list, haha I really don’t have one . . .

            Recently at our opening tournament in Moorehead, Minnesota, we had an interesting experience with two people.  We arrived at our hotel and we had a quick team meeting.  The next order of business was to go work out.  That is where things got interesting.  Two women were waiting outside our hotel and in a position where every wrestler had to walk by them to get on the bus.  They may or may not have been drinking that night but all of a sudden, they took extreme interest in us.

            Here I should say that these two women are most likely older than my mom (sorry mom, I needed a reference point).  I want to assume they had nothing but the best intentions, but then things went south . . . quick.  At first it was our bus driver.  The poor guy endured questions along the line of “so, what else do you drive that is big?”  “Where are you going?”  “Can we get a private ride?”  That’s when I realized that the Panther Train wanted nothing to do with these two broads.

            So when the bus driver told them they could not set foot on the bus, they turned to the wrestlers still climbing on board the bus.  Someone leaked the top-secret information that we were going to workout.  So the questions from the cougars began to sound like, “can we come and get all sweaty with you?”  “What do you like to do for a workout?”  “Do you like to be sweaty.”  At this point all the wrestlers wanted to get the YMCA to workout and get away from these two women expressing cougar like characteristics.

            I have to give props to our bus driver, as all the wrestlers got on the bus one of these ladies forced her way up the steps to wish us good luck.  After her wishes of good luck, a few comments along the lines of “go away,” may or may not have been said.  This experience was all but ten minutes long, but one that I can look back on with teammates and laugh about someday.  Only God knows what was going through those women’s head, I don’t, so I won’t try and say what was.

            The next story has to do with the time my teammates and I climbed a mountain in Colorado Springs.  There is a trail called the Cog, an old railroad that is a majority incline up the mountain.  When I climbed it I was crawling from railroad tie to railroad tie at one point, I just told myself don’t stop moving.  I made it to the top in just over 30 minutes, as did the rest of my team.  This is where I should point out that in college wrestling 9 out of 10 weight classes cut weight, the other is the heavy weight.

           Like I said I will not name names, however when the last wrestler got to the top of the mountain, he had a few sasquatch calls to make.  In the process he lost his breakfast at the top of the mountain as well.  At this moment our entire team was laughing, there were two other climbers that day that had a few words for us as we were all laughing.  This is where I get my little sign off because they said it was terrible to be laughing at one person singled out.  From then on I have tried to live by the rule to laugh often, with everyone, but never at someone.  That was still a pretty funny scene to witness though.

            This next story has to do with a wedding.  I attended one of a good former teammate with two other teammates and my sister.  One of the wrestlers had a plus one that had something come up, so my sister took her spot.  The reception had two funny parts to it.  We were in a really nice hotel ballroom, the first part has to do with the video messages we could leave for the bride and groom.  Everyone gave a minute or two of congratulations and something nice to say to them.  The wrestler next to me kept his message brief and to the point.  He said, “Have fun tonight buddy (wink wink).”  The groom’s mom was holding the camera, she promptly lost it in laughter.

            The second funny part of this wedding occurred when the bouquet was going to be thrown out.  The DJ said any lady “who didn’t have a ring on it, to get on the dance floor.”  Twenty-four hours earlier my sister didn’t even know that she would be in a wedding.  Let alone catch the bouquet.  The way Bailey caught it was hilarious as well.  My sister played volleyball in high school, she wasn’t gifted in the height department but she has ups (major ups).  Stories made from weddings are usually never bad.  However, everyone out there who has dirt on me made me realize I am screwed for the day my wedding arrives and all that dirt gets thrown at me.

            All she had to do was reach her hand up and snatch the flowers out of mid air against two other women who made a jumping effort.  I think my sister surprised herself when she caught it and saw the amount of effort these other two women made and failed.  They took off their heals for the throw.  I don’t know if we broke some sort of social etiquette rule by catching a bouquet at a wedding with a plus one, but we had fun doing it.  Our mom laughed when she heard the story so there’s a win there.

My sister won the bouquet!

           The next story comes from a time long ago . . . in high school.  My senior year Ames qualified 5 wrestlers for state including myself and we were given a nicer Chevy Tahoe to take down to the state tournament.  Our head coach at the time had his morning coffee and was all fired up about our first round match ups.  He was pretty excited to get to the Well that he raced down to state.  Along the way we had to go under a bridge and we were going around 80 mph in a 65.

            That caught the attention of one of the many state troopers lined up in a speed trap that we had just set off.  So the lights go off and the state trooper pulls us over.  Our head coach isn’t happy.  The first thing our coach says to the officer is, “sir . . . you just took the jelly out of my doughnut.”  At that moment everyone in the van was silent and didn’t know weather to laugh or stay quiet.  The officer didn’t laugh, but as soon as he went back to his car the van exploded.

            In a similar situation, a bunch of wrestler’s in a van going to and driving back from a tournament, we play card games.  Either screw your neighbor (play the game and then you’ll realize why its named the way it is) or death card (this game hurts if a player is pissed off).  However, this is the wrestling version, if one loses they receive a strike.  After three strikes they must perform a dare of the groups choosing.  After one dare is complete, all the strikes for everyone is reset to zero.  There was an additional rule that if one “chickened out” of a dare, they had to buy a case of beer for each individual playing.  Which gave someone a monetary incentive to do whatever the group thought up.

            This dare kind of backfired on the group.  In the first round of playing this game it came down to three people with two strikes out of six players.  In the deciding hand I was against another wrestler with two strikes, I lost.  That was number three for me.  Just my luck to lose in the very first round of the game, I am rarely a lucky person.  However, my dare came back without much debate.  I was to take a dip of chewing tobacco and hold it for ten minutes.

            I have never done tobacco products in my life, I have never chewed, dipped, what have you.  I had no idea how to spit, or how big of a pinch to take.  I did have a good teammate walk me through it while the other four were laughing away.  My coach who was driving was like no don’t make him do it.  The other assistant next to him was like he’s going to puke, which made the coach laugh and change his mind.

            I got the dip in just fine, and it went to work.  In the first thirty seconds my lips went numb and I started to laugh really hard (I don’t know why).  From minute two to ten (I think it was ten minutes) I don’t remember anything but laughing and having a great, and I mean great time.  That was a once in a lifetime buzz, and it was awesome.  I have since never touched the stuff.  But if anyone reading this is looking for a starter brand, grizzly wintergreen is a great chewing tobacco to begin with.  The smell still gets me every time (I did like it).

The best tobacco I know

            I was accused once of cock-blocking a teammate of mine one night.  Drinks with alcohol in it may or may not have been involved.  Some facts need to be laid out here, the combination of consuming alcohol and wrestling do not mix.  Nothing good happens after midnight, and lastly some weeks the team spends a little too much time together.  After the bars I was driving people home from the bars, I got the lucky DD job.  One person who I drove home (his name shall remain unknown), thought he had a girl “in the bag.”

            When we got back to said person’s house, he wanted to wrestle me.  Since he still needed time to sober up I was able to keep him at arms length.  For the record I did not want to wrestle at this early morning hour, but my teammate did.  When I told him I wanted to stop he promptly bit my ear, then when I looked back he performed the same action on the girl that he thought was “in the bag.”  She was upset and wound up asking me for a ride home (nothing happened and nothing was “in the bag”).  The next morning I received a text message from my teammate, he was very upset and pissed off at me.  I didn’t bite anyone; as far as I’m concerned he did that to himself.

            I guess I have earned a negative reputation as a “wingman” when I have gone out with teammates.  But I actually listened to one teammate for tactics on what to do when being the “wingman.”  Nothing I said kept a girl’s attention with one of my teammates for more than three minutes.  As a result these events created a very interesting sauna conversation the next day.  But it is a story I’ll never forget because it was so funny, I thought I was helping . . . wrong.

            Speaking of wrestlers at a party, we kind of stand out when we like to have fun.  There was a weekend where Cedar Falls Finest was out in full force busting a house party here or there.  A house we went to for a party was hosted by a gal whom was fearing a knock on the door from the police.  She unplugged the music and flickered her lights and stood up on a table giving us the “get out” speech.

            The house instantly went quite, as she was finishing up her little speech one of the wrestlers (I still don’t know which one) said at room volume, “nice boobs.”  The house erupted in laughter, I wonder what was going through her head at that point.  She was trying to be serious and in an instant lost everyone’s attention.  We all wound up leaving though.

            I’ve seen streakers (not the female kind L ), a man eat deodorant, , illegal fireworks going off, nights straight from Jersey Shore, tequila night, cars on fire, slow pitch softball fights, first time buyers, a dog have the crap scared out of him (literally), head shots in dodgeball, nut shots in dodgeball, body shots (too hairy body shots), party fouls, people drinking too much, a coach and referee have a discussion (during a match), those are all stories, but not my favorite ones.

            The Rialto, or Toe for short, is the dining center between the Bender and Dancer residence halls where the team always goes to eat after practice.  There was on particular week where we noticed extra Toe employees staking out our table.  Apparently one wrestler had refused to take his dirty plates to the dish station.  These employees had to know who they were dealing with.  There were at least 25 wrestlers at this table, and three of them (dressed in Christmas sweaters), we didn’t care what they had to say.

Try to take someone seriously in this sweater, we couldn't.

            So as we were all finishing up our dinner, they send an employee over.  We had noticed we were being watched (they made that pretty obvious).  This guy is younger than all of our Dads, it is right before Christmas and he has selected a $H!T brown ugly sweater with a reindeer on it (he would have won any ugly sweater party hands down).  The first words that come out of his mouth are, “Hey Guythhs . . .”  Right away he got cut off when some said, “Oh my god, he has a lisp.”

            We lost it, I am a terrible person for telling this story, but I had to share it.  The Rialto employees really dropped the ball on that one.  They had three people and sent over the one with a lisp.  And they expected to get their message across . . . I’ll go ahead and let you decide if their strategy was effective or not.

            Speaking of the Rialto, some good memories are an initiation ritual.  Back when the Rialto still had trays, we would load one up with a ton of plates filled with leftover food and sauce (of all colors).  Then one wrestler would gather up the courage to walk over the dishwashing station and hit a snag, trip and send all the plates flying.  The first time I saw this the entire Toe became very quiet except for one table.  We didn’t make it obvious or anything about which the guilty party was.

            I have one semester left of college.  I can’t wait for what’s ahead of me.  There are still car sign dares, rum . . . I mean fun nights, finding out what the fox says, man stuff day, heart to hearts, finding out what was in the forecast, a fight at a wedding, catching critters, my awesome dance moves, forklift horrors, video game yelling (and breaking . . . mentally), drug testing laughs, food fights,a pay toll attendant get grossed out by a “kissing the coach dare," stories we will never tell our parents.  Who knows what our parents haven’t told us?  There will be more stories as time marches on, until next time, laugh often, with everyone, but never at someone.

Riley Banach

The Pay-toll attendant's reaction.

The hand you're Dealt

Everyone's favorite cards in blackjack don't always get dealt to them.

            Sometimes life can deal a less than stellar hand.  Those cards that we are dealt can be a test (who am I kidding, 90% of the time they are always a test).  The easy solution I have to a band set of cards is to listen to Travis Tritt’s hit “It’s a Great Day to be Alive.”  The hard fix is changing behavior and a negative attitude.  Last spring I had a lot going on, at times I felt overwhelmed, but I am still here alive and kicking.

          

           After surgery I couldn’t workout for two weeks, which gave me a new friend named crazy (not sure friend is the appropriate term for crazy, but whatever).  I had to find a way to cope with what I was dealing with, so I focused a lot of energy I had towards school.  I was taking four classes and I had the grade I wanted in two of them, and an uphill battle in the other two classes for the grade I wanted.

            For two weeks I basically was a regular college student.  But the brace kept bringing up the conversation of, “what happened to your arm?”  Here I had a choice, how would my attitude be?  Would I be like, feel sorry for me?  This sucks?  Why me? All of these are negative thoughts.  Instead I told people, it’s just a flesh wound.  I also said something along the lines that the brace was temporary and wouldn’t last that long.

            After those two weeks I had another round of tests, and my scores went up.  My brace also came off, only to be replaced by a rehabilitative brace that allowed me range of motion.  Things were getting better.  During this time I talked to my Dad a lot, the one thing that kept coming up in our talks is that “things are never as bad as they seem, and things are never as good as they seem.”  He was right, I was playing the hand that I was dealt, and originally I thought I had a bad draw.  Looking back I realize that I didn’t have it so bad.

            Hitting fast forward now to Wednesday November 20^th.  I had finished a test and I wanted to get to practice, our coach had asked Bill Bails to come talk to our team about what was going on in his life and his mindset.  Bill watched our coach, Doug Schwab in college and is a big fan of wrestling in the state of Iowa.  He is also dealing with cancer.  Bill is very passionate about running and does every day.  He won’t let cancer and the necessary treatments to stop him from doing what he loves, even if it hurts.

            I thought I had it bad, Bill is fighting for his life potentially and he is still doing the things he loves.  The thing that really stood out to me during his speech is he knows he has it, but so what.  He doesn’t want to have cancer but he doesn’t care.  He shared with us that he runs the same day he undergoes chemotherapy.  Which the nurses and doctors have never heard of (wrestlers are still surprising nurses and doctors everyday).  He won’t let anything stop him from doing what he loves, he loves to run and he will find a way to do it.

            I am applying this to my life now, the day after Bill talked I got hurt again.  This time I partially tore my MCL in my right knee.  I wanted to tell my trainer’s so what, I am going to wrestle, but my knee had other ideas.  I can walk but I can’t run, and I don’t want to injure this any more.  I am going to adapt Bill’s attitude towards this.  To me, Bill is a positive speaker; he has faced every challenge in his life head on.  Bill has passions as well, nothing will stop him from running – he’s made up his mind that he is going to do it regardless (Nike should call him because Bill just does it).

Nike could have a great addition if they contacted Bill.

            As for me, I am resting my knee, I will run and wrestle again.  With this being my last year I would rather wait a short time for things to heal compared to coming back to fast and being out longer.  But so what, I know I can do upper body lifts, I can continue to get stronger mentally.  My attitude towards this is totally up to me.  If I approach this negatively, no one will want to be around me.  Good things come to those who wait, and in the words of Dad, “things are never as bad as they seem, things are never as good as they seem.”

            This hand (or more literally, knee) that I have right now isn’t the best hand in life.  However, in the words of my athletic trainer, Troy Garrett, it is the best case of a worst-case scenario.  I don’t need surgery, just time and patients.  The tear is not complete, but on a scale of 1-3 (3 the worst, I wish there was more numbers in the scale so that way my injury isn’t as bad).  My tear is 2, which isn’t complete, but torn pretty good.  The healing process takes 4-6 weeks, but so what.  My attitude will dictate how fast this healing process goes.  I will get better, so until next time laugh often, with everyone, but never at someone.

Riley Banach

The Wrestling Dose of the Best Medicine

This Mat TV skit made me laugh, it is everything wrestling isn't.  Enjoy (Sorry for the German subtitles).
Riley Banach

Feel Uncomfortable? Do you wonder the reward for you?

I can't imagine how uncomfortable it is for someone to play Santa Claus.  Way to go Billy Bob Thronton!  You the man.

  
          This blog has been the main focus on a big class project.  I have enjoyed the writing and research so far, and I plan on keeping this blog going after I turn it in.  I have never done a blog before and I like the conversations that I’ve had with people who have talked about my blog with me.

            However, I am at that magical point where I have to turn in what I’ve done thus far.  I have confidence in the work that I have put forth in and I will follow the directions to every t crossed and i dotted after this post is done.  With that I feel a little uncomfortable, along with probably a majority of Professor Wilson’s two digital advertising classes.  So was Billy Bob's character when he met this kid.  I am not a stranger to feeling uncomfortable because of everything I do in life and what I have put my body through.

            So the first part of this blog is about defining one’s comfort zone.  A comfort zone is where an individual doesn’t feel out of place, threatened, they’re satisfied, relaxed, cozy, they are at peace with themselves and feel good about them.  Now the sports side and athletics’ side of things.  A great coach will push their athletes out of their comfort zone in terms of conditioning, mental training, physical shape, and in other disciplines of their sport.

            I have comfort zones when I workout, we all do.  Over the last four years the one thing that my head coach, Doug Schwab, has done to get me out of my wrestling comfort zone the most, is his warm ups for practice.  I would estimate I’ve lost anywhere between three to four pounds every time he runs a warm up.  Usually after 25 to 30 minutes of doing various exercises to break a sweat I am no doubt a few pounds lighter and completely out of breath.  Then we go some more so we are “fully warmed up.”

            In my end of the season meeting last year I told Doug I straight up hate, with a passion, his warm ups and how long they last.  I usually feel drained before the part of practice where my mind and body are tested and sharpened by another man.  Wrestling has no doubt pushed me to the breaking point and forced me to get back on my feet, get back to practice and perform.  The one wrestler hands down who has gotten me frustrated, upset, ticked off, and given me feelings that I want to beat the crap out of him is David Bonin from Louisiana.

David Bonin and I after last season's wrestling banquet.

            The positive of having a rivalry of this nature is the relationship I’ve made with David, he is basically my brother now through wrestling.  The bonds I’ve created with my teammates are tough to put into words other than family.  There are great rewards from placing oneself out of their comfort zone.  Going through a college wrestling season with a team is unlike any other sport in terms of all we sacrifice, but we do it tighter, we are never alone.

            A couple of posts ago I stated my opinion on losing ten pounds in ten days ads.  In that ad I recommended working out with someone else.  There is accountability, and the desire to push one another to get the most out of a workout.  I have to thank Will Jackson here for going through wrestling lifts with me this summer, without him it would have been very easy for me to skip a lift on a day I didn’t feel like working out.  I got better and stronger because of him, and I know he got some benefits and rewards from lifting with me.

            The next comfort zone that I had to recently conquer in college was talking to women.  This is a total change in thinking from where this blog post started, however, like I said before getting out of my comfort zone has given me some great rewards and great memories.  Again my team came through for me in all those awkward situations while in college.  Here I have to share what happened when I was beginning to talk to my current girlfriend, Brittany Nelson.  I had known Brittany for a few months and I was waiting to tell my team about her.  We had only been talking seriously for about two to three weeks.

            However, in life I have realized that women talk, and they talk way more than men do.  One of her teammates had a class with a teammate of mine and Brittany had mentioned my name.  My teammates didn’t know Brittany and I were talking, and would be dating soon.  So her teammate, Molly Turk, went to the wrestler that she knew and asked him for the low down on me.  The wrestler she talked to was Joey Lazor, right before an after season workout, my roommate in the dorms at the time, and the one wrestler who just had to share what he just heard.

Always a crowd favorite, rocks a killer mullet, has a wardrobe second to none, and a great man, Joey Lazor.

            He quickly walked into the wrestling room and used a volume to be sure everyone heard the question he was about to ask me.  He said something along the lines of “Banach (or Bandog, my nickname) who is volleyball chick Brittany you’re talking too?”  Instantly I was put on the spot, but it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.  From what I gathered the majority of the team was happy for me.  To this day I still think of the odds that of all wrestlers Molly could have asked about me, Joey was the one.

My Mom's creeper picture skills at their best.

            In every college situation I was always put in some uncomfortable position.  The feelings I had when I started this post are slowly going away, I’m not so nervous about this project as I was before.  My work is what it is and there is nothing to change that now.  I have to thank each and every one of my college teammates throughout the years.  I have met around 75 people and created memories with them.  All good.  I had to force my self to do things that I was never ok with doing on my own, my team backed me up there, and still will in the year to come.

            This blog has been a fun ride and will no doubt continue on past this post.  What I’ve done so far now needs to be graded.  As for this post, to anyone reading it, find something that drives you out of your comfort zone, the rewards that take time will come and you will never regret it.  Ask me about this topic sometime.  Wrestling and girls are just two I shared here; I don’t plan on starting a whole other blog about comfort zones and how to push through them.  Maybe I will revisit this topic in the future.  There is nothing I cannot overcome because of the trials wrestling has put me through, I climbed a mountain (the cog trail in Colorado Springs) before the start of my fourth year of college, and I plan on doing it again.  The view was the smaller reward.  The bigger one was doing it with my wrestling family.  Until next time, laugh often, with everyone, but never at someone.

Riley Banach

Brittany has a love/hate relationship when we Jet Ski.  I love it, I don't see any problems.

The Panther Train at the top of the Cog in August 2012.  Love these guys.

Here's the pitch . . .

One of my favorite pitchers, 4 time Cy Young Winner, Greg Maddux

            And it’s a change up.  A change up is a type of throw that baseball and softball pitchers have in their arsenal to beat batters.  At first the ball appears to be traveling faster than what it really is, and then it slows down.  The ideal batter’s response, for the pitcher, is to swing early and get a strike.  A change up changes the tempo of pitches a batter sees.  It keeps him or her on their toes.

            It is here I want to ask you reading this to have an open mind.  A change up is designed to keep a batter on their toes, a similar scenario can be seen unfolding in the pharmaceutical’s field.  As I mentioned in a previous post I interviewed Chris Roberts, who shared with me a little bit about what is on the horizon for him and his company.

            With the affordable care act starting to pick up in implementing parts of that gigantic law, the government is slowly making (and enforcing) rules and laws about health care.  Since the government pays Chris’s company, Eli Lily, it must follow the rules set forth and in place.  In a sense the government is slowly taking over health care.  The major change for Eli Lilly will be tailoring their style and strategies around a doctor’s changes.  He feels confident his company will be flexible to change for the better.

            Eli Lily is just a pharmaceutical company; they just deal with medicine that can be prescribed to patients.  A company like Arthrex, whose specialty is with orthopedic surgeons, may face bigger changes to their business.  There are many other companies and businesses out there who are competing with Eli Lilly and Arthrex, but the rules of the games for everyone are change.

            The changes are in place to hopefully make the entire health care world better, that is still up for debate (and won’t be in this blog, but I am sure it is the main subject of many other blogs out there).  Chris did share that since all electric medical records were mandated, that area of business is flourishing well.  However, changes are on the horizon.  Medical companies need to stay on their toes and be flexible.  Each medical company out there probably is preparing for the new laws to come.

            Johnson and Johnson, perhaps the company recognized most around the world for medicine and care, is preparing for changes.  I doubt the availability of Tylenol, Motrin products, Pepcid, and many more Johnson and Johnson products will change.  But what goes on behind the scenes will change.  The journey that medicine takes to get to the shelf has years of traveling behind it.  The map is changing for every company/business.

            The end users, the consumers, may see a few changes, major changes, or no changes depending if the health care website is working or not.  I follow the status on that subject on the news every so often, last I heard it was up.  To some people that is a good thing, to others its bad.  We all have to wait and see how this one plays out.  Until next time, laugh often, with everyone, but never at someone.

Riley Banach

The best medicine, double dose.

            If you need a pick me up, Baby Sinclair delivers in the first clip.  The second clip may make someone lose all faith in humanity.  Enjoy.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A great quote, would be a crime to not share

Science doesn't need to prove this is true

            Maybe this is just me, or maybe others hear it too, maybe someone will say I’m out of my mind.  At least twice a week I hear an ad on the radio or see one online about how to lose weight fast.  Maybe these ads are targeted at me because a good marketer has figured out that I wrestle based on what matches I’ve watched online.  Anyhow, I don’t buy into any of this and I don’t think others should as well.  This post may be a little controversial for people, but this is just what I’ve seen and is my personal experiences.

            To start off, the one ad that I hear the most is lose ten pounds in ten days.  The first thought that comes to my mind is just ten days?  Ten permanent pounds off in ten days seems a little too good to be true.  Other questions I have begin to arise, like where is that weight coming off coming from?  Is it water weight?  Muscle?  Body fat?  Here I will say I don’t know because I have never done one of those.  I truly believe that there is a better system or for losing weight out there, and being healthy in general overall.

            I’ve been told I must be crazy for wrestling, in reality my “normal” is different from other people’s.  If you’re reading this, you probably know I wrestle for the University of Northern Iowa.  I have wrestled every year since seventh grade.  I have cut weight every year since my freshman year of high school.  Just participating in the sport of wrestling has done more for me than anything else I have ever done.  Self-discipline, accountability, nutrition, exercise, physical and mental training, and a clear focus are the some of the things that wrestling demands.

            In high school, wrestling season went from November to February.  In college the season goes from November to March.  I am not including summer wrestling or freestyle in the mix, any athlete dedicated to their sport to the level of a division one athlete will tell you they rarely take an extended period of time off.  My point here is, wrestling is a long season; it is probably one of the two longest in college athletics along with men’s and women’s basketball (not counting the preseason).

            My point is I’ve had a long period of time to change what I ate, how much I ate, how I ate, how I slept, worked out, lost weight, and felt good doing it.  A change in lifestyle is not easy, but if one desires to change bad enough then it will be worth it.  In my honest opinion, anyone outside the sport of wrestling should never have a workout goal to cut weight.

            I was shown how to cut weight right, and I learned throughout the process.  I was miserable at times, but only in tight competition.  I recall one match where I had a 5-1 lead and was really tired with ten seconds left and gave up a two-point reversal.  It was the meet before I could wrestle at 160, I weighed-in somewhere in the low 60s.  I was giving up 8 or 9 pounds when I stepped out there to compete at 171.  This match was for first place too, I won (5-3), but not the way I wanted too.  That was probably the worst I felt my sophomore year when I cut from 185 pounds to 160 pounds over and 8 week span for wrestling.

            Those 25 pounds that came off were body fat, I felt leaner and stronger.  I had some great practice room partners that pushed me into becoming a good wrestler.  Colton Vosberg (unbelievable strength), Stefan Breitling (placed 8^th at state at 215 weighing 190 pounds in 2009), Scott Klinkel (Lat-dropped me on my head more times than I wanted), Taylor Knight (most defined athlete while at Ames High in my opinion) Quentin Ring (A guy I thought never got tired, he had amazing cardio), Josh Marker (straight funky monkey style of wrestling), Ben and Luke Swalla, and Jake Agnitch (had to mention these three), all pushed me to get better and all bring back great memories.  There are more but these were guys who I either went to state or wrestled on a consistent basis in the practice room.  Over four years of high school I wrestled Scott and Josh the most.

            Back to losing ten pounds in ten days, I am under the assumption that an individual is probably doing this plan by himself or herself.  That is the first flaw I have with it, doing it by oneself is going to make one miserable.  Wrestling provided me a support system of everyone sacrificing for the team.  The second issue (not really a flaw), is this is a short term plan.  I understand if someone has a wedding in ten days and needs to look good and wants some extra help, this is for them.  For someone who wants to lose weight, what about the ten days after?  If you want ten permanent pounds off, this short term plan or system is not the way to go, the weight will come back.

            The third flaw, is these ads messes with people’s personal feelings about themselves as it relates to the way they think society wants them to look.  Like I said before, weight loss is a terrible goal for anyone outside of wrestling.  Individually if you are going to workout or have a plan, the only goal is for you to feel good about yourself.  A healthy heart goes a long way, you can have a healthy heart by cutting weight (like I did) or by just adjusting little things, but they have to be long term adjustments.  That is going to be my focus when I say good-bye to wrestling but when I still work out, one healthy heart.  To anyone considering buying a magic pill or workout program like a ten day one, don’t my advice is to focus on heart health (just my opinion, not a fact)

            The best example I have of this is my Dad.  He is in his 50s, and last year he had a check up at the doctor’s office to see how his body was doing.  In my head the picture I have is my Dad in workout gear with a mask on and wires hooked up to his body measuring his heart and other body functions.  The treadmill is then cranked up to a high level and they see how high my dad’s heart rate can go.  My Dad weighs around 265, I think, better give or take 5 pounds (yes, a little above his Olympic weight of 198 pounds, but he earned it).  He got his heart rate up to 212 or something around there, I am told that is good.  When he was running at that high pace for over 30 minutes his doctor was stunned.  My dad’s doctor had just seen the healthiest heart in one of his patients in a long time.  My dad told him he could have run for a longer time as well.

            At this age my dad is not trying to lose weight.  He is reaping in the benefits from over twenty years of consistent hard exercise along with eating healthy.  Permanent weight loss is a long-term objective in my mind.  It should only be left to wrestlers, as for everyone else, I don’t think an individual should cut weight just because they want too.  There are more ways to do it wrong than right.  This short term lose ten pounds in ten days idea is for the birds (unless you have a big life coming up, it is marketed and sold for a reason, I understand that side of it).

            People buy these products, I hope before the next one does they read this post.  Ten days is short-term, it is not permanent weight coming off (it is all water weight, our body is 70% water).  When you’re body senses an imbalance it will correct it and the weight comes back (the human body is pretty incredible in its own right, but that’s a whole other blog).  Ten pounds in ten days to me doesn't exist, ten pounds in say four or five weeks is more realistic.  That was my strategy I used to drop ten pounds this preseason, today I made my goal (I weighed 174, the weight which I plan to wrestle at this year).  I hope this post winds up in front of someone who really needs it.  Until next time, laugh with everyone, but never at someone.

Riley Banach

Keep going because whatever you're doing is making you stronger.

Our coach has driven this idea in my head for four years now.  He's right.