Improve Upon Expectations
Back with another Mental Monday inspired by the NCAA Championships, Ben Askren talks about never giving up and constantly striving for improvement. When Askren sees an example of a really good message being displayed at the highest level it makes sense to hammer that message home. Everyone can improve their expectations. Askren often talks about how he wasn’t a great wrestler as a kid. What he did was relentlessly sought after the knowledge to improve and get better.
The Journey to the Top
During this years NCAA Championships we saw two examples of wrestlers who coming out of high school didn’t have huge expectations. The first being Drew Foster from the University of Northern Iowa. Foster never won a state championship in his home state of Iowa and went 15-18 his freshman year at UNI. Foster then ends his collegiate career as the National Champion. Another example is Penn State’s, Anthony Cassar. Cassar only qualified for the New Jersey state tournament one time his senior year and he won it. He also only qualified for the NCAA tournament his senior year and won it. These are just two examples of wrestlers who accomplished less than stellar achievements in high school but went on to win the highest achievement in Folkstyle wrestling.
Huge Improvements
When you’re looking back at this season and thinking about how you did, don’t think you can only get a little better next year. You can make huge improvements and make people not believe you’re the same wrestler as last year. This what Askren loves so much about the sport of wrestling. Anyone who puts in the time, effort, and thought can get so much better. Askren thanks Foster and Cassar for not giving up on their goals and dreams. It’s a shining example of athletes who struggled and came out the other end as champions. Askren reminds everyone they can do the same if they really put the time in.
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