Eagles Wrestlers Get Expert Advice for Offseason Training

It might be the offseason for the wrestling team, but this will be unlike any offseason the team has ever experienced. 

Head coach Matt Bishop has created a summer camp series featuring three very decorated wrestlers and coaches in their field. From April 13-May 25, these three individuals are meeting with the team and providing feedback, tips and guidance for the Eagle grapplers on specific topics. 

The reason for this plan is to expose Lakeland’s wrestlers to excellence and an unmatched level of experience, Bishop said. He is excited about the upcoming season and hopes to see a more consistent level of positive results. 

“We hope that we’re an up-and-coming program,” Bishop said. “It’s going to give them an opportunity to see a high level of technique and, hopefully, it will help open their eyes about the potential they have.” 

The speakers/special instructors are David Morgan, Corey Posey and Brandon Brissette. 

Morgan met with the team April 13 to talk about techniques related to leg attacks and finishes. He also focused his discussion on how wrestlers can properly drill and prepare themselves for the upcoming season. Morgan won a state championship in Michigan and was a three-time Big Ten champion at Michigan State University. He finished with 150 NCAA wins and was also a three-time All American. 

“These wrestlers need to find out what their bodies are able to do, and they need to be constantly working,” Morgan said just before meeting with the team. “The offseason is where you get your great habits and can become stronger,” he added, referring to both physical and mental strength.

“This is a long offseason and a long time between meets, and you need to find ways to really improve,”  he said.

Posey is an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler who trained for five years at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and was a national champion. He won nearly every major award possible as a young wrestler. He will help the Eagles wrestlers understand how to use their upper bodies to their advantage. 

Brissette is the head wrestling coach at Olivet College and was the 2010 NCAA Division III Rookie Coach of the Year and the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year. As a very accomplished wrestler himself, Brissette will talk to Lakeland’s wrestlers about mat wrestling techniques and using their legs to become better overall performers. 

For Lakeland to continue to grow as a program under Bishop, the Eagles will need to take a few steps forward on a regular basis. Morgan said it will take individual commitment from the team members as well. 

“It’s going to take these guys to buy in and watch and follow what coach Bishop is teaching,” Morgan said of the Lakeland coach, who wrestled at Michigan State and at Grand Valley State.

“This year, they got one wrestler (Alex Sokoll) to the state finals. Now they need to get two or three, and the program will grow. But it will take a certain level of leadership,” Morgan said.

Bishop plans to bring in three more experts this fall before the winter season begins. He hopes these experiences will help to motivate his wrestlers to prepare to the best of their ability. 

“I know these experts I am bringing on will reinforce many of those messages I give them and what we do in our training and practices,” Bishop said. “Sometimes it helps to hear it from someone else than just me.”