Ben Bennett's Welcome To College Blog

Ankney weighs in on "Spartan Life"
The following was written by former 3x Division 1 State Placer Grant Ankney.  Ankney, who graduated last spring from Holt High School, is currently a freshman 133lber at Michigan State University.

Written October 7th, 2008

"The Spartan Life"

I started college in late August and am finally
starting to get used to the hang of things here at
Michigan State.  My roommate is Kirk Tank from
Ohio and we get along really well.  The dorms
aren’t too bad - I usually am doing homework or on
the computer or getting killed in Madden because I
am terrible at video games.  We have a loft in our
dorm so there is a lot more space and we have
kind of decked it out and made it a fun place to be.
Classes have been tough to keep up with so far. 
In high school, I never really studied or worried
about grades too much and did really well but in
college the professors don’t care who you are and
grade a lot tougher.  The best advice I can give to
everyone is to take good notes and to look them
over often so you can stay on top of your classes. 
Make sure you are organized and always go to class as well.





As for the workout routine, the lifting is really tough and intense.  We don’t get much of a break in between lifts and I already feel stronger.  I’m wrestling 133 and it’s a big cut but I want to maintain strength so the lifting helps a lot.  Our preseason lasted a month and it just ended last week.  On Friday, we lifted and did a run then went straight into running Spartan Stadium.  The last day of preseason we ran the entire lower bowl and one of the upper deck sections as well.  We just started official practices this week and had a morning run and lift session at 6:30 am.  We lifted hard for an hour straight and then had to run a mile in 7 minutes or less.  We ended the workout with 100 push ups and a breakdown.  We have to do those morning workouts 3 times a week for most of the year and practices on top of that 5 times a week.  It’s like football 2-a-days all over again. 

The workouts in the room are a lot more intense and painful.  It’s a totally different atmosphere because everyone in the room is really good and lots of guys are already at the level you are at or more.  My motivation to work hard is to ensure I make the team and to also not look like a fool and be out of shape for the EMU and MSU opens.  The coaches stress the fact that they want us to pressure our opponents constantly.  Our three “C’s” of this season are character, commitment, and constant pressure. Coach Minkel takes these very serious and makes sure we are on top of things throughout workouts and practice.  The biggest difference from high school to the college level I believe is positioning.  I try and work on being in good position as much as possible no matter where I am on the mat.  You also have to learn to sprawl hard and get out on the bottom!  In high school, I wasn’t on bottom too much so it’s tough to make the transition now that riding time counts.

In conclusion, I am very excited to be here at Michigan State and we have a young team that works hard and has a bright future.  The coaches believe in us and we believe in ourselves.  The captains set a really good example and I am really excited to see how the season unfolds.  Good luck to everyone for their high school year and come out and support us in this new wrestling season!

-Grant Ankney


Michigan Grappler would like to thank Grant for taking time out his busy schedule to take part in the Welcome to College Blog series and wish him luck in his college career. 


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"Morning workouts 3 times a week for most of the year and practices on top of that 5 times a week.  It's like football 2-a-days all over again"
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