Nebraska freshman Waldo weighs in on life in Husker Nation

This article was written by Univeristy of Nebraska true freshman 125lber Kyle Waldo.  Waldo was a 4x Division 1 Michigan State Champion from Rockford High School.  He was also earned All-American honors at the NHSCA Senior Nationals (3rd) and USAW Junior Freestyle Nationals (7th). 


9/4/2009

Hello from Husker Nation! I’ve officially been out here in
Nebraska for two full school weeks and starting to get into a
regular schedule not only with my classes, but with my
training. A whole lot goes on each and every day its
overwhelming at first, but the first week buzz around campus
is slowly dying down and things are getting back to normal
around here.

Our training just kicked into full swing with conditioning and
some of the hardest workouts I’ve ever been through in my
life. Last year Ben Bennett told me, "Waldo you don’t know
what hard work is." I hate to admit it, but he was absolutely
correct. So far we’ve done everything from running every step
in the stadium to insane track workouts, all followed with a
good lift. I’m excited to see what the coaches throw at us in
the next few weeks to test us not only physically, but
mentally. The most important thing I’ve picked up from
conditioning so far is that everything I’m doing has so much
to do with my attitude and how mentally tough I am. I go into
every workout knowing that what I’m about to do is going to
make me better and is just a stepping stone toward my goal
of being a national champ. My goals truly drive me to go as
hard as possible and to never let up even when I want to quit.





The biggest difference between high school and college training has been the intensity of the workouts and the mindset everyone has going into them. Our coaches stress during our conditioning runs to compete with one another, to not let that guy pass you and to start competing right now. This just adds to the already competitive atmosphere and provides for a great environment to workout in. My advice to kids in high school right now, is to get the most out of your workouts and have a positive attitude for every workout no matter how much you don’t want to do something. This is something I didn’t do in high school and it just made things worse for me and the people around me. Your attitude, whether positive or negative, really does affect the people around you.

I’ll switch gears to drilling and how much different it is with college and high school. In high school I would just drill high crotches or singles or front headlocks. I never focused on the little things: Set-ups, moving my opponent, moving my feet, proper head position, etc. When I drill now I don’t just hit shots with seven different setups not really focusing on what I’m doing, I focus on one or two setups and maybe two shots for the entire hour that I drill for. Making sure I have every little detail down. In high school most kids are never really taught to focus on a certain set-up or shot and to make sure they did the little things right; they all just hit takedowns and use the same setups and same finishes. The way I drill right now is making a big impact in my wrestling and it’s definitely noticeable when I wrestle live.

So far my college experience has been great. I love it out here in Nebraska and I have a good feeling about my future and the things I can accomplish while here. I’ll leave you with a link for a few people that were asking me how the facilities are in Nebraska; you can check them out here. Just click on the smaller links under the pictures to get a better look at what there is to offer. Thanks for reading, I’m sure I’ll drop by and update again once the season is in full swing. A lot of people have been asking me questions, so if anyone wants to contact me via email please feel free to drop me a line at waldo.kw@huskers.unl.edu.


Michigan Grappler would like to thank Kyle for taking the time to write this and wish him luck in his college career at Nebraska.  Check back soon for more updates from Michigan's top 2009 graduates as they adjust to life in college.



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Waldo, shown here in Fargo, graduated last year as the #2 ranked recruit in the state of Michigan
"I go into every workout knowing that what I'm about to do is going to make me better and is just a stepping stone toward my goal of being a National Champ."
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