Gable on NCAA Upsets
Year-long preparation for avoidling postseason losses
Q Perhaps more than anyone who has wrestled and coached in the NCAA tournament, you’ve seen your fair share of upsets. Why does this happen so much this time of year compared to the regular season?
A Not everyone can stay on track, all the time, all year long. A lot of people may have done things last summer that will affect them now. You hope that it doesn’t but it does. Because of all these percentages and chances of everything happening, it all goes back to 365 days earlier and being able to focus and get to where you are at. Because few can do that, things are going to happen that are not predictable.
Also, someone could have won the year before and was so relieved at winning, he took the next three months off. Then all of a sudden, he fell into something that he hasn’t been doing and it’s going to show up somewhere. The more you want to accomplish, the more you have to break it down and have these plans and phases and you have to stick within those. Even if you’ve gotten back on track and you look really good, you still aren’t quite as good as you would have been if you stayed on track.
Q What kind of role does a coach play in keeping a wrestler on track?
A The better you’ve done your homework, the better you are going to stay on track and the more likely you are going to let them become more independent and get away from you. But even as they get more independent, that third week away from their coach, the phone will ring and it’s the athlete. Any chance he had to get off track is still doing checks a
nd balances. There is a lot of communication that goes on. The more you can teach the kids, the better chance they can stay on focus and fewer chances of upsets. Q If the favorite is upset, is it more that he lost or that his victor won?
A It’s probably a little bit of both. But if you get upset, you’ve probably faltered on one of your skills. If you are not a clear-cut top-ranked guy, it’s a battle. Usually, there is not a clear-cut top-ranked wrestler. You may think it is, but by how much? Usually there is not a big gap.
Q Is it more difficult to coach an underdog or a favorite?
A The underdog. Because you have to first make them believe. In a one-on-one sport, you don’t have much to rely on but yourself. Our sport does not have upper limits. We keep learning every day. We never get too good in our sport so it’s very difficult to be overconfident. There is a confidence in knowing that you are good, but I’m telling you that you still have a lot to learn.
Q How important do style differences play? Should it matter whether you are facing a funky foe rather than a hard- charging guy?
A I really think what eliminates upsets is staying within your own style, not play- ing someone else’s game and stay out of what he’s good at. Most successful wrestlers who repeated are the ones who stayed within their own style and kept adding to it because they have to be better than they were the year before.
If they aren’t better the next year, they are more liable to lose the next year. How much you improve has a lot to do with how much the guy who finished second or third also improved. Usually the guy who finished second or third, improved more. The hurt and pain of finishing second or third is going to drive you harder.
Q How much of an NCAA wrestling match is a chess match?
A It is a chess match, but without much thought. When you go into a chess match, you can think about it ahead of time and when it comes time to competing in a chess match, you still get time to think between each move. In a wrestling match, all your thoughts better take place before the match. We don’t have any time between moves. If there are any thoughts between moves, that is when you are vulnerable.
Q Should wrestlers be more proactive or reactive in championship matches?
A You should be the guy who instills the actions. But many of those athletes are just trying to win by one point. They are not trying to represent what they are capable of doing. By that time, the pressure has made them more cautious. No matter how hard you prepare for something, something else overtakes you under certain conditions and it happens in that NCAA championship match. If you don’t think about dominating and instead want to win by just one point, that makes it an even match.
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