Steve Mocco was one of the most dominant high school wrestlers in recent history as well as an NCAA champion and US Olympian. He wrestled for the top 2 college wrestling teams in the country. He talks about his career and wrestling for MMA and Jiu-Jitsu. Click “Read More” for show notes!

SHOW NOTES:

• Growing up in a wrestling family

• Learning from Coach Dave Schultz as a kid

• His strong work ethic and naturally aggressive attitude from the day he stepped on the mat

• The family tragedy that molded him as a competitor

• The importance of dealing with pressure as a combat athlete

• Why he made every match personal and how it helped him

• The importance of being “coachable”

• How to deal with people who are less than coachable as a coach

• Healthy doses of aggression in your game

• Has modern society discouraged aggression in kids?

• The hardest part of Wrestling

• The difficulty of keeping teens invested in Wrestling

• Nature vs Nurture in Wrestling

• Why you should be drilling

• Keeping class fun for kids

• His high school career

• The high school to college jump

• The selection process of D-1 Wrestling

• The Judo influence in his game

• His controversial decision to switch from University of Iowa to their fierce rival Oklahoma State

• The cultural differences between Iowa and Oklahoma

• The backlash in Iowa when he switched teams

• Winning the NCAA title

• The struggle of college athletes

• Rivalries in Wrestling

• Training on the Olympic team compared to D-1 teams

• His Olympic experience

• Stylistic match ups in the Olympics based on regions

• How American Wrestling has the edge over styles of other regions

• His MMA career

• Working with Master Ricardo Liborio

• Wrestling for Jiu-Jitsu

• His role as President of Florida USA Wrestling

• His summer camps for kids