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
