Eierman
Elite Wrestling is an elite competitive wrestling team coached by Mike Eierman in
Millersburg, Missouri.
The team is a Missouri USA
sanctioned wrestling club.
The wrestlers compete in many local and national tournaments. Since 2006
the Eierman Elite wrestling room has produced 123 Missouri USA youth state
qualifiers, 82 youth state medalists, 22 youth State Champions, multiple
National Champions and All-Americans, 2 Roller All-Stars, and a Trinity Award
Winner. EE has won multiple team state championships and placed in the top
3 every year since the start of EEW in 2006. In 2010 two EE youth
wrestling alumni won Missouri State High School Wrestling Championship as
freshman.
Read the Columbia
Daily Tribune article about EE Wrestling printed on
May 12th, 2006.
Mike has lived and coached wrestling
in Mid-Missouri since 2003. Before coming to Mid-Missouri in 2003, Mike was a
resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado for more than three
years. From youth wrestling to international competition, for thirty years
Mike's life has revolved around wrestling. He has trained in many other
countries with the best wrestlers from those countries including Russia,
Ukraine, and Italy.
Mike's practices and camps are
influenced by what he learned while training with some of the world's elite
wrestlers. Mike's wrestlers will benefit from his international experience and
intense training philosophy. Mike believes each wrestler has his own unique
style and encourages each wrestler to adapt what he learns and explore
variations. Mike knows a one-size-fits-all attitude ultimately fails, because
each wrestler's approach to wrestling is, and should be, different.
Other paid wrestling organizations in the state are
businesses only where the wrestlers practice once or twice a week. These
wrestlers are not part of a team. They do not benefit from having a
full-time coach. They do not benefit from being a member of a team, where
the receive everyday support, pride, and motivation from teammates and their
coach.
Still other clubs have volunteer part-time coaches
(usually club members parents). These clubs are great places to learn the
fundamentals of wrestling.
However, Eierman Elite wrestlers are members of an
elite competitive wrestling team where they can practice with state and national
champions on a daily basis. Coach Eierman travels with the team to
competitions and tournaments. Wrestlers have the benefit of having a
full-time, high quality coach in the practice room and at competitions.
Coach Eierman does not teach a watered-down or simplified version of wrestling.
The techniques Coach Eierman teaches are the same he learned and saw while
competing at the highest levels. The techniques never become stale
and are constantly evolving. EE wrestlers are learning
skills they can use throughout their wrestling career, youth through college and
beyond.
Everyone's body is built different which means they
may have a different physical approach to wrestling. As an example a tall
slender wrestler tends to have good leverage and use legs and cradles. A
shorter stockier wrestler will tend to have other strong traits they can tap
into.
I believe each
wrestler should learn the basic positioning and fundamentals of wrestling.
Once those movements become instinctive, it is time for each individual
wrestler to explore their own individual approach. They should not be
discouraged from trying something new or changing a technique to suit their own
style. EE wrestlers are not taught to wrestle with-in a "system" or pushed
to adapt a "style". Rather they are encouraged to expand and take risk in
developing their own approach.
Each wrester has their own personal gifts whether it
be physical or mental. What I try to do as a coach is guide the wrestlers and help
them tap into their individual strengths.
Each wrestler's mind is also different and
needs to be developed just like the physical skills.
We do not do robotic drilling or touch drills where one person stands still and
the other person simply drills a technique. Instead in the EE building
wrestlers are placed in realistic positions and scenarios which will happen in
every match. Drilling looks much more like live wrestling where both
partners are wrestling at about 60%. This means drilling is a physical and
mental workout.
Wrestling live is
done at every practice. Most cardio workouts happen on the mat during
these intense drilling and live wrestling sessions. Wrestlers are expected
to concentrate on wrestling while on the mat. There is very little talking
among the wrestlers during practice.
Parents are encouraged to watch practices but are expected
to remain as observers only. Coaching from the side of the mat
during practice by
parents is strongly discouraged.
Scrambling is really just another word for wrestling…do not be intimidated!
Champion wrestlers at any level all have a few things in common. One of those
things is they keep good position and never willingly concede points. They fight
for every point.
Ignore whatever you may have heard about EE wrestlers. In the EE wrestling room,
wrestlers are taught the basics…and more. For instance, EE wrestlers are
encouraged to sprawl and spin when their opponent takes a shot. Mike does tell
his wrestlers to “protect your legs!” and “don’t let him touch your legs!” and
“sprawl…spin!” Sounds like every other wrestling room right? Well, Mike knows
there can be much more to wrestling and takes his wrestlers on that journey.
What happens when a wrestler is caught out of position? What happens when his
opponent gets to his legs and the first option, sprawl and spin, does not work?
Here is why Mike and EE wrestling consistently creates champions. They have
options from this “bad” position. Mike teaches the wresters to stay in there and
fight for the points. EE wrestlers can score from any position and never stop
wrestling… moving… fighting… scrambling.
Mike originally came to mid-Missouri to coach wrestling at the University of
Missouri. Ben Askren is a two-time NCAA Div 1 Champion from Missouri. Ben’s
freshman year was Mike’s first year coaching. Mike and Ben and several other
Missouri wrestlers wrestled together almost every day for three years. Ben’s
junior year the Missouri wrestling team placed third in the nation; their
highest team finish in school history. Mike had a large influence on Ben’s
wrestling style and taught Ben the exact same philosophy and techniques he
teaches his youth wrestlers.
Mike can create champions. Mike has created champions. You want to be a
champion? Come to the EE wrestling room and check it out.
Wrestling is the toughest, most
grueling sport, both mentally and physically, because it consumes all of the
athlete's strength and demands all of his attention the entire time he is
competing on that mat. While the majority of wrestling clubs focus primarily
and, in some cases, exclusively, on the physical aspect of wrestling, Coach
Eierman knows there are two sides to winning, physical and mental. Without
attention to both sides, a wrestler will not wrestler to their full potential.
A wrestler must always remember that
even if he knows all the moves and techniques and trains rigorously every day,
he will ultimately fail in serious competition unless he honestly believes in
himself. All the sweat and hard work will count for nothing unless every fiber
of a wrestler's being exudes self-confidence and a winning attitude.
Nutrition has a huge influence on a wrestlers
performance. Proper nutrition plays a vital role in all angles of
wrestling including, conditioning, stamina, recovery time, mental toughness.
Everyday wrestlers should pay attention to what they eat. Proper sleep and
plenty of water are also very important for proper muscle recovery. Mike
Eierman's wrestler's will benefit from his personal experiences and lessons
learned while being a resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center for three
years.
Youth
Wrestlers are not encouraged to lose weight. Coach Eierman believes
wrestlers should spent their time and energy improving in the practice room.
Time spent losing weight is time wasted. Mike Eierman's practices are very
demanding and physically draining. Without the proper nutrition your body
will not recover as quickly. If a wrestler or parents feels a wrestler would be more competitive at a lower weight, the advice given
is to work harder and improve at the wrestler's natural weight.
However,
there is a distinct difference between losing weight and watching what you eat
while observing your body's natural weight fluctuations. Wrestlers are
expected to eat three meals and hydrate themselves with plenty of water even on
competition days.
Wrestlers are also encouraged to monitor their weight and learn how their weight
reacts to strenuous workouts and healthy, sensible meals.
Yes. Many of the practices are
open practices. Mike is also available for private practices. See the
Practice Schedule and Club Fees
page for details. There are also Eierman Scrambling
camps. Check the Scrambling Camps page for details.
