Cornerstone University is Here to Win Now

I was really excited to learn that Cornerstone University was starting up a Wrestling Program when I heard a year or so ago. It’s always good adding more teams to college wrestling, and (selfishly)even better when it’s relatively local to me. So as news kept coming out about the coach to start the program, the facility they were building to support the team, and the coaches they were bringing in to get it started, it was easy to see the plan for what they wanted to do. Kyle Nixon is someone I have gotten to know through the podcast and generally through wrestling here in West Michigan, and when he joined the staff I was hopeful to jump in and check it out. He was kind enough to grant an old man the request to come join the team for a workout. It was great walking in, seeing the room, introducing myself to some of the guys and getting to meet Coach Chris Williamson. You could tell that the team really listened to him and appreciated messages he was delivering. Practice got started, and I was really looking forward to being back in a room and getting a solid workout in.

I got hurt almost immediately. It was embarrassing, and humbling, but I learned an important lesson. These guys aren’t messing around. They didn’t drill like they were a first year program. They drilled like they had every intention of competing right away. They drilled like they knew that the future of the Program would rest on what they put in place here, and that the culture would be dictated by their attitudes and approach. Coach Chris Williamson shared a lot about that “win now” mentality in an interview I had heard with him earlier in the year, and he reiterated that to me as well after the first practice I attended.

In this interview (click the IG link above to see the interview with Coach Williamson) it was really apparent that winning now was an expectation that his athletes should have. Expectations lead to motivations and motivations lead to results. Today I got to jump into a second practice with them. I didn’t get hurt, so already we’re off to a great start. More importantly though, I was there to focus on their two true freshman National Qualifiers preparing for NAIA Nationals coming up on March 4th and 5th. Both Trevor Marsman - 125, and Thade Radosa - 157 will be representing the first year program at the National Tournament in their first years of college wrestling. Before I get to the interviews with these National Qualifiers, I wanted to walk through todays practice.

Drilling, which I mentioned above, gradually increased in intensity throughout each practice. They worked on technique earlier in the year as well, but at this point in the season it’s finetuning and making sure guys are getting the work they needed to be ready for Nationals. Another impressive thing was that everyone from the team was here. Everyone who didn’t make the National Tournament was still in the room working with and preparing their teammates for the dramatic climax of their season. College wrestling is too hard, and requires too much commitment, for it to be a part time sport, and these guys are clearly buying in.

Trevor and Thade had specific workouts that they did with hand picked partners. Guys that will push them to continue to improve, and to help prepare them with the knowledge and adjustments to still make improve the technical pieces. Both of them were aware of specific situations that had come up throughout the year, and where they can win those positions the next time. This isn’t a “great job, you made it this far” mentality that these guys have adopted. They are here to win now, and yet manage to come get here without feeling too much pressure. Here Thade explains his thoughts on making it to Nationals, how he’s appreciative of the journey to this point, and how his mentality heading in.

Interviewing Trevor I got a similar message. He doesn’t have “the number next to your name to defend”, which is an awesome way to come in prepared to crush someone else’s dreams. It’s a harsh way to think of it, and not what Trevor said, but that’s the reality of it. Not everyone ends up an All American, and that’s the goal for Trevor headed to Nationals. Here he shares what he’s done to prepare, his mindset entering nationals, and how Coach Williamson’s practices make you better.

Really impressed with what this team has been able to do in it’s first year. I don’t know what the expectations of the Athletic Department were for a first year program, but I think it’s safe to say that they have so far under promised and over delivered. One other thing that I was impressed with was simply how genuinely nice the guys in the room were. I felt welcome the first practice I went to, but I found myself talking with guys about where they are from, how they got to Cornerstone, adjusting to college life, central Pennsylvania, Basketball, running stairs at The Big House, and all of that mixed in with drilling and wrestling. It’s an impressive culture that’s been fostered there very quickly, and I’m excited to see what this team and coaching staff can build upon it.