Rev Blog: Burke Barnes (Dana), Entry 1

My name is Burke Barnes. I wrestle at 133 pounds for the 2006 NAIA national champions, Dana College. I will be providing a blog for RevWrestling.com about my training experiences throughout this season and what it is like to be a Dana College wrestler.

A team meeting on August 31 marked the beginning of the Dana College 2006-07 wrestling season. Coming off a record setting year that resulted in winning the NAIA national tournament, the Vikings of Dana College are once again ready to start their journey. Over the summer many changes including a new head coach, have been made to the Dana College wrestling team. Since Steve Costanzo's departure last spring, two-year assistant Richard Fergola has taken the reigns as head coach. Now as head coach, Fergola is excited and looking forward to keeping Dana College wrestling at the top of the NAIA division and beyond. Along with experience, Fergola brings a firm no nonsense attitude to the team.

Everyone experienced Fergola's business-like approach at our first team meeting that lasted over two hours. During the meeting I was able to catch up with some of the veterans and also meet a lot of the new guys. It is always an exciting time when you first get back together with your team. Being around my teammates gave me a burst of excitement and a sense of pride. New to the program are 15 incoming freshman who together were ranked the second best non-Division I recruiting class in the nation.

The Dana College coaching staff and seniors gathered after a preseason workout at Hummel Park in Omaha.

Returning to the Vikings line up are Terrance Almond and Craig Trampe. Trampe will be back at 125 where he hopes to vie for a national title. Almond will also return to his weight class of last year, at 141. As for me, this will be my third year of competition, second of which at Dana College. After taking a disappointing third place at last year's national tournament, I am more than ready to get in the room and start banging. This season I will be moving up to the 133-pound weight class after almost a decade at 125. I am both excited and curious to see what this change will bring.

Our first day of actual preseason took place on Monday, September 5. On this day we started out with an 11-mile run that has become a tradition to Dana's preseason. Around 4:00 p.m. we piled into vans that took us out of town where we would start the run. As I listened to the freshmen beg for information about the run, I realized that we would not be following the same route as last year. The new route was on a dirt road that resembled a wave. The hills seemed endless. As I reached the top of one hill, I was only rewarded with the sight of a new and seemingly bigger one. It was not until the end of the run that I fully realized that the wrestling season had begun. The next day we went into the wrestling room for an open room practice. It was nice to see the improvement that many of our returners had made over the off-season. I was also impressed by some of the freshmen, including Donny Altman, who didn't hesitate to grab assistant coach and former national champion Jimmy Rollins. Our first week of preseason was wrapped up on Thursday with a circuit that is split into three, 20-minute activities. I became very familiar with this circuit last preseason, and know how much you can get out of it, if you're willing to work. The first station takes place in the weight room, where we go through 10 to 11 lifts. Every lift is allotted one minute per partner, in which time you go as hard and as intense as your mind will let you. The second station is outside on the track. This station takes us through multiple exercises including reverse lifts, squat jumps, motion drills, and pummeling to name a few. The last station is different every practice, but it always proves to be the hardest of them all. Our first day of this circuit was ended with 20 minutes of sprints and wheel barrel runs up a steep grass hill behind the gym. As we stretched after practice, I looked around the team to see if anyone looked as exhausted as I felt. I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one hurting. The days when you leave the gym drenched in sweat, with a pounding headache, and sore muscles, are my favorite. It's these types of days when we find out who is here to be successful and who is here to simply be a part of something. Looking back at the first week of preseason, I was very happy with my teammates and my own performance. I already feel that I am in better shape than last year during this time.

The Dana College wrestlers and coaching staff volunteered their time at a local rummage sale in Arlington that raises money for Katrina victims. The sale raised over $50,000.

By Wednesday of Week 2, I was really looking forward to getting back in the wrestling room. When I arrived at practice, however, I was informed that we would not be wrestling but instead running what we call "killer hills." Killer hills are 50 minutes of continuous sprints up a dusty quarter mile hill that normal people wouldn't take their four wheelers up. This reassured everyone that Coach Fergola was not lying when he said "violations of team rules would not go unseen." With sore legs and a hint of resentment filling the air, we took off up the hill. At one point during the run I asked assistant coach Antonio Barber how much time was left. He replied, "You don't want to know." At the time I had figured we were getting close to the end, little did I know we were not even half way through. I had not woken up that day expecting to run. When we finished, though, it felt great knowing that we had done more work than planned for the week. The following day we were back to schedule with our circuit. The first two stations remained the same as last week. The third station however, was changed to buddy carries. At Dana College we have the luxury of being posted on top of one of Nebraska's only hills. So to not let our recourses go unused we performed our buddy carries up Pioneer Memorial Hill. The hill is only about a quarter mile long, but what it lacks in distance it makes up for in steepness. As you battle your way up to the top, you are reminded of why very few people are able to compete at the college level in wrestling.

By Week 3, the soreness in my legs was gone, and each school week seemed to be flying by faster than the previous one. On Tuesday in our third week of training, we started with the usual stations, and ended with a three mile long sand bag run. This is similar to a plate run, where you are required to carry and not drop a weight lifting plate. The run was hard, but ended up being a nice break from all the hill work we had put in over the last two weeks. After a long week without wrestling, we were back in the room on Wednesday. As we waited for practice to start, many of the guys were already rolling around. The week without wrestling had everyone anxious to get started. Practice lasted nearly an hour, which was spent mostly on drilling. Towards the end we were able to go some live situations and a live match. The following day we were back to the Dana wrestling circuit, which ended in a comfortably paced team run.

Heading into Week 4 of our preseason training, school and practice have become routine. The shape and endurance of our team has improved dramatically over the last few weeks, and the bond amongst teammates is growing stronger with every team activity. On Tuesday, we were back at Killer Hill for round two. It had been two weeks since the last time we ran the hill, and I could see the hard work of the previous weeks was paying off. I also saw improvement in our team that Wednesday in the wrestling room, where everyone was going hard. Following Wednesday's practice we were back to the circuit on Thursday. That Thursday we ended our week with a three-mile buddy carry, which every wrestler can appreciate.

Dana College concluded its preseason training with a five-hour trip to Valentine.

Bringing an end to our preseason was a five-hour trip to Valentine, Nebraska. Valentine is in Western Nebraska, but in the middle of nowhere. As you drive into town there is actually a sign that reads, "Welcome to the middle of nowhere." We had taken this trip last year, so I knew what to expect. Hosting us on this retreat was the Hansen family. Chancy Hansen is a wrestler on our team, and his parents are Steve and Debby. We arrived late Friday evening and were welcomed by the Hansen's, who were busy grilling burgers. That night our team slept in a motel that had been purchased in town and was later transported out to the Hansen ranch. The motel provided much warmer sleeping conditions than last year's trip. I did, however, miss sleeping in front of the camp fire under the stars. The next morning we awoke around 8:00 a.m. After a quick bite to eat, we gathered to discuss the day's plans. Steve Hansen and Coach Fergola had set up an orienteering activity that would take up most of our day. Before we began, everyone was reminded or taught how to use a compass and read a map. The activity was spread out on a 30-square-mile piece of land, with 15 locations for us to find. In teams of two, we departed the comfort of the motel and ventured into a vast landscape of hills, valleys, and the much hated corn fields of Western Nebraska. Along the way we came in contact with deer, porcupines, snakes, turkey and all forms of farm animals. At the end of the activity, not one team had found all 15 locations, but everyone had trekked at least 15 miles. The activity was a good chance to bond with our teammates, and added some pigment to my sorry Northwest tan. Following the orienteering, we ate lunch and prepared to take on an obstacle course Steve had set up last year. The course had some changes from last year and proved to be more difficult as well. We were first split into two teams, which were then split into sub teams of four. Unfortunately, there was no winner, being that each team had won three heats. The obstacle course marked the end of our trip and the end of our preseason.

Looking back on preseason there were some great performances by individuals and by our team as a whole. I was very impressed by everyone's willingness to work hard day in and day out. The returners' showed great leadership and looked determined through out. Our new guys stepped up to the plate and met everyone's high expectations. I have never been one for wrestling sayings on the back of T-shirts or on the wrestling room wall, but I heard one in August that really stuck. "Don't be a should've been," is what I was told. For me this really hit home, and was a constant motivator during preseason.

Fall leaves are now filling the streets of Blair, and competition is right around the corner. This week our team is getting their weight down and preparing for wrestle-offs. I am excited to see who makes our team, and excited to see my teammates in live action. With only a month remaining before competition we will buckle down and head into the wrestling room. In this month we hope to ready ourselves for yet another national championship run.

To my teammates at Dana College: "If you achieved all your goals this preseason, then you didn't set them high enough. If you didn't accomplish your goals, then you need to work harder. And if you didn't set any at all, reevaluate what you're doing here."

Until next time,

Burke Barnes

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