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    Mike Tamillow •

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    Rev Blog: Mike Tamillow (Northwestern), Entry 7

    Hi, this week I'll be filling in for Jake Herbert's blog. Jake got carpel tunnel from typing too much. School-related injuries can be a problem here at Northwestern. One of our freshmen, Andrew Nadhir, had to go to the hospital because he got a crayon stuck up his nose. However, we're a strong team and we don't let these little things break our spirit. Nadhir finished his graph and Jake has yet to miss a paper, although I think the carpel tunnel may be affecting his spelling abilities.

    So on to the subject of this blog, wrestling. Right now our team is ranked eighth according to most polls. But rankings are not our team's focus at all. Our focus is to find a way to win every match. Right now I am personally 27-1. I lost to Max Askren at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. I know I can beat him, but I need to work on improving my position. He is a very good wrestler, but he has some weaknesses that I can exploit. Something I need to keep in mind as the year winds down is that there is always something I can do to get better. I am confident that I can do this, every time I step on the mat I am confident I will win.

    I really hate losing. I hate giving anyone any room to say anything about me. I want to be perfect from every position … so my opponents know they're beat when they step out on the mat with me. I tell myself before every match that I am invincible and that nothing bad can happen to me. The truth is I don't have anything particularly special, I just believe in myself and continue to learn. I try to help me teammates understand this. If we do this we can go from a good team to a great team.

    Mike Tamillow (Photo/John Sachs)
    I think we are well on our way as a team. I can't really watch my teammates working in practice because I have to focus so much on what I can do to get better. I do keep up with all of them as much as possible. Every one of our wrestlers cares about wrestling and improving. Each of us has something to work on, even Jake and Ryan. As a leader, my job is to help the other wrestlers identify what they can do to be the best. I invite other wrestlers on my team to do the same to me. I will follow my teammates through a brick wall if that's what I need to do and I expect the same out of every one of them.

    As a team we took eighth at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals … and lost our past two Big Ten dual meets to Illinois and Iowa. We were missing Ryan Lang for these duals, but we still expected more. As a team, I truly believe that our competitive advantage is that we care about everyone on our team. We are going into the end of the season with that focus; everyone is here to reach their goals. Coach Scherr got some banners for the wrestling room to help us stay focused toward the end of the season. My favorite one says "We can and we will" above, and then below says "work harder than we ever thought possible." Every time I read it I work a little harder.

    Mike Tamillow

    Past Entries:

    Entry 6 (1/10/07)
    Entry 5 (12/13/06)
    Entry 4 (11/29/06)
    Entry 3 (11/16/06)
    Entry 2 (11/1/06)
    Entry 1 (10/17/06)
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