The Chicago Sun-Times: January 25, 2002
BY SETH SCHWARTZ
An elite wrestler needs year-round training and top-level instruction.
Chicago-area wrestlers now have that available with Sean Bormet's Overtime School of Wrestling. The 7,000-square-foot space in an industrial park in southwestern Naperville can handle up to 40 high school wrestlers. A state-of-the-art weight room and computerized strength program are available. The school is open in the spring, summer and fall and for private lessons.
"The school will be geared to kids who are committed to the sport and want to excel at a high level,'' Bormet said. "They'll be able to get senior-level coaching and training methods to fit every style. My goal is to see Illinois at the forefront of high school wrestling.''
There are similar wrestling schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio. With the majority of the top wrestling programs in the west and southwest suburbs, the location is ideal. Bormet's facility will be a major plus for potential blue-chip wrestlers, especially those in mid- or lower-level high school programs.
"Coming up, I was fortunate to be around great high school coaches,'' said Bormet, a two-time All-American at Michigan, five-time U.S. national team member and third on the Olympic team at 76 kilograms in 1996. "In the summer, we'd get four or five guys together and work out, but it wasn't structured. Here people will be able to learn the latest techniques and wrestle live against the best.''
Overtime School of Wrestling has been selected as one of seven U.S. training sites for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club. That means college and other senior-level athletes entering international competition will be frequenting Naperville.
Providence's Don Reynolds, who has worked with Bormet for a year, said small details made a big difference.
"Sean has so much knowledge, and he's able to explain things in a way that's easy to understand,'' said Reynolds, a 2001 state champion. "When we go over tape, he can point out the little things right away: how to lock your hands, where your body should be positioned, where your hips should be. The technical part is where I've learned the most.''
Naperville North's Eric Tannenbaum, who wrestles with Bormet individually and was a part of the training session last fall, found someone who shares the same passion for the sport.
"Sean will give me moves that are specific to my wrestling style,'' Tannenbaum said. "When we drill, he'll show me different variations of the move. When I don't hit a move right, he shows me what I did wrong. Sean wrestles me like a college wrestler, and that's what I want. I want to do well at the next level.''
Bormet gives his wrestlers a weightlifting agenda that is tailored to their needs.
"When I got to high school, people would tell me, 'You need to start lifting,''' Tannenbaum said. "They never said how to go about it. Now I have a program where the lifts are specific to wrestling. I've only been using it two months, but I can feel the difference.''