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If you're wondering why you should choose the Overtime School of Wrestling, here are some reasons that we consider to be very important factors in your decision:
Long-time Olympic Training Center resident Kerry Boumans joined the staff in 2005. Ed Giese, the winningest wrestler in the history of the University of Minnesota and a former US World Team member, has been on board since 2008. One of the original Overtime School of Wrestling students, Junior National Champion and former FILA Junior World Team member Donny Reynolds, joined the coaching staff in 2007. Together, the staff has a knowledge of wrestling as rich as any staff in the country.
We also have a variety of support staff that manage other areas of the Overtime School of Wrestling, including strength and conditioning, physical testing and assessment of athletes, performance analysis, and business operations. Each Overtime staff member has a unique background in the sport of wrestling, allowing us to maximize their talents in our elite, wrestling-first environment.
We pay special attention to making sure that each wrestler who trains at Overtime has an optimal environment in which to excel, and appropriate training partners are a critical component in setting an optimal environment. Because we are a wrestling program first and foremost, we are able to meticulously select which athletes train together based solely on wrestling criteria. We have over a decade of experience spotting wrestlers' strengths and weaknesses and knowing what kind of partners can push them to their limits.
One exceptional aspect of training at Overtime is that we have partners for all levels of serious wrestlers whether youth, high school, or beyond. Wrestlers who have not yet made a varsity squad can push themselves by sometimes going against wrestlers who have competed on varsity. Wrestlers who have made the varsity squad but have not yet qualified for a state tournament can push themselves by sometimes going against wrestlers who have made it to state. Wrestlers who have made it to the state but have not won a championship there can push themselves by sometimes going against wrestlers who have won a state championship. Wrestlers who have won a state championship can train with wrestlers who have won a national championship. Wrestlers who have won a national championship at the Cadet or Junior level can push themselves by going against wrestlers who are training to win a World Championship at the Fila Junior, University, and/or Senior level. We have all of these levels of workout partners at Overtime, and making sure that athletes are matched up with the partners who will help them get to the next level is a central part of the training.
In just a decade, the Overtime School of Wrestling has racked up a stunning track record of accomplishments. Our current rate of competitive success is now unmatched by any wrestling club in the United States . For details, please visit "Students on the Stand."
Most importantly, every kid who comes through the Overtime School of Wrestling has a tremendous opportunity to improve as a competitor, no matter what talent level they enter the program at. Not every athlete mentioned on those pages entered the program at a high level. Our staff takes pride in being able to promote the competitive development of all athletes, and in helping athletes of all levels get the most out of themselves.
The Overtime School of Wrestling began in 2001 as a wrestling-only club. Our status as an independent operation has allowed us to have freedom from many of the political considerations that hinder the efforts of other organizations to develop wrestlers. This translates into direct benefits for our athletes every day, with resources such as a spacious, stand-alone facility customized and equipped for wrestling training and a coaching staff that is totally focused on serving the needs of its wrestlers. Our position as a free standing, wrestling-first organization has allowed us to sharpen our focus on developing wrestlers, which has in turn allowed our business to evolve, and our students' competitive success to flourish.
As anyone familiar with Overtime knows, college coaches are frequent visitors to the facility, with a number of college coaches occasionally coming by just to observe practice. The Overtime coaches have long-established working relationships with coaches at virtually every major wrestling program in the country, and we are in regular contact with them about a variety of topics. With our former wrestlers spread out at colleges all over the country, and the tremendous success they have had at that level, it is probably fair to say that young athletes at the Overtime School of Wrestling are monitored over the course of their competitive career by more college wrestling coaches than at any other wrestling club in the country.
Our coaches competed internationally while wrestling themselves, and continued to cultivate those ties as they transitioned into coaching.
We have top level foreign and domestic athletes and coaches visit Overtime on a regular basis. This allows the Overtime staff to tap into the international fraternity of wrestling knowledge at the highest levels of competition in the world, which is then directly brought back to our club to benefit the athletes.
We know that a good high school wrestling coach has a tremendous positive impact on a young wrestler's development. Many, many of those high school wrestling coaches have seen their athletes grow and develop while using our tutelage as a supplement to their own training. Through cooperation and hard work, Overtime coaches have built and enjoyed positive relationships with coaches throughout the state of Illinois and surrounding areas. We do our best to closely monitor, and to carefully adhere to, the guidelines of the IHSA, as well as those of other state associations that our athletes are involved with.
For several years, we have given our time and efforts to assisting Illinois USA Wrestling. It has been our great honor to give back by donating training facility resources and having our coaching staff join other coaches around the state to volunteer in preparing and coaching the teams that represent Illinois at national competitions. The performance of Illinois wrestlers on these teams has improved dramatically over the last several years, to the point where Illinois is now widely recognized as one of the top wrestling states in the country for the Cadet and Junior age groups. We are proud of the fact that our staff was among the many contributors around the state who aided this rise to national prominence.
Athletes who train at the Overtime School of Wrestling have a tremendous opportunity to thrive in an environment that has been proven to create top competitors in folkstyle and freestyle wrestling. Our coaches have competed at the highest levels of both styles and know what it takes to develop athletes to achieve the same.
While we don't currently emphasize Greco-Roman wrestling, some Overtime wrestlers have made the transition from the elite freestyle and folkstyle training they received at Overtime into successfully competing at a high level in Greco-Roman wrestling. Overtime alumni who have made the FILA Junior Greco-Roman United States World Teams, Max Nowry (50kg, 2009 and 2010), and Peter Kowalczuk (120kg, 2008 and 2009), are two prime examples.
To read more about our wrestlers' accomplishments in folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling, visit our "Students on the Stand" page.
Since leaving Overtime, a number of wrestlers have gone on to have tremendously successful post-high school wrestling careers.
Wrestlers who trained at Overtime while in high school have collectively won 19 NCAA Division I All-American honors, including 2008 NCAA Division I National Champion Angel Escobedo (125 pounds) and 2010 NCAA Division I National Champion Andrew Howe (165 pounds). A number of wrestlers who trained at Overtime have experienced success on the Freestyle and Greco-Roman circuits. Current or former Overtime high school wrestlers have gone on to fill eight United States Junior World Team spots in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Many other wrestlers have gone on to receive college scholarship money to wrestle and have distinguished academic careers.
Overtime has also worked with a number of elite athletes who came to Overtime for the first time during their collegiate careers, or after their collegiate careers were over. These include 2007 and 2009 NCAA Division I National Champion Jake Herbert (184 pounds) and 2008 NCAA Division I National Champion Dustin Fox (285 pounds), and several other NCAA Division I All-Americans. Wrestlers who began training with Overtime later in their careers include 2006 Senior World Bronze Medalist Don Pritzlaff (74kg), 2008 USA Olympian Andy Hrovat (84kg), 2009 Senior World Silver Medalist and 2010 Senior World Team member Jake Herbert (84kg), and many others who have competed successfully in International competition.
Perhaps the most exciting element that tradition brings to Overtime is what happens when wrestlers who have been trained by the Overtime coaching staff give back to the program. Many wrestlers who have trained at Overtime and have reached a nationally or even internationally elite level of wrestling continue to periodically return to train at the Overtime facility, working out alongside current Overtime wrestling students of all ages. These high-level athletes sometimes offer coaching tips to the younger athletes, and they always lead by example with their training habits. Athletes of all ages at the Overtime School of Wrestling are able to learn the sport and the lessons that it teaches, side by side with the best wrestlers in the United States, while working with the best coaching staff and best training partners that any wrestling club could possibly hope to offer.
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