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Coach Vondruska Introduces New Coach to the Program
Please join us in welcoming the newest member to our coaching staff Joe VanCleave. Joe VanCleave was introduced to the sport of wrestling a few years
ago and has grown to love and understand the sport. Last year Joe experienced what our high school wrestlers go through in the summers by attending camp and will attend this year again to help develop his coaching philosophy. As head wrestling coach at Craines Creek Middle School Joe plans on growing interest in the community and is excited to prepare wrestlers for the high school level.
Coach VanCleave expressed his reaction in an interview with Olaf. “I would like to thank head wrestling coach Chris Vondruska, athletic director Mr. Bobby Purvis, and Crain's Creek middle school principle Mrs. Rose Cooper for providing me the opportunity to be the Crain's Creek middle school wrestling coach. I am truly honored to be working with the Crain's Creek administration and staff. The Crain's Creek student athletes already have a outstanding reputation in the classroom and in the wrestling room. I look forward to taking an already well established middle school wrestling program and taking it to the next level.“
The entire UPHS Wrestling Program welcomes Coach VanCleave to his new position and looks forward to supporting him and the team as they continue to develop and reach their goals.
Our June Schedule!
All Student-Athletes that will attend Union Pines High School this coming Fall are encouraged to attend these sessions. If you need a ride contact one of the team upper classmen.
Date Time Location Focus
Wednesday 12 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Thursday 13 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Friday 14 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning
Monday 17 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning
Tuesday 18 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Wednesday 19 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Thursday 20 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Friday 21 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning
Saturday 22 June TBD Depart UPHS for UNC-P
Monday 24 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning
Tuesday 25 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Wednesday 26 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning
Thursday 27 June 4-5:30pm Wrestling Room Open Mat/Camp-duals Prep
Friday 28 June 4-5pm Outside Conditioning

What is Wrestling?
Wrestling
Wrestling…there really is no other sport like it…no other sport is its equal.
Wrestlers have no one who can carry them to victory…they have to do it on their own.
Likewise…wrestlers have no one to blame for their defeats…they have to bear that themselves.
Only the wrestler can push himself to give his very best…and only he knows, if he truly has.
His coaches can’t do it for him…his teammates can’t do it for him…his dad can’t do it for him…
and his girlfriend, certainly, can’t do it for him.
Credit belongs to those who continue to step on the mat…whose bodies have been bruised and battered…who have tasted both victory and defeat…
who continue along the path…knowing that it will cost them yet more.
A wrestler would rather earn it…than have it given to them!
There is no other sport that requires the depth of endurance, self-discipline, and perseverance...as does wrestling.
Sooner or later, wrestling will humble you…it will show you your limitations, as well as your potential.
It will reveal your strengths, and your weaknesses…it will build your confidence, while keeping you humble.
A wrestler is measured by how he responds to adversity and challenge not by how he looks in ease and comfort.
Most people stop when they get tired…a wrestler pushes himself past that point…
the best wrestlers push themselves to the place others thought they could never go.
Wrestling demands that you break through the wall…
it doesn’t let you go around it, under it, or climb over the top of it.
Your only choices are to break through it…stay where your at…or go home with your tail between your legs.
Those who fear failure will never become successful…wrestling allows one to conquer the fear of failure.
For those who wrestle…
it creates a resilience, a determination, and a resolve…that cannot be created by any other sport.
There really are no losers in wrestling…only those who never really wrestled.
In Wrestling:
It’s true…without blood, sweat, and tears…you’ll never be the wrestler…or the person…you could have been;
It doesn’t matter what kind of body you were given…it is what you do with your body that matters;
Empty pockets can’t hold anyone back…only empty hearts can do that;
It doesn’t matter who your daddy is…it matters who you are;
It’s not the shoes that matter…it’s the person in the shoes that matters;
Adversity weakens the weak…but strengthens the strong;
You have to learn how to lose before you will know how to win;
If you want to experience a rainbow…you have to be willing to go through the rain;
Many dream of becoming a champion…but a champion does something about it;
You learn quickly that nobody is going to give it to you;
Good luck seldom helps a wrestler…and a wrestler never depends upon it.
Wrestlers who have given their best…
are left with a sense of satisfaction, self-worth, and gratitude…regardless of the outcome.
A successful wrestler has gained the attributes of Focus and Intensity…
they will seldom leave him…as he moves forward in life.
The wrestler who trains to be a champion…doesn’t find it pleasant;
But he knows it will produce something that cannot be produced any other way.
There are no short-cuts in wrestling…only for those that don’t walk the full path.
Wrestling is a rough road…but if you stay on its path...it will take you to great heights!
Only those who have walked this road themselves…can really understand…how rough it really is.
Most people take the path of water…the path of least resistance.
The one who has really wrestled…has taken the path of greatest resistance.
But this path takes him places others will never go…allows him to see things others will never see…
to do things others will never do…and to be what others will never be.
As Olympic Champion, and wrestling legend, Dan Gable has said…
“After you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy!”
Kevin LaPlante
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Upcoming Events
| Friday May 24 - All Day Southeast Regional Championships -1 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes to Go! For information visiit this web page |
| Friday May 24 - All Day Southeast Regional Championships -1 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes to Go! For information visiit this web page |
| Monday May 27 - All Day Holiday 1 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |
| Tuesday May 28 - All Day Strength Training Focus - No Wrestling 2 days, 07 hours and 28 minutes to Go! |








