Gene Zannetti talks with Ridge High School Head Coach Roy Dragon about the widening gap in high school wrestling, doing more than the top kids to close the distance, and why being a great person comes before being a great wrestler.

Timestamps:

3:49 - The evolution of New Jersey wrestling talent

5:54 - Doing more than the top kids to close the gap

7:17 - Social media's impact on young wrestlers

10:34 - Watching and learning from elite wrestlers

12:20 - The tight-knit wrestling community of the past

16:06 - Public school mindset and representing your town

20:06 - Creating great people first, wrestlers second

21:45 - Wrestling is the toughest sport for parents too

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Gene Zannetti talks with Warren Hills Head Coach K.C. Wanamaker about the importance of training your mind as much as your body, succeeding at public schools without making excuses, and why it's less about where you go and more about what you do when you're there.

Timestamps:

3:04 - Believe in yourself and train your mind

4:17 - Wishing he had mindset training as an athlete

8:18 - It's less about where you go, more about what you do

9:00 - Building a high-level public school program

11:44 - Stop making excuses and comparing to others

15:03 - Competing against local powerhouse programs

17:16 - Where athletes train and club opportunities

19:29 - Building youth wrestling

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

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Gene Zannetti reconnects with longtime friend and teammate Matt Stanzione, Head Coach of Mountain Lakes High School Wrestling, to talk about the highs and lows of coaching, the evolution of youth sports, and the lessons wrestling teaches far beyond the mat. From childhood memories and rivalry stories to navigating setbacks as a coach, this episode dives into why persistence, relationships, and resilience matter most.

Timestamps:

3:40 – Growing up teammates: football, baseball, wrestling, and more

7:55 – Starting a coaching career while still in college

13:22 – Building the Mountain Lakes program and early struggles

18:48 – Stepping away after a low point and learning perspective

25:10 – Coming back as head coach with renewed purpose

32:14 – Balancing family, teaching, and coaching for 20+ years

40:28 – The importance of multi-sport athletes and avoiding burnout

47:15 – How COVID impacted feeder programs and rebuilding numbers

53:20 – Why wrestling makes everything else in life feel easier

1:05:44 – The power of rivalries, friendships, and lifelong lessons from the sport

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

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Gene Zannetti talks with Parsippany Hills Head Coach Chris Wells about overcoming adversity in wrestling, how social media affects young athletes, and why building great human beings matters more than just winning matches.

Timestamps:

4:03 - The importance of mindset in competition

8:16 - College struggles and rock bottom moments

10:20 - Parents' unconditional support changing everything

12:06 - Learning from losses more than wins

15:27 - Wrestling the same opponent repeatedly

17:06 - What the mind can overcome vs. hold us back from

20:14 - Fear of failure leading to self-sabotage

24:40 - Social media's impact on young wrestlers

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

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Gene Zannetti talks with Coach John Azevado about the vocation of being a coach, the importance of pressure on wrestlers and their opponents, and why we change our mentality when wrestling a bigger name than us.

Timestamps:

6:45 - Showing freestyle to Kalika

10:43 - Coaching from multiple perspectives

13:03 - The vocation of being a coach

15:34 - Wrestling culture on the East vs the West coast

17:37 - Importance of pressure

24:45 - How your pressure affects your opponent

27:08 - Why we change mentality when we wrestle big names

32:23 - The importance of faith

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

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💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

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Gene Zannetti talks with Donnie DeFillipis about wrestling parents and how easily they lift up or bring down their kids without even knowing it. They discuss the messages parents send, how coaching the parents can help, and why it's so important to show their kids that they are learning with them too.

Timestamps:

1:15 - Parents are there to help

10:05 - What messages are you sending your kids

12:38 - There is a wrestling club on every corner

15:58 - Listening to other parents more than coaches

20:40 - Parents can't control themselves

30:30 - Get better while having fun

41:44 - Parents, admit when you're wrong

45:46 - What's the best part of having a kid?

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

🥗 Eat Clean Bro – eatcleanbro.com

Use code MINDSET for 15% off your order

💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

Use code MINDSET25 for a special discount

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great episodes.

If you want to support the podcast, please leave a 5-star rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

For all partnership and sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected]

🎙Stay connected with Wrestling Mindset

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Gene Zannetti talks with World Champion Avtandil Kentchadze about his pressure-forward mindset, the training differences between the US and Russia, and the impact Coach Valentin has had on him.

Timestamps:

1:42 - Coach Valentin's impact

4:58 - Pressure forward

6:24 - Wrestling beginnings

8:32 - Developing mindset

11:50 - Everyone's system is different

15:31 - American vs European style

17:40 - Training in Russia

20:16 - Competing at 86kg

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

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Use code MINDSET for 15% off your order

💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

Use code MINDSET25 for a special discount

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great episodes.

If you want to support the podcast, please leave a 5-star rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

For all partnership and sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected]

🎙Stay connected with Wrestling Mindset

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Gene Zannetti talks with University of Pennsylvania Head Coach Matt Valenti about David Pottruck's $20 million donation to Penn, how this will impact facilities and training, and what the plans are for the team going forward.

Timestamps:

1:42 - Stake in the ground moment

5:20 - Allocating funds

9:00 - Impacting training centers

14:20 - The best wrestlers don't need the best facilities

15:34 - Where the team is going

18:58 - What colleges bring to the table

21:34 - Penn history

26:01 - New facilities

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

🥗 Eat Clean Bro – eatcleanbro.com

Use code MINDSET for 15% off your order

💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

Use code MINDSET25 for a special discount

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great episodes.

If you want to support the podcast, please leave a 5-star rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

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🎙Stay connected with Wrestling Mindset

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Gene Zannetti talks with US Olympic Coach Valentin Kalika about how it's harder to shift from Freestyle to Greco, why a Greco wrestler needs to have an engineer's mind, and why Judo is technically not wrestling.

Timestamps:

2:02 - Greco to Freestyle is an easier shift

12:03 - A Greco mind needs to be like an engineer

21:43 - Positions and angles

25:29 - Tips for applying pressure

34:00 - Mechanical difficulties in Freestyle

38:42 - Judo is not wrestling

43:47 - The best at applying pressure

51:55 - Wrestling with a system

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

🥗 Eat Clean Bro – eatcleanbro.com

Use code MINDSET for 15% off your order

💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

Use code MINDSET25 for a special discount

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great episodes.

If you want to support the podcast, please leave a 5-star rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

For all partnership and sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected]

🎙Stay connected with Wrestling Mindset

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Gene Zannetti talks with Yianni Diakomihalis about losing and how it indicates the need to revisit and recorrect some minor issues. They talk about going up a weight class, the pros and cons of over- and underplanning, and touch on the topic of cutting weight and that it's not always the answer to a wrestler's problems

Timestamps:

2:23 - Teaching at wrestling camps

5:48 - Get in there and feel it

11:09 - Thinking it through

15:50 - Over and underplanning

20:15 - Going up a weight class

25:55 - Cutting weight is not always the answer

32:31 - Navigating mindset through matches

39:53 - A loss doesn't mean everything is off

🎯 This episode is sponsored by:

🥗 Eat Clean Bro – eatcleanbro.com

Use code MINDSET for 15% off your order

💪 Champion Athletes Sports Nutrition – champion-athletes.com

Use code MINDSET25 for a special discount

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great episodes.

If you want to support the podcast, please leave a 5-star rating & review on Apple Podcasts.

For all partnership and sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected]

🎙Stay connected with Wrestling Mindset

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