Derek Garcia of Washington poses with his Stop-Sign trophy after a dominant performance at the 2009 Junior Freestyle Nationals. Dave Jedlicka photo

Fall has arrived, and the nation’s top wrestling recruits are starting their freshman year on college campuses across the nation, taking the early steps in moving up to the next level.

Some of those big-time recruits are making a stop first, however, at a different kind of campus, for a year of intense training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs.

In 2009, Derek Garcia of Washington blast onto the national scene in the summer after his junior season, winning a Junior National freestyle title and earning Outstanding Wrestler honors. He had trained for many weeks at the USOTC before his breakthrough year in Fargo.

Last year, Garcia made a commitment to compete for The Ohio State University in college. However, instead of heading directly to Columbus, Garcia is now living in Colorado Springs and training in freestyle wrestling.

He is working out daily under the U.S. freestyle national coaching staff, including National Freestyle Resident Coach Brandon Slay and National Freestyle Developmental Coach Bill Zadick, and under the watchful eye of National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones. Garcia will work out with the full-time USOTC resident athletes, as well as the many Senior-level stars who come to Colorado Springs for frequent training camps.

“It’s a good opportunity for anybody who has a chance. I figured I better jump at it,” said Garcia. “It has the best coaches in the country and the best facility. You don’t have any distractions. It’s the best decision for me.”

Garcia is taking his USOTC year concentrating in freestyle wrestling with the support and encouragement from his future coaches at Ohio State.

“They were very supportive about it,” said Garcia. “We talked to them about it a lot. It was actually their idea and felt it would be the best decision for me. Tom Ryan knows coaches Bill (Zadick) and Brandon (Slay) and they thought it would be great.”

Another top high school graduate who is also training at the USOTC this year is 2010 Junior National champion Carson Kuhn of Utah, who was a member of the 2009 Junior World Team. Kuhn has signed with Boise State, but will delay his entry for a season to train full-time in freestyle.

“I was planning on going to Boise State right away after high school,” said Kuhn. “I was here last summer, getting ready for the college season. Every week being here improved me so much. So when (Brandon) Slay asked me if I wanted to stay out here for a year, I had to talk to my coaches and my dad about it. I decided it would be one of the best opportunities for me. I felt that if I got so much better from a summer here, what would a year do for me?”

Boise State has been one of the most active college programs within USA Wrestling. When Kuhn brought up the idea of spending a year at the USOTC, they agreed that it could be positive for him.

“They were very supportive,” said Kuhn. “They have always supported me so well. (Coach) Chris Owens is for this a lot, and in the long run, they know this will be the best for Boise State wrestling.”

USA Wrestling’s national coaches believe that having these talented young stars in the freestyle program will be a plus for the athletes, a plus for their college programs, and a plus for the future of the U.S. freestyle national program.

“It is a huge developmental opportunity for guys with the goals of being NCAA champions and World and Olympic champions,” said Coach Bill Zadick. “It gives them a valuable year of training and experience in international wrestling which drives their technique. It helps them assimilate those skills sooner into their competitive arsenal. When they go to college, they will be better, more rounded college athletes. They will move on to the Senior level with a better understanding of wrestling as a whole and be more effective and competitive athletes.”

Two other prominent high school graduates, 2010 Junior World Team member Tyler Lehman of North Dakota and Junior All-American Evan Knight of Iowa are also at the USOTC for a year before college. Next year, Knight will compete at Cornell. Lehman initially planned to attend Minnesota but has not finalized his plans for college yet. They are also working out daily with USA Wrestling’s national coaches and training with Senior-level competitors.

Athletes training at the USOTC in freestyle after high school is not a new idea, although they were often unheralded athletes at the time. Examples of wrestlers who came to Colorado Springs prior to college were Matt Stolpinski of Massachusetts and Jack Jensen of Wisconsin. After a year at the USOTC, both went to major college powers and became NCAA All-Americans, with Stolpinski wrestling for Navy and Jensen for Oklahoma State.

“It’s not just one guy anymore,” said Coach Brandon Slay. “We have a goal of bringing in multiple developmental young men. The No. 1 reason is that it allows us to develop more guys at a faster rate. It also creates a community of younger guys here. We have Carson, Evan, Derek and Tyler now. They can hang out. It’s just like when a freshman shows up on a college campus, he usually doesn’t hang with the seniors. It is important to create a developmental community for them.”

Kuhn and Garcia already are very comfortable at the USOTC, having attended numerous age-group developmental camps while coming up through the USA Wrestling program.

“I got a lot better out here, in things you might not even think of,” said Garcia, who trained at the USOTC after his freshman, sophomore and junior years in high school. “I got better in technique and mentally and physically.”

“Every chance I got to come here, I took the opportunity,” said Kuhn, who first trained at the USOTC in middle school. “Every time I could get out here, I improved so much. My timing was better, my technique was better. Being here, I felt so much mentally tougher.”

There have also been a few local athletes who trained at the USOTC before going on to college success. The Univ. of Pennsylvania signed three Colorado Springs athletes after they trained at the USOTC: Mike Silengo, Gabe Burak and Micah Burak, all who have been impact wrestlers in their program. 

This year, one of the high school graduates training with the freestyle program is Jake Landals, who was third in the Colorado state meet for nearby Manitou Springs High School. Landals has a goal of being a champion at the Div. I level in college also. He has impressed Slay with his attitude and his rapid improvement.

“He approached me with a strong desire to be better in wrestling and earn his opportunity to be recruited,” said Slay. “He asked if he could come to every practice and work hard. I gave him a tryout situation and he knocked it out of the ball park.”

The best example of how a young athlete could quickly develop at the USOTC was the case of Henry Cejudo, who joined the program as a high school junior and just four years later became a 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling champion. Although Cejudo did not have the desire to compete in college, his rapid rise showed how the full-time freestyle environment can impact a talented athlete.

“Henry Cejudo is a great example of the potential,” said Zadick. “He had the mental attributes and the talent. That is the key when you are in the right environment.”

The post high-school wrestlers at the USOTC have set high goals for themselves on the mat this year. They are focused on earning a spot on the 2011 U.S. Junior World Team, and winning a Junior World gold medal for the United States. They may also enter a number of Senior-level competitions, testing themselves against the nation’s best 

Just last week, high school junior Destin McCauley of Minnesota, considered the top college prospect in his class, announced that he would attend the Univ. of Wisconsin, but would first spend the 2011-12 season as a USOTC freestyle resident athlete before going to college. 

“There are very few negatives that we have come up with why the best young wrestlers in our nation would not want to train with our best Senior athletes for more than a year before stepping on a college campus,” said Slay. “As a coaching staff, we are not in competition with colleges. We want colleges to think we are all on the same team. They will still get these athletes for their program. They will have a full year competing with the best in our country.”

Because Cejudo did not go into college wrestling, there may be people who are skeptical of whether these post high-school wrestlers will ultimately pursue their college goals. Slay believes that the integrity of the program requires that they go on to their selected college programs according to schedule.

“We understand that colleges can perceive this as a risk. They are taking a chance. They know that the athletes will be better and more mature. But they ask, what if he commits and then changes his mind? We understand that. That is why it is important to us that when these guys make a verbal commitment or sign a national letter of intent that they keep their word,” said Slay.

While in Colorado Springs, the athletes can start their academic careers with part-time studies in local colleges. USA Wrestling has set up study hall for the young wrestlers two nights a week, where they can get help and support with their college studies.

“Education is important to us as a coaching staff. All three of our coaches received their degrees and wrestled in college. We are encouraging our developmental athletes about getting their education. They are taking part time college classes. I am not interested in bringing an 18 year old here to sit around and play video games. That is not preparing them for their futures,” he said.

Currently, the positions for the post high-school wrestlers at the USOTC, called “beds” within the program, are coming from the overall allotment from the USOC for resident athletes in freestyle. However, according to Slay, there is a proposal to make these developmental positions added permanently to the resident program without taking spots away from more experienced athletes. The success of the current athletes in the program could help move this process along.

“We are ready to develop young men. We understand how development is critical for our national wrestling program. We are going with full focus on London in 2012. But we are also being wise to prepare these 18 year olds for Brazil in 2016 and beyond,” said Slay.

With McCauley already committed for next year, and other top young athletes considering a similar path, Slay believes the foundation has been set.

“I am confident that other successful high school wrestlers will choose the OTC to be their initial stop after high school wrestling. Young men are already choosing this, and this is even before we have an official program,” he said.

Zadick, whose job is to develop young athletes into future World and Olympic freestyle champions, is excited about this program and what it will mean to American wrestling in the long term.

“We are trying to create a resource to drive development and move the ball forward for the United States from top to bottom,” said Zadick.