Penn State 157lber Dan Vallimont
2008 NCAA 3rd Place Finisher Dan Vallimont has graciously agreed to share his thoughts and experiences with us this season. He will periodically post "blogs" on the D1CW website updating the wrestling community on his progress towards an NCAA title, as well as the life of a Penn State University student.
----------------------------------------------12-10 Blog--------------------------------------------------------
Well it’s been a couple weeks since my last entry, but I finally got a chance to sit down and write about the past couple weeks. First of all I just want to mention Ernie Lucas. Ernie was a dedicated Penn State fan and was also well known for his action photos taken during matches. He was heavily involved with Penn State wrestling for many years. Unfortunately Ernie passed away suddenly and unexpectedly minutes before the start of our match with Cornell. Ernie will be greatly missed. His family and friends have been and will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.
Ok, now I guess I’ll talk about the weekend of the Cornell match and Binghamton Duals. Well obviously things didn’t go the way I had planned or wanted. Things started out on Friday night at Cornell where I lost a match to the returning national champion Jordan Leen. I felt that I wrestled well and the match came down to a couple critical scrambles which didn’t turn out in my favor. It wasn’t my wrestling that I was displeased with at all. Instead it was my general frame of mind. Even one day before the match I felt a little off because I just couldn’t seem to get myself excited for the match that was coming up. Normally I get fired up and can’t wait for the chance to compete, but something just wasn’t right. I’m never one to make excuses, but I feel that my mental focus is one of my strongest attributes and I just didn’t have it. Personal issues sometimes arise and it is sometimes hard to get the perspective you need to set them aside and move on.
For me, I felt like I let things outside of wrestling take over my mind and I feel that my schoolwork, wrestling, and general productivity all suffered from it. I just couldn’t seem to get my mind focused on my goals and everything I have worked so hard for my entire wrestling career. Two days after the Cornell match we had three matches in Binghamton NY, against Virginia, Edinboro, and Binghamton. Again I found myself just not getting up for my matches. I felt as though I was letting myself and others down and I just couldn’t get that fire and drive that I always have. I survived through the day and luckily our team won all three matches with little contribution from me. I went 1-2, winning a very hard fought battle in my third match of the day. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to finish out that day. It seemed like the longest weekend of my life.
After the matches and on the way home I talked with all of the coaches about how I was feeling. They were all very helpful and understanding. Not one of them had anything negative to say to me. Instead they were all very encouraging. Everyone, including my teammates, seemed to rally around me and help to pick me up, which is such a great feeling. It really shows how tightly knit of a group we are and how everyone is willing to help someone in need. By the time we got back to State College I felt like a completely new person. Instead of being bitter about my losses and giving up on my season I found myself more motivated than ever. I have worked way too hard and put so many extra hours of blood, sweat and tears into this sport to let myself fail because of something unrelated to wrestling.
To sum it all up I feel that the weekend was a wakeup call and that there is no sense in worrying about things in life that I can’t control and instead I should stay focused on the things that I can. There is no reason to throw away everything that I have worked so hard for to achieve.
So, Monday morning came and I felt like a new person starting the season all over. I put the past behind me and trained as hard as I possibly could and had some of the best practices I have had all year. We didn’t have school that week because of thanksgiving break, so I was free to focus on wrestling and only wrestling. Having two to three practices a day and pushing myself as hard as I could was a huge step in the right direction for me. On Tuesday night our team came together for our second annual thanksgiving dinner. For this everyone on the team signs up for an item to bring and we all meet at someone’s house and have a team meal. It was a good time with tons of food to go around. I think it’s great that we can spend time together outside of the wrestling room and have a chance to bond as a team. Wednesday we finished up with a morning practice and then were free to go home to spend Thanksgiving with our families. Getting to go home to New Jersey and see all of my friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time was great. I also spent some time with my old high school coaches and went to watch the first practice of the year for Jefferson (my high school). The break was a lot of fun and I am so happy I got the chance to see everyone. But before I knew it, it was time to head back to State College to get back to business.
After getting a good workout in on Sunday afternoon back at school, I got the chance to head out to my dad’s and his brothers’ camp out in Clinton County, Pa., for the first day of buck season. My dad, his twin brother Dana from California, his brother Bob, and their cousin Keith, along with a couple of my cousins were all there. It’s always a great experience and a great chance to just spend time with the family and have fun. It’s a good thing we can have fun just being out at camp because were not very good at shooting deer. Every year we wake up and start walking out into the woods before the sun comes up on Monday morning and every year by the end of the day we find ourselves empty handed and lucky enough to have even caught a glimpse of anything. This year was extra bad for me. The only things I saw in the woods were one other hunter and a squirrel. Everyone else had just about as much luck as me. Fortunately nobody takes it too seriously and we joke around about it every year. If you drive by the camp you would now probably understand the sign on the front porch that says “Camp NO Buck”. (If anyone is interested in seeing the pictures of us not getting any deer but trying to act like professional hunters you can go to www.vallimont.comand go to the links on the left for camp no buck pictures. This year’s photos aren’t up yet, but you can probably get the general trend of failure by looking at the pictures from the other years. While everyone else stayed out at camp throughout the week I had to head back to school Monday night for school and wrestling on Tuesday. Although I only get to spend a day out at camp with everyone every year it’s always a good time and always worth it.
Well Tuesday came and it was time to really kick it up another gear in wrestling and schoolwork as well with finals only two weeks away. I felt as though I picked up right where I left off the week before with the same intensity and drive that I had been looking for. The week of practice leading up to the Nittany Lion Open was very productive. I got the chance to get a lot of one on one time with the coaches and also get some good hard goes in at normal practices.
--Dan Vallimont
-----------------------------------------------11-20 Blog-------------------------------------------------------
Well, let me start off by saying I’m sorry for taking so long to get this next entry up. Last weekend I didn’t really have much to write about, so I figured I would just wait till this weekend and do both of them together.
I’ll start off with last weekend. The week itself was a tough one with three exams that I actually did very well on! After schoolwork was done I decided to go home for the weekend to get away from all of the stress involved with school/wrestling/life in general and also to spend some time with one of my best friends, Colin Nagy, a wrestler at Wilkes University, who’s family was planning on celebrating his brother’s new engagement on Saturday. So, after finishing class and getting a workout in on Friday (practice was “on our own” because much of the team was spending time getting down to weight for the Michigan St. Open.) I packed up some things and got on I80 East towards home sweet home.
I stopped once along the way in Williamsport to pick up my friend Dan so I would have some company for the ride. Friday night I spent most of my time relaxing and catching up with my family. On Saturday, Dan and I met up with my high school wrestling coach, Ken Rossi, and another friend to watch the Penn State vs. Iowa football game before heading over to Colin’s for the engagement celebration. It’s a good thing I had something to do after the game, otherwise I would have likely been mad the rest of the day because of the loss.
After the game was over and hopes of a National Championship were dashed, I headed to Colin’s and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends for the night to celebrate his brother’s engagement (he proposed that morning). Sunday morning came too quick and it was time to say goodbye to my parents and get back on the long road to State College. Its always sad leaving home, but its something I’ve become used to now that I am in my 4th year of college.
After dropping Dan off and driving myself the rest of the way back to school, it was finally time to get back to reality. In less than one week, the first wrestling match of the season would be over. I spent most of the next week training hard and trying to focus in. My 22nd birthday came and went on Tuesday and I spent very little time celebrating as I was set on the upcoming match. Every day the excitement seemed to grow as Sunday’s match drew near. I was lucky enough to have a very light week of schoolwork because it was hard to focus on anything else.
Before I knew it, it was Sunday and the team was anxiously waiting for weigh ins. After making weight and getting a little food in me, the reality finally set in. I would be wrestling in less than two hours. After warming up in the wrestling room the team headed back to the locker room for some last minute pep talks and then it was out onto the mat in front of several thousand people in rec hall. I’ve ran out on that mat so many times, and every time it amazes me. The atmosphere in our home gym is second to none and I can’t say enough about our fans.
From the start the match didn’t go well. The entire team, with exception of Quentin Wright, seemed to come out slow. I’m not sure if it was because it was our first match, if we underestimated a talented Hofstra team, or some other reason, but we did not perform even close to our ability as a team and subsequently we lost.
Monday’s practice was one of those you fear going into. You know that the coaching staff is not happy with your results from the previous day and you know there will be consequences. Not knowing the extent of the consequences makes for some nervous pre-practice conversations with teammates. Before practice started, the coaches sat us down for announcements and went over the match. A lot was said, but to sum it up, we need to make some changes, because what happened Sunday should never happen again. So far this week I think things have been going well. We have been having intense workouts with everyone pushing each other one step further in the room every day. I think the Hofstra match could actually have been a blessing in disguise simply because it served as a wakeup call to us and the coaches, and personally I would much rather deal with something like this at the beginning of the season, find the source, and fix it, rather than wait till March when it could be too late.
So, it’s already Wednesday and tomorrow we are leaving for Cornell and Binghamton. This week has gone by quickly, but I think that our preparation up until now has put us on the right track to wrestle to the best of our ability against fourth-ranked Cornell and then again in our three duals on Sunday. For me personally, I will have several tough tasks ahead of me this weekend and I plan on taking each one as it comes. I’ve put my time in and trained for moments like this and I feel that I am ready. I am excited for this opportunity for myself and also am very anxious to see how our team responds to last weekend’s disappointment. It should be an exciting weekend. This is what Division 1 wrestling is all about!
--Dan Vallimont
--------------------------------------11-4 Blog--------------------------------------------
This past week of school wasn’t all that eventful compared to the two before it. Classes weren’t too overwhelming and as for wrestling we had most of the week on our own to prepare for Sunday’s wrestle-offs in Rec Hall.
I was very relieved to know that I only had one exam to study for all week especially since I was trying to focus mainly on getting down to 157 for the first time since last March. I have to admit that last Sunday night when I stepped on the scale I did get a little stressed out about the whole getting down to weight in one week ordeal. I decided to wait till Monday morning to get into serious weight-loss mode. Getting down to flat weight for the first time is always the hardest every year, so I made sure to get on top of things early in the week.
As it turned out, getting down to weight ended up being easier than in past years and I found myself very close to weight on Friday night. Since I got so close to 157 on Friday I decided to just take Saturday as a day to relax before Sunday’s wrestle-offs and although I didn’t eat much and I would have loved to drink about five Gatorades at once, it wasn’t a bad day at all. After sleeping in as long as I possibly could Saturday morning, I convinced my girlfriend to come hang out with me which was pretty amazing because I know she hates to deal with me when I’m cutting weight (I’m sure anyone who has cut weight for wrestling can relate to that)Haha!.
I guess it came back to get me though when we spent our time together baking brownies which I could only stare at. On top of that I was forced to keep them at my house all night to make sure that nobody would eat all of them before I could get one Sunday night after wrestle-offs! I’m glad that getting down to weight wasn’t too bad this time because baking food probably wouldn’t have gone over too well otherwise.
After the torture of making amazingly good smelling food we went to the men’s soccer game (which they won 1-0, upsetting No. 17 Indiana). I played soccer all my life until college so I love watching a good game. The one thing I don’t miss though about it is the freezing cold, and I was reminded of that Saturday night! After the game it was already almost 10 p.m. and that was late enough for me to go to bed. I didn’t get much sleep Saturday night probably due to a combination of excitement and hunger, but it didn’t matter because when Sunday morning came I was ready to go.
After weighing in at 11 a.m. and then getting some much desired food and drink I found myself putting on a singlet and warming up for the first test of the season. There ended up being me and two other wrestlers competing for the 157 spot. Getting up for wrestle-off matches is a task in itself. It’s hard to focus and prepare the same way you would for any regular match because everyone is friends and they wrestle and spend time with each other every day. Also, having a full gym of fans watch in complete silence, not cheering for either wrestler makes for an awkward situation. I try to put all of those things out of my mind and just go out there and wrestle every match the same way. So, I ended up having to wrestle two matches, both of which I went onto the mat with the same attitude I would if it was the NCAA finals. I felt that I wrestled well and I came away with two wins and the 157 starting spot.
After wrestle-offs I went out to dinner with my family at the best restaurant ever…Outback Steakhouse…and got some much appreciated dinner. My aunt, uncle, cousin, mom, sister, and mom’s parents came out to eat. My dad wasn’t able to make it up for wrestle-offs because he had guard duty (he’s in the air force reserves). My family took dinner as an opportunity to celebrate my birthday a little early since we were all together. My birthday isn’t until next week, but this would be the last time we would have time together as a family to celebrate it before it actually happens. I enjoyed the time with the family and was happy that they didn’t make the employees come out and sing happy birthday to embarrass me!
After dinner my family headed home and so did I. Now it’s time to refocus again for another tough week of school. Three more exams and some homework due this week will make for another packed and likely stressful week. Wow, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving break when I won’t have any schoolwork to worry about! Well that’s about it for this week. Only two weeks till the first dual meet. Its finally go time and I can’t wait to see how my off-season training has paid off!
-Dan Valliimont
----------------------------------------------10-28 Blog---------------------------------------------------------
Well, it’s Sunday night and I am finally getting a chance to sit down and write about this past week. I guess I will start with Monday. Last Monday was one of my worst days all year. After dealing with some relationship issues Sunday night and into Monday, I was in no mood to do anything. Unfortunately Monday ended up being one of the busiest days of this semester. It started out with class from 9-1:30 which wasn’t too bad but I was exhausted. After that I really would have liked to just sleep for the rest of the day but there was no time with a 2:45 practice. At practice I took a lot of my frustration out on my live partners and it actually made me feel a lot better about the previous day’s problems. Sometimes personal life becomes such a focus, but I would never allow anything to come between me and goals I have set for myself on the mat. After practice I was hoping to go home and just relax, but that ended up not being an option. After seeing several missed calls from one of my architectural design class group members my hopes of getting home at a reasonable hour were erased. I found myself going straight from practice to an engineering computer lab where I sat at a computer with my group of three others trying to finalize a design for a new architectural engineering building that is to be built on campus in the next 10 years. Most of the design was completed prior to meeting, but we had to put together a presentation and build a scale model of our design for a presentation on Tuesday. As it turned out we didn’t end up leaving until midnight. I am pretty sure I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow that night. Tuesday came too quick with a 6:30 alarm and a 7a.m. lift. After lifting I headed to class and at 2 p.m. our group presented our design to our professors and some AE advisors along with the rest of our class. I feel like we did pretty well overall and being done with that took a lot of stress off my back. After class I ended up getting a workout in with a couple other guys on the team that miss normal practice because of class and headed home to go to bed really early. The rest of the week went by quickly and pretty smoothly.
On Friday night, after getting a workout in I ended up meeting up with one of my old coaches, Shane Force, from when I first started wrestling back in second grade. He graduated from Penn State and wrestled for a year with Coach Sunderland. We ended up eating at The Tavern in downtown State College which anyone from Penn State can tell you is a terrific place to get a meal. After dinner I headed home for the night. Saturday was by far the most exciting day of the week. I woke up early to head to the gym to get a few pounds off. After working out, I went to my friend’s house downtown where we watched football all day (hoping to see Texas get upset….so close!). Finally it came time for the main event….Penn St. vs. Ohio St. Overall the actual game was pretty boring except for the last few minutes. After the pick-off on OSU’s last drive the atmosphere became one of celebration. Saying that State College went wild after that game is a huge understatement!
Well, the next morning, after the excitement died down, it was back to reality. It’s time to focus in. It’s time to see how all of the hard work in the off season has benefited me. Wrestle-offs are one week away and a week after that the season is under way. It’s hard to believe that it’s already here. The excitement is beginning to build and I can’t wait to get things started! I guess that’s about it for this week. If all goes accordingly Ill be writing again next Sunday after wrestle-offs.
-Dan Vallimont
-------------------------------------10-21 Blog----------------------------------------------
Well it’s been about two weeks, but I finally found some free time for myself to write my first blog entry. Between my architectural engineering classes, homework, and frequent workouts it’s been really tough to find some time to just relax. Most of the time I just want to sleep when I get a chance. The past two weeks have been exceptionally busy with the beginning of official wrestling practices, trying to certify, and a bunch of midterm exams.
I guess I’ll start out with wrestling. Practice has been pretty intense the past two weeks. Having practice every day along with lifts and cardio workouts has definitely made for some pretty busy days. Overall I’ve been feeling pretty good about my preseason training thus far. Coaches Perry and Letters have definitely helped me out greatly so far and I look forward to learning from them throughout the rest of my career. Perry picked up right where John Hughes left off. Hughes was always that guy who would push me one step further than I thought possible. After he left for Lehigh I was worried about not having someone that could do that for me but Perry has definitely been that guy. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have class from 9:05-5:30 so I miss practice. I have been rotating my workouts with Perry and Letters on those days after class. After sitting in engineering classes all day its usually tough to head straight to the wrestling room for a tough workout, but I understand that it is what needs to be done if I am going to accomplish the many goals I have set for myself. Outside of those workouts, the normal practices have been tough too. Last Friday our practice consisted of just one match with a partner that the coaches picked for us. The catch was that the match had unlimited time. The only ways to finish practice for yourself was: 1) for someone to get 25 takedowns more than the other guy, 2) for someone to give up, or 3) for the coaches to stop your match. Bubba and I ended up as partners and we went at it hard for over an hour. There was no way either of us was ever going to give up. So, finally the coaches stopped us (we were the last ones to leave). I would say that has been our toughest practice so far, but the others have definitely not been easy. With less than two weeks till wrestle-offs, reality is starting to set in for everyone. It’s finally time to get weights down and under control and to get ready for a long and challenging season. It seems like only a couple weeks ago I was on my way home from St. Louis. It’s amazing how fast the spring and summer went by.
Classes so far this semester have been challenging as usual. I am taking 19 credits which have become pretty normal for me. It’s a lot of work and it leaves me with next to no free time but I know it will be worth it when I get my architectural engineering degree. Sometimes it feels overwhelming but I have worked my way into a routine since freshman year, so it ends up not being too bad. I must admit I do get jealous of my teammates who are taking majors with lighter workloads. It would be nice to get some more free time to relax and do whatever, but this is the path I’ve chosen I guess.
One of the highlights this fall has been how well our football team has been playing. There is nothing quite like going to a Penn State football game in Beaver Stadium. The atmosphere is second to none. I was lucky enough to get student tickets this year and I have been to every home game. I would say the best game so far was this weekend’s against Michigan. I was worried when we were down 10-0 early, but they stepped it up in the second half and dominated 46-17. It was homecoming and the first time we had beaten the Wolverines in 9 meetings. Being able to see them win that game was awesome. With wrestling season starting though, it’s time to change focus to winning a national title in March as a team and individually.
Well, I’m not really sure what else to talk about and I have a bunch of homework to take care of before tomorrow anyway. This is my first time writing a blog, so I’m hoping that my future entries will be a little more informative and entertaining. I hope to write once a week, most likely on Sundays since that seems to be the only day I ever get excess free time. So, I guess you’ll hear from me again next week!
-Dan Vallimont
I was relieved on Saturday when I found myself excited, focused, and fired up for the tournament ahead. I couldn’t wait to get out there and wrestle and put myself back on the right track. Sunday came and it was finally time to turn things around. The day was long but very productive. I ended up going 5-0 with 2 majors, a tech, a pin, and an 8-2 win. Although I felt 100 times better in that tournament and feel very good about taking this step in the positive direction I am not all satisfied. There is so much more that I hope to accomplish this year and this is just the first step of many. Now that the tournament is out of the way it is time to reset and start getting ready for the last competition of 2008 against West Virginia at home this Sunday. I am sure that we will get some great workouts in this week and set ourselves up in the best way to be dominant and successful on Sunday in Rec Hall.