High School Wrestling Essentials: Bottom Fundamentals

with John Klessinger,
South River High School (MD) Head Wrestling Coach;
2023 National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee for 'Lifetime of Service to Wrestling';
over 400 dual-meet wins;
12 Anne Arundel County Championships;
Multiple Regional Championships;
Regional Dual Qualifiers 12 of the last 15 years;
State Dual Finalist and Semifinalist;
6x AA County Coach of the Year;
NFHS Maryland Coach of the Year;
4 Individual State Champions and 37 State Medalists;
author of 'A Coach's Manual';
Columnist WIN Magazine and MatBoss;
Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach

Wrestling from the bottom position is one of the most dangerous, yet rewarding strategies in the sport. John Klessinger, South River High School head coach, firmly believes a bottom defensive position requires strong reaction skills first and foremost, and once those skills have been established, wrestlers can continue to build their bottom position toolbox. This video takes Klessinger's approach from the beginning and walks you through his fundamental program.

Bottom Position

Learn how to set up your bottom position and the mindset needed to "get out." Coach Klessinger explains the teaching points he emphasizes for each of the bottom position drills. You'll see:

• Bottom position setup
• Base and riding drills
• Hand fighting
• Belly down defensiveness
• Breakdown counters

Escape Techniques

With his practice segment, Coach Klessinger reinforces the idea of setting up the skills needed to explode out of the bottom position. A major emphasis is placed on spiral rides, which force the opponent to offer the wrist. You'll get many stand up variations and techniques, switch tips and tricks and a change over series. You'll also see Coach Klessinger utilize common match situations to role play the techniques into action to simulate live match action and urgency.

This video from Coach Klessinger gives you everything you need to know about wrestling from the bottom!

61 minutes. 2022.