High School Wrestling Essentials: Counter-Offense & Defense

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

South River High School head wrestling coach John Klessinger presents his best strategies for counter-offense and defense in this instructional video. You'll learn some great strategies to ensure your wrestlers don't succumb to common attacking methods and always remain ready to take advantage of opponent missteps.

Strategies for Defensive Wrestling

Coach Klessinger starts from a reference position and works backward, covering every angle from a defensive perspective. Having a good defense in wrestling can set up more points than any other position. This video takes Klessinger's approach from the end and walks you back through his fundamental program.

Defensive Position

Coach Klessinger shares a solid defensive drill series that enables wrestlers to instinctively move from a defensive position to an attack. He covers:

• Home position
• Drills to get behind the opponent
• Pinning series from behind
• Counters
• Defending takedowns and more

With his practice segments, Coach Klessinger covers tips and inside tricks that make this system simple to learn. You'll also see additional takedown attack counters and how they can be implemented to fit into Klessinger's defense series.

The layout of Coach Klessinger's defensive series quickly develops muscle memory and reaction from wrestlers due to the flow and ease of the system. You will be thankful to have this video in your collection!

60 minutes. 2022.