Hi 👋

Welcome to Week #56 of the Wrestling Snacks Newsletter.

This week’s interviewee is wrestling’s first famous YouTuber, Cayden Henschel. I came across Cayden over the past year, and I’ve really started to enjoy the content he creates. He’s really the first wrestler to document his entire college career and has built a loyal following across his social media channels.

Combined, he has nearly 1.2 million followers across all platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), with 479,000 on YouTube alone. Additionally, he’s launched his own wrestling shoe company and hosts a podcast called Clash of Combat, which has over 36,000 YouTube subscribers.

The landscape of college wrestling is rapidly changing, and Cayden has done a really good job taking advantage of these changes while helping to popularize and grow the sport among the younger generation.

Growing the sport of wrestling is a big focus of mine, and I’m all for creating ways to bring the sport to a broader audience and make it more mainstream. Cayden does this well by giving young athletes someone to connect with and relate to as he shares his stories and journey in the sport of wrestling.

Let’s GO 💪

News Bites

• DI Live Streaming Guide (10/31 - 11/3/2024)

• FloWrestling's 2024-25 NCAA Division I Wrestling Broadcast Schedule

• Welker and Kilty Earn World Bronze Medals on Wednesday

• Taylor and Arujau Finish 2024 World Championships with Bronze Medals

• Final Results from the 2024 World Championships

• #12 Overall Harer Commits to Rutgers

• Nelson Brands To 174 lbs, Gabe Arnold To 184 lbs For Iowa vs Oregon State

• Iowa vs Oregon State: Full College Wrestling Preview 2024

• 2024-25 NCAA DI Wrestling Rankings

• No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Iowa begin season ranked atop NWCA Div. I Men’s Coaches Poll

• New & Dropped D1 College Wrestling Programs Of The Past 50 Years

• USA Wrestling Job Opportunity: Officials Development Program Manager

• USA Wrestling President Bruce Baumgartner elected to UWW Bureau

• David Taylor and Japan’s superstar Masanosuke Ono trade singlets at the World Championships

• Bo Bassett takes an official visit to Iowa and gets a workout session with Austin DeSanto and Spencer Lee

• Donald Trump brings on-stage and recognizes the Penn State Wrestling team at one of his rallies in PA

Snacks

This week's Snacks come from Cayden Henschel: Wisconsin State Champion. 2X NCAA DII National Qualifier, GLIAC Academic All-Excellence Team, and 2X Scholar All-American at University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Below are some excerpts from our conversation, along with key takeaways and tips that can be applied to improve yourself as a Coach, Athlete, or wrestling Parent.

Origin Story Tip: (1) It's important to connect youth wrestlers with the traditions of your program. Having a board or wall of past State Champions helps kids visualize their potential and what they can become. (2) A single conversation with his coach nudged him to think bigger. As a coach, parent, or mentor, remember that these small moments of inspiration can open up new a path for a young athlete they might not have imagined.

"I’d say my first introduction to joining wrestling was through my family and with my brothers. At the time, my two brothers and I were living with my grandparents while our house was being built. I remember vividly being in a bedroom with my brothers, which was also the computer room, and my dad was looking up the local wrestling club—the West Bend Wildcats. My grandpa was there too. Both he and my dad wrestled. My grandpa wrestled in college at Madison, and my dad wrestled through high school and then in college, starting at UW Parkside and later transferring to UW La Crosse. 

He put me and my brother in wrestling. I was in first grade, my brother was in third, and a year later, my younger brother joined at just four years old. So, I started wrestling at seven...

Like any kid, I loved it, but when things got tough or I got beat up, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about it. One thing that kept me motivated was that we practiced at the high school gym, where there were pictures of each state champion. My dad was actually a state champion for the same high school I would eventually attend. I thought it was the coolest thing to see his picture there, and I wanted to be up there too. That was an instant motivator for me; I thought, "Hey, if I get good enough, maybe one day I’ll be up there." That became my biggest dream in wrestling...

I also played baseball and football and was pretty good at both. I was the starting running back in high school through middle school, and in baseball, I was always the leadoff hitter. I stopped both sports after 8th grade and focused solely on wrestling once I entered high school. I didn’t travel out of state for wrestling until 6th or 7th grade when I attended my first out-of-state event...

My biggest goal was just to win a high school state title. I didn’t even know if I’d go to college. I was always interested in business and entrepreneurship and loved making YouTube videos. At the time I didn't realize that I’d take wrestling to the YouTube route since no one had done it before. So I didn't even know going into my senior year if college wrestling was something I was going to do.

Then I had a conversation with one of my coaches, Max Askren, who asked me what my plan was and if I wanted to wrestle in college. I told him my goal was to win a state title, and he challenged me to aim higher. He said, "What if your goal was to win a college national title? If you’re training for that, don’t you think those smaller accomplishments will just be stepping stones?" That changed my perspective. I thought, "If I train like a college national champion, I’m going to win state; I’ll be a state champ regardless." After that conversation, I decided I did want to wrestle in college, and I believed it was the best path for me at that time."

Parent Tip: (1) Another example of how the sport of wrestling can bring a family together. The hardships and forms of suffering that come with wrestling can give your family something difficult to work on and experience together. (2) As a parent, avoid imposing your own unfulfilled goals onto your child.

"Well, I will say my dad and my grandpa specifically both played such a huge role in my wrestling. They were both my coaches growing up, through youth and into high school. My dad was the head coach, and my grandpa was, basically, like a volunteer assistant. He was always there cleaning up before every practice, helping out in the weight room every single day.

I’d even say my grandpa did more. He took me to so many club practices and out-of-state events, regardless of the results. I think they both really wanted me to succeed and wanted to give me all the tools necessary to succeed, but they didn’t do so by imposing their own unfulfilled goals. They did a great job of even having a hands-off approach, letting me pave my own way.

My younger brother stopped wrestling in third grade and didn’t come back until eighth grade, taking five years off to play basketball. My older brother also wrestled through high school, but he didn’t really love it. He didn’t do the club stuff and just stuck to the regular high school season.

Wrestling wasn’t forced on any of us, but it was something we all loved. It brought our family together, gave us something hard to work on together, something we could suffer through and really grow from. It was more about that than anything else."

Coaching Tip: Find the form of communication that works best for each of your athletes. Some respond well to vocal encouragement, while others may not care as much for it. Spend time getting to know each athlete and observe how they respond to different forms of motivation and communication. Some athletes may let the voice inside their head derail a match that’s going well. Being a vocal guide in the corner can help them take control of their self-talk, reassuring them that what they're doing is working.

"I do love how in high school my dad was super vocal. 

Craig, who is my current assistant coach at Parkside, is super vocal too. I really love when I'm out competing, and my coaches are almost like that extra voice. Sometimes when you're in a wrestling match, you can't always listen to yourself—you have to talk to yourself. It’s even easier when you have someone on your side telling you what to do, encouraging you, saying you’re doing a good job, to keep pushing forward, keep moving, and keep scoring points.

So I really like that coaching style of someone being super on your side and getting the crowd involved too...

I wrestled at Ringers up until my junior year of high school, then switched to Askren Academy that summer before my senior year. The biggest takeaway from that wrestling room was seeing everyone around me—everyone you looked at was a state champion or they were winning big tournaments. I realized these guys were doing the same things I was, and they were getting results, so why not me?

I think about that in my college room now, and my head coach was a three-time undefeated national champion for Parkside, literally where I'm at. And I think, he’s telling us what he did, basically laying out what worked for him. And if he can do it, why not us? That’s one big thing that really sticks out to me."

Athlete Tip: "Oftentimes, the worst thing you can do is accomplish your goals." There's truth to this principle, and many athletes have experienced it. When you idolize a goal or outcome, your focus becomes unbalanced, and other areas of life get left behind. Once that goal is achieved and you've focused on nothing else, you may struggle to find meaning and purpose afterward. Pay attention to this. Don’t let your goals consume you to the point where life becomes unbalanced. Remember, wrestling and sports will end, and you’ll have a whole life to live once you're done competing.

"I'll give kind of a fun one. I found this tip when I was at Penn State for the first time, I think this was two years ago now. Basically, when I was there, we were with Beau Bartlett. He was showing us around, collaborating, and doing some stuff for our podcast. On the door, there were some posters and stuff they had written, and it said two words: "So what?"

I thought about that, and I was asking them about it. I was like, these guys are the best—they have so many national champs, team titles. And the more you think about it, it's like, how much they accomplish—so what? Each day is a new day. Accomplishments are accomplishments, and people get so overhyped on outcomes. It's just like, you have to be… it’s almost just like, "So what?" Just move on, get to the next thing, or take it however you want...

I take it as a way to be humble when you lose and humble when you win. Be grateful for the opportunity to do what we do. I think it’s about not idolizing it, right? I don't want to idolize winning a national title. There are more important things than that, and sometimes I think, what happens if I never won my high school state title? Oftentimes, the worst thing you can do is accomplish your goals."

Negative Impact Tip: Avoid pushing young athletes to follow the crowd if others are cutting weight. Just because "everyone else is doing it" doesn't mean it’s beneficial or necessary. Pressure to cut weight can lead to a toxic mindset around food and body image. Encourage healthy habits and allow kids to compete at their natural weight when to keep their focus on skill development and enjoyment of the sport.

"I would say that there comes a point when kids start having to cut weight or watch what they eat. Looking back, I don’t think I ever reached a point where it was dangerous, but I do think there were times where it became questionable. I’m actually doing a study on this in one of my classes—specifically on how weight cutting in high school wrestlers affects mental health. I’m really curious about the percentage of people who are actually doing it wrong and may be causing more harm than good.

Oftentimes, people cut weight to gain an advantage or because they feel that, since everyone else is doing it, they have to as well. I think there’s definitely a switch that maybe needs to happen or a change that needs to come in the wrestling world. Even just opening up the conversation could be helpful, especially about parents pushing kids to cut weight or encouraging them to go up or down a weight class. Coaches, too, sometimes add that pressure, so I think this is one area where the conversation needs to be a little clearer."

Wrestling Growth Tip: (1) Make wrestling more inviting for beginners or those new to the sport. Shifting from singlets to two-piece uniforms could encourage more young athletes to give wrestling a try, particularly in middle and high school when self-consciousness is high. (2) Building a culture that welcomes athletes at all levels—whether they want to compete seriously or just enjoy the sport recreationally—can expand wrestling’s reach and make it a lifelong pursuit.

"I'll piggyback off what Johnni Dijulius said—that if we abolish singlets and go with a two-piece, wrestling will grow tremendously. I think a big holdback for people new to wrestling is the idea of the singlet, especially in middle school and high school. Wrestling could explode much more if we moved away from it.

Another thing to consider is how jiu-jitsu is so popular because there are more competitions and practices for the older generation. Wrestling could benefit from making that accessible. Unlike jiu-jitsu, where you can roll around on the ground, wrestling is a lot tougher on your body, so there may be limits to how big it can get. 

But other than that, it’s about bringing more personalities into wrestling. People doing well in wrestling should showcase how they got there, really being relatable. That’s why I think I've found some success online—I've been doing this for over seven years, showing what I'm doing and documenting everything. If more people do that, more people get exposed to wrestling from different perspectives, which I think is overall better for the sport."

Growth Bite

This week's Growth Bite comes from a motivational clip I came across that caught my attention. It’s a little cheesy, but it’s a great reminder that if we don’t make changes, nothing is going to change in our lives. If you have goals you want to accomplish or a certain place you want to end up, then you need to change. Period.

Community Treat

This week's Community Treat comes from NCAA National Champion Anthony Robles. The official trailer for his movie Unstoppable has been released and will be streaming on Amazon Prime on January 16th.

Anthony Robles won an NCAA National Championship with only one leg. His story is legendary and one of pure inspiration. Makes sure you take the time to watch this movie. It’s going to be 🔥