If you are serious about your wrestling, then we believe
you should be very choosey about just WHO you allow
to take over your training. We are well aware that you
have many choices out there to choose from and many
coaches willing to offer you coaching advice and training.
For most of us, this coaching will suffice. However,
if you are serious about wrestling, then you must be
picky. Our advice is to look not only into their
wrestling backgrounds and accomplishments, but also
their coaching backgrounds and accomplishments. You
need a coach that has a proven track record and someone
that has earned results for their efforts
both on the mat and in the coaching arena. There is
an old saying that says to “be careful of who
you let into your head." This is a quote to live
by and also a measuring stick you must use to determine
where you spend your wrestling time and wrestling dollars.
While I cannot say that Purler Wrestling will measure
up to everyone’s demands, I can only say that
we have much to offer you in terms of wrestling and
coaching experience. Most importantly to you, we have
a history of winning and getting results in both areas
of the sport. As for sheer experience, please visit
our personal wrestling profiles (on this
site and www.TonyPurler.com)
to see a list of our personal achievements as competitors
in the sport of wrestling. Furthermore, we ask that
you browse the ‘Medal Count’
section and see the long list of achievements that our
students at Purler Wrestling Academy have racked up
over the years since November of 1999. We think you
will find that we do have a history of winning and have
a working knowledge of what it takes to excel in the
demanding sport of wrestling!
As for our personal training and influence, we have
seen it all. Both Tony and I have been members of losing
teams and winning teams (Nationally ranked high school
program and 3 NCAA Championship college teams). We have
been trained by dedicated coaches that knew very little
(but did the best they could!) and have received 12+
years of training and coaching from the World’s
best coaches who know it all! This training at Oklahoma
State University and US World Team-member training includes
over a decade of mentoring and coaching from experts
which includes Olympic Champions (John Smith, Kenny
Monday, Kevin Jackson) and Olympic coaches (Bruce Burnett,
Joey Seay).
Simply put, there is very little (if anything) that
you can ever experience in the sport of wrestling that
we cannot help you with— and we are eager to do
so.
Wrestling is a very high skill-level sport— one
that takes constant, technical evaluation in order to
consistently compete at the highest level. Throughout
the World, wrestling is considered an art-form, while
sadly, here in the US many of our coaches mistakenly
teach wrestling as a brawl or a fight. The truth is,
in order to consistently win at the the highest level,
you must approach your training from a skill-level standpoint,
or you will not win. Wrestling, like other sports, is
just different! You can purchase a marathon training
kit from any bookstore and follow this training plan
and be very well prepared come race day. I wish you
could do that for wrestling. You can’t.
You will not be able to learn this highly-skilled sport
from a novice coach no more than you could learn gymnastics,
diving, figure skating, judo, fencing, etc from a novice
coach.
Furthermore, we all know that wrestling is indeed a
very emotionally draining sport that takes someone who
has been through it to understand it.
And of course you must understand it
order to teach it. The mental side
of the game is something that Purler Wrestling is known
throughout the US as being the very best at. We encourage
you to watch the way our students carry themselves at
wrestling meets before a match and during competition.
Our athletes are ready because they have been trained
to be ready and trained to win under pressure. Our wrestlers
are taught to focus on HOW they win and lost, not IF
they win and lose. Simply stated, few have the experience
and understanding to totally prepare your son for Division
I, college wrestling.
If you dream of greatness. We can help.
When you look at the “About
Nick Purler” portion of our site, you will
see that Nick has not only won high school state and
national titles, but has also earned All-American honors
at Oklahoma State University while Tony Purler (PWA
West), has an NCAA title to his credit as well as
US Open National titles. In fact, Tony has won a National
title on EVERY level that
there is in the sport of wrestling! Furthermore, he
has competed in the World Championships TWICE. Both
were also members of a State Championship / nationally-ranked
High School wrestling program and also members of 3
NCAA Championship teams (yes…THREE) while at Oklahoma
State.
Simply stated, you cannot compete all over the world
and have been a member if 3 NCAA Division I Championship
teams, had the successes, victories, titles, and also
the failures, hard-ships, and disappointments that the
Purler Bros. have had and NOT be able to offer the emotional
and technical training needs of all wrestlers. Throw
that in with a love of kids and an eagerness to help
today’s youth, and you have the formula for success
that is Purler Wrestling.
As I told one mother who was interested in getting
her son involved into Tony’s training sessions
in Kansas City, MO: “How can someone possibly
compete in the World Championships twice, wrestled in
Iran and the Goodwill Games, etc…and NOT be able
to help your 16 year old win a State medal in Missouri?”
She laughed and joined on the spot!
As more and more wrestling schools and academies pop
up and the wrestling camp market becomes very competitive,
you must be that much more discerning in your decision
of where to send your son for training. We ask you to
weigh out all options before getting involved in a wrestling
academy or camp and investing your wrestling time and
wrestling dollars. We are constantly amazed at the wrestling
club flyers and camp brochures that we see set out at
tournaments where coaches will flat out lie about their
wrestling backgrounds! It is an unethical business practice
and something that Purler Wrestling will have NO part
in! If the instructor claims to have competed for some
major University, then check out his claims. Do a search
on the internet and find out for yourself. Furthermore,
find out whether or not he actually COMPLETED his stay
this University, or did he simply walk on to the team
for a month and quit— as so often happens. Keep
in mind that ANYONE can walk on to ANY wrestling college,
and become a member of the team, practice one day and
quit, and then claim to be a college wrestler. Do your
research! The Midwest (yes…including MO and IL!)
is packed with wrestling camps, etc where these faulty
claims and ‘twisted ½ truths are spread
across flyers weekend after weekend. And, while doing
your search on them, do a search on the Purler Bros.
as well. We have nothing to hide.
We now see claim after claim about ‘Training
for the Olympics’. Be aware that ANYONE
can be training for the Olympics! I have 7 year old
wrestlers who swear up and down that they are ‘Training
for the Olympics!’ Also, be very wary of individuals
that claim to have ‘trained at the Olympic
Training Center’. I have several 14 year
old Purler Wrestling Students that have trained at the
Olympic Training Center and one youth wrestler as well.
Simply stated, it is not that big of a deal.
Please understand that attaching the word “Olympic”
to your name is a fast and convenient way to instant
wrestler credibility and one that is used a lot nowadays
by those needing a quick fix to their resume’
in order to enter the camp industry. Do your research.
All-American / National Champion ~ I remember working
a camp for a guy years ago who had every clinician slated
as All-American or Nat’l Champion. When I confronted
him, he stated that ‘no one’s gonna know
the difference anyway’! I quickly severed ties
with this individual.
After watching Tony spend 2 years as an Oklahoma
Ranch hand bailing hay, delivery calves, mending barbed-wire
fences, and then another 2 years running a weed-eater
8 hours a day at the Columbia, MO Cemetery, battling
to make ends meet so that he could squeeze in some training
during the early morning hours and weekends, absolutely
STRUGGLING, CLAWING, AND SCRATCHING to get to the top
of the US Freestyle wrestling podium so that he could
make the US Nat’l team and begin to get his health
insurance and traveling / training costs paid for, I
will not lie to you when I say that it angers us GREATLY
when we see these lies and ‘claims of greatness’
by competitors in the camp / wrestling academy industry.
Many of whom we know for certain were
either kicked off of the college team, walked-on and
quit, failed out of school, partied out, or who just
plain couldn’t take it and quit. Then, with the
quick stroke of a pen they put themselves on the same
level as a Tony Purler is? I don’t think so! I
will tell you that it is a sad, desperate measure and
it is just isn’t right. This is the only
reason why I took the time to ask you to DO YOUR RESEARCH!
“Before you let the man tell you HOW IT’S
DONE, first make sure that he has actually DONE IT!”
- Anon
At Purler Wrestling, our goal is to be the best there
is and our reputation is something we are very proud
of. Of course we are FAR from perfect but we strive
very hard on a daily basis to provide the best guidance,
training, mentoring, and leadership that any wrestler
in America can find…it is that simple! Furthermore,
our credibility is vital to our success and ‘truth
in advertising’ is indeed a missing
ingredient nowadays when it comes to start-up wrestling
clubs and camps.
Before getting involved, find a Purler Wrestling parent
and ask them what kind of people Nick and Tony are.
Do a little investigation on us and find out if Purler
Wrestling is for you!
In addition to talking with PWA parents, we ask that
you watch Tony and I at wrestling tournaments. See how
we take care of our athletes after they suffer a disappointing
loss. Watch how we congratulate the winning opponent
after a successful match. Watch how we offer encouraging
words and a pat on the back to the losing opponent
It is unrealistic to think that your son or daughter
can be involved in competitive athletics and
it not cost you anything! With kids of our own that
are involved in many activities, we understand. We also
understand that it is very difficult to watch your dedicated
son come up short time after time, especially after
investing plenty of your own time and hard-earned
money into his athletics.
At some point in time, you just want results (!) and
how can blame you.
Purler Wrestling students are getting results!
As mentioned, our credibility is vital to our success
and ‘truth in advertising’ is part
of the deal when it comes to Purler Wrestling. When
you visit the ‘Medal Count’ portion of our
site, understand that we do engage in truthful advertising…even
though our student’s VERY impressive results don’t
seem real for a program that has ONLY been in existence
a short number of years. Read on!
It is easy to look at the large number of State and
National medalists that PWA has helped produce and wonder
if those numbers is real. I will offer you this:
When you look at the number of All-Americans that Purler
Wrestling Academy has helped to produce, keep in mind
that we have a demanding set of criteria for All-Amercian
honors. Sure, there are 100’s of tournaments nowadays
that call themselves ‘Nationals’. This is
another attempt to get you to go to their tournaments…fine!
However, we all know that most of these events are very
low- caliber events. We also know (and you should too!)
that the titles of National Champion and All-American
can nowadays be purchased…with
a lofty entry fee of course!
By scrolling down our results
page, you will see that Purler Wrestling only counts
a handful of Purler-tested, Purler-approved wrestling
tournaments that qualify for National All-American honors.
The number of national place-winners our students have
won would no doubt quadruple (not exaggerating) if we
counted every tournament out there that has the word
‘National’ in it.
Rest assured that this causes heated debate between
our wrestlers, parents, and us in that many of our hard-working,
dedicated students may very well enter a so-called ‘nationals’
event and whip some of the nation’s top kids only
to come home and find out that this meet does not count
for All-American honors. And that means no All-American
t-shirt!
Speaking of All-American t-shirts, you may see black
t-shirts with ALL-AMERICAN in red across the chest at
various wrestling meets throughout the US. These are
high school and youth PWA students who have won a medal
at one of our approved national meets. We do not lower
our standards so that we can pad our results in order
to earn your business. We plan on doing that the old-fashioned
way! Therefore, you can rest absolutely assured that
when you check out our results and see the large number
of State and National medalists that PWA has helped
to produce, NO fuzzy math was involved!
As for our state results, we have 20-30 high school
and youth wrestlers each year that spend 1-5 years training
with PWA only to step away from our training rooms for
some reason or another. Those athletes that go on to
place or win state titles after a 1 year absence from
Purler Wrestling Academy are NOT counted in the PWA
state medal results…even though they probably
should be. Interestingly enough, over 20 high school
wrestlers did just that last season and we not counted!
Again, we clarify this so that you, the discerning wrestling
parent, can make the best choice as to where to send
your son for his wrestling training and to realize that
the impressive results of our students are impressive
indeed!
PS – Beginning in 2006, Purler Wrestling discontinued
counting the Missouri AAU State Championships in our
State Medal count as this event has dropped off dramatically
over the past few years. Our standards remain just as
high for the state level as they do the national level
when it comes to ‘setting the bar’ for our
students.
PSS – We proudly give our All-American and National
Champion students t-shirts and singlets when they reach
the pinnacle of national-caliber wrestling by placing
top 8 at a Purler-approved event. So, when you see a
mean-looking wrestler with a Purler ALL-AMERICAN t-shirt
on, or worse yet— a custom-made, black / high-cut
singlet with metallic gold NATIONAL CHAMPION stitching
on the leg and PWA printed on the back— stay away!
This kid is dangerous.
“Happy are those who dream dreams and enthusiastically
pay the price to make their dreams come true."
-Anonymous
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