Snacks

This week's Snacks come from Bo Jordan: 4X Ohio High School State Champion and Junior Dan Hodge Trophy winner. Wrestled at The Ohio State University, where he was a Big Ten Champion and 4X NCAA All-American (2017 NCAA Finalist). He was also a 4X Academic All-Big Ten honoree, 5X OSU Scholar-Athlete, and 3X NWCA All-Academic selection. He’s currently an assistant coach at The Ohio State University.

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.

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Origin Story Tip: A young athlete’s path can shift when they decide they want it—not just when a parent or coach pushes them. Early success might start with external guidance, but long-term growth happens when the athlete takes ownership. Help them reach that moment by supporting them consistently, but give space for them to choose the sport for themselves.

"I got started in wrestling when I was five or six. My dad started me. My dad and my uncle were both four-time state champions from Ohio, and they both wrestled at Wisconsin. My uncle was a two-time national champ at Wisconsin... And my dad was a two-time All-American at Wisconsin...

So, you know, my family was pretty good at wrestling. We had good wrestling history. Jim's two kids were both three-time state champs and All-Americans in college. Me and my brother Micah ended up being four-time state champions. My brother Rocky was a three-time state champ in Ohio.

So we're a wrestling family. We got started when I was about five or six. It was just me and my cousin Isaac, which is funny because we ended up wrestling in the semis in college. We grew up wrestling together, and it was basically just my dad training us. My dad runs wrestling camps called the Jeff Jordan State Champ Camp.

Basically, our summers consisted of just doing every session. Anytime my dad would teach—which was usually two or three times a day—me and my cousin would be outside playing in the sandbox or something, and he’d say, “All right guys, come to session, let’s go.” We’d put our wrestling shoes on and go out there and do whatever he had those guys do. Most of it was drilling and getting down the fundamental basics.

And I did that for a long time. My dad was the head coach at Graham High School. He's a really, really good coach. He won 18 straight state titles in a row at Graham in Ohio. That’s when they were still Division 2...

I think from my eighth-grade year to my freshman year was when I made really big jumps. My dad was always consistent and pushed me, which helped because on the days I didn’t want to do it or wasn’t really motivated, he was able to pick up the slack for me.

But I think my big jump from eighth grade to freshman year was when I started doing it because I realized I was pretty good at it. I figured I wanted to do it. I really liked it. It had always been something I’d done because my dad and uncle were good at it, and I probably had the genetics for it. It’s what we do.

But then I decided I really wanted to try to win titles and be really good in college and make a run at this thing. So I don’t think anything really changed in my training or how much I worked out. It was just that I really wanted to be there, rather than just my dad pushing me. That was freshman year."

Parent Tip: Stay even-keeled and play the long game. Wrestling is a marathon, not a sprint—and that mindset starts with the parents. Don’t overreact to wins or losses. Stay steady, consistent, and reminded your kid that development takes time. Be the calm voice that keeps things in perspective.

"What’s really cool now is there are so many clubs, so many camps. There are so many All-Americans doing wrestling things—coaching kids and traveling with them. It’s outrageous. Even if your parent wasn’t a really a wrestler, there’s so much access. I mean, Flowrestling and all these things—you can get on and watch top guys.

Flowrestling wasn’t around when I was a kid. I was watching YouTube videos of Brent Metcalf. It was hard to find a lot of stuff. There’s so much access now to watch wrestling, make sure as a parent you are taking advantage of these resources. 

As for more along the lines of parenting, my dad always told me—wrestling is a marathon, not a sprint.

You may not be the best today. You might never be the best. But it’s a long time before high school, before college. Everyone wants to be the best right now. They see all these good high schoolers making borderline senior world teams. They’re so good, so fast.

And I think some kids see that and go, “Man, that’s me—I can do that in a second.” And it’s like, dude, that’s never been done before—or it’s very rare, right? Even if you’re losing now and it’s tough, you can develop. You can develop quick—just stick with it and be consistent.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. My dad was good at making sure we knew that. I lost a lot when I was a kid. And even when I got really good, there were still losses I had where people were like, “What?” But he was even-keeled about that stuff. He did a good job."

Coaching Tip: Every athlete is different. Great coaching means learning what motivates each individual, pushing them to improve without adding pressure that breaks them.

"I graduated and went right into coaching the next season. For me, it was a big change. As an athlete, I knew what I wanted, what motivated me, what made me click. I knew myself, right? So going from motivating yourself to suddenly being with 30 other kids and trying to figure out what motivates them—that's different.

You can't coach everyone exactly the same. I definitely have a certain coaching style, but it's about figuring out what each athlete is good at, what motivates them, and how to talk to them. It couldn't all be the same. That was a big adjustment for me.

Figuring out who each athlete is, what motivates them, and then what they need to work on. For me, I knew what I needed to work on, what would help me win or lose a match. For these guys, it's about identifying their deficiencies, where they need to improve, what we can tweak.

Maybe change this, build on what they're already good at—stuff they developed in high school. We want to keep them sharp in those areas. Those are the basics. And then, just making sure you don't put more pressure on them than they already have.

Be hard on them, motivate them, make them train hard. But don't apply so much pressure that they lock up. Wrestling is a tough sport. There's already a lot of pressure. It's very personal.

That pressure just comes with it naturally. It can really cripple some guys—or it can make them compete better. So you’ve got to figure that out too.

I think you've got to find that sweet spot—what motivates someone, how hard can you push them. My dad was really honest with me. He could be pretty hard on me, but I wanted the honesty.

I didn’t want someone to lie and say, “Good job,” when I didn’t do a good job. So yeah, it's about finding the sweet spot of being honest and being hard on someone—but not breaking them."

Athlete Tip: Take ownership of your wrestling journey and decide that you want it for yourself. Figure out what type of wrestler you want to be—what style you want to wrestle, how you want to score, and the positions you want to spend time in. Develop a style for yourself.

"From my eighth-grade year to my freshman year, the biggest thing that gave me the jump in wrestling was, number one, just wanting to do it.

Again, my training didn’t change at all. I still had the same practice, the same lifts. I didn’t increase any volume or anything. It was just that I really wanted to do it. I really enjoyed it. I really wanted to be good.

So that internal motivation was huge for me. And then just figuring out who you are as a wrestler. Figure out what style you want to wrestle. I think a lot of kids just go out there and do a lot of camps and clinics.

Even some of the recruits we have in, I ask, “What’s your go-to setup? What’s your style?” And some people are like, “I just wrestle, man.” And that’s sweet—I’m glad they have that—but how are you going to win the match?

How are you going to beat someone really good or maybe better than you? You’ve got to try to wrestle as many minutes as you can in your positions and your style of wrestling versus theirs. So I think figuring out who you're going to be...

Like, for my brother Micah—he was a shooter. He figured out, “I’ll hand fight a little, fake a lot, and just shoot a ton.” He was really good at it. He had a lot of different attacks. Once he figured out that was how he’d be successful, he stuck with it.

No matter what, he was going down with the ship. “I’m going to shoot a lot—30 or 40 times a match.” For me, I hated that. I hated shooting that much. I wanted to hand fight. Once I figured out I was going to hand fight, make someone make a mistake...

Then get a go-behind, then try an ankle pick or swing single leg—once I hung my hat on that, wrestling became a lot less frightening. You start to know there’s a plan. So when you go out there and shake hands, I wanted to spend as many minutes as I could...

...in the inside tie, collar tie. I’m going to pull down, and when they stand up, I shoot. That really simplified it for me. Before that, I was just wrestling. I was good, so I won a lot of matches—but once I narrowed that down, I became really, really good.

So I think figuring out who you are as a wrestler, the style you want to wrestle—nail that down. Spend as many minutes there as you can in the match. And then make sure you really want to do this thing.

Why do you want to do it? Do you love it? Do you love winning? Do you just love wrestling? Are you motivated through faith? Because you have talent? What really motivates you—and why do you want to do this?"

Negative Impact Tip: Wrestling is already a hard and personal sport—don’t make it harder on your kid. Lighten the load. Focus less on outcomes and more on effort, attitude, and enjoyment. When parents add pressure, even with good intentions, it can do more harm than good.

"Wrestling is really personal. It’s very, very personal... There’s just this feeling of—when someone beats you—it feels so personal. They can almost beat you up or something. Another man can physically take me down, hold me down, score more points than me. It just feels, not demeaning, but deflating.

So it’s a really personal sport. There’s that aspect of—you care a lot. It hits your core when you lose. It’s personal. It’s just really hard between the weight cutting, the training, the weightlifting, and getting in really good shape.

There’s a lot that goes into it that makes it a tough sport—and the mental aspect. I think my dad did a good job training us hard and trying not to care too much when we won or lost. But even he wasn’t immune to wanting me to win really bad.

Toward the end of my career, I think he realized that if he was nervous—if he questioned whether I could win—it affected me... Like, why are you nervous? If you’re nervous, now I’m nervous. So I think my dad realized that and didn’t coach me as much toward the end of my career. He let our assistants do it...

For my brother Micah, it was different. In the practice room, if we said something, he would shut down—not every time—but he was more sensitive. In competition, he wanted my dad right there, saying everything, talking to him the whole time. That made him less nervous.

You’ve got to figure out who your kid is and how they respond. Wrestling is already a hard sport. If you’re making it harder on your kid, you’re doing them a disservice.

For every kid that's good with a crazy dad—those kids are doing it in spite of that, not because of it. Some kids are still really good even though their dads are tough on them, hard on them, negative after losses, yelling at them all the time. They’re still good athletes who can take it and do that.

But overall, the more you can lighten the load and just love your kid—have them focus on their attitude and trying hard—the better it’s going to be. I went to this tournament for autism fundraising back home in Champaign County.

I walk in—there were like a thousand pre-registered kids. Tons of kids. Little tiny ones, five years old. Dude, it was chaos. It wasn’t across the board, though. There were dads hugging their kids, having fun. Kids winning, kids losing, kids crying.

But there were also dads screaming at their kids. They’re five years old. I don’t even know if your kid knows more than three or four moves—and they’re screaming at them. Kids bawling their eyes out.

Wrestling is really hard and really personal. Especially when you’re young. If you’re making it harder on your kid—I don’t think a lot of it is malicious. I think a lot of dads just want their kids to win so bad.

They’re trying to help, and it’s just coming out in a bad way. So yeah, just that aspect. Wrestling is a really hard, personal sport, especially when you’re young.

The more you can lighten that load and make it about trying hard, having fun, going out there and competing, being tough—just compete—it’s going to be better. Better for the long haul than anything else."

Wrestling Growth Tip: Make the sport more fun and accessible. Help kids feel comfortable in wrestling by easing them into the unique aspects—like the singlet, close contact, scoring, and rules. When it's fun and shared with friends, kids are more likely to stick with it and grow to love it.

"I mean, it's kind of like the age-old question, right? I don't know, I don't have it figured out. Wrestling is one of the oldest sports...

From a spectator standpoint, people that don't know what they're watching think wrestling is weird sometimes. What's happening right now? I don't understand it. If you don't know the sport pretty well already, or grew up around it, or know how it's scored, it's really confusing until they're educated and know what's happening out there...

Being able to be comfortable grabbing another kid, wrestling them, getting to their legs—it's a long process. It's really personal. There's a weight-cutting aspect to it...

I think a good thing has been women's wrestling. That's really growing, getting big. I don't know the exact numbers, but when I was growing up there were not many girls wrestling at all.

Now there's a ton. My dad is doing full camps that are just girls. At least in my world, that’s exploded. I know women's wrestling has grown a lot...

But I think the more we can make wrestling fun, get kids involved in the sport, and teach them how to be comfortable—because of the life lessons wrestling teaches, and just how personal it is—taking all the wins, taking all the losses…

But I don't really know how to get more people involved or get more people doing it. I think the more comfortable we can make people—because it's a hard sport...

You're wrestling in a singlet, which probably feels weird for a lot of people used to basketball or football. Getting them involved and making it fun is important.

Once kids get into it, and it’s fun for them, and they've got buddies and friends doing it, they tend to love it...

But if you don't know much about it, it's really hard to understand. Even my grandparents on my mom's side knew nothing about wrestling. They didn’t get into it until they learned what the scoring actually was. Then it made sense.

So I think a lot of it is just educating people. Figuring out what they're watching, and then going from there. But I don't have it figured out.

I don't know how to get them all in and get this thing growing more. It's an old sport, and I love it. I'm glad women's wrestling is skyrocketing.

I think the more people can be introduced to it and keep it fun for a long time, with their parents encouraging them to do it—that’s what I want."

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