How Do You Catch Your Breath During A Wrestling Match?

"It's the ultimate team sport and the ultimate individual sport." Coach Austen Moore  leads the club wrestling program at Grand Canyon University, which competes in the NCWA. He is joined by team leads Marisol Peña and Che Ramirez, both active competitors. At the center of the conversation is a contradiction: a sport decided one on one, a team its athletes describe as a family, and what a wrestling room does to earn that. It moves through the structure of a college season: conditioning, a return to fundamentals, a measured approach to cutting weight, and a women's side that competes in both folkstyle and freestyle. Moore explains why faith, family, and school come ahead of the mat, and what he considers a coach's job beyond it. For Brazilian jiu-jitsu and nogi practitioners, the three compare the pace of wrestling and BJJ, how a wrestler finds a moment to breathe in a match that rarely offers one, and why that pace can cost wrestlers who cross over to jiu-jitsu. The conversation closes on where grit comes from, the paths that open after college, and how Moore measures progress when winning is not the measure. GUESTS Coach Austen Moore  Marisol Peña and Che Ramirez , team leads GCU Club Wrestling  Website: https://gculopes.com/sports/wrestling Instagram: www.instagram.com/@gcu_wwrestling About Grappling Monthly Grappling Monthly is an independent editorial media brand covering the culture, people, and business of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the grappling arts. Based in Los Angeles, the brand produces in-depth conversations with the coaches, gym owners, competitors, and practitioners shaping the sport. The Grappling Monthly Podcast is the flagship property. A weekly long-form interview series hosted by Sébastien Maniatopoulos, a BJJ black belt establishing roots in the Southern California grappling community. The brand's editorial focus is on the human stories behind the art: how academies are built, how practitioners evolve, how the culture of jiu-jitsu intersects with identity, business, and community. Grappling Monthly publishes across YouTube, Instagram, Substack, and major podcast platforms. Subscribe and turn on notifications. IG and TikTok: @grapplingmonthly For sponsorships and collaborations: grapplingmonthly@gmail.com