Two primary objectives for the United States have thus far been accomplished with last month’s selection of the 2025 World Team and a title-winning performance at the Pan-American Championships two weeks ago in Mexico. Two more remain on the agenda — a productive, prolonged training block and, of course, a strong showing at the World Championships come September.
The last and most important objective on the list, namely an impactful demonstration on the Americans’ part at the Worlds, requires “buy-in” and unity, and US National Team head coach Herb House believes that he has both from his athletes as the spring begins to ebb towards the summer. So much so that House indicates it is the Team cohesion amongst his wrestlers which serves as his motivational fuel. Given the litany of challenges facing Greco-Roman in the United States, all of which can at times act as stressors for program leaders, House largely relies upon — and is pleased to have obtained — a blend of positive energy and determined resolve that he says the current crop of World Teamers exemplify. It is a reciprocal paradigm. The athletes’ support of the training plan and one another supply House with a boost, and he responds by doing all that is within his purview to continue providing the encouragement and resources necessary to help them reach new heights in their respective careers.
One of those provisions is a multi-week training camp in Azerbaijan, upon which the US embarked earlier this week. Azerbaijan, a consistent force internationally in Greco-Roman wrestling, is a destination for wrestlers from around the globe due to the country’s allotment of top-level athletes and time-tested training protocols. Therefore, it is a location the US athletes have been wanting to visit, and now that is where they are are to kick-off their training block for the World Championships.
Shortly after returning home, the US will then have another significant preparation opportunity. Come mid-June at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, three major overseas Greco programs will converge for a massive gathering — Croatia, Georgia, and Ukraine. This training experience is something House had been putting together for quite some time. Originally, Hungary was in the mix. Problem was, they wanted their stay in the US to be even longer, which speaks to the increase in desire some European programs have verbalized pertaining to the state of training in the USA of late. In their stead are the Georgians, a contingent beholden to a more distinct wrestling style, which will add a nice touch of variety to the goings-on in Springs next month.
House addresses all of these topics, and others — including the US’ recent drubbing of the field at the Pan-Ams — in this latest report.
USNT Head Coach Herb House
Post-2025 Pan-Am Championships
5PM: It has become common for the Pan-Am Championships to be held soon after US Open or Trials tournaments. Given the short turnaround once again this year, how was the general health of the athletes entering Mexico?
Coach Herb House: Honestly, I think going into the Pan-Ams that their spirits were high. I think people were relieved, like, Okay, I’m done and now I can actually start focusing on the World Championships. Because, they can now work on themselves and begin preparing for the Worlds. That was the biggest message we received from all of the athletes, but they were just kind of happy that it (the World Team Trials) was over with and how they now have time to train. I think that in previous years, it was a rush. It was, Oh, we’ve got the US Open, then the Pan-Ams, then a couple of weeks later the World Team Trials, and a couple of weeks after that, Final X. Having it to where, now, the World Team is set and they can just focus on themselves, and focus on training? They’re loving it. I’ve had so many of the World Team members tell me how they are happy to now just be able to train. And it was so much easier for them going into the Pan-Ams. They could just go in, have the best tournament they can, and work on their technique.
5PM: What was for you the thing you were looking for the most out of the guys at the Pan-Ams as far as from an assessment standpoint?
HH: One of the biggest things I mentioned to the guys before they even stepped on the mat is that I wanted to see more attacking. Attack, attack, attack. I wanted to change the atmosphere. Instead of letting opponents dictate the match, I wanted us to dictate the match, and I wanted to see more offensive moves.
5PM: Well, it was a lopsided performance en-route to the team title with six golds, two silvers, and a bronze, plus the majority of individual match wins were recorded by way of technical fall. Did you get what you wanted?
HH: I mean, I got something we can start off from. I think the biggest thing is that we’re taking it step-by-step. This was step 1. This was just something that we are collecting as coaches. We’ve had some discussions, which is what we do each month with the personal coaches. We get on a Zoom call and we talk about each performance, each tournament, and each camp, and then we analyze what we need to do going forward to prepare for the World Championships. Everything that we do is geared towards helping us prepare for the World Championships. So, step 1, we got what we needed and now it is time to start correcting some of the stuff that we saw at the Pan-Am Championships.
5PM: The trip this week to Azerbaijan seems like it must be a popular one for the US because I think even before the Trials that potential World Team members were looking forward to it. When you were trying to book this trip, how did you anticipate where it would fall on the calendar? Because the timing probably couldn’t be better.
Coach Herb House: Well, it fit perfectly, right? For our whole schedule, it was just in a perfect spot, and I had been on the phone with Azerbaijan for over a year trying to set this camp up. Before, it just didn’t work out. Our schedule didn’t match, their schedule didn’t match… But I talked to the coach, he connected me to their federation people, and we set it up. It was a go, and we were very excited when it got set up. I think it is one of the biggest things that is going to help us see what we need to do to actually prepare for the World Championships.
We’re going to be training with a team that is known to be very good at Greco. They have a couple of World champs, a couple of World medalists, and one guy who was an Olympic medalist, so they are a very stacked team. The history of Azerbaijan in Greco is something that we should be able to learn from, and we can create a partnership with those guys so that we can keep this going every year.
5PM: It has been said that this is going to be a hybrid camp, that it is not only going to just be straight-up wrestling, it will also include some training components relative to strength and conditioning. Was that something you knew in advance? And also, how does that fit with your own plans for conditioning throughout the training block?
HH: We knew it was going to happen. It was what everyone agreed on. It is going to give us a great opportunity to see how other countries train, especially a country like this one. Every time they come into a World Championships, they are prepared. They’re strong. For us, it is something to learn. We want to learn whatever we can. We have to pick up everything. We have to be like a sponge and absorb all of it. I’m excited. Like I said, I think this is something that we can as a country can learn from and build off of. When our guys see how the Azerbaijan team trains, hopefully it will show them how they need to train to become World and Olympic medalists. That is hopefully what our guys will pick up from this training camp.
5PM: How is it structured with an overseas camp such as this one when it comes to individual athlete training plans? Do the personal coaches inform as to what they desire their athletes to focus on, and do you have specific items you want addressed, as well?
HH: For us, our guys and the coaches they have, we do this as a Team effort. Like I said before, we get on monthly coaches’ calls and we go over each and every one of them — what we saw, and what needs to be fixed. Then I will get on a private call with each personal call during which we discuss each individual. Things like, Hey, what did you think about your guy here? What can he improve on? What should we work on at camp? I kind of feed off of what they’re thinking and what I’m thinking, and then we combine that into one. That is our goal this year, we want to do everything as a Team. I want everyone’s input. I want everyone to be involved with everything that we do. It’s not just me. It’s their Team, too. It is the personal coaches’ Team, the athletes’ Team… It is everyone’s Team, so that is the direction we’re headed in when we determine the objectives for each wrestler and what they need to do.
5PM: The camp in June has been looked at as a major win for the US program because it is the first time in a long time that there will be three really good international teams coming in and staying for a little while to train. They are also three pretty distinctive styles with Ukraine, Croatia, and Georgia. Plus, the camp also comes soon after arriving home from training in Azerbaijan.
HH: What this camp is going to do is that we will have just returned from Azerbaijan, where we have probably picked up a lot of stuff, and then we are going to go right back into training with three different teams who have three different wrestling styles. This will give us many looks and help prepare us how to wrestle Style A, Style B, and Style C. That’s a big thing I’m happy about. I think the other option is to build partnerships with other countries. The more countries that come in and like our camps — and we show a great camp — the more they will want to come. Instead of us always having to travel overseas, we can have a lot more people come to the United States and train here. That will also provide opportunities for our #2, #3, and #4 athletes to gain international experience, too.
5PM: Ukraine has grown into more of a partnership with us over the past few years. Is this going to become more of a regular situation? I guess that currently it might be tough, obviously, to envision our program traveling to Ukraine, but do they like it enough to keep coming back and working with us?
HH: Oh, yeah, the Ukrainian coaches tell me that they are very appreciative of what we do and coming here to train with us. They love Colorado. They’ve told me that like a million times. Hopefully, this becomes the norm. I’ve actually had to turn down three or four other teams that wanted to come to this camp. I just didn’t have enough space to get everyone in. This camp was very popular. I was very surprised with how popular this camp was, but I have to thank Croatia. Croatia has been a great partner with us and a great friend. They were really pushing other countries to come to our camp in Colorado Springs.
Going forward, we’re going to try and push this again for next year. We are looking at getting Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and I am also looking at getting Azerbaijan to come here. There are other countries who I would love to get here to a camp in the United States.
5PM: Part of this is due to Cuban influence with several Cuban coaches, and even athletes, matriculating to other countries in Central and South America, but several of these nations over the past ten years have really, really improved. The Pan-Am Championships is not the same tournament it was in the previous generation when it was really just Cubans who were the biggest threats. There are now good athletes on almost every team. What would it take to have a more consistent working relationship with the Pan-Am countries? Like, what would happen if on a regular basis all of the Pan-Am countries trained together and leveled each other up to where we don’t necessarily have to depend on Europe anymore and going over there all of the time? I mean, maybe Cuba wouldn’t come here for a camp…
HH: No, take that back. We actually had a conversation with those guys, so maybe. Maybe.
5PM: You get what I’m saying. Is there any thought of going forward and having more involvement with these Pan-Am countries because you can see that the level is starting to incrementally improve?
HH: And I agree with you. I think that with us and these Central and South American countries working together, we can help make this continent improve as a whole. Then, at the end of the day, we can be at home more. We won’t have to go to Europe all the time to get the best training. But, yeah, I think it is something that should be put on the table. I think that it is a great idea for all of us Pan-Am countries to sit down and find a place where we can all have camps in locations where the US can come, Cuba can come, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico… We can all get together and have some great hard training camps where we make each other better. Because, if they are getting better, it is making us better, too. So, no, I agree with you. I think that should be put on the table and we should start working on it.
5PM: Finally, for you yourself this has been a season in which the fall was super busy, then it was January Camp, overseas to Croatia, then setting things in order for World Team selection, and most recently the Pan-Ams. How have you been doing personally and professionally as far as maintaining your energy and sanity? Also, before we get into this main training block, what has been your favorite part of what we’ll call the “World Team selection season”?
Coach Herb House: I think that for me, personally, what motivates me is the challenge. We all came together and challenged ourselves to do what is best. A lot of people doubted us after the Olympics. We were written off, I feel, and that’s the biggest challenge for me. I’m a guy who loves motivation. I love the challenges, so this is a big challenge to me. And then there are the wrestlers. They all seem to be buying-in. They want the same thing. They want to grow Greco. They want to make Greco one of the most powerful sports in the United States again.
I think that is what motivates me to keep doing this everyday because there are sacrifices, right? Yes, I’m away from my family, away from my kids, but I do this for a reason. I do this to try and elevate United States Greco to the highest level available. Seeing these guys, they are the ones who motivate me. When I’m sitting around hearing them talk, and they are so excited and believing in themselves? Then I’m going to believe in them, too. I’m not going to abandon them and think about myself. I’m going to think about them because, at the end of the day, my excitement comes from the joy they experience when they win.
As for my favorite part, I’d say it was the Trials. I had fun at Nationals. That was the first National tournament where I had a lot of fun. It was the energy. It was crazy. But I also think that the Pan-Am Championships was another favorite part. I had a lot of Americans come up to me and say, ‘I’ve never seen this kind of energy from a Greco-Roman Team’. We had our entire Team cheering each other on from the stands. Every single one of those guys who were there cheered one another on. And you could hear them.
I think that was more exciting for me, to see how this Team is growing as a unit. That is a big reason why we picked Ellis Coleman as our Team captain. He said that one of his biggest goals is to see us grow as a Team. He told everyone on the World roster that even though he already has a team, which is Army/WCAP, going forward until September at the World Championships, the World Team is his Team. That’s his Team going forward until then. Just hearing guys talk like that has motivated me even more to look forward to Greco’s future.
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