Purler Wrestling Academy
Registration
Please fill out the information within, visit our registration portion of our website and sign up there for our payment center, then email Nick regarding your plans ( Nick@purlerwrestling.com
) to attend. We do appreciate your interest and will do our best to help your son(s). And please remember to bring this application to your first workout. No one will be allowed to practice with us until the on-line registration and payment center has been sign up for at this link http://www.purlerwrestling.com/purler-wrestlingacademy/academy-registration/ Please sign up for the top option as the PWA Elite program (bottom option) is only for students who have been in our rooms for 6-12 months. We do not accept checks at practices, but only take payments on-line.
Contact information:
“Those who stay will be Champions”
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Nick Purler
1855 Femme Osage Creek Rd
Augusta, MO 63332
314-229-3540 (cell) nick@purlerwrestling.com
(Email Nick ASAP to receive vital updates regarding PWA news, etc)

Purler Wrestling Academy registration / profile form
Name_____________________________ Age_____ (High School PWA is for ages 14-19 / YOUTH PWA 7-14)
DOB___________ Height_________ Weight___________
Parent(s) names _________________________ // Cell phone # _____________________
Address ___________________________/_______________________________/______________________
Email address _______________________ / EMAIL Nick immediately to get onto our email list for vital updates!
# of years of experience including this year__________ Grade________ High School you do/will attend_____________
List all accomplishments:_________________________________________________________
Record this year (or last) ______________________
Do you plan to train year-round? _____ If not, how many months per year will you train? _________
List the training site that you are registering for: _____________________________________
Required numbers (youth wrestlers only!)
USA Wrestling Card # ______________________________ or AAU Card # _______________________
(You MUST have a valid USAW card or AAU card in order to train at PWA)
Click here http://www.usawmembership.com
to get your USAW card or here www.aausports.org
for your
AAU Card. The USAW card is about $30 and the AAU is around $20. However, if you plan to compete in offseason tournaments or attend weekend clinics, you will need the USAW card so should purchase that one. I have separate high school insurance for PWA so high school kids do not need the cards. If you have one, please include number anyway.

PWA Waiver and Release Form / Medical Information
Name of wrestler (s) - _________________________________
I fully understand that the Purler Wrestling, Inc staff are not physicians or medical practitioners of any kind. With the above in mind, I hereby release the Purler Wrestling, Inc staff to render temporary first aid to my child or children in the event of any injury or illness, and if deemed necessary by the Purler Wrestling, Inc staff to call our doctor and to seek medical help, including transportation by a Purler Wrestling, Inc staff member and / or it’s representatives, whether paid or volunteer, to any health care facility or hospital, or the calling of an ambulance for said child should the Purler
Wrestling, Inc staff deem this to be necessary.
Parent or Guardian Signature: _________________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ____
We, the staff of Purler Wrestling, Inc recognize our obligation to make our students and their parents aware of the risks and hazards associated with the sport of wrestling. Students may suffer injuries; minor, serious, or catastrophic in nature or even death in rare cases. Wrestling, tumbling and conditioning exercises can be dangerous and can lead to injury!
Parents should make their children aware of the possibility of injury and encourage their children to follow all the safety rules and the coaches instructions.
Purler Wrestling, Inc, its coaches and other staff members, will not accept responsibility for injuries sustained by any student, parent, guardian, relative or friends during the course of wrestling, tumbling, conditioning or other training methods associated with the sport of wrestling, or open workouts, or in the course of any exhibition, competition, or clinic in which he or she may participate or while traveling to or from the workout sessions or wrestling-related events.
With the above in mind, and being fully award of the risks and possibility of injury involved, I consent to have my child or children participate in the programs offered by Purler Wrestling, Inc. I, my executors or other representatives wave and release all rights and claims for damages that I or my child may have against Purler Wrestling, Inc and or its representatives whether paid or volunteer.
I also understand that it is the parent’s responsibility to warn the child about the dangers of wrestling and injury. The parent should warn the child according to what the parent feels is appropriate. Purler Wrestling, Inc will only warn the child through “Safety Messages” and our teaching style and progressions.
Parent or Gaurdian Signature: _________________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ____

PWA History
Established in 1999, PWA has grown to the nation’s largest and arguably, most successful academy in the
United States with locations throughout the Midwest. We are proud to say that we have helped more kids to earn college wrestling scholarships than any club in the USA and still see that is one of our top priorities.
Purler Wrestling, Inc also provides camp and clinic opportunities as well as instructional wrestling dvds and information on these can be found at on our website as well.
Goals
There is no quick fix, but there is a fast track. Your son is now on the fast track to successful wrestling as long as the parents and athlete stay the course and do not fade away. I believe that wrestling prepares you for the rigors of life.
Nick Purler as a wrestler
You know about Nick Purler as a coach, now here are a few facts about Nick Purler and his 14 years of
competitive wrestling (age 10 – 24).
High School
 3X MO High School State Champion (Nick either pinned or tech-falled all but one of his opponent’s during his last 2 seasons (yes entire Junior and Senior years).
 Lost only twice in High School
 Pinned or tech-falled all of his State opponents during his Junior and Senior State tournaments
 Was named to the first team on the 1988 ASICS Dream Team and ranked as top 112 pounder in the country
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2X High School Nat’l Champion
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Voted Outstanding Wrestler in the Dapper Dan ‘Dream Team’ Classic Dual
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Made the Cadet Pan-American Games Team USA squad as a Freshman and earned a Bronze medal in
Cali, Columbia.
Collegiate – Oklahoma State University
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1994 Big 8 Champion for Oklahoma State University
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1994 NCAA All-American
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Member of 3 NCAA Division I National Championship teams in ’89,’90, and ‘94
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Spent 10 years on Oklahoma State’s TOP 20 All-Time Winning % list
 Has competed Internationally in competitions for Team USA
 2X US OPEN All-American in Freestyle wrestling
* Nick retired from competitive wrestling at age 24 (1994)

Coaching philosophy - Building a strong FOUNDATION.
After spending over 3/4 of my life heavily involved in wrestling, I have come to the conclusion that becoming successful in wrestling involves much more than just learning technique. In fact, I feel that there are areas that must be developed before even the most technical wrestler can reach his full potential. Primarily, I feel that ATTITUDE (not being afraid to lose), POSITIONING, and HAND-FIGHTING SKILLS are the FOUNDATION of success in wrestling. Moves will be laid on top of this strong foundation.
Side note: In November of 2005, I launched Foundation Wrestling and laid down my ideas, philosophies, tactics, and training methods into a separate company that is Foundation Wrestling. We offer camps and workshops throughout the US and our DVDs sell throughout the country, as well as, over-seas. Many industry leaders, including Suplay Wrestler’s World….the world’s largest wrestling store, consider Foundation
Wrestling as the finest instructional wrestling system EVER produced for the sport of wrestling. That is/was the goal.
A. Attitude
I work with each wrestler to help them develop their competitive attitude so that he learns to enjoy competition and no longer has a fear of losing. Rather than wrestling not to lose, I teach your sons to take to the mat with confidence, ready to make things happen; rather than hoping for a break. The uncertainties of competition should fuel our performance, not poison it. A wrestler must WRESTLE TO WIN.
“Once you start focusing on what YOU are going to do instead of focusing on what HE is going to do, only then will you be able to compete and perform.”
“Do not allow the PRESSURES of competition to be greater than the PLEASURES of competition”
“Your desire to win has to be greater than your fear of failing”. Only then will you look forward to facing top competition rather than dreading the match.
B. Positioning
All wrestlers must first understand the concept behind positioning. He must realize that not getting scored on is just as important (if not more so) as putting points on the board. He must also display superior positioning throughout the match and be willing to fight to maintain it. Becoming a SOLID wrestler must be the goal of every ambitious wrestler. I will constantly reinforce this concept in our athletes’ minds and bodies by using positioning drills that I have learned or designed myself in order to build and strengthen their positioning skills. A SOLID wrestler can go with anyone, and if we are in the match, we can win the match.
Disciplined, SOLID wrestling is the quickest way to cut your losses in half. In a tight one-point-match, I would much rather see our athlete win 1-0 rather than 10-9. Scoring 10 points is great, but giving up 9 shows poor positioning skills that must be addressed immediately.
Understanding the concept of POSITIONING: (EXAMPLE) If a wrestler is taken down 10 times with a single leg this weekend, most coaches and wrestlers will work on their single leg defense. However, I want to know why
I had opponents on my wrestler’s leg 10 times in the first place! That is the concept of positioning.
The ONLY way to win matches whether the opponent is great or average is ONE-POINT-AT-A-TIME. We teach this little-by-little, wear-and-tear approach to wrestling. There is a PROCESS to winning. Simply ‘wrestling hard’ and doing your best isn’t going to accomplish much. A smart, controlled, technical attack from a firm, consistent position is vital. We preach smart wrestling over hard-wrestling and we are correct in doing so.
C. Hand-Fighting skills

Wrestling is a combat sport. A wrestler must feel threatened and face the fact that his opponent wants the same thing he does. He must not only possess great hand-fighting skills, but be willing to stay on his opponent no matter how tired he is and regardless of the score. There is no shame in losing, only shame in losing without a fight. Instead of waiting for a break, the top wrestler will make his own breaks. I will work extremely hard in this department and see to it that our athletes show up to the mat prepared for battle and prepared to win matches…and that we know how to wrestle with our hands.
D. Technique
A serious wrestler must become a student of the game. It has been said about the sport of wrestling that
“To learn it, you must live it’ and I feel this is a very truthful statement indeed. From a technical aspect, a wrestler must focus his energies on the high percentage, low-risk scoring techniques and perfect every move shown to him. He knows that the superior technician is always a threat as he can score from any position at any given time during the match. In our rooms, CORE techniques from COMMON wrestling positions are emphasized at all times. I feel that 90% of the points are scored from 10% of the wrestling techniques and this is the focus of our PWA rooms. Our Elite rooms spend a ton of time on these CORE skills also, but their time is mostly review time / drill time, since they have already mastered those skills in order to gain access to this Elite room. Then, we also spend time studying positions that are not necessarily COMMON, but vital to preparing for a collegiate wrestling career. Both the PWA and PWA Elite rooms spend heavy drill time in the core areas and best techniques from those.
Side note – Our High School Elite programs are much more open enrollment and you do not have to have been a long time PWA student to gain access to this room. Since a 16 year old high school wrestler can learn a lot faster than an 8 year old youth wrestler, we can accept ‘new-to-PWA’ wrestler into our PWA Elite High
School programs. Email Nick if you’d like for your high school wrestler to be trained in this fast-paced environment.

Membership (fees and considerations)
We accept payments on line only, just as any health club does.
Tuition is $85.00 per month for one wrestler, and $125 per month for brothers. PWA Elite fees are set at $135 per month and $165. After spending 6-8 months in PWA, your son may be ready for our PWA Elite program and you can notify us after that time if you have interest in that program.
3-month requirement – New students are required to make an initial commitment of 3 months. However,the fees are still drawn monthly so no large check is required. After your initial 3 months in the room, your PWA membership will be on a month-to-month basis and you can leave at any time your schedule dictates.
Why the 3 month commitment for new wrestlers?
By doing this, we can have a realistic chance at helping your son and by doing so, hope to acquire a long term member to our program, someone who, along with his parents, understands that a reasonable amount of time is needed in the beginning in order to see the benefit of our program.
Missed workouts
No credit will be given for missed workouts or partial payments accepted for months containing holiday cancellations or weather cancellations. Many months will contain 5 workouts for your training night, but the fee will remain at $85 for that 5-practice month. However, you can attend another location if there is a practice cancellation, but not for your personal absenteeism.
Family discount
Siblings’ tuition will be priced at $40.00 for a brother (no cousins / teammates, etc). If you have 3+ sons then please email me regarding cost.
Miscellaneous
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Wrestlers are to stick with their assigned training site. Moving from room-to-room is not allowed!
During the off-season, however, you should be able to gain access to a 2 nd workout room but you are to please contact me first. If so, there is no extra charge for this extra weekly workout. As long as we have room, we’d love to have you.
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We work very hard to provide not only expert training, but a great workout room for our students.
However, we are limited in workout partners of certain ages and weights. If your son is a heavy weight or super heavy weight, please contact us before joining as we may not have a workout partner for your son and will need to work on getting someone involved for him to train with.
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For those training at one of our satellite locations (whether these be your primary training nights or additional nights you enroll in), please remember that the trainer’s job is to take roll and run the practice according to my pre-arranged workout lesson plan. All problems, major questions, phone calls, emails, questions on camps or meets, etc should be directed towards me personally. You are encouraged to call or email me and we can work past any problem areas that you may have.
PWA Elite
Details are available at on our site. If you would like to work towards memebership int that program, please let me know with an email.

Academy benefits
In addition to highly advanced wrestling instruction, every member of PWA receives the following:
1. Access to a fiercely competitive training environment
2. PWA team membership for National events
3. Coaching and evaluation at many major competitions
4. Recruiting- when the time comes, I will work to get all deserving PWA members the exposure they need order to earn a chance to compete at the collegiate level. I view this is my most important obligation to our most dedicated athletes. You do your job with the grades and wrestling and I will do mine.
5. Training and exposure to the most precise training methods you will find in the US.
Coaching at meets
I will be at all of the major in-state competitions, as well as, many out-of-state competitions. I will be at some of the minor meets throughout the year as well and will let everyone know ahead of time of my plans to attend. I will make every attempt to watch all PWA matches that I can during the tournaments, but also realize that it is simply not possible to do during the course of even the smallest tournament. Please have your son give me his bout number, mat number, and approximately when he will be up. I apologize ahead of time for missing any important matches. Also, if I am watching your son’s match and walk away, it is because he has the match under control and I am on my way to see another important PWA match. No hurt feelings please.
At local meets, I will not coach mat side unless asked to do so by your coach. For these in-season, local meets, your son’s in-season team coach is the one that needs to be mat side. Some in-season coaches get their feelings hurt if I step in to coach mat side, so unless he asks me to be there, I will stay behind the scenes. If you see me coach some kids mat side, but not YOUR son, this is why. I will, however, coach any PWA wrestler that I can at national level meets. Keep in mind that if we have 60 kids at a National meet, most kids will average 4-7 matches. Needless to say that of the 300-400 matches we may be involved in over the two day meet, I will miss most matches…even though I will be mat side for almost 12 hours a day! Do not get your feelings hurt if I do not get to your son’s matches at a large national event. We have many other dads that help with meets in case you are not comfortable coaching your son mat side. Also, it is best if you text (don’t call) me about 4 matches before your son comes up to compete. Include his match number and mat number as well. I will do my best to be there.
Warning - I have an identical twin brother who runs Purler Wrestling in Kansas City. If you ever see me coach against your son, it isn’t me! We have had this problem in the past and I can assure you that I will never coach against one of our wrestlers…unless, of course, they leave the program and go against another PWA athlete.
No mat side coaching / yelling from parents during practice is allowed
Please note that we do not allow coaching from the mat side or bleachers during practice. We need a very controlled environment. Fights have broken out in our rooms among dads over this and I have had kids refuse to train with another wrestler because he feels uncomfortable doing so, as that wrestler’s dad refuses to follow our NO coaching rules. I will keep on top of this, but appreciate you following this important rule. I would suggest bringing a notebook to practice and writing down your input and sharing it with your son after practice.

Attendance
You are expected to be at every scheduled workout on the night that you have signed up to train. Please make every effort to attend.
You must choose a training site and remain at that site. This allows me to keep room numbers manageable.
During the off-season, you can train multiple nights as long as our numbers in those rooms are low enough for you to do so. Please let me know ahead of time. However, our high school rooms are pretty full during the entire off-season. No extra cost for these multiple off-season workout sessions.
PWA Elite members are offered another PWA night FREE of charge that is included in their $135 per month training fee. And, up to 3 nights a week during off-season times.
Year round training
Year-round training is essential. There is a good chance that the reason you decided to join PWA is because you saw some of our students on the mats and were impressed. Those students train year round…I guarantee it. I have many year-round training sites and Tony does, as well www.tonypurler.com
. So, finding a workout room should not be a problem regardless of your son’s other sport(s) schedules.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
* No video cameras at practice (no exceptions)
*No mat side coaching / yelling at practice
* Fees are due on line I do NOT accept checks at practice. ONLY on line payments are accepted.
* I reserve the right to dismiss any wrestler due to behavior, etc (no refunds given)
* Athletes are to act with pride and composure if defeated. You can’t learn how to win until you first learn how to lose.
* Parents are asked to stay composed at tournaments even in case of controversial calls, etc.
* Abusive parents will be asked to pull their son from Purler Wrestling Academy.
*No trading or selling team singlets or jackets. However, t-shirts can be traded.
Uniforms and PWA Merchandise
I have PWA shirts for sale during most of the year. Email me about what I have and I will bring them to practice. We also do a group / team order each September.

Snow days
If the school we are scheduled to practice at that night has a snow cancellation, or an early dismissal that day, practice will be cancelled and no phone calls will be made, but an email will be sent out. Please check all school closings and your inbox before calling…when in doubt, call or text me @ 314-229-3540. At times the weather and the roads do clear off nicely making for easy and safe travel…but remember that the school’s policy is that no one can have building access for that entire day, so please keep this in mind. If the school we train at is closed, we will have NO practice!
My summer camp job
Our assistants will also be brought in during my busy summer camp period. On average, each site will have a trained PWA instructor / camp instructor 4-5 times per year. We run both in-state and out-of-state camps throughout the US and juggling both obligations (camps and PWA) is difficult, but I will do my best.
What about burnout?
We all need a break from time to time and I have found that a month off the mat can do wonders. However, once that month turns into two, three, four, etc, that is when we cease to either close or widen the gap over our opponents. Even with the busy summer athletic schedules that some of our athletes take on; it is necessary to train once per week. Simply putting in two hours a week in the off-season cannot cause burnout .

FAQs
I have received many questions over the years concerning getting into the training academy.
“Can we train more than once a week?”
Yes, during the off-season, as long as we have room, you can train many nights per week at NO additional cost.
If our room fills, then I will notify everyone but we usually have room and I like having the kids on the mats 2-3X a week during the off season if possible.
“What are the criteria for getting into PWA?”
If you have past experience, you are ready to go. If you want to become great in wrestling and show up to practice ready to train, PWA will take you there…we do it all the time.
“What about summer? My son has baseball!”
With two kids of my own, I understand your dilemma. However, fitting in one practice per week at PWA is absolutely necessary. By staying active all year long, we are able to close and/or widen the gaps over our opponents. “If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.” There is no staying the same and success is no accident. Wrestlers, coaches, and parents often get concerned or interested in what it takes to earn a scholarship to a collegiate wrestling program and often wonder ‘why’ their wrestler slipped through the cracks. The reason usually boils down to time on the mat. Most kids do not practice or compete during the ‘off-season’. Unfortunately, the off-season for wrestling is 8 months…2/3 of a year! Over the course of a high school career, this adds up to 32 months of ‘down time’…or almost 3 years off. These wrestlers are almost 3 YEARS behind where they should be. No wonder 10% of the athletes enjoy 90% of the success.
“What if my son needs a break?”
Everyone needs a break from time to time. In fact, I have required certain kids to take a month from training and it has done wonders for them. Over-training can lead to injury and lack of performance. However, I would seldom suggest more than a month away from PWA as we are only on the mats once per week in the off-season, hardly overdoing it, but extremely necessary and our student’s results prove it.
“Off season advice”
Many choose Cross Country as a way to stay in shape for wrestling. If you love Cross Country, then do it. However, the best way to get ready for wrestling season is wrestling. Wrestling is an anaerobic sport (not aerobic like running), so stay on the mats and leave your running shoes in the closet.
“What about burnout?”
Kids that put in the time and pay their dues at PWA begin to experience a very high level of success very quickly.
This confidence begins to carry over into their daily lives. Kids that experience success quickly adopt a winning attitude.
Success and a winning attitude bring about more success. It is like a snowball that grows and grows. As for burnout, I have found that nothing leads to burnout like getting beat. When I hear the word ‘burnout’, I usually equate that with discouragement. Those students that put in their time with PWA will begin to win tournaments and big matches. When this happens they become excited about the sport. Success is fun and winning solves all problems.
I hope to have answered a few of your questions. If you still have questions concerning Purler Wrestling Academy, please feel free to send me an email or give me a call and I will do my best to answer your questions.
Welcome aboard!