Transition from judo to wrestling

I would not plan on wrestling for a major D-1 program if you've not wrestled before. Not only are they great wrestlers, but also exceptional athletes.

There are definitely elements of your Judo game that will cross over into wrestling. That said, the sports have enough differences that you won't transition smoothly from one to the other. I don't want to discourage you, but I think that Orthehill is right, you will be very, very hard pressed to walk into a Division I school and make the wrestling team with no experience. Better odds if you started at a junior/community college program and worked you way up. Realize that the vast majority of high school wrestlers can't make it in a D-1 program.

That said, if you want to succeed in any college level wrestling program, you need to start learning the basics ASAP. If you can't join a program, work with the coaches you mentioned.

Good luck, I am afraid you have a very challenging path in front of you.

The first thing I'd do is get a heavy dose of rules, and I'd start watching as many matches as possible lie or on TV (I assume you've got the Big 10 Network). People who aren't used to wrestling will typically get lost in what is and isn't a takedown or an escape, becuase they're not familiar with how control is awarded. Guys will be rolling all over the mat, but there's not takedown becuase both guys have an anlke or an arm in or something.

There are so many skills that you'll have to work on, I won't enumerate any, but I'll try to give you some overall stuff to work toward. If you watch a lot of wrestling you'll start to recognize a few key traits that sperate championship caliber wrestlers from the other guys.

1) Wrestle to the edge and wrestle to the whistle. There are points to be had if you can finalize takedowns near the end of the peroid and as the action is heading out of bounds. Weaker wrestlers will let up in those moments when there's about to be a whistle, and you get the benefit of completing a score with a limited chance for the opponent to respond.

2) Chain wrestle. Agaisnt a quality opponent, you have to go three or four moves deep before you get a takedown or an escape.

3) Get up from the bottom. It's a tough skill but it's one of those things that seperates the higher-teir wrestler from everybody else. Watch the NCAA tournament, and you'll see the guys who make it to the semis and finals are never getting riden out in the 2nd or 3rd. (Except for the takedown machine from Nebraska)

4) Finalize takedowns. The top werstler from Nebraska this year (Jordan Burroughs (165)) shows a lot of gaps in his game, but he can get takdowns at will. He he drops guys, cuts them loose, then takes them down again. If you can get guys on the mat, it can cover up a lot of other weaknesses.