There's an old adage about what proper planning and preparation will do for one's performance.

That axiom may not be entirely appropriate for this publication, but it is relatable, in a sense.With the completion of Saturday's Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships, many schools gained some perspective on where their program is with the season slowly winding down.But many teams, such as those in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, don't have the luxury of competing in such an event, one that offers many similarities to what they'll see in the postseason.Yes, the Colonial League has its team championships near the end of January for the top-four schools.But the Schuylkill League Tournament presents an opportunity for all participating schools (15) to compete for a team championship, while also allowing wrestlers to vie for individual titles in all 14-weight classes.It's chance coaches throughout the league are sure to not take for granted."Any time you can mimic a district tournament, or a regional tournament, it's good experience," said Jim Thorpe head coach Shawn Albert. "And that's what this is. Knowing that they have to compete to wrestle the next day and continue on to try and get to that medal position is really the name of the game."While teams obviously hope to be successful in the tournament, Albert noted there is more to take out of the event than just results."You always want to do well, but when you're young and trying to build on your experience, you take what you can," he said.And often times, the tournament serves as a gauge for many in terms of where they are and how they're progressing."I think the kids enjoy it," said Tamaqua head coach Jon Mashack. "I think they judge their skills based on their results here because these are the peers they've grown up with and gone through the ranks with."These are the kids they wrestle all the time, so they're always challenging their level to compare themselves to how their growth is. Beyond districts, regionals and states, this is probably the highlight of the season for many guys and they look forward to competing here."Participating in the tournament for the first time, Lehighton had two wrestlers in the finals along with a number of medalists.But the success wasn't necessarily what coach Danny Williams focused on when discussing how his team performed at the two-day event."Even with the guys that didn't place, what I saw was that they were able to get some confidence and know that they can battle with some of the kids that placed here," Williams noted. "That lets them know that they can go out there and compete with these guys and it really helps to build their confidence."Even though they didn't place, they were able to build some confidence through the way that they wrestled throughout the tournament. Any type of individual tournament that provides that experience is good for those kids."While all teams compete in a variety of events similar to the Schuylkill League Tournament throughout the regular season, few can match its scale, or timing."In my opinion, tournament wrestling is a learned skill," said Panther Valley head coach Tim Robb. "Preparing physically and mentally to do a tournament isn't a natural thing - there are long days with tough matches where you get banged up and have to battle back from losses and try to refocus, which is very difficult."So we try to get our kids into a routine for tournaments, and adding one to the schedule like this is really invaluable. Before we get off the bus, I go through the basics with the kids, and there is a dramatic difference in how they are responding to the adversity at this stage of the season compared to our first tournament of the year."It also doesn't hurt to have great competition, and the Schuylkill League certainly has that with two (Tri Valley and North Schuylkill) of the top three teams in the District 11 Class AA standings and Blue Mountain sitting in third on the AAA side.Those numbers seem to bode well for the league, something Robb hopes will translate into that much coveted postseason success."I think our AA teams are really solid this year," he said. "Our top four teams, North Schuylkill, Tri Valley, Lehighton, and Panther Valley, can certainly compete, and will give the (Lehigh) Valley teams fits."And individually, I think we might even be better than the Valley right now. Only time will tell, but our really good kids are very solid and we should be able to compete with anyone."**********SCHUYLKILL LEAGUE OMISSION … Yesterday's story on the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships failed to mention Panther Valley's Tanner Kennedy as a place winner in the tournament. Kennedy finished in fourth place in the 120-pound bracket.