My son's Wrestling season...

[bushido_man96]

Here are Kendall's matches from the tournament at Norton, KS, on 01/24/2015.

Match 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSdwh5OCYDI At this meet, they combined the 95 pounders and the 110 pounders, and this first match was with one of the heavier kids. I coached him to make sure he didn't get caught underneath the heavier kid. He did a pretty good job of doing that, at least at getting out of a bad spot pretty quick. He finally got the kid rolled over towards the end of the period, but didn't really have good position for pinning.

Kendall starts 2nd period on top, and you can hear me telling him to "stay behind." He has been making a habit of reaching over the top of the shoulders to try to force cradles, instead of staying behind the elbows and working tight waists/ankles to break them down. Its been a point of emphasis all year, really. You can see when he starts, he tries to break the arm down, and then goes to reach over the arm, and then is in bad position to break him down. The bigger kid is harder to hold down, to, and you see where the kid starts to get up. But Kendall goes back to one of his favorites from last year, a move they taught called the Iowa twist, which he runs here to get a pin. He was tired after that one, too.

Match 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC7xT1YULN0 At this tournament, they were able to put together an 8-man double elimination bracket, and Kendall had a bye the first round, so this match was for the championship, and it was against a fellow club member, one he has wrestled several times over the past few years. We have to work on his shots, because he ends up sending his head towards the mat an awful lot when he shoots. He dives in more than anything, and ends up getting sprawled on a lot, like here. He really spends a lot of time underneath in the first period, trying to get into better position. He finally gets up, but is tangled up in a position that we try to avoid, where someone can throw a headlock of sorts. Kendall did twist himself into better position, though, and got a pin, and got first place.

[bushido_man96]

Next tourney for Kendall, Salina Tournament of Champions, 1/31/2015. This is always a tough tournament, and I like to get Kendall out to this one so he can see some of the competition that he will face at the state tournament, if he qualifies for it.

Match 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLuXkj8HwE Match 1 is the first match he has wrestled against a girl, and I think he was a bit tentative about it. We always tell him that he just has to treat a girl like another competitor that is trying to pin him. He tried to shoot, but it didn't go quite right, but he was able to get to her back, got her over onto her back, and got a pin.

Match 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl04KR5j3WE This match was a tough one. The kid was a pretty tall kid, and Kendall had his hands full with him. We watched this kid wrestle his first match, and we watched him throw a headlock right off the bat and get a pin, so we made sure he wasn't going to let that happen to him. The kid reached for his head, but Kendall shot underneath, but couldn't quite get control for a takedown. In all the maneuvering, he ended up on his knees, and the kid pretty much plowed him over, and Kendall was in trouble from there. I don't know how, but he managed to avoid getting pinned, but that series there gave the other kid a 5 point start to the match.

Period 2, Kendall starts in the bottom position. He gets up and gets an escape point, but then a brief headlock fight starts, but they end up out of the ring, and get centered. The kid goes for the head again, and Kendall ducks to take a leg, but the other sprawls. Kendall keeps fighting, and finally manages to get a takedown, but the kid is able to just roll through it, and is able to do that throughout the match; Kendall just couldn't hold him down. He gets stuck on his knees again, and gets bowled over onto his back again. He runs a switch that he nearly reaches over the top on, but manages to get up, but no escape, and the period ends.

Period 3, they start neutral, and its straight to the head again. Kendall gives up another takedown, mainly because he stayed in front instead of trying to get around to the back. He got a reversal, but couldn't get much out of it. After a break where the other kid gets his headgear back on, and they figure the score out, Kendall finally gets a takedown, but they are out of bounds and he doesn't score any back points. They stand up, and he ties up, but isn't able to get anything out of it, and loses this match, 7-9. We are pretty sure we might see this kid again if he makes it to state. We ended up talking to that kid's mom earlier, and she said Kendall beat her son a few years back a the 6 and under state tourney. He was upset afterwards that he couldn't get those last few points. But we learned a lot with that match, and next time he hopes to get him.

Match 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0nQWiyjIA Kendall starts out with a takedown attempt, but like his others, it just isn't very clean. He has a bad habit of stopping on his knees, which I hope to help him fix. But he gets the takedown, and some back points, before they go out of bounds. They reset, and as I yell out, "Don't reach over the top!" he sets in a cradle, and starts getting some back points .

Period 2, Kendall starts on bottom. He stands up quick, then finally breaks the grip for an escape, and shoots another takedown that gets sprawled on, and he stops again. But they reset in neutral, and he gets a decent takedown. He spends the rest of the period trying to pin, but really never gets his body in very good pinning position.

Period 3 starts on bottom, he runs his switch, gets two, and then tries to pin again, which he finally gets.

Match 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn6liqwt_Ik This kid was another phenomenal Wrestler. He was a national qualifier, and we heard from his dad later on that he hadn't been scored on in the state of Kansas. This kid is good. He gets taken down, and tries to roll the kid, but it doesn't work for him. He's done that move in practice a lot, and I've warned him to move off it, but you know how kids listen to dad. He gave up two points on the initial takedown, but that was all he gave up that first period.

Period 2 starts with Kendall on bottom, and he runs his switch, but makes the ultimate no-no mistake by reaching over the top, which gets him caught by a kid that is too good to let that opportunity pass him by. He does manage to wrestle his way out of trouble, and gets up, but gets pulled back down. We had seen this kid running arm bars earlier, so we had talked to coach about how to defend them, and Kendall did a pretty decent job for the most part. But the kid finally got him rolled over, and he was too tight on top, and Kendall got pinned. We had coached him up before going into this match, knowing it was going to be tough, but that was why we came to a tournament like this. I told him I was proud of his effort, and we know what we need to do to get better, and that we would get better.

After all was said and done, he ended up taking 3rd place, and we left knowing that he could have won at least one more match.

[sensei8]

Great effort, Kendall!! I'm very proud of you!!

I was worn out just watching them, and I was yelling practically the same things you were at about the same time. 3rd place isn't 1st place but quite respectable!!

Match 2 WAS tough, but he hung in there! Mistakes in all his matches? Yeah, but from what I saw, he stayed and drove when he needed to. I believe that Kendall has a keen idea of what he wants to do, and sets out to do it. He got pretty upset at the end, and I would've too.

GO KENDALL!!

[bushido_man96]

Thank you, Bob. The support means a lot. He's getting better about getting upset, too, but the higher the stakes, the more emotion that goes into it.

[sensei8]

Thank you, Bob. The support means a lot. He's getting better about getting upset, too, but the higher the stakes, the more emotion that goes into it.

Kendall's young; he'll learn as he gets older! Besides, he's a very lucky young man...he's got Vicky and you...great parents!!

[bushido_man96]

Thank you, Bob. The support means a lot. He's getting better about getting upset, too, but the higher the stakes, the more emotion that goes into it.

Kendall's young; he'll learn as he gets older! Besides, he's a very lucky young man...he's got Vicky and you...great parents!!

Thank you, Bob. Kendall had a bit of a setback this week at the District Championships. He had a decent day, and he got 2nd, which I will never complain about. But he was argumentative with the coaches during matches, which isn't a good thing at all, and he just can't do. He also let his temper get the better of him, and long story short, he ended up costing his team a point. He was very upset, and although I wanted to be supportive of him in his loss, I really couldn't, because I had to address the attitude issue, which we did, and he apologized to his coaches before we left that day. After all was said and done, though, he is advancing to the state tournament for a second year in a row, which is a great deal.

Now, with the first practice of State week coming on Monday, I had spoke with him throughout the weekend about the incident at Districts, and I told him that he needed to approach the team as a whole before practice got started, and apologize for his actions, and for not representing the club appropriately. I discussed this with him, and was supportive about it, and told him that although it might not feel good to do it, he would feel better about it afterwards, and the main thing was taking responsibility for his actions, and basically "manning up" and owning the incident.

So Monday rolls around, and he goes and tells coach he wanted to address the team before they got started. Coach got the team together, and led them over to the other side of the mat room, away from the parents, where he could address the team on his own. At this point, I didn't follow him over to listen in or make sure he said what he needed to say; I let him do this on his own. I watched from a distance, and after he said his peace, his team mates lined up, slapped on handshakes and gave him a hug, and then they did a team breakdown, and warm-up began.

I was very proud of Kendall. I asked coach what he said, and coach said he spoke very well, didn't stammer his words and was pretty articulate, and he thought he would tear up and break down a little, but he didn't, and coach said he did a very good job. I told Kendall on the way home from practice that I was very proud of him for doing that. I told him I wasn't proud that he had to do it because of what happened to lead up to it, but I was proud of him for how he handled it, and it showed accountability and responsibility. And now from here on, he knows he needs to work to do better.

With all said and done, it was a good learning experience for him.

[sensei8]

Thank you, Bob. The support means a lot. He's getting better about getting upset, too, but the higher the stakes, the more emotion that goes into it.

Kendall's young; he'll learn as he gets older! Besides, he's a very lucky young man...he's got Vicky and you...great parents!!

Thank you, Bob. Kendall had a bit of a setback this week at the District Championships. He had a decent day, and he got 2nd, which I will never complain about. But he was argumentative with the coaches during matches, which isn't a good thing at all, and he just can't do. He also let his temper get the better of him, and long story short, he ended up costing his team a point. He was very upset, and although I wanted to be supportive of him in his loss, I really couldn't, because I had to address the attitude issue, which we did, and he apologized to his coaches before we left that day. After all was said and done, though, he is advancing to the state tournament for a second year in a row, which is a great deal.

Now, with the first practice of State week coming on Monday, I had spoke with him throughout the weekend about the incident at Districts, and I told him that he needed to approach the team as a whole before practice got started, and apologize for his actions, and for not representing the club appropriately. I discussed this with him, and was supportive about it, and told him that although it might not feel good to do it, he would feel better about it afterwards, and the main thing was taking responsibility for his actions, and basically "manning up" and owning the incident.

So Monday rolls around, and he goes and tells coach he wanted to address the team before they got started. Coach got the team together, and led them over to the other side of the mat room, away from the parents, where he could address the team on his own. At this point, I didn't follow him over to listen in or make sure he said what he needed to say; I let him do this on his own. I watched from a distance, and after he said his peace, his team mates lined up, slapped on handshakes and gave him a hug, and then they did a team breakdown, and warm-up began.

I was very proud of Kendall. I asked coach what he said, and coach said he spoke very well, didn't stammer his words and was pretty articulate, and he thought he would tear up and break down a little, but he didn't, and coach said he did a very good job. I told Kendall on the way home from practice that I was very proud of him for doing that. I told him I wasn't proud that he had to do it because of what happened to lead up to it, but I was proud of him for how he handled it, and it showed accountability and responsibility. And now from here on, he knows he needs to work to do better.

With all said and done, it was a good learning experience for him.

The bold type above spells it all out! For a young man, he's expressing himself on and off the mat quite well. And if I may say, a chip of the old block!! Whenever you mention or whenever I see him getting upset, I just tell myself that he's young, and in time, like everything, he'll mature into the young man that both Vicky and you are raising.

Both Kendall and Kenneth are my hero's!!

[bushido_man96]

Thank you, Bob.

We finished up the State folk style tournament this past weekend, March 28 and 29. Kendall went 2-2, and his 2nd loss was in the match that would have sent him to the medal rounds. He won two matches by pins, and lost his first match to the national qualifier that has been popping up this season. Kendall lost 4-0 to that kid, if I remember right, and that kid went on to win the state championship. His last loss, he lost 3-4, and really could have won that match. He was getting ready to turn the kid and would have been able to rack up the back points needed to get the win, but the ref stopped him and was going to penalize him for an illegal move. But the coach went out and contested it for him, and after another ref was brought in to interpret the rule, the coach was right, but the damage had been done. The ref had stopped him from completing the move, and Kendall was turning him at the time. After they were reset, the kid was on bottom, and he turtled up and stalled for the rest of the period, but the ref didn't call any stalling. So, he could have won that match.

Now, for the follow-up from the week before. After both of his losses, even after the last loss that the ref had a hand in, Kendall came of the mat like a little man. He was upset, but he held himself in check until he was off the mat, and then I met him when he came back to our seats. I embraced him, and I told him how proud I was of him, throughout the whole tournament. We cried together, and talked about it, and we got all the emotions out. In the end, Kendall had a fantastic season, and he wants to keep learning and improving. We plan to hit the gym in the offseason, and he is all in on going to the Freestyle/Greco club, so that will start up soon, as well.

So, onward and upward. I'm so glad to be on this ride with my boys.

[sensei8]

Thank you, Bob.

We finished up the State folk style tournament this past weekend, March 28 and 29. Kendall went 2-2, and his 2nd loss was in the match that would have sent him to the medal rounds. He won two matches by pins, and lost his first match to the national qualifier that has been popping up this season. Kendall lost 4-0 to that kid, if I remember right, and that kid went on to win the state championship. His last loss, he lost 3-4, and really could have won that match. He was getting ready to turn the kid and would have been able to rack up the back points needed to get the win, but the ref stopped him and was going to penalize him for an illegal move. But the coach went out and contested it for him, and after another ref was brought in to interpret the rule, the coach was right, but the damage had been done. The ref had stopped him from completing the move, and Kendall was turning him at the time. After they were reset, the kid was on bottom, and he turtled up and stalled for the rest of the period, but the ref didn't call any stalling. So, he could have won that match.

Now, for the follow-up from the week before. After both of his losses, even after the last loss that the ref had a hand in, Kendall came of the mat like a little man. He was upset, but he held himself in check until he was off the mat, and then I met him when he came back to our seats. I embraced him, and I told him how proud I was of him, throughout the whole tournament. We cried together, and talked about it, and we got all the emotions out. In the end, Kendall had a fantastic season, and he wants to keep learning and improving. We plan to hit the gym in the offseason, and he is all in on going to the Freestyle/Greco club, so that will start up soon, as well.

So, onward and upward. I'm so glad to be on this ride with my boys.

You win some and you lose some!! That's hard for adults to grasp at times, and Kendall will, in time, settle down and understand the who, where, why, what, when, and how about the whole thing. Imho, he's spot on solid across the board!!

The great news is that he wants to keep learning and improving...therefore, he's NOT A QUITTER. That's rare, especially for a young man who's highly competitive in a sport that's highly competitive.

I believe that he'll get a thrill out of the Freestyle/Greco club, and that it'll spice up his juices for the next wrestling seasons!! What's good for the goose, is good for the gander, and all of that stuff!!

GO KENDALL!!

[bushido_man96]

We had our awards banquet tonight for the Wrestling club. Kendall and Kenneth both received their certificates for being members of the club this year, and Kendall was recognized in a couple of spots. The coaches said mentioned that all the placers at the Gunsmoke Nationals tournament are recognized as All-Amercians, so that was pretty cool. He also received an award for the most pins in the 8 and under class. It was a pretty good night!

Freestyle/Greco practice is going pretty well, too. After the first night, he was pretty down because he felt like he wasn't any good, but after talking him through it, and staying consistent with practices, he's really showing some improvement, and I think he is really liking it a lot more. He's learned some things that I think he can really use to help him in Folk Style, so long as he keeps practicing and remembers them.