My son's Wrestling season...

[sensei8]

Congrats Kenneth!!

Doesn't sound much integrity when someone is on the podium that didn't earn that right. 7-0...WOW...Kenneth is a beast!!

Good luck at district tournament.

[Patrick]

Congrats.

[bushido_man96]

We had the district championship this past Saturday. Kenneth went 1-2, but qualifies for state as they take the top 4 and there were only 4 in the bracket.

His first match he won by pin in the 1st period. He did a kind of slide-by move to get behind the kid, then took him down, turned him, and pinned him.

Match 2 was a good match for him, even in a loss. First period was spent mostly on their feet, and the other kid was really clubbing him. I was yelling at him to club him back, but he wasn't hearing me. In the second period, the opponent took bottom, and got an escape point. At on point, Kenneth got a headlock, but he had too much momentum and got rolled through, resulting in a takedown for the opponent. Kenneth was able to stand up, though, but didn't quite get the escape before the end of the period. In the third period, Kenneth got awarded a point for the other kid stalling, but it was too little, too late. He lost, 3-1. Afterwards I worked with him on a form of takedown to try, and we talked about not "overthrowing" on the headlock. I also told him he probably should have taken bottom in the third period, as I think he would have been able to stand up on the kid. I think if he wrestles him again, he can beat him. Lots of stalling, and it probably should have been called more.

Last match was against the kid who won, quite a bit bigger and more mature. This kid and the other loss were both freshman, and the win was against another 8th grader.

With all that said and done, Kenneth goes to state as a three seed, which means he'll get matched with a 2 seed from another district in the first round. It could be a bracket full of high schoolers, but I told him to try to stay positive, and to think about working towards next year.

It also appears we will be doing some post-state wrestling. Kenneth got a chance to go to the Heartland Middle School Duals in Iowa at the end of the month, which will be a fun and challenging experience.

[DarthPenguin]

League champion! Kenneth had two other people to wrestle at the league tournament, but for some reason, one of them decided to forfeit his matches. Funny thing was, he stood on the podium afterwards at third place...I thought that was odd, and not really deserved.

Anywho, Kenneth had one match with the same kid he'd wrestled 3 times already this year, and he took him all three periods and won, 7-0.

Now he's signed up for kid's wrestling, and will compete in the district tournament on March 1.

Surely if someone is forfeiting ALL their matches they should be made to withdraw from the event? I can see the point if someone gets hurt in their first match etc. and has to pull out, but going to an event and choosing not to compete should be a withdrawl.

Sounds like the ultimate default medal!

[DarthPenguin]

We had the district championship this past Saturday. Kenneth went 1-2, but qualifies for state as they take the top 4 and there were only 4 in the bracket.

His first match he won by pin in the 1st period. He did a kind of slide-by move to get behind the kid, then took him down, turned him, and pinned him.

Match 2 was a good match for him, even in a loss. First period was spent mostly on their feet, and the other kid was really clubbing him. I was yelling at him to club him back, but he wasn't hearing me. In the second period, the opponent took bottom, and got an escape point. At on point, Kenneth got a headlock, but he had too much momentum and got rolled through, resulting in a takedown for the opponent. Kenneth was able to stand up, though, but didn't quite get the escape before the end of the period. In the third period, Kenneth got awarded a point for the other kid stalling, but it was too little, too late. He lost, 3-1. Afterwards I worked with him on a form of takedown to try, and we talked about not "overthrowing" on the headlock. I also told him he probably should have taken bottom in the third period, as I think he would have been able to stand up on the kid. I think if he wrestles him again, he can beat him. Lots of stalling, and it probably should have been called more.

Last match was against the kid who won, quite a bit bigger and more mature. This kid and the other loss were both freshman, and the win was against another 8th grader.

With all that said and done, Kenneth goes to state as a three seed, which means he'll get matched with a 2 seed from another district in the first round. It could be a bracket full of high schoolers, but I told him to try to stay positive, and to think about working towards next year.

It also appears we will be doing some post-state wrestling. Kenneth got a chance to go to the Heartland Middle School Duals in Iowa at the end of the month, which will be a fun and challenging experience.

Congrats to Kenneth! Sounds like he is doing really well

Out of curiosity what age range is 'freshman' - i know of it as first year of university but not sure how it translates to school (we have a totally different system here).

He is doing great to hold his own with older boys. They will have plenty of age related advantages. If he keeps this up he will be a monster when older!

[sensei8]

Congrats Kenneth!! He's a beast on the mat and then some!! Good for Kenneth earning the 3rd seed at State is good, and I don't think he'll have much problem with the 2nd seed!!

Keep training hard, Kenneth!!

[bushido_man96]

DP, freshman here tend to range between 15 and up to 16, unless they've been held out another year or have been through kinder-prep or something like that.

We drove out to the state tournament this past weekend, and we came home with a mixed bag. Those that follow me on Facebook probably saw my updates, but I'll rehash here for those that don't.

Kenneth went out and won his opening round match with a pin in the second period. He got a takedown in the first period and started working on a pin, but ran out of time. He worked on trying to do a duck-under instead of a headlock but he just couldn't get to it. He did a headlock takedown in the second, and went to the pin from there. I'm not sure how old this kid was, but he was larger than Kenneth.

Second match was against the kid who go on to place 2nd overall. Kenneth got pinned by the kid in the first period. Kid was really sound and very aggressive. Ended up 2nd place, so really good in a tough class of wrestlers.

That ended day one of the tournament for Kenneth, with a positive; his first win in a state tournament. I felt really good about how the bracket set up for the next day. We stuck around and watched some more matches in his bracket to see who he'd be wrestling on day two.

Day two came around, and his match got started. The kid he lined up against was a very big kid, and his legs were huge. My kid's no slouch, but this kid was definitely a bit more mature, and I'm guessing he was a freshman. The match started with Kenneth trying to work standing position, but he got caught in a slide-by and got hoisted off of his feet and elevated quite high in the air. I was like, "oh, crap," and then the slam. I could see him get dejected after that, but he kept fighting, and fight he did. He was the epitome of "knocked down three times, get up four," as he was slammed to the mat twice more in the same fashion, but he did not get turned and pinned. He went all three periods and in the third period got an escape and earned his only point of the match. But he hung in there the whole way, and get thrown as he might, he did not give up, and I was so proud of him for that.

So he finished up 1-2 in the state meet, not placing, but I took away some positives. Next year will be his chance to be a freshman in that 14U classification.

Next up is the Heartland Duals at the end of the month in Iowa.

[bushido_man96]

Follow-up from State: It turned out that Kenneth actually had a concussion from the slams in that last match. All good though; a few days later he cleared the concussion protocol at the doctor's office. This Thursday we leave for the Heartland Duals in Iowa.

[DarthPenguin]

DP, freshman here tend to range between 15 and up to 16, unless they've been held out another year or have been through kinder-prep or something like that.

We drove out to the state tournament this past weekend, and we came home with a mixed bag. Those that follow me on Facebook probably saw my updates, but I'll rehash here for those that don't.

Kenneth went out and won his opening round match with a pin in the second period. He got a takedown in the first period and started working on a pin, but ran out of time. He worked on trying to do a duck-under instead of a headlock but he just couldn't get to it. He did a headlock takedown in the second, and went to the pin from there. I'm not sure how old this kid was, but he was larger than Kenneth.

Second match was against the kid who go on to place 2nd overall. Kenneth got pinned by the kid in the first period. Kid was really sound and very aggressive. Ended up 2nd place, so really good in a tough class of wrestlers.

That ended day one of the tournament for Kenneth, with a positive; his first win in a state tournament. I felt really good about how the bracket set up for the next day. We stuck around and watched some more matches in his bracket to see who he'd be wrestling on day two.

Day two came around, and his match got started. The kid he lined up against was a very big kid, and his legs were huge. My kid's no slouch, but this kid was definitely a bit more mature, and I'm guessing he was a freshman. The match started with Kenneth trying to work standing position, but he got caught in a slide-by and got hoisted off of his feet and elevated quite high in the air. I was like, "oh, crap," and then the slam. I could see him get dejected after that, but he kept fighting, and fight he did. He was the epitome of "knocked down three times, get up four," as he was slammed to the mat twice more in the same fashion, but he did not get turned and pinned. He went all three periods and in the third period got an escape and earned his only point of the match. But he hung in there the whole way, and get thrown as he might, he did not give up, and I was so proud of him for that.

So he finished up 1-2 in the state meet, not placing, but I took away some positives. Next year will be his chance to be a freshman in that 14U classification.

Next up is the Heartland Duals at the end of the month in Iowa.

Well done to him - for getting a win at state and for also showing good bottle!

Even from afar i am aware that US state wrestling comps are a really good standard so you must be very proud.

It is interesting seeing your kids compete: my son was in a judo comp on Sunday too (he is 7 so it was all other 7/8 year olds). Had 4 fights and drew every one lol (though he advance on judges decisions due to aggression etc. I said to him after that in every bout he had his opponent properly loaded into a very deep o-goshi but just didn't bend his knees enough to get the throw - a good learning moment though. He had asked me to video all his fights and actually watched them back and pointed out things he was noticing he could improve himself! Hopefully a good sign

Anyway enough of a tangent, well done again to Kenneth! At this rate he might even get a uni scholarship and save you a tonne of money!!

[bushido_man96]

I would like to see scholarships, for sure, but we'll see. He hasn't had the same success that his older brother had, but he's got a lot of heart and he keeps at it. I need to take some time to work with him to keep his game up during the offseason, and even to drill some new stuff to get better.

It sounds like your son had a great performance! That's awesome to hear. We take video of all the matches as well, and he'll watch them and learn from them. It's a fantastic tool.