My son's Wrestling season...

[bushido_man96]

Funny you bring this up. The first practice was on Monday, 11/26, and both were out there for it. I'm not sure what the tournament schedule looks like yet, but we are off and running with practice! Stay tuned for details!

[JR 137]

Funny you bring this up. The first practice was on Monday, 11/26, and both were out there for it. I'm not sure what the tournament schedule looks like yet, but we are off and running with practice! Stay tuned for details!

Absolutely. I'm assuming folkstyle. Any freestyle or Greco?

[bushido_man96]

That's right, folk style season. Freestyle/Greco falls in after the folk style season. We do the Freestyle/Greco practices until they filter out and/or baseball starts up, but I haven't convinced him to compete in Freestyle or Greco yet. He's a bit afraid of getting thrown and slammed.

[sensei8]

Boy oh boy am I ready!! I'm ready to follow Kenneth and Kendall for another exciting season on the mat!!

As far as being afraid of being slammed or thrown, and at that age, I can understand that. Time to let time work its magic!! Here's where you can do what no coach can do; after all, no coach knows your boys better than you, and, you've been on different mats, yet similar, but still different!!

You've a job in front of you in eliminating those fears though soft body drills!!

[bushido_man96]

Boy oh boy am I ready!! I'm ready to follow Kenneth and Kendall for another exciting season on the mat!!

As far as being afraid of being slammed or thrown, and at that age, I can understand that. Time to let time work its magic!! Here's where you can do what no coach can do; after all, no coach knows your boys better than you, and, you've been on different mats, yet similar, but still different!!

You've a job in front of you in eliminating those fears though soft body drills!!

Yeah, Bob, I'd like to do that. Finding the time and place to do it is the tough part. They get some light tossing going in the Greco/Roman club though, but he's still a bit leery of it. All in due time.

[bushido_man96]

Ok, I've been slacking here. We've got two tournaments under our belts now, and things are going pretty well. I'll give as quick a rundown as I can here.

The first tournament we made was the Roger Richter Memorial, held in Great Bend, KS, on 1/7/17. Both boys ended up with first place finishes, and for Kenneth, it was his first time taking home a bracket, and he really thought that was cool.

I'll start with Kenneth. He had two matches (they wrestled a round robin), and both against bigger kids. I signed him up at 70 lbs, and the bracket he was assigned was designated 73-80. He came out in the first match and got a pin in the first period, and his second match he won by a tech fall in the third period, score of 19-2. Kenneth is still a work in progress, but what he as gotten better at is staying more aggressive. Kenneth's major issue is not finishing his moves off, and dropping and driving the right way when he shoots. In practice on the throwing dummy, he'll hit that quick step/drive step/post and cut every time. Get someone live in front of him, and he starts bending over and reaching for the leg. In that first match, he got the leg, circled around and got the takedown, and then got into good position with a half-Nelson and got the pin. The second match was pretty much a scramble. Kenneth could take him down, get some back points, but just couldn't quite get a pin. He ended up scoring 19-2 because when the ref counted off the back points and they got up, he didn't look at the score until after Kenneth got another takedown, so he got a few more points. But he did a good job being aggressive, and smiled the whole way. After the last match, he was actually bent over huffing and puffing from all the work!

Kendall is wrestling 10 and under, and in the 150 lb weight class this year. The jump is from 130 to 150, which kind of stinks, as he is weighing right around 140 lbs, so is likely to be giving up weight in most cases. On top of that, at this tournament, they combined with heavyweights, and so out of 5 wrestlers, 3 were heavyweights, one was Kendall, and the other was a girl in Kendall's club, and this is her first year. Kendall came out and pinned the first two heavyweights he wrestled, hitting takedowns on both. On the second match, the kid charged at him to start things off, and kind of shoved Kendall backwards, so the second time the kid came in charging and pushing, Kendall just dropped into the takedown, and that kid's momentum coming forward and Kendall's going forward made for a really nice, deep, penetration step for that takedown. He had trouble keeping the bigger kid broken down, so he swung out to the front and ran an Iowa twist, and got the pin in the first period. His third match was a bit tougher. He won 5-3, but really seemed to struggle with the bigger kid. He took shot that wasn't totally clean, and got caught underneath him for a while. Once he was able to improve his position on bottom, though, he was able to get up and out, which got him the points he needed to win. In his last match, he wrestled the girl from his club. He tried to work with her during the match, but in trying to do so, he slowed down a lot, and made things really sloppy. So that's something he needs to work on. He won the match in the third period with a pin.

Again, first place finishes for both, which was pretty cool, and a first.

The second tournament we made was the Ellis Open, this last weekend, 1/14/17. I'll start with my 6U, Kenneth, again. He came out tough and won his first match by pin in the first period. Got another one of those dancing takedowns, and into a somewhat half-Nelson position, and got a pin. He's getting better pinning position, getting chest to chest and staying on his toes. His second match was a loss, 5-0, in the third, against a taller kid, and likely heavier (classes were 67-73 lbs). He was on the bottom often, but what he did a good job of was spinning around and getting into something of a sit-out position, from there he just couldn't get himself to stand up. Unfortunately, they haven't worked much on the sit-outs, so he just needs to get more familiar with it. His third match was more of the same, lost 5-2 in the third. In the last period, he was so close to getting the takedown he needed to win, but he danced around and ended up falling, and kid covered him and got the points. His last match he won, 17-6, in one of those kid-scramble matches. There were a few times where one of them would be getting position, but then they would stop for some reason, and the scramble would go again. Just more to work on. He finished the day 2-2, and got third place.

Kendall's bracket this week was all 150 lbers, another five-man round-robin. He came out an won his first match by pin in the first period. He took a shot that he got stuck under, but he kept driving, doubled it off, and got the takedown, and then worked the pin. His second match, he also won with a pin. He was working his ties standing, trying to get position, and the kid ended up standing himself into a headlock, which Kendall threw really well, and got the pin from there. His third match was against the girl from his club again, and this time he won 11-2 in the third period. A side note on this girl; she got her first win at this tournament, as well. She's got a really good attitude, and moves really well. Kendall has been trying to help her along, and he's done a good job working with her. Kendall's third match was against another kid from the same club as the first match he wrestled. This kid was tough and aggressive. Kendall took a shot that he got caught under, but what he did well was he kept turning and turning, trying to stay with the kid as he kept turning to get behind Kendall for the takedown. Kendall kept working, but after a while, the kid eventually got the points, so Kendall was working from behind. He was able to get out and escape. In the second period, he was able to escape as well, work some more points. In the third, he could break the kid down, but couldn't keep him there. He kept trying to work a new pinning combination the coaches had showed him but couldn't quite pull it off. He got a tough win, 5-2. We always find someone like this early in the year, which is really good for Kendall, making him work more in practice.

A good day for the boys. Kenneth was a bit disappointed, but he when he found he placed third, he was pretty happy. For Kendall, he got to see four other wrestlers from his weight and age that are in our district, who we will see at subs and districts.

Hopefully, I'll be more on top of next week's tourney, at the Norton Open.

[bushido_man96]

A quick update here. We've been to two more tournaments now, one in Norton and one in Salina.

The Norton Open was on 1/21. Kendall went 3-0 and got first, and Kenneth went 1-1 in a double elimination bracket, and got second place.

Kenneth drew a first round bye, and in his second match, really did pretty well. He hit something of a sweep single in the first period, and was able to keep scoring points through some scrambles. He won 8-2 in the third. In his second match, he tried his sweep single again, but with bad distancing, and got stuffed and pinned by a good wrestler. But, he walked out with 2nd place, his second medal of the year.

Kendall won his first match with a pin in the second period, and won his second match with a pin in the first period. He has been doing a good job of finishing his shots off, doubling them off and getting the points. His third match was with the challenging kid he had faced at the last tournament. He did some things better in this match, getting a takedown and able to work some backpoints. He almost got a pin, but not quite enough. What he did struggle with was when they were neutral, the bigger kid would push him backwards, and he got a warning for stalling. That is something we have been working on a bit. He won the match with a score of 6-0 or 6-1, if I recall. He really handled it much better, so he is improving.

Another good meet, and I'll fill in on the next soon.

[bushido_man96]

Ok, playing catch-up again. Busy busy!

On Saturday, 1/28, we went out to Salina for the Salina Tournament of Champions, a really big one in KS. Kendall had been there for the last several years, coming home with a couple of third place finishes, which is very respectable for the level of competition that shows up at that tourney.

This year, Kendall had an 8-man double elimination bracket instead of a round-robin with 5 wrestlers. His first opponent was a kid who got slotted in late because he was an 8U kid who was 9 years old, and a heavyweight. This kid was a big kid, a head taller than Kendall and at least 15 lbs heavier I'd guess (Kendall was originally scheduled a bye). There were no other kids in this kids age/weight division, so they bumped him up to the 10U light heavyweight division. Kendall came out and pinned him, and pinned his way through his second match, too. He hit a standup in the second period of the second match, and as he got up and turned, the kid actually fell out from on top of him, and he worked the pin from there, getting into the finals. In the finals, he wrestled a really big kid that was pretty darn good. The kid was a head taller than Kendall, and from talking with his dad over the course of the next tournament, he is every bit of 149 lbs, the limit for that division. Kendall has been averaging weigh-ins at 140 lbs. It was a tough match all around, and went all three periods. He was able to get a takedown on the kid, and at one point, got in front of him to run an Iowa, but he got a bit too high, and didn't set it right. In the third period, he had to get a reversal to go ahead, and he was able to do that, getting the points and then riding him out to win. At the finish of the third period, after the whistle, Kendall was caught in an odd position with his arm behind the kid's head and locked out, and he got wrenched pretty good. He was a bit sore, and doing upper body lifting later in the week was tough for him, so we skipped it. But, through all that, he ended up with a first place finish at a really good tournament. Early on we were looking at the Blue Chip merchandise, and he always looks at the custom singlets. I told him if he won, I'd get him one, so he earned his first custom singlet, too.

Kenneth, was a different story, mainly because dad was a screw-up. His first match was against a tough one, and he got taken down and put in a cradle and pinned pretty quick. From there, I looked at the bracket way, way wrong, and thought we had time to go outside to the car. Well, I was wrong, and through my fault alone Kenneth was scratched from his second match. I felt so terrible the rest of the day about that, but he kept reassuring me that it was ok. Still, how I managed to screw that up so bad, I'll never really know. But that's the last time I screw up like that.

[sensei8]

Both Kendall and Kenneth are my hero's across the board. Their tenacity, for their ages, overshadow many adults. They fight the good fight, and while being kids, they bounce back from any unfavorable situation with their heads held high...brushing off the dust...remembering what's important, and forgetting what's not important.

Even adults, have difficulty when the chips are down, and against them, even more so than kids. I don't believe that Kendall and/or Kenneth wear their emotions on their sleeves; they react as kids react. I've had the pleasure of meeting them both, and they carried themselves quite well across the board.

Your updates have great info, and they give us all a peek into their wrestling career; reading your updates about the wrestling journey has always been the highlight of my reading here at KF.

And you, Brain, dad, you've done a remarkable thing in all that you've done for each of them ever since their first time on the mat. Sure, you caused Kenneth to be scratched, but mistakes happen, even from good old dad. As we all know, we learn from our mistakes, and I'm sure that you'll not read the brackets wrong again!!

In all, there's still a lot of season that remains, so have fun and cheer them on, just as we are here at KF!!

Wrestle on!!

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for the kind words, Bob. I'll have to see if I can upload a few of the videos from the camera we've been using now.

Now, to get caught up. On 2/4/2017, we went to Mulvane for the Battle of the Belt tournament hosted by the Maize Wrestling Club. Its a big tourney in KS, attracting kids from several states. As the name says, first place takes home a Championship belt, so having an award like that attracts kids, for sure. Kendall competed in the open, and Kenneth competed in the Novice.

The tournament was run on a split format, and Kenneth went in the morning, so I'll summarize his day first. He had a three-man round-robin, and although he went 0-2, he was in both of his matches. In his first match, he got pinned in the third period, but the score was 8-6 at the time, with Kenneth down by 2. The kid he wrestled was pretty good, had his technique down really good, but Kenneth gave him all he wanted. Kenneth could get reversed or stand-up when the kid was on top, but when he would shoot takedowns, the weren't clean, and he often ended up falling on his hip, and giving up good position. That really cost him in both matches. His second match was more of the same, but he did not get pinned, losing 14-10. He got some takedowns, but would eventually let the kid up and out, and in the third period, he stopped being as aggressive, and waited more instead of trying to get takedowns, and gave up too many points. But, he held his own really well, and I was proud of his efforts. Although he went 0-2, he was awarded 3rd place.

Kendall went in the afternoon session, posting a 2-2 record, and I feel that he realistically could have been 3-1. He had a 5-man round-robin, and his first match was against the kid he beat in the finals at Salina the week before. In the first period, they tied up, and the bigger kid tried to put Kendall in a headlock, but Kendall was able to counter it and get a takedown, but from there he couldn't get the kid turned to gain any back points or get a pin. In the second period, Kendall started on bottom, and he wasn't able to get out from under the kid. He got caught in a bad spot, and ended up getting pinned in the second period.

So, he opens up with a loss to a kid he knows he can beat, which he was really upset about. He won his second match with a pin in the first period, where he pretty much dominated the kid. The third match was against a bulldozer of a kid who was from Oklahoma, and was a multiple state champion in folk, Greco, and freestyle. This kid rolled over everyone, charging in, locking up, and then pinning his opponents. We told Kendall that he would have to shoot on this kid, and not hesitate, and Kendall did, but he made a few errors: 1, he had both knees on the ground, and 2, his right arm flared out a bit, and the kid underhooked it, took him over, and pinned him. Kendall shot hard, but just didn't have the clean shot to get the job done. But again, a very tough opponent. Kendall came out in his fourth match, and pinned the kid in the second period, and ended up taking 3 place, going 2-2, which I felt was very respectable at a tournament that tough.

Now, I'm all caught up, and we have a tournament in Ellsworth this coming weekend, one that our club hasn't been to before. Looking forward to it!