My son's Wrestling season...

[bushido_man96]

We are back at it, and we've got one tournament under our belts so far this season. Kendall had to wrestle up weight, facing a couple of heavyweights, and won one and lost one, going 1-1 and getting second place. First guy he went into the second period with and ended up getting pinned. The second guy stood up into a headlock, and Kendall took him down and pinned him in the first period. This Kendall's first year in the 12U age group, so it will be an interesting year of facing kids that are already hitting puberty. I think the big battle this year will be trying to keep his confidence up.

Kenneth is starting his first year at 8U. Kenneth had a total of 5 matches at the Hoisington Junior Cardinal Classic, and he went 3-2, and got 3rd place, which was great. He also, which is even better, got bumped up from the beginner practice to the intermediate practice, which I think will really help him out more than anything. Kenneth won his matches by pins, got pinned in a match that he was really doing well in until he just got himself into a bad position, and the kid that won was a really tall kid that was a really good wrestler. That kid knew his stuff, and was clearly the class of his bracket.

So, overall, a good start to the season, and the next tournament will be on January 6.

[sensei8]

Boys are doing quite well, which isn't much of a surprise considering the training and support they've both received all of these many years. It was, and always is, quite a refreshing thing to walk beside while all of you are in this journey. Thanks for the update, and all of you, especially Kendall and Kenneth, stay safe and have fun!!

[bushido_man96]

Ok, I'm a bit slow keeping up here, so here's a quick update.

We've had two more meets now, one in Great Bend, and one in Ellis, a small town in my jurisdiction here. Kenneth placed 3rd at both, and at the tourney in Ellis, he started to put some things together it seems. At Great Bend, I told him he needed to start going faster, and not working in slow-motion, and it seems to have clicked a little bit for him. At Ellis, he wet 2-2, and I saw some improvement, so that's good.

Kendall is doing well, considering the size discrepancies he is running into in his competition. He went 2-1 in Great Bend, and the match he lost was to a kid who was really pretty good, although he was a lighter weight. At Ellis, Kendall went 2-2 and got 4th place due to the funny way things work out with Ws and Ls in a round-robin format. But, he had some good matches against competition he will face the rest of the season and at districts, so its what he needed.

We go to Norton this weekend, and I'm sure Kendall will see much of the same competition he did last week. So, we'll see how much he's improved. Kenneth, I'm not sure what competition we'll see for him there yet.

[bushido_man96]

Another tournament down, and this one was pretty rough.

Kenneth was doing well in his first match, and he probably could have won it, but he was in a scramble and ended up grabbing the kid's head, and the kid ended up taking him to his back and pinning him. He lost his second match to a much taller opponent, and then won his third match, who was a pretty spunky little gal with just a few practices under her.

Kendall had a really bad day. To start things off, he was put in with the weight group above his, so he was giving up weight a few times. I don't know what the deal was, but he didn't wrestle well at all. He is either afraid to tie up, or afraid to shoot, or both. And when he takes his shots, he's taking bad ones, and then he gets landed on, worked over, and eventually pinned. One kid he has beaten twice threw him in a headlock and pinned him in the first few seconds of the match, which was his second loss of the day. His first match, he seemed like he didn't want to tie up, tried to avoid the kid, and it just didn't end well. So, we've got a project ahead of us, most of all to get his confidence back. It was an 0-4 day, which is not typical at all.

[bushido_man96]

Quick update here. Kendall pulled out a third 5th place finish at the Salina Tournament of Champions two weeks ago, and this last week both Kendall and Kenneth placed third at Plainville. Kendall's year is tough, but he's doing well for the challenges he's facing. His main challenge is cleaning some things up in practice and not letting himself get beat mentally. Kenneth is still learning, and is coming along a bit better every week.

We are taking the next few weeks off, regrouping a little, and also trying to get everyone in the house past the cold and flu going around.

[sensei8]

Both of them are doing quite well; win some lose some!!

I miss the video's, Brian!!

Keep rocking it boys!!

[bushido_man96]

Here's an update, after a long delay. Kendall has had a really rough go as of late. At our local tournament this past weekend, Kendall went 0-2 and was eliminated, which was pretty rough for him. He has done well in the past years at our tournament, and he likes to do well in the local arena (who doesn't?). Kenneth was 1-3 against some really tough kids that were good enough to toy with him, but placed 4th.

Now, districts are up this weekend. The brackets are out, and Kendall has a bye in the first round, and for some odd reason, an area wrestler that has been performing well isn't in the bracket. I don't know why, but it seems odd, as this kid has been having success in the area. If Kendall can win a match, I think he can place high enough to qualify for state. He just have to mentally win the match first.

Kenneth, on the other hand, has a fast track into the state tournament. The top 4 go, and he is in a four-man round robin bracket, so, he qualifies. Not the way I'd prefer to see it, but I'm glad that he will get this experience, and perhaps it will give him some motivation to build on going forward.

I'll post district results next week.

[bushido_man96]

Districts was last weekend, and it was a tough weekend indeed. Kendall went 0-3, and for the first time since he was 8 years old, is sitting out of participation at state. So, we'll be working during the off-season and getting ready for next year.

Kenneth went 0-3, but did some better wrestling. He had a chance to win his first match, but just couldn't quite finish. The other two matches were against some good wrestlers, but he did his best to stay with them, though, and since there were only 4 in his bracket, he qualifies for the state tournament, which is in a few weeks.

[sensei8]

They're still loving it all, right? Or has it run its full course?? Are their thoughts elsewhere?? Is their divisions tougher than expected??

Nonetheless, their tough losses, for sure. Hopefully they can keep the minds in the game.

We got their backs!!

[bushido_man96]

They do enjoy it, although no one enjoys losing. Kendall's year has been spent on the bottom half of 12U, which means the top half is full of 13 year olds who are starting to or have hit puberty, thus they are more physically developed, taller, stronger, etc. So, its just a tough way to go. Next year, he will hopefully have grown and matured some, which will help him out the way its helped out others above him this year.

Kenneth is still young and learning, and I'm proud of the progress he's made this year. He won't progress like Kendall, as they are two very different ducks. We'll keep working and improving, and things will fall where they do.