My son's Wrestling season...

[bushido_man96]

3/2: High Plains Shootout in Goodland. It was a long drive out that morning, but that's how it goes in Kids Wrestling. Kendall is back in Kids now that his middle school season is over. What sucked is the long drive was for just one opponent each, so it was a best two-out-of-three.

I'll start off with Kendall. He wrestled a 165 pounder, which meant Kendall had a weight advantage, put probably no more than 6 or 7 lbs. if I had to guess. Both matches went about the same, with no points in the opening periods, but Kendall securing pins in the second periods. Kendall did work on a slide-by that he had been practicing, which he almost hit in the second match. But, he went 2-0 against an opponent he had not wrestled before.

Kenneth wrestled a 95 pounder, so Kenneth was the heavier of the two, weighing in at 106. And Kenneth had some exciting matches. The first match ended with Kenneth losing, 8-7, to, of all things, a locked hands call. I wasn't upset about the call itself, but what upset me is that the ref held his hands locked for the last 20 seconds of the match, let time run out, and then awarded the point. His opponent was really aggressive, and made Kenneth have to work, which was great. The match started with the opponent coming in fast, but Kenneth defended and was able to sprawl, get behind, and then work a takedown from behind, taking the early lead. Try as he might, he could not get a half-Nelson in, and found himself off to the side too much, and the opponent was able to stand up for an escape. Kenneth next got taken down, because he didn't sprawl, and didn't move his feet well enough, and while backing up, tried to turn sideways and toss the kid, which just helped the kid get the takedown. So, down 3-2 now, he goes on bottom, gets a standup, and then while standing, he slings the kid away, but doesn't cover, and could have got two more. He starts period 2 on top, but again couldn't get any back points. He was driving with a half, but the opponent was coming up, and he went to a knee, and got reversed. Kenneth escaped again, but got taken down again because he backed up too much, and they went to the third period, with Kenneth on bottom. He escaped again, was able to sprawl and get behind for two, but couldn't turn him, and the locked hands call came. They were tied, the period ran out, and he lost, 8-7, to the locked hands call. A tough loss.

Match two, another good one. The opponent went after Kenneth like a rocket again, and Kenneth sprawled, but did it wrong and landed off to the side, which allowed his opponent to jump on top for the two. Kenneth worked a pretty good switch to get back on top, but again, couldn't get any back points. Period two started, and Kenneth had choice, and wanted neutral, so like a fool, I gave it to him. Afterwards, I knew I should have put him on bottom, because he was scoring on bottom, and scoring from neutral had been a crap-shoot. Kenneth controlled his position much better, but he gets into what I call the spin-cycle at times, and he got spun around and taken down. But he ran a really fast switch and got two, kept the kid down, but could not turn him. Period three started with Kenneth on top. He broke him down, but couldn't turn him at all. Perhaps a chicken wing would have been better than a half. Regulation ended in a 4-4 tie. Kenneth started OT with better control, swung the kid down again, but didn't cover, but as he got up, Kenneth hugged him up from behind and took him down for the 6-4 win.

Match 3...looked to be the makings of an epic tie-breaking match. Kenneth got a takedown with a trip in the first, rode him out, but again, couldn't turn him. Kenneth was going to have choice in the second period, but the trip aggravated an ankle injury the opponent had, and he was unable to continue wrestling, and Kenneth won by forfeit. That was really unfortunate, because the kids were working each other hard, and I really wanted to see how this match shook out.

This was the last tournament opportunity for the boys before Districts, which is this coming weekend. Top four placers in districts go on to the State tournament in Topeka.

[sensei8]

They both do very well. Sure, they don't win all of the time, but who does!?! Each season they both improve, and that is the real victory. Having followed them both here at KF and FB, has been a complete pleasure through and through. They both do what the Karate maxim speaks...7 times down, 8 times up!!

COME ON DISTRICTS!!!! They'll both do fine!! They're both very luck to have the support base of family and friends, and Bran, you've done a fantastic job coaching them on the side.

GO KENNETH AND KENDALL!!!!!

[bushido_man96]

Thank you so much, Bob! Stay tuned for updates!

[bushido_man96]

3/9/2019: District 4 Championships. I'll start with Kendall. He initially had three others in his group, which was going to basically turn into a 4-man round robin to determine seed for state. One of the wrestlers dropped out for some reason or other, so it came down to three. Kendall won his first match in the first period, pinning after throwing with a headlock. I'd rather not see the headlock, but he made it work, so on to match two. Match two was between the other two kids in the bracket, with the other one being one of his opponents from the middle school season, that likes to headlock. We watched them wrestle, and I feel it was very valuable to watch the match. The match was won by headlock, which was set up with an underhook. After watching, we talked about ways of dealing with the underhook, and we had worked on some things against that early that morning when warming up (wrist control and such tactics). In the end, Kendall decided he was just going to take a shot right off the mark to prevent the underhook attempt. So match three, he did just that, and did take the opponent down, but got rolled through, and ended up having to fight from the bottom. The bigger opponent was able to ride Kendall out from there and pin him. But the takedown almost worked, we just have to figure out how to avoid getting rolled through. He finished 1-1, and took 2nd place, which puts him at a 2 seed for the state tournament.

Kenneth had four in his bracket, so it was a round robin for seeding, as well. Two of the opponents he wrestled to and lost to this year, and the third he had not wrestled yet. It turns out he's the shortest kid in the group, with all others being at least a head taller than him. His first match was against a familiar opponent that I knew he could wrestle with, and he did just that. When he got taken down, he fought off the bottom, and at one point nearly had the kid caught on his back, but couldn't hold it. He lost the match in the end, but did not get pinned (very important), score ending 9-4. I missed his second match, because the meet was being held in split gyms and separate buildings, and his second match happened during Kendall's third match. But I was met by the opponent's dad on the way back in, and he congratulated me, because Kenneth had won. Kenneth had not beaten this opponent yet either, and his dad said his kid tried to run a cement mixer, but Kenneth defended it and caught him for a pin in the second period. His third match was against the best kid in the group, who was much bigger and more solid than the others in the group, and he pinned Kenneth in the first period.

So now, the magic of round-robin scoring: Kid A won all three of his matches, so got first. Kid B, Kenneth, went 1-2, pinning one, getting pinned in the last one, and losing by points in the first one. Kid C, who Kenneth beat, beat the kid Kenneth lost to first off, but didn't pin him, and lost to the Kid A, finishing 1-2. Kid D, who lost to Kid C, but beat Kenneth, but couldn't pin him, lost to Kid A by getting pinned, also finishing 1-2. So the way it all shook out in the end was that Kenneth ended up 2nd place, I think by virtue of not getting pinned in his first match. It was crazy, but I was so happy for him and proud.

So both boys, having and up and down day, get 2nd place, and for the first time they both qualified for state in the same year.

[bushido_man96]

Hey folks, just dropping in to let you know that the State Tournament update is coming in soon. Suffice it to say that I was very pleased with how both boys performed at State this year!!!...

[bushido_man96]

State Tournament update #1: Kenneth's results. I want to preface this with just how proud I am of where Kenneth started the season, and where he ended up the season. We spent quite a bit of time drilling various things, especially working on his bottom game.

Day 1, match 1. Kenneth was the short man in his bracket, far and away. He didn't wrestle anyone that was remotely the same size as him. His first opponent, he starts off ok on his feet. They tied up, and he really kept working for an inside tie, but the opponent eventually went to grabbing his head and trying to stuff him. Kenneth's typical reaction to this has been to bend over and twist away from it, which has bad results, and did so here, resulting in getting taken down. Kenneth tried worked his standups and sit-outs, but to no avail. At one point he had rolled away got some separation, but re-engaged right away and got taken back to the ground, and didn't get awarded any escape points. Kenneth got turned at the end of the period and gave up two back points. Kenneth started the second period on bottom, and after getting turned again briefly, he did get a reversal, and did a good job of maintaining position behind the hips and behind the elbows, and kept good pressure down, but could not turn for any points. Period three started neutral, and the opponent kept reaching for Kenneth's head, and eventually got it, doing a bad headlock takedown and pinning Kenneth. So a point of focus has been defending kids attacking the head, but he keeps worrying about the hands and not working for a shot, or he just ties up high, and loses the battle in leverage.

Day, match 2. This one starts again with another big kid grabbing and stuffing Kenneth's head to the ground. Got to work on shots. But after that, and getting rode a little bit, Kenneth sat out and got a reversal, and rode out the rest of the period. Down 0-2. Period 2 started in neutral, and Kenneth at least went after him, but came in high trying to tie up. The opponent stuffed his head, but Kenneth just kept going, got behind and was awarded a takedown (2-2). They go out of bounds and get reset, and Kenneth rides him down, and got him turned, but time was out and the period ended with no back points awarded. Period three, Kenneth had choice, and I was thinking to myself, "put him on top, and let him ride this kid out." But coach put him on bottom, which was the right call. It started with Kenneth coming up and the opponent getting a locked hands call, awarding Kenneth a point. They reset, Kenneth still on bottom, and Kenneth gets an escape, then returns the favor by grabbing the opponent's head and throwing him down, getting two for a takedown. He rode him out, turning him at the end, but too late for back points, but winning the match. Kenneth finished day one 1-1, and more importantly, gets to come back to wrestle on Sunday.

Day 2, match 1. This match started much the same as the others, with more head grabbing sloppiness. They scrambled a bit, and Kenneth almost secured two, but couldn't get behind when they ended up side by side, and the opponent eventually got the takedown, but Kenneth didn't give up any other points for the period. Kenneth started period two on bottom, and got up for an escape, but then went straight to trying to headlock a taller opponent, both of them standing straight up. That attempt was stopped when the opponent got a bloody nose. After the reset, the opponent jumped on Kenneth's head again, got taken down and to his back, but avoided a pin as the nose bleed started again. They reset with Kenneth on bottom, and avoiding giving up any more points. Period three started with Kenneth on top. Kenneth had trouble keeping the opponent down, and probably could have done better if he had ridden an ankle like he did in the second match. Then he had a brain fart. He locked his hands, and the ref signaled for it, and I guess Kenneth assumed he was stopping the match, and got off the opponent, who then promptly stood up and was awarded an escape. More head grabbing ensued, and Kenneth tried a desperation headlock at the end, but didn't set it up well and got taken down himself. He fought to the end, but didn't have enough to pull this one out.

Kenneth finished the tournament 1-2, and I really thought he wrestled very well, aside from the sloppy stand-up head-grabbing bologna, which we'll work on to fix. His bottom game was really solid, and his top game was decent, but can use some polishing. I was really proud that he won a match and was able to make it to day 2, which is an improvement over how he did the previous year. He showed much improvement over the course of the season, and I feel good about where he is in his development.

[bushido_man96]

Boy, I've done a bad job keeping up here!

The new tournament season is under way, and due to some family issues and my work schedule, we've only gotten Kenneth to two tournaments this season. His first tournament, he went 2-2, and got second place. He struggled with two kids that had several pounds on him (one he really could have beat, but didn't), and another that was more aggressive, which Kenneth needs to work on a bit. The two he beat were under his weight, and he wrestled them a lot better, and did some good things in the matches in working for turns and pins.

His second tourney was a tough one, with some real studs turning out. Bigger, more experienced, and he went 0-2 at that tournament.

Kendall's middle school season kicked off, and he went 2-1 at his first scramble. He's weighing around 218, and is wrestling with the heavy weights, so he's giving up some weight and size. His first two matches he won with pins in the second periods, and in the third match, he got pinned. He couldn't get out from under the bigger guy, and really should have started the second period in the top position, and he plans to do so next time, so as not to give the other a chance to ride his full weight on him.

Now, to just shore up Kendall's State Tournament from last year really quickly: he ended up taking 5th place, placing in the State Tourney for the third time now. Although it wasn't his highest place in the State Tourney, I think it was one of his best tournament runs. He had to come from behind in two matches, winning one with a pin in overtime, and winning the 5th/6th place match while being behind in points and pinning his opponent (in the second period, I think). He won his first match of the tournament, and the second match he lost to the kid who ended up taking the title (and incidentally, was the kid he beat in the 3rd/4th place match the year he took 3rd at state). His other loss was to a kid he had been wrestling from one of the near by towns in middle school the previous season, and that kid ended up 4th, I think. So, that was a good run for him, and he did some really good things on the mat, and even got an atta-boy from some guy watching from behind me when I was recording one of his matches...the guy referred to him as "the little guy," and he high-fived me when the match was over.

I can do a more detailed rundown if anyone really wants it, but I think that does it all justice pretty well, and it gets me caught up here.

If anyone else has a kid wrestling, feel free to post about it here, too! I love the sport, and would love to hear about anyone else's journey through this Martial journey!

[sensei8]

Better late than never, Brian with the updates.

What I have always loved about Kendall and Kennth is their sticktoitiveness with wrestling; one of their solid passions. After all, baseball isn't as demanding, and oftentimes, kids and adults go for that which seems easier.

I've truly enjoyed following you and boys each and every wrestling season. Hopefully their wrestling fire won't dim much or at all. Should they follow different challenges, I will always have their backs, win or lose.

GO KENDALL AND KENNETH!!!!!

PS: Some videos would be cool....too!!

[bushido_man96]

Thanks, Bob. I wish I could get some videos up, but I'm unsure on the process with the camera I'm running right now.

Kendall had another scramble last Thursday evening, but only had two matches. He won both, though. The second one he won rather easily with a pin in the first period. His first match was a knuckle-biter, though. He went all three periods, but won it, 3-2. Really low score, and really tough match. Much to my chagrin, he was placed on bottom to start the second period, and did manage to get out and away, which was good to see. I was pretty hacked about it, and he initially wanted to go on top, but the coach put him down. It worked out this time, though. Put I'd rather see if he can start working on top, and get the kid into a pin instead of working a whole period to get out and get a point. The most satisfying aspect, though, was is that he won against the kid who beat him the previous week, so that's a great thing to me!

[sensei8]

Just like the Chiefs, Kendall wasn't going to be outdone once the dust finally settled. It's always rewarding whenever you can best an opponent who bested you previously; helps with ones self-esteem in that which one's trained in.

GO KENNETH AND KENDALL!!