Wrestling Results

There has been so much going on the last few days I haven't had a chance yet to post the wrestling results for last week and the weekend!

Kyle:

He didn't have a great night last Thursday. Lost both matches, and rather quickly, to St. Thomas Academy and then Osseo. There were several reasons for his quick demise, the main factor; Kyle just wasn't in the "zone". I don't know where his head was (other than pinned on the mat :) )

(I wonder if my funky outfit set the tone for his evening). If it would have been Justin.......yes, most likely...........Kyle........not a chance.

Number one rule in wrestling........shake it off. The next match is a new match.

That has proved true time and time again for Kyle and Saturday was no different.

He wrestled great and took 2nd in the tournament of 10 schools!

I had to miss the tournament. Remember, I was meeting with that "cutest darn couple". I was planning on going to it after my meeting but it was only a Varsity tournament, so it was over earlier than expected. Instead I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with the team and watched them all play the shooting game (Kyle is really good) and hang out.

Sunday..................Gregory's FIRST live match and tournament!!


Could we have been more excited? I don't think so!!

We were all a bunch of lunatics. Poor Gregory with his entourage following behind him; Dave, Greg, Kyle, myself. Video cameras big and small, tapes and memory cards, cameras big and small, bags of extra batteries "just in case" and then the "unnecessary" items like wrestling shoes and head gear.

It was a fun tournament because it was in Stillwater. There were a lot of kids Gregory knew there from school in Stillwater. He looked quite popular hanging with the Stillwater crowd and then the New Richmond crowd.

Have I ever mentioned that wrestling is real big in Stillwater and New Richmond? It is. It is taken more seriously than hockey in Maple Grove and that is saying A LOT!!

Gregory's wrestling "team" consists of children from the ages of 2 thru 6th grade. There are about 48 kids in the club. 42 of them were at the Stillwater tournament. We were the largest club there. (Stillwater was second with pretty close to that).

Gregory weighed in at 82 pounds. I really think he is about the tallest kid on the team. When he learns to use it, the length of his body is going to be a huge advantage for him.

Well, we (I) took video. Horrible is an understatement. It is fine the first 10 seconds and then it is the mat. I was so excited..........how am I possibly to be expected to win this match for my son and keep him out of harm's way if I am looking thru a little viewer of a video camera!!

I swear, us parents, we really believe that our screaming and yelling; the sound of our voice alone, is going to pick that leg up, move that arm, turn that head, shoot, you name it, I think we truly believe we will win that match for them simply with our will and power of our voice.

Gregory gets very confused, and with good reason, we are yelling and yelling and yelling and yelling and he is looking at us like he is suppose to respond to us. He is out there on the mat trying to communicate back to us! No, Gregory, we are just yelling, never mind us, this is not a time for communication, JUST WRESTLE!!!

I have been on the wrestling team for many years. Kyle has wrestled since 4th grade and is now in 11th. At the beginning of my career I didn't have a clue what anything was called, what they were doing, or why they were awarded points. I have learned. I have learned what kind of moves work and don't work, when you should "look the other way", "arch your back", "shoot", "snap his head", "break him down", (I have recently learned the term "put their ear in their nose", which is otherwise known as "crossface", but in Gregory's wrestling they have to put it in terms the 2 year olds can understand (scary, huh?)). When I am screaming and yelling I usually know what I am screaming and yelling about (although in my nervousness I usually resort to GO KYLE!!)

The tournaments Gregory is in are for the 2 year olds thru 6th graders. Well, in this stage of the game, many of the parents are young and inexperienced. They haven't been on the wrestling team that long.

The things that come out of their mouths!! These people, most of them nicely dressed, polite, kind, wonderful parents, supportive. By every outward appearance good people. Until their child gets on the mat. (I am not excluded. I am right in there with them!!) The kids are out to have fun. The parents are ready for war. It is hillarious. I have this lovely mother and grandmother kneeling next to me on the mat. Ready for the whistle. We smile at each other. Comment on the others cute shirt or pretty necklace. The whistle blows. I begin with "Break him down". Well, they don't know what they are saying but think they should say something similar so out of their sweet, kind, loving mouths "Tear him down........break him.......BREAK HIM!!!!) Next, Kyle and I say "Gregory, Shoot!!". Next we hear out of their little mouths "shoot him...........shoot him........JACOB SHOOT HIM!!!!".

You can't even imagine what all you hear that day!

The end of the match. Whistle blows. Winner hand goes up. Shake of hands between wrestlers. Parents hug their wrestler. Shake of hands between wrestlers and parents, then parents and parents and then, "Where did you get your hair color done, I love it". "Oh and I wanted to ask you about those shoes!!" (that I seen hanging off the edge of the mat while you were encouraging your son to kill mine!!).

Number one rule in wrestling. Shake it off and move on. The parents are pros at it.

Before and after the match the sportsmanship you see between everyone really is wonderful. Gregory had an extremely hard match his last match. He had already wrestled 2 matches that were not easy and he went into his third tired and it was a real tough match. It was a wrestler that came from Kennedy, which is way south of the Twin Cities. You can figure when you see a wrestler in a tournament that is a long way from where they are from they are pretty good. This kid was good and in his 4th year of wrestling. He pinned his first two matches no problem. It was him and Gregory in the championship match for first and second place. He did not pin Gregory, which was a HUGE accomplishment on Gregory's part. It was a really hard match and very tiring and frustrating for Gregory. At the end of it he was wiped out. He came to me and had eyes pooling with tears he was doing everything possible to hold in, and then a couple escaped and trickled down his cheeks. Tears of disappointment, frustration and exhaustion. The little boy from Kennedy, who had just won the match, came up to Gregory and put his arm around him and asked if he was o.k. He then proceeded to tell Gregory he has been wrestling for 4 years and has already been in 10 tournaments just this year and Gregory is the only wrestler he hasn't pinned. He told Gregory he did a great job and was a really good wrestler. Gregory's tears dried up, a smile crept across his face and he said "Oh, so you're a pro". He went over to his dad and said "He's a pro dad, I did good". "When is the the next tournament?!".

See, shake it off.

Gregory had 2 pins!!! Yes, pins! He then lost his last match. He took 2nd place in his first tournament!!! He did fantastic and his entourage could not be prouder of him. Kyle was actually beaming (and those of you know, Kyle doesn't beam easily!). I don't know how many times he told Gregory he did a great job. Many times during Gregory's matches Kyle would look over at me with his head half cocked and the one eyebrow raised and say "he's actually pretty good". When he told Gregory that I thought we were going to have to scrape Gregory from the ceiling. Gregory getting a compliment from his big brother Kyle is a really big deal!

Gregory wore his medal to school on Monday. Showed it to everyone on the bus and used it for show and tell. He wore it again to run errands after school just in case someone in Walmart or EconoFoods might like to see it!

Here are a couple of videos. Everyone is of the opinion someone else should video tape while Gregory is wrestling. Although we were not the only ones screaming (the coach (yes he has a coach) and Dave were as well, you can only hear me and Kyle.

Gregory wrestled his first match with a smile on his face. Kyle is not of the opinion you can wrestle aggressively with a smile on your face. You will hear Kyle in one of the videos tell Gregory to stop smiling. (We would hate for him to be having fun :) )I told you......we are maniacs!