Tuply Tournament - 2nd Place

Michael had another great day of wrestling. He pinned his first 2 opponents and ended up losing the championship bout taking a solid second place in the 28th Annual Tulpehocken Elementary Wrestling Tournament. I ordered him a new singlet last week and it came just in time for this tourn. His record for the season is now 21-8 with 10 pins. Not bad for his first season of wrestling and the fact that he is only 5 years old :)

Here are the videos from the tournament:

Match 1:

Match 2:

Match 3

2010 Champs

Our Pottsgrove boys who placed at the 2010 ICWL Wrestling Championship Tournament at Methacton High School. We had three 1st place, four 2nd place, and two 3rd place finishers. Great job boys!

2010 ICWL Championship Tournament - Michael Wins First Place

Well, he did it. An amazing weekend of wrestling ending with a first place finish in the 40lb Pee Wee division at the Methacton ICWL Novice Wrestling Tournament. Michael pinned all 3 of his opponents today and just did fantastic. I am so proud of the way he has been improving and applying the technique we have been teaching him. There were 10 guys in his weight bracket and Michael's record from this season before today was 16-7 so he got the first seed. His first and second match both ended with Michael pinning his opponents in the first period. His 3rd and final match went 3 periods with a crying breakdown from his opponent in the second period giving Michael a 1-2 minute break. He pinned his opponent in the 3rd period and won first place. 5-0 for the weekend. He was so happy and very proud - as am I.

Here are the videos of all three bouts:

Match 1

Match 2

Championship Match

Great day of wrestling

Michael has just been getting better and better each week. Last weekend he was unfortunately sick and missed a tri-meet and a tournament - well, he certainly made up for it today. In his first match, he used the half-nelson and one on one wrist control I have been going over with him and pinned the kid in the first period. His second match was a bit tougher but he did amazingly well and won 9-8. A good day of wrestling. He is excited to add a 5th safety pin to his hat signifying each of the pins he's gotten.

Tomorrow is the 20th annual Intercounty Wrestling League First Year True Novice Championship at Methacton High School. Videos to come...Wish him luck!

Match 1

Match 2

Blue Mt.

at Blue Mtn.

Snowboarding at Bear Creek

We've been taking the kids snowboarding at Bear Creek at least once a week this season and they seem to finally be "getting it." Although we never last longer than a few runs they really seem to be improving. If you've ever gone snowboarding before you know how frustrating the first couple of times can be. Now imagine teaching a 5 and 7 year old how to ride. You get the picture...

Boarding

Michael Boarding

Lift Ride

loves the snow - enjoy it while it lasts - http://ping.fm/2Y101

Thursday Sledding...

I took the kids to Mya's Elementary School, Ringing Rocks, on Thursday for some afternoon sledding. They had a great time although there was a bit too much snow eating on their part :)

loves that we are getting another 18" of snow. Bring it!

Souderton Wrestling Tournament

Great day today at the Souderton Wrestling tournament. Michael had his best day of wrestling yet. He took 3rd place and came home with a very nice trophy that he was super excited to show. His first match he pinned the kid pretty quickly. His second match was a bit tougher against a kid he had wrestled back at the Pottsgrove Takedown Tournament back in December and at the Pottsgrove Holiday Tournament in January - he's had a very close match with this boy every time and this was definitely his best- he was winning most of the match and the kid took him down with just a few seconds left in the third period forcing an overtime. In overtime he got taken down and had to move to the consolation bracket. In the consolation semi-finals he tech-falled his opponent (a tech fall means they stop the match because you are winning by 15 points). Then in the consolation finals he pinned his opponent in the first period for a 3rd place finish. The kid who beat him in overtime ended up taking first in the tournament. All in all a great day.

Here are the videos of each match:

First Match:

Second Match:

Consolation Semi-finals:

Consolation Finals:

Ben and Shane Photos

Today was the Bris of my new nephews Ben Stephen and Shane Noble (above). They are both adorable kids and I look forward to watching them grow. Here are some photos from the mitzvah:

on the way to meet my twin nephews for the first time.

Greenday - 21 Guns Live at the 2010 Grammy Awards

I don't usually watch the Grammys or any of those types of shows. I happened to catch this Greenday performance last night and thought it was amazing. Greenday performed "21 Guns" with the cast of  "American Idiot" a new broadway show based on the Greenday album. Very cool and worth the watch - full screen for best picture: