Kutztown Wrestling Tourney 11-28-10

Well, it was a tough one today. It's a good thing that the season is just starting. Michael had a rough couple of matches at the Kutztown Wrestling tournament today. He started great in both matches, but kept getting caught in "cement mixers." It looks like we'll be drilling "how-not-to-get-caught in cement mixers at practice for the next couple of weeks. He did very well in both of his bouts, but ended up losing them both because of that move. Oh well - it was a good learning experience.

Keystone Games Wrestling

Michael had a good day of wrestling today and came out with a second place medal. It was his first real live wrestling experience in almost 6 months and he pinned the first kid and lost to the second kid. There were only three wrestlers in his bracket of 42lbs Pee Wee. It was a good experience for him to get back in the wrestling groove. Here are the videos:


Keystone Games - Match 1


Keystone Games - Match 2

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

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:

Wrestling Tri-Meet at Downingtown

Michael had another meet today at Downingtown. The first match was super close and for 5 minutes in the middle of it, the ref had to work out the correct score which ended up being a tie between Mike and his opponent (I think we got very lucky as the score may have been correct). Mike ended up winning 13-12 with the kid almost reversing at the very end - saved by the bell - very close.



His second match was not as close. He got caught and pinned. I think if he wrestled this kid first it would have been much closer...Oh well.

Chichester Wrestling Tri-Meet

Well...another Saturday and another few wrestling matches to report on. Michael and the Pottsgrove Wrestling Club had a great day today at the Chichester Middle School Tri-Meet. Michael won both of his matches. Unfortunately Michael's 2 matches were about 4.5 hours apart which made the day veeeeerrrryyyyy long. His first match ended with Michael pinning his opponent in the first period. He executed a beautiful switch - one on one wrist control with a half nelson for the pin. I screwed up and did not record it by accidentally hitting record twice on my video camera. Here is the very end of his match after the referee already raised his hand:



Michael's second match was a bit tougher than the first but he still came away with a nice win after going the full 3 periods and winning by decision 6-3. He locked his hands a couple of times giving his opponent points that he otherwise would not have received. I did record this match and it can be viewed here:



We are of course very proud of Michael - thank goodness for the Nintendo DS, without it I don't know how we would have gotten through a 6 hour day in a middle school gym :)

Daniel Boone Wrestling Tournament - Michael Takes 2nd

Today (January 16th, 2010) Michael wrestled in the Daniel Boone Blazer Mat Club Novice Tournament and took 2nd place. He received his first trophy ever and wrestled extremely well. It was a very long day at 9 hours - we got there at 8:15am and didn't leave until after 5pm - but his DS and the occasional wrestling match made the day go quickly.

He won his first two matches putting him into the finals for first or second place. The boy he wrestled in the finals was about a head taller and caught him for a pin. Michael was disappointed that he lost the finals but was very excited to get a nice trophy. We are very proud. Check out the videos full screen for the best view.

Match 1 (he actually wrestled this boy before in the holiday tournament and just barely won the last time)

Semi-Final Match

Final Match - For 1st or 2nd Place

Michael receive's his first trophy - he is very proud