Another 10+ hours of riding the pine (actually it was cold aluminum, but "steel" very hard) and my back is screaming "UNCLE"! Motrin is my friend during these long weekend tournaments... :)
On to the results... According to a few of the guys (to protect the guilty I will leave them anonymous), "If this was last year, we wouldn't have had any reason to come back on Saturday!" Well, that was last year. This year, we're a much better team!
We had THREE placers this year!
Chris Enslow - 2nd Place
Daniel Finni - 4th Place
Josh Ivey - 4th Place
These guys did a great job of representing Villa Rica Wrestling in a VERY tough tournament that was full of top notch schools! Chris Rice and Kean Pettus also did a great job in the tournament. Rice showed that his wrestling skills are still improving by picking up 2 nice victories. Kean Pettus did a great job of avoiding disaster by not losing to a girl! Chapel Hill brought a VERY tough female 135 wrestler to the tournament that was beating some of the boys. When I heard that Kean was matched up with her, I couldn't do anything but laugh... oh, and I prayed a little bit, too! LOL - Kean went on to beat her by a decision.
My Fighter of the Night award has to go Daniel Finni. He came back to the varsity lineup while still suffering from cauliflower ear. He also picked up a couple of wins, one of which was by pin to take fourth place in a weight class that seemed to be very tough! It was nice to see him bring his senior leadership back to the mat.
Next up is the CRWA JV Invitational at Newnan High School on Monday, Dec. 21st. All 8th and 9th grade wrestlers need to be at the high school BEFORE 7:15am (Bus leaves at 7:15am).
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Ringling Bros & Temple
Get your popcorn... get your cotton candy...
A circus. That is exactly what took place last night in Temple. I would say the reffing was laughable, but there was nothing funny about the horrendous "reffing" job done by some kid. Seriously, a kid. He was so young and immature at one point between matches he put on a singlet and wrestled one of Bowden's kids! I got up, turned my back, and let the gym floor.
Then we had other kids attempting to keep score. Yes, I know that it is common to use HS kids to keep score, but shouldn't it be a prerequisite that you understand how wrestling is scored?? I sat behind the scorers table listening to Act II of the Ringling Bros & Temple Circus.... it was just bad.
OK, now on to the results... first up was Bowden. I think our guys must of not done a good enough job of warming up before the match, because we looked ice cold! Plus, if your shoulders were anywhere within 3 feet of the mat the "ref" would call a pin... The lone victor from our fights with Bowden was the ever-improving Zach Swafford! Zach got his victory in the 1st period via pin!
On to the circus host, Temple. We fared much better against Temple. As a matter of fact, we won every match that we were in aside from Daniel Finni's decision loss to a much larger opponent (Finni 171 vs. Temple 189). The only two pins came from our 8th graders, Jacob Pirkle & Connor Gibbs! Great job, guys! Chris Enslow, Josh Ivey, Kenny Doll, and Kean Pettus all won via decision. It seemed like each guy was wrestling up in weight class, which led to some hard fought battles! Which reminds me of another point... for the first time it actually felt like Villa Rica had a nice cheering section! I could tell the guys were feeding off our energy, as they were really into the action as well!
OK, time to give out the distinguished Fighter of the Night trophy. This one is tough one, but this guy is the ONLY guy to get a win against Bowden, plus he did it via pin.... congrats to Zach Swafford! Honorable mention goes to both of our 8th graders for being the only other two guys to get a pin last night... Jacob Pirkle & Connor Gibbs are both showing great promise for a very exciting varsity career starting next season... I look forward to to watching all three of these young wrestlers continue to hone their wrestling skills the rest of this season, as well as seasons to come.
A circus. That is exactly what took place last night in Temple. I would say the reffing was laughable, but there was nothing funny about the horrendous "reffing" job done by some kid. Seriously, a kid. He was so young and immature at one point between matches he put on a singlet and wrestled one of Bowden's kids! I got up, turned my back, and let the gym floor.
Then we had other kids attempting to keep score. Yes, I know that it is common to use HS kids to keep score, but shouldn't it be a prerequisite that you understand how wrestling is scored?? I sat behind the scorers table listening to Act II of the Ringling Bros & Temple Circus.... it was just bad.
OK, now on to the results... first up was Bowden. I think our guys must of not done a good enough job of warming up before the match, because we looked ice cold! Plus, if your shoulders were anywhere within 3 feet of the mat the "ref" would call a pin... The lone victor from our fights with Bowden was the ever-improving Zach Swafford! Zach got his victory in the 1st period via pin!
On to the circus host, Temple. We fared much better against Temple. As a matter of fact, we won every match that we were in aside from Daniel Finni's decision loss to a much larger opponent (Finni 171 vs. Temple 189). The only two pins came from our 8th graders, Jacob Pirkle & Connor Gibbs! Great job, guys! Chris Enslow, Josh Ivey, Kenny Doll, and Kean Pettus all won via decision. It seemed like each guy was wrestling up in weight class, which led to some hard fought battles! Which reminds me of another point... for the first time it actually felt like Villa Rica had a nice cheering section! I could tell the guys were feeding off our energy, as they were really into the action as well!
OK, time to give out the distinguished Fighter of the Night trophy. This one is tough one, but this guy is the ONLY guy to get a win against Bowden, plus he did it via pin.... congrats to Zach Swafford! Honorable mention goes to both of our 8th graders for being the only other two guys to get a pin last night... Jacob Pirkle & Connor Gibbs are both showing great promise for a very exciting varsity career starting next season... I look forward to to watching all three of these young wrestlers continue to hone their wrestling skills the rest of this season, as well as seasons to come.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Temple Location Correction
Coach Seeley just informed me that the Meet will be held at the Rec Center in Temple, and NOT at the High School.
I just called Temple's City Hall for the address...
240 Rome Street
Temple, GA 30179
Click Here For Map
I just called Temple's City Hall for the address...
240 Rome Street
Temple, GA 30179
Click Here For Map
Cedartown Results
We seemed to look better and better with each outing! Hopefully, this trend will continue through the rest of the season! Last night we had to face off with Model (2nd place winner of the Screaming Eagle tournament last weekend), North Murray, and the host of the party, Cedartown.
Up first was Model. This dual went pretty fast as there was not one match that went to a decision. We picked up 3 wins from Zach Swafford, Thomas Roberts (I think that is his name, he is a new guy wrestling 130), and Chris Enslow. Again, all 3 wins came via Pin.
Next we faced off with North Murray. We picked up another 3 wins from Chris Rice (Pin), Kean Pettus (Dec), and Josh Ivey (Dec).
Finally, we moved over a mat and took on Cedartown. We did much better against Cedartown as we picked up 5 wins! Picking up the victories via Pin were: Chris Enslow (Pin) and Micheal Alexander (Pin); and via decision were: Josh Ivey (Dec), Kean Pettus (Dec), and Juan Batista (Dec).
There were several exciting matches on the evening. Kean Pettus was in a tough war winning 4-2 when he almost gave up the takedown that would have evened the score, but Kean held tough, got into position, and scored the takedown himself as time expired giving him a nice 6-2 victory. Chris Enslow found himself in 2 exciting matches... in his 1st he picked up the quickest pin honor by sticking his guy in 42 seconds, then in his 3rd match he used a takedown move that Coach Seeley just showed the team the night before (I think its called the Colby)... this move worked as he got the takedown and an immediate pin... this got the bench jumping and the team jacked as the rest of the guys went 4-2 after that! For going 2-1 with 2 pins and using the newly implemented Colby takedown, I am giving the Fighter of the Night award to Chris Enslow. Great job, Chris! Honorable mention goes to Kean Pettus who also got 2 wins via decision, but they were both very tough battles. Great job, Kean!
No time to rest as we get back in the saddle and head down to Temple tonight! I don't have the exact time, but I'm guessing 5pm, since that is when most events start during the week. This is a local event, so I hope to see everyone there tonight! Here is a link to a map of the school.... Temple High School
Up first was Model. This dual went pretty fast as there was not one match that went to a decision. We picked up 3 wins from Zach Swafford, Thomas Roberts (I think that is his name, he is a new guy wrestling 130), and Chris Enslow. Again, all 3 wins came via Pin.
Next we faced off with North Murray. We picked up another 3 wins from Chris Rice (Pin), Kean Pettus (Dec), and Josh Ivey (Dec).
Finally, we moved over a mat and took on Cedartown. We did much better against Cedartown as we picked up 5 wins! Picking up the victories via Pin were: Chris Enslow (Pin) and Micheal Alexander (Pin); and via decision were: Josh Ivey (Dec), Kean Pettus (Dec), and Juan Batista (Dec).
There were several exciting matches on the evening. Kean Pettus was in a tough war winning 4-2 when he almost gave up the takedown that would have evened the score, but Kean held tough, got into position, and scored the takedown himself as time expired giving him a nice 6-2 victory. Chris Enslow found himself in 2 exciting matches... in his 1st he picked up the quickest pin honor by sticking his guy in 42 seconds, then in his 3rd match he used a takedown move that Coach Seeley just showed the team the night before (I think its called the Colby)... this move worked as he got the takedown and an immediate pin... this got the bench jumping and the team jacked as the rest of the guys went 4-2 after that! For going 2-1 with 2 pins and using the newly implemented Colby takedown, I am giving the Fighter of the Night award to Chris Enslow. Great job, Chris! Honorable mention goes to Kean Pettus who also got 2 wins via decision, but they were both very tough battles. Great job, Kean!
No time to rest as we get back in the saddle and head down to Temple tonight! I don't have the exact time, but I'm guessing 5pm, since that is when most events start during the week. This is a local event, so I hope to see everyone there tonight! Here is a link to a map of the school.... Temple High School
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Screaming Eagle Results
After two days of sitting on a hard bench, my back is "screaming" for some Motrin! Speaking of pain, I don't recall ever seeing so many bloody noses in one event and I watch the UFC! OK, on to the action...
First, Friday night we had the team duals. We were in a pool with Cedartown, Mt. Zion, and Lithia Springs. Up first was Cedartown where we picked up 3 wins from Kean Pettus (pin), Josh Ivey, and Kenny Doll (pin). Next, we faced off with the tournament host, Mt. Zion, and we picked up 3 more wins from Kenny Doll, Juan Batista (pin), and Josh Ivey (pin). In our last dual of the evening we paired off with a very game Lithia Springs team. We came out of that match licking our wounds with just one victory from Josh Ivey.
Now, on to Saturday's double elimination tournament. This was a very tough tournament with Bremen bringing two varsity teams, and a few other teams having long storied wrestling programs. Our boys hung strong and got several victories... after the dust settled we ended up with one placer as Josh Ivey (103) picked up 2nd place. Chris Enslow (145), Juan Batista (160), and Micheal Alexander (171) all picked up 2 victories each, and Kenny Doll (152) picked up a win in the tournament as well. I'd like to point out that all four of these guys are wrestling out of their natural weight class. Enslow should be at 140, Doll at 145, Batista at 152, and Playboy at 160. Had these guys been in these weight classes who knows what could have happened, but I suspect more victories.
Although they didn't pick up a win, I'd like to point out that Daniel Holland and Zach Swafford both fought tougher than I've ever seen them. For the first time, I am seeing real passion and fire in both of these guys and I love it! I'm sure good things and plenty of victories are in store for both in the near future.
Going 3-0 on Friday night and taking 2nd place in the Saturday tournament makes giving out my "Fighter of the Night" award to Josh Ivey pretty easy. Great job Josh!
First, Friday night we had the team duals. We were in a pool with Cedartown, Mt. Zion, and Lithia Springs. Up first was Cedartown where we picked up 3 wins from Kean Pettus (pin), Josh Ivey, and Kenny Doll (pin). Next, we faced off with the tournament host, Mt. Zion, and we picked up 3 more wins from Kenny Doll, Juan Batista (pin), and Josh Ivey (pin). In our last dual of the evening we paired off with a very game Lithia Springs team. We came out of that match licking our wounds with just one victory from Josh Ivey.
Now, on to Saturday's double elimination tournament. This was a very tough tournament with Bremen bringing two varsity teams, and a few other teams having long storied wrestling programs. Our boys hung strong and got several victories... after the dust settled we ended up with one placer as Josh Ivey (103) picked up 2nd place. Chris Enslow (145), Juan Batista (160), and Micheal Alexander (171) all picked up 2 victories each, and Kenny Doll (152) picked up a win in the tournament as well. I'd like to point out that all four of these guys are wrestling out of their natural weight class. Enslow should be at 140, Doll at 145, Batista at 152, and Playboy at 160. Had these guys been in these weight classes who knows what could have happened, but I suspect more victories.
Although they didn't pick up a win, I'd like to point out that Daniel Holland and Zach Swafford both fought tougher than I've ever seen them. For the first time, I am seeing real passion and fire in both of these guys and I love it! I'm sure good things and plenty of victories are in store for both in the near future.
Going 3-0 on Friday night and taking 2nd place in the Saturday tournament makes giving out my "Fighter of the Night" award to Josh Ivey pretty easy. Great job Josh!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Screaming Eagle Tournament Tonight & Tomorrow
Well, before I get to this weekend's tournament I guess I need to post something about the Cass HS results... First, the good news...... Ok, now for the bad news... we didn't do very well. With that said (I know not much was said :~) ... I would like to point out that Cass just won the team state championship back in 2006. That means that they have a program that has been in place for many years now. Although we technically had a team last year, this is the first year of building the program at Villa Rica. We have so much youth and underclassmen participating now we can actually call it a program! Speaking of building a program, here is a nice article about just that... Times-Georgian Cats continue to build program
Now, on to tonight! Mt. Zion is hosting the Screaming Eagle tournament for the 7th year. The format is set up so each team has 3 duals tonight, then tomorrow they will start a double elimination tournament. That's a guaranteed 5 matches! That's the kind of mat time our young team needs! Times-Georgian has a nice article about the tournament also... Times-Georgian Screaming Eagle Tournament
Fights start at 5pm, so come out and bring as many people as you can! Not too many times that you're guaranteed to see your child wrestle at least 3 times in one evening! As always, here is a link with a map.... Mt. Zion High School
Now, on to tonight! Mt. Zion is hosting the Screaming Eagle tournament for the 7th year. The format is set up so each team has 3 duals tonight, then tomorrow they will start a double elimination tournament. That's a guaranteed 5 matches! That's the kind of mat time our young team needs! Times-Georgian has a nice article about the tournament also... Times-Georgian Screaming Eagle Tournament
Fights start at 5pm, so come out and bring as many people as you can! Not too many times that you're guaranteed to see your child wrestle at least 3 times in one evening! As always, here is a link with a map.... Mt. Zion High School
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
ALX JV Tournament Results
We had another pretty decent showing by our JV squad this past Saturday. Most of the guys won at least a couple of matches to extend themselves into the tournament, but with at least 15 teams present you had to win several big matches against big schools with top wrestling programs in order to place. I was speaking with the parent of one of the wrestlers there from Creekview HS, and she said they had one varsity team at one tournament, their varsity "B" team at a different tournament, and their JV squad at this tournament. That alone should tell you type of opponents we had had to face.
In some of the first matches of the day, we had two wrestlers going at the same time just a few feet away from each other. Not only that, but Josh Ivey and Juan Batista both had their guys locked into cradles working for the pin... Josh scored first and got the pin... only seconds later the ref slammed his hand down in Juan's match giving him the pin victory as well.
"Fighter of the Night" award goes to our only placer at the tournament, Chris Rice. Chris placed 4th in a highly competitive 130 weight class! He did a great job of representing how far our young program has come under the tutelage of Coach Seeley. For those of you who don't know much about Coach Seeley, he hails from the great wrestling state of Ohio. In Ohio, wrestling is THE sport... rumor has it that kids are born there already wearing a singlet and headgear! Coach Seeley is bringing that Ohio wrestling passion to our team and it shows! I'm truly excited to watch the matches going forward and seeing the progression the team makes this season!
OK, before his Coach Seeley's head gets any bigger, let's move on to the next topic... Cass High School. We will head up to Cartersville tomorrow to take on Cass with both the Varsity and the JV squads. Fights are set to begin at 5:30pm, so make sure you leave in plenty of time... I am attaching a map link for those of you (me too) who don't know where Cass High School is located.
Cass High School Map
In some of the first matches of the day, we had two wrestlers going at the same time just a few feet away from each other. Not only that, but Josh Ivey and Juan Batista both had their guys locked into cradles working for the pin... Josh scored first and got the pin... only seconds later the ref slammed his hand down in Juan's match giving him the pin victory as well.
"Fighter of the Night" award goes to our only placer at the tournament, Chris Rice. Chris placed 4th in a highly competitive 130 weight class! He did a great job of representing how far our young program has come under the tutelage of Coach Seeley. For those of you who don't know much about Coach Seeley, he hails from the great wrestling state of Ohio. In Ohio, wrestling is THE sport... rumor has it that kids are born there already wearing a singlet and headgear! Coach Seeley is bringing that Ohio wrestling passion to our team and it shows! I'm truly excited to watch the matches going forward and seeing the progression the team makes this season!
OK, before his Coach Seeley's head gets any bigger, let's move on to the next topic... Cass High School. We will head up to Cartersville tomorrow to take on Cass with both the Varsity and the JV squads. Fights are set to begin at 5:30pm, so make sure you leave in plenty of time... I am attaching a map link for those of you (me too) who don't know where Cass High School is located.
Cass High School Map
Friday, December 4, 2009
Bowden Tri-Meet Results (JV Only)
The overall results from last night's action isn't too bad. Of course, it all depends on how you view the results. We had some wins and we had some losses, but considering this is everyone's first year wrestling I think things went pretty good.
We started off going head-to-head with LaGrange. We won 3 matches and lost 4 matches. Chris Rice, Micheal Alexander, and Jacob Pirkle all won via pins. Nice job guys.
Next up was Bowden. We split the matches with Bowden 50/50, by winning 6 and losing 6. Josh Ivey, Chris Rice, Kenny Childers, Micheal Alexander, and Josh Ivey (2nd match) all got their wins via pin. Micheal Alexander also got another win via major decision 12-4.
Going forward, I plan to start giving out a "Fighter of the Night" award. This is a highly technical process of crunching numbers using advanced 3rd grade math.... :) - Anyway, winning the very first, and highly respected, Fighter of the Night award goes to.... Micheal Alexander! Not only did he have 3 matches and won them all, but they were all very exciting to watch. It is very obvious (especially to his opponents) that he is extremely strong, fast, and very athletic. Congrats Playboy! Also, I wanted to give an honorable mention to Josh Ivey for 2 entertaining fights. In his first match, he fought off a nice fluffernuggin, where it appeared that both guys were pinning each other simultaneously! Josh ended up winning the fluffernuggin battle and got the pin in the 3rd period. And, quickest pin honors goes to Chris Rice who needed only 21 seconds to pin his guy from Bowden! Nice!
Up next... The Alexander JV Challenge on Saturday morning. I don't have the start time, but Sat matches usually start @ 9am. I'm sure Coach Fuller will be giving the boys a complete itenerary tonight after practice with correct times. I hope everyone comes out and help support our boys in this tournament!
Here is a map of Alexander for those unsure... Alexander High School
We started off going head-to-head with LaGrange. We won 3 matches and lost 4 matches. Chris Rice, Micheal Alexander, and Jacob Pirkle all won via pins. Nice job guys.
Next up was Bowden. We split the matches with Bowden 50/50, by winning 6 and losing 6. Josh Ivey, Chris Rice, Kenny Childers, Micheal Alexander, and Josh Ivey (2nd match) all got their wins via pin. Micheal Alexander also got another win via major decision 12-4.
Going forward, I plan to start giving out a "Fighter of the Night" award. This is a highly technical process of crunching numbers using advanced 3rd grade math.... :) - Anyway, winning the very first, and highly respected, Fighter of the Night award goes to.... Micheal Alexander! Not only did he have 3 matches and won them all, but they were all very exciting to watch. It is very obvious (especially to his opponents) that he is extremely strong, fast, and very athletic. Congrats Playboy! Also, I wanted to give an honorable mention to Josh Ivey for 2 entertaining fights. In his first match, he fought off a nice fluffernuggin, where it appeared that both guys were pinning each other simultaneously! Josh ended up winning the fluffernuggin battle and got the pin in the 3rd period. And, quickest pin honors goes to Chris Rice who needed only 21 seconds to pin his guy from Bowden! Nice!
Up next... The Alexander JV Challenge on Saturday morning. I don't have the start time, but Sat matches usually start @ 9am. I'm sure Coach Fuller will be giving the boys a complete itenerary tonight after practice with correct times. I hope everyone comes out and help support our boys in this tournament!
Here is a map of Alexander for those unsure... Alexander High School
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Central Results
Well, it was a very tough night for our Wildcats. First, for the bad news (I usually prefer to end on a good note)... As a team we lost 22-54... individually every loss was via a pin (aside from Daniel Finni who lost via decision to a much heavier opponent). Now for the good news... Josh Ivey scored a very nice pin in the 3rd period after schooling the other guy for a couple of periods. Nice work Josh! Also, Keen Pettus scored a decision victory with a 15-2 win. Keen had his guy in some bad positions several times. As a matter of fact, he had a pin set and the ref was about slam his hand down for the pin, but the period ended. Oh well, it was a nice win anyway. Great job Keen!
Also, on at least two occasions I saw headgear malfunctions. In one case, Chris Enslow's face was completely covered by his headgear. I'm not sure if this caused him to lose the battle, but it sure didn't help him any! I must say that it did look kind of funny watching him shake hands with the other guy and his coach with his headgear still covering his face... I'm sure he has a different opinion. I'm not sure what happened to Connor Gibbs' headgear, but the next thing I knew it was flying 20 feet in the air! Pretty cool display, but probably need to adjust it so it stays on next time. Maybe the guys need to wear headgear during practice to make sure if fits properly?? Just an idea.
Anyway, next match is a JV match this Thursday at Bowden. Fights start @ 5pm.
Also, on at least two occasions I saw headgear malfunctions. In one case, Chris Enslow's face was completely covered by his headgear. I'm not sure if this caused him to lose the battle, but it sure didn't help him any! I must say that it did look kind of funny watching him shake hands with the other guy and his coach with his headgear still covering his face... I'm sure he has a different opinion. I'm not sure what happened to Connor Gibbs' headgear, but the next thing I knew it was flying 20 feet in the air! Pretty cool display, but probably need to adjust it so it stays on next time. Maybe the guys need to wear headgear during practice to make sure if fits properly?? Just an idea.
Anyway, next match is a JV match this Thursday at Bowden. Fights start @ 5pm.
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