Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Freestyle/Greco Schoolboy Duals

To add onto what Mrs. Bradley is saying:

Here is a list of kids with limited or NO FS/GR experience, maybe a tourney or two at most, prior to Schoolboy duals.
Josiah Seaton
Luke Henes
Tagen Lambotte
Jake Bradley
Jaylen Padilla
Raymond Gallegos
Aaron Rafalko
Jarin "Downtown" Brown

Last year we had several similar situations of kids that performed well as "greenies".

Our kids were involved in several "war" type duals and matches. How cool it is to see someone from Team Kansas standing toe to toe with the best the country has to offer. Be it the little guys jitterbugging around, or the big boys bulling each other. But is there anything better than watching the big boys toss each other around. One of the highlights has to be Downtown Brown tossing about 300 lbs of Team Washington's heavyweight into one of their coaches on the sideline. The coach's statement was "when there is 600 lbs coming at you, there really isn't anywhere to go". He took a foot to the kidney, but was able to laugh about it afterward. Or Rafalko coming back from a deficit to pin a previously undefeated 210 lb stud. Seeing big Raymond Gallegos grow from somewhat withdrawn, to a head and arm machine. His first headlock pin was great to watch.

Another highlight is probably Kyle Huck. Undersized wrestling 175, and told that he can't get pinned against Minnesota to keep us in the match, decides that he will have none of that negative talk, and goes out and gets a first period tech fall of a very mature animal. Loses a close 2nd period, then is wrestling his heart out, going for the win, gets caught and a questionable fall is called after we felt time had expired. Talk about going from subdued, to elated, to deflated. All part of the learning experience. He'll make some noise next year, trust me.

How about drawing a very tough Indiana 1 team the first round of Freestyle, and losing our first 5 matches, down 18-2. Then the Kansas gauntlet of our 105 thru 136 reeled off 5 straight wins to take a 22-19 lead, then have 3 falls, and a tech fall in winning 4 of the last 7 to take the dual 39-33.

The intensity and drama is undescribable. I got home at 4:10 this morning, and am totally drained. I can only imagine how the boys doing the wrestling feel. My guess is they are tired but proud, sore but strong, and happy to be back in good ole Kansas.

I haven't taken the time to thank all the parents that came along and helped with room chaperone, cooking at camp, cleaning and stocking of the lunchroom, etc. Also a BIG thanks to Tom Williams for organizing all of this, without even having a dog in the fight. Coach Knox and Coach Flynn have a way of drawing it out of the kids. Also thanks to Josh Clark for going along to fulfill Kansas obligation to provide a referee, and for working with the boys on some things he saw that they needed to work on. Cokeley for allowing his barn to be used for the camp, and helping organize transportation.

Please do what you can to get your kid on this team next year. You won't regret it.