Another amazing week in OKC! As always there were a lot of encouraging things that went under the radar. Here are some observations...
1. Our Cadets stepped in and made an impact! Javier, Austin, Tommy and Eric combined for 10 Freestyle wins! Mason had just completed a grueling week in Minnesota and showed great courage filling the void at 215. That is one tough 15 year old.
2. Improvement over the week. One that sticks out is Jacob Nowak. We all know that Jacob is an accomplished folkstyler with very little FS/GR experience. His gut defense on Saturday and Sunday was light years better than at the beginning of the week.
3. Filling the gaps. I have to say that Derrick Weller had a great FS tournament. Derrick was a late replacement and ended up winning some major battles, showing state pride throughout.
4. Three wrestlers in particular stood atop our leader board. Jeff Vesta, Kyle Detmer and Parker Madl. Jeff wrestled both styles, going 7-2 in GR and 7-1 in FS. That is SEVENTEEN matches and plenty of team points. Neosho County has a good one headed their way. Kyle Detmer, a veteran of the duals traveled to OKC to stand with his teammates one more time and went 7-1 in dominating fashion. His lone loss was a close one to a highly ranked wrestler from Minnesota. Parker only had one loss in FS to DeAngelis from OK. He battled through some physical dings and scored key team points for us.
5. Random thoughts. The sight of Darnell Bortz picking up the incredible hulk from Michigan over his head was something to see. Ryne Cokeley and Mitchell Means were iron men, wrestling every match in both styles along with Vesta. Ryne has a mean headlock by the way. Just ask Drew Lexvold from MN. Tony Marquez had not stepped on the mat since folkstyle and cared enough to battle in THIRTEEN matches over the week. Jake Gentzler brought his experience with him to OKC. He was a strong insurance policy to Sharky and had great mat presence that saved us several team points. Another wrestler that plowed through adversity was Tyson Schmidtberger. We all know his folkstyle toughness, but he carried the flag with no back-up at 130 and really helped the team. Anson Worrell gets better by the match! This kid has not wrestled long and after a first period 0-6 against OSU bound Dallas Bailey, Anson throws Bailey to his back and almost wins the 2nd period. Watch out for Worrell in college. My son Tanner had a great time. While wrestling up two weights he got the cobwebs out in his first match and battled in two more saving key team points. Giving Marquez rest as well as having two nice wins was the gentle giant from Miege, Ryan Kincaid. Should be a productive senior season coming up for him next year.
A huge thank you to Mike Garcia, Clint Slyter and Scott Rieck. It is NOT EASY getting all the pieces together for this event. These guys flat out care about Kansas Wrestling!
ON TO FARGO!!!!
Last edited by Chief Renegade; 06/29/09 08:38 AM.
