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#3746 04/18/05 01:03 AM
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That trip was crazy! Mike Furches and I took a group up consisting of Nathan Furches, Dante Rogers, and Ethan Bates.

Leaving Chapman I managed to get teased by the guys for kissing the cashier at Casey's and getting free hot dogs. (kiss on the cheek for the record).

In Council Bluffs, Mike and I went to an Omaha Royals game and lets just say you are supposed to aim for the Dick's Sporting Goods sign and not the Peanut Mascot who got pegged you know where (great one liner game of this happening)

On the way home today we stopped in Wymore, Nebraska at the Burger Bar resturant and had a waitress wearing a wrestling shirt as our server, come to find out she is a 2 time state placer going 1st and 3rd. She sat out this year but was going to wrestle her senior year.

Also at the Burger Bar, all of us started crying from laughing so hard at some elderly lady who out of nowhere yelled something about sales tax.

Stopped at the Clay Center, KS Zoo and looked at the animals. (I'm no doctor doolittle but I think they were saying KILL ME!)

Anyway I know there are more stories maybe Mike or the guys can elaborate.


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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Would say that this was as fun a road trip as I have ever taken. There was quite a bit of talk about a “Kansas Team” for events like this in the future that would include kids from clubs not going as a club and high school wrestlers who are not affiliated with a team. If we did this Kansas would dominate many of these tournaments. There was some good competition from various states, Nathan’s bracket of 11 kids had 8 states represented from California to North Dakota and it included several state champions.

A few comments from observation that I remember speaking to Jim Gaither about. Technically, our Kansas wrestlers are superior to many of the other states wrestlers that we observed. We still need to do some work on our feet and simple things like hand control but that being said, we as Kansas Coaches can be pleased with the technique and skills we are teaching. These types of tournaments are showing that technique is being taught. The future of Kansas wrestling is very bright. If it was a ZZ Top song, I might even have to wear shades.

On the team concept, I have to thank some of the parents and wrestlers who allowed the Swayz and I to be a part of the lives of your children on this weekend. These young men and children were a pleasure to be with, and outside of having to keep the Swayz under control, these young men represented Kansas well. What an honor to be trusted with helping coach your children, hopefully Aaron and I did them justice. I would like to make a few comments here about the young wrestlers we were entrusted to.

Lance Peltier – 6 & Under 37 pounds, 3rd place wrestler. – What a joy to watch this young, 5 year old wrestler compete at a National level event. It is a shame that we are loosing him and his family as they move to Colorado. I really enjoyed meeting his dad and Lance. I don’t want to get a debate started here but this National level tournament was low stress, and in many ways a relaxed tournament. I was pleased to not see a single dad in this division get “crazy” with their kids, and I was even more pleased to see the kids handle the competition with fun and motivation. Did Lance get upset when he lost his semi-final match? Of course he did, but he popped up and with his dad hugging him, and him getting positive support he was ready to wrestle again in just a few minutes. Personally, the lesson of perseverance is one that we can’t teach soon enough. Mr. Peltier, you have a fine son and thanks for the honor of sitting with you in your corner as he competed.

Dante Rogers – 18 & Under 103 lbs, 1st place and Outstanding Wrestler. What a surprise when I found out on the day that we left for the tournament that Dante is moving in two doors down from me. What a confident young man who loves the sport of wrestling. He is also well mannered and loves to have fun. Dante wrestled a good tournament and I was pleasantly surprised at his willingness to listen to his coaches after his matches. He did what we asked and tried new things. His willingness to do that helped him win the outstanding wrestling award. NW Grizzlies has a fine young man and it was an honor to get to know him better and spend the weekend together. I, and I know Nate looks forward to the summer months ahead.

Matt Mahan – 18 & Under 140 Pounds 2nd place - By the way, Ms. Mahan we tried several times to call you back for the photo’s but for some reason couldn’t get through. Matt is a tough wrestler who is not afraid of competition. He wrestled Pepper from Nebraska tough and I believe if he wrestled him again would be taking home a 1st place instead of a second place. Matt did have to experience an uncomfortable part of wrestling for the first time, and hopefully he can learn from that. Of course, there are stories there but all I will say is that you don’t need 3 dipsticks to check the oil in the car and neither do you for wrestling. Even the ref and coach from the other team thought that was excessive. Matt gets ready for a match though, and he recovers right after a match. I don’t know who has taught him the technique of getting ready, and then cooling down but they have done a good job. Nice getting to know you Matt and it was fun coaching you, we still have to get together for that ice cream at some point. Hope you had an enjoyable weekend.

Ethan Bates 15 & Under 95 Pounds. Ethan wrestled a good tournament for his first National level tournament, loosing only to the 2nd place and 3rd place placers. Ethan has a few things to work on but his eagerness to learn will have him improving quickly in the next year and I will say that several 103-pound wrestlers had better be watching out next season. Ethan is a well-mannered young man who wrestles with heart. I was as pleased with his heart, and sportsmanship as any wrestler I worked with this week. Ethan is a fine young man who has many people noticing how good he is going to be. An old coach friend from Oklahoma watched Ethan and was surprised that he has only been wrestling for two years. In his own words he stated, “He is going to be a fine wrestler and has more potential than some of these kids who have been wrestling for years.”

Nathan Furches – 15 & Under 95 pounds, 1st place. I have never seen my son want something as bad as he wanted to win the Outstanding Wrestler Award for this tournament. He had 4 wins in 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Another fine wrestler had 4 wins in 10 minutes and some odd seconds. The other wrestler won the award because all of his wins were by fall and only 3 of Nathan’s were. As a dad, it is nice to see my son at the point where he wants to win and excel, but he also has respect for the opponents he faces. There have been many over the years who have helped mold him into a fine wrestler, I like to think that he is a measure of the success that his mom and I have had in raising him, along with many dear friends. While the awards are nice, they are not nearly as nice as the fact that he treats his opponents, the officials, and the other coaches with respect after a match, no matter what. Those things are far more valuable because after this year I am aware of the fact that wrestling won’t last a life time and none of us have a guarantee of tomorrow. I am also pleased that Nathan recognizes this and displayed it by wearing his Tyler Graebner singlet during the finals and during the photo shoot. Tyler still teaches lessons and he helped my son grow into a young man.

I must also mention again our officials. Steve Herman and Mike Willms are two of Kansas finest, and again, they are out there representing Kansas to the entire Nation in a positive uplifting way. Not only do our wrestlers and coaches represent Kansas but we have officials like these two doing that as well and their efforts and hard work should not be overlooked. Personally, I haven’t seen any more professional officials on any level. I know that even if they are officiating my kid, (and Steve helps coach Nathan) that my kid is going to be given, as is the other kid, a fair chance by interpreting the rules and being in position to see what is going on. They are also consistent, and for those of us who coach, we know how important that is. There is not much more that I can ask for and I appreciate that so much. To hear national level coaches and wrestlers talk about how these are both good officials is something that we should not over look.

There are others that added to the weekend; spending a little time with Jim Gaither, seeing Mr. Vesta and his fine young wrestlers and numerous others, and then there is Aaron Sweazy.

I have come to love (like a brother) and appreciate Aaron Sweazy. Aaron, the young wrestlers in Kansas love you because you obviously love them and wrestling. I know that you hate reading long posts so maybe you have made it this far, maybe you haven’t, but you are the happiest and most inspirational person I know. When I am down I think of The Swayz, when I need a pick me up, I call the Swayz, when I need a friend I get in touch with The Swayz. Talking wrestling, life, coaching, and baseball among other things was so enjoyable this weekend. I pray that we are able to take many more of these trips. For those that have the opportunity to come along, you are in for an experience that you won’t soon forget. We say that wrestling is like a family, well, the truth is that when we allow it to be it really is, not just a family though, but a great, loving and caring family. Swayz, you really are a brother and thanks for allowing yourself to become a part of a family that is so much larger than you and or I.

Regarding the zoo in Clay Center; can someone tell me how that thing stays open? It was by far the most depressing thing I have seen in a long time. We saw one animal actually lying on the ground having spasms or something. Don’t know if it made it or not. When I think of old fashioned zoos with bars, concrete and not much room to move around in, I think of places like this.

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Mike,

I LOVE YOU MAN!

Now on a more serious note there are more people I want to mention that neither Mike or I said anything about yet.

I want to thank L.T. Switzer who is a 2x Nebraska state placer finishing 3rd twice. He was working a table and was eager to talk with our Kansas kids and fit in exhibitions that we would set up. Because of this a few of our guys got some extra matches in the process and were able to learn from the extra time.

I also want to bring the attention to another young man from Nebraska by the name of Andrew Mitchell who wrestled against Dante in a 2 man round robin. After being pinned twice by Dante I (along with Mike) talked with this young man and his coach if he wanted another match for experience for both wrestlers and he said, "I'll take on anybody, anytime...I just love the sport!" His attitude reminded me of myself in college, might not win a lot, but the love of the sport carries you through the tough times.

I also want to recognize Johnathan Pepper from Missouri who wrestled in the 95lb division for 15U (if I'm not mistaken). Johnathan battles with Cerebal Palsy and tasks easy to most of us are harder for him. Despite that he wanted more matches and I asked him and his coach if a 103 lb guy would be to much for him to wrestle, he replied, "let's do it!"

So with that being said I found Andrew Mitchell and Johnathan Pepper and got them an exhibition against each other. I told Andrew about his opponent's condition and told him not to do his thing, but don't embarrass the other guy. Both fought hard and Andrew won I believe 8-1 or something in a pretty scrappy fight with 1,1,1 periods. Hats off to those two for reminding a lot of people what wrestling is truly about, HEART!


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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I almost forgot: ROUNDABOUTS!


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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tater tots!

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99 CENTS SALES TAX! (still laughing about that!)


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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I can only image the trip, how long was the drive up and back?


Alex R. Ryan
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Go Ethan! It's nice too see how much Ethan has improved in the last month or so. I know I helped him with his stance and takedowns; go figure, and now the guys in Derby are teaching him the rest of what it takes to win. It's hard to believe that a kid that went two and toast at the kids state tournament has already improved enough to win a few matches at this tournament. Great job Ethan!


Curtis Chenoweth
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Quote:
Originally posted by Curtis Chenoweth:
Go Ethan! It's nice too see how much Ethan has improved in the last month or so. I know I helped him with his stance and takedowns; go figure, and now the guys in Derby are teaching him the rest of what it takes to win. It's hard to believe that a kid that went two and toast at the kids state tournament has already improved enough to win a few matches at this tournament. Great job Ethan!
Work on him with his stance a bit more Curtis, he crosses his legs quite a bit, but that can be broken.


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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I can certainly do that. Next time you talk to them though, have him show you what his stance looked like until I fixed it. It was pretty pathetic, I can't even explain it. lol.


Curtis Chenoweth
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I just thought about something else: JUICY LUCY! LOL


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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Swayz, I heard about the little comment you made when Mike started choking. That hurts man, that hurts a lot. But I would expect that from you, if I didn't like you so much, I would probally have to hurt you.


Curtis Chenoweth
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OH I thought you were talking about the peanut and the sign comment...that was freaking hilarious.


Yours in wrestling,

The Swayz
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Official Results from MAC

DIV WT PL FIRST NAME LAST NAME
6 37 3 Lance Peltier
6 43 3 Christian Bowen
8 58 3 Ian Zak Hensley
8 58 4 Landon Wood
8 61 3 Dustin Williams
8 64 3 Paul Suhr
8 70 3 Tristan Speer
8 105 2 SKYLER HITTLE
10 64 1 Hunter Haralson
10 70 2 Dylan Schumacher
10 80 3 Joshua Thomson
10 90 1 Reece Conklin
10 90 4 Brock Long
10 130 1 Cash Drylie
10 Hwt 1 JARIN BROWN
12 120 2 Sean Gaither
15 82 1 Jeff Vesta
15 95 1 Nathan Furches
15 175 1 Ben Evans
18 103 1 Dante Rogers
18 140 2 Matt Mahan


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