Bryan Tournament

Well its been a while since I've last blogged so I will try to catch you up on whats been happening. First allow me to tell you about my last wrestling tournament.

We wrestled in Bryan on the 20th of December at the Doc Hess Tournament. This tournament is one of the larger tournaments they have in Texas and there are a ton of schools there, about 35-40. I did pretty well right up to my last match, again. I ended up placing fourth.

First guy I wrestled was from Oakridge, which I cant remember where that is. But I wrestled very well, and did a great job at finishing my shots, and was beating him by about 8 I think when I pinned him. That was my 20th varsity pin, and hope for many more as the season goes on!

The second kid I wrestled was a lot better. He was from an Episcopal school somewhere. I'll be honest going into this match, he didnt look very intimidating. It was a great match, and I ended up winning 8-5.

Then in the semi-finals of the tournament I got a rematch with the kid from SA Madison. I wrestled a much better match and was pleased with how I wrestled. I still need to work on my takedowns, and alter the way I wrestle so that I'll be able to beat this guy. I'm close, he won 6-3, so hopefully next time I'll pull it out.

Then I wrestled another guy from Katy, and won 5-2. It was a joke of a match. In the third period the kid was on bottom, and would keep running out of bounds. I swear, I've had full matches that have been shorter than that third period. But I 'll just have to work on pinning these guys faster :)

This last match was my most disappointing so far this season. I wrestled the same Episcapol kid that I had beaten earlier in the day. He won 4-3. Dont get me wrong, the kid is no slouch, but if I want to make state this year I need to be able to beat these guys no matter what the circumstances. I was tired, it was my 5th match of the day, and I had been up since 4 that morning and it was about 9:00 at night at that point. But it doesnt matter. Like my uncle said "the champions find ways to win even on days they don't have their best stuff working."

The team did really well, with only 11 guys we still maneged to get 2nd overall. Click here for complete results.

So this has always kind of been my midpoint in the season, although most of the meat of the season happens next. But so far I have been mostly please with how I've wrestled. My record isnt that impressive, but I've had some stiff competition (5/6 of my losses have been to guys who are more than likely going to state this year), and I've done well against them.But now is when I need to kick it into high gear, and peak. I need to improve on my conditioning, especially my shots, and get more pumped up about all my matches, even the small ones. So wish me luck for the next half of the season!

Record: 9-6; 5 pins. NEXT: BOWIE (Biggest Duel of the Year!)

Vista Ridge and Russ Pederson Invitational

Well, I had a lot of wrestling this last week. It was great to get back on the mat after having to take some time off with my knee. And what a better way to start it off than to wrestle Brian Osorio, the number 1 kid in the state.

We had a lunch time duel so we had a lot of the school come and watch which was really cool, thanks to all those who came and supported us! Unfortunately our team had a lot of open weights, and we didn't wrestle our best, so we lost 40-28. But I wrestled Osorio, and I didn't do all that bad. I was very happy with the way that I wrestled. I lost 16-8, but he didn't get any back points on me, it was all just take downs. And I felt good. So I was really excited for this next tournament.

It was a long day, that started at 4:45, when I got up so I could get to school by 5:00 to leave to get to Johnson High on time for the tournament. But we got there and our team did very well. We ended up getting second over all. Again, our open weights hurt us, and we probably couldve gotten first if we fielded a whole team. But 10 of the 11 guys we brought placed in the top 4.

I was pumped for my first match, so I went after him! I wrestled a kid from Corpus Christi Carrol, and was up 13-0 in the second period when I pinned him.

I was still on a role when I wrestled the next guy from Corpus Christi Ray. I pinned him in the first period.

Then I wrestled a kid from New Braunfels, that I had met a few years ago at a camp. He's a really cool guy, good sport and I like him a lot. One of the better conditioned wrestlers I had ever gone up against. But I still won 14-4. He's only a sophomore, but he'll make some noise in the next two years. He ended up getting third.

In the finals I wrestled a kid from San Antonio Madison. This guy was one place away from going to the state tournament last year, so he was no slouch and I wanted a piece of him. Unfortunately, I didn't wrestle my best match. Every single time I would get in on a shot, he would counter it, and my conditioning is off from the days I had to take off with my knee. So I was gassed, and just couldn't finish my shots. If I did I feel I would've won by eight in stead of loosing by eight. The final was 15-7, and I ended the tournament in second place. I have never been so disappointed with second in my life. I should've beaten this kid. But hey, it keeps me humble, and now I have some fuel to go work harder in practice.

NEXT: DOC HESS INVITATIONAL,BRYAN, DEC 20th

RECORD: 6-4; 4 pins

Anderson/Connaly/Pflugerville

Tonight was the first duel of the season, at Anderson High school. There was a total of 4 teams there, but because of starting late, and the duels lasting a long while, we only got to wrestle two teams. I was a little nervous coming into this match because my knee has been giving me some trouble. I ate my butt off over the thanksgiving break, and needed to burn all of those extra calories. So I ran 10.5 miles that Saturday, which was probably a bad idea. My knee has been sore since, and I think I need to take it easy. So I probably wont wrestle the rest of the week, and give it some recovery time.

First we wrestled Anderson. I had already wrestled the Anderson 135 before, but he wasn't there this time, Austin Moore (good friend, captain of Anderson wrestling, 140) said that he quit. Which is a shame, I hate to see anyone quit the sport. Hopefully he's doing well at whatever he decides to do. But West lake looked dominant. We had a lot of pins, and wrestled incredibly well. I had a forfeit, so I didn't get to wrestle.

Next we wrestled Connaly. They had a pretty small team, and are not a huge program yet. So we wrestled them, and I don't think we lost a match. My match was interesting. My coach told me to go easy on him. I was going up against a first year wrestler, and I guess coach didn't want me to go all out on him. So I half wrestled him for about the first period and a half, then coach said "alright, lets wrap this up." So I did, and pinned the kid. And that was the end of the duels. But our team looks really solid, I'm excited for the rest of the year!

And the updated Region IV rankings (scroll to bottom of page) came out. They finally moved Moore up to 140, but Bryan Osorio moved up from 130, and took the number one spot. But I talked to his dad tonight, and he told me he'll be back down at 130 by January. Then it was Ruggles at 2, and me at 3. So I'm still in the top 4, hopefully top 2 soon. And I cant wait to wrestle Ruggles. That should be an awesome match!

NEXT: WOODLANDS INVITATIONAL, HOUSTON, (probably wont wrestle to let my knee recover)

RECORD: 3-2; 2 pins

My Thankgiving

Well we know that thanksgiving has come because of all the Christmas holiday decorations that line every department store across America.

It is a shame that Thanksgiving finds itself overshadowed by two fun and exciting holidays, one which you get showered in candy, and the other in presents. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that allows us to reflect upon the many blessings we have. What great a holiday that allows us to surround ourselves with company of those we love, feast together, and give thanks for what His Divine Hand of Providence has graced us with.

So allow me to express my thanks, for I have received so much, "that I have room not enough to receive it."

I am so thankful for my country that allows me to live how I want to live, and be what I want to be. No other place can compare with its various and majestic beauty. It truly is the promise land. And with it, I am so grateful and indebted to those in our armed services protecting our liberties and way of life. They are my heroes, and may God watch over and bless them and their families.

I have the best friends in the world, hands down. Casual friends, acquaintances, teachers, friends of the family, and friends for life, I'm so thankful for them all. So many are so close they are practically family. I cant tell yall how many times I'll be dealing with something, and someone will say just the right thing, or do just the right thing and make everything all right. So many of yall have touched my life in ways you dont even know, so thank you guys so much. Yall mean the world to me.

My family is the reason I am who I am today. I no that no matter what, they will always be there to help and support me. They have put up with all of my crap, and love me anyway. My Dad is my role model (in some areas, haha), my Mom is the greatest woman in the world, and my brothers and sister Hattie are the coolest people I know. I dont want to know what my life would be like without them. I love them all so much.

And most of all I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through Him, I know I can achieve true happiness, and just the efforts of trying to live like he did brings more joy than I can know. I have felt his arms of redeeming love around me, and felt the comfort His words and teachings provide. I love Him, and will do my best to follow in his footsteps.

My friends, this thanksgiving, amongst all the hustle and bustle, try to find yourself a quite place and think of all the things we have to be thankful for. And while we give thanks for the blessings that we have, let us all try to bless the lives of those around us and give everyone a little more to be thankful for.

Capital City Classic

This Saturday, I kicked off my wrestling season with my tournament of the year, The Capital City Classic, at the Delco Center here in Austin. Let me just say that it was a rather frustrating day. I had some pretty lousy luck.

It all started with the seeding. At lots of tournaments they only seed the top four guys, and then randomly assign everyone else. Well, since I was hurt and didn't wrestle in the post season last year, I was unseeded, and got a really bad draw.

First I wrestled a kid from Morton Ranch. He was the number 3 seed. I wrestled terribly. I found myself down 5-1 after a botched move in the first period, and everything else went down hill from there. I lost the match 11-4.

I was pissed off about my last match, so I took it out on a kid from Anderson here in Austin. I pinned him in 38 seconds.

The third kid I wrestled was from Cedar Park, which was of some importance because they are in our district. But I wrestled him fairly well, and fairly conservatively. I won 4-0.

This is where I got frustrated. Unfortunately I had to wrestle the same kid from Morton Ranch that I had wrestled the first time. The brackets were messed up and poorly made so there was a lot of stupid stuff that screwed over a lot of guys on our team. But thats life. I wreslted this kid alot better this time around, but he still beat me 6-2, thus eliminating me from the tournament (most tournaments are double elimination). He was the better wrestler that day, but we'll see what happens later on in the season.

This was the first tournament since sophmore year that I didnt place in, and hopefully it will be the last. Better to get my hard knocks in at the begining of the season instead of the end right?

Overall the team did really well. We placed 3rd overall, which was really good because some guys had some off days and we didnt feild our whole team (we are missing some key guys because of football play-offs). We had 3 guys place first, and our team preformed great. For complete results click HERE.

NEXT: 12/3-Anderson & Connally Duels-@ Anderson

Record: 2-2; 1 pin

Wrestling Season!!!

Well my friends, wrestling season has begun.

I've been avid wrestling my whole high school career, and wrestled a few years before high school. I've had a fairly successful career, except in the post season. My sophomore year I got sick and lost in districts, and my junior year I got hurt mid season and couldn't compete in the post-season.

But this is a different year! I've trained hard to prepare for this season, and am in better shape than I've ever been. I'm one of the team captains, and our team looks great this year. We will probably be top 10 in the state when those rankings come out.

I am planning on wrestling in the 135 lb weight class. There is a preliminary weigh in at the beginning of the season to see where you could wrestle, and determine how low you could cut. I managed to qualify for 130, just in case I need to go down for whatever reason, but it wasn't fun (running 7-8 miles in the morning and 2.5 hours of hard wrestling, on maybe 1500 calories a day isnt what I would call fun). But thank goodness I only had to do that for a few days. Now the weigh in is over, and I can eat whatever I want, as long as I stay less that 135 pounds, which shouldnt be a problem. Its my natural weight anyway.

It looks like I'm poised to make a run. In order to qualify for the state tournament you need to place in the top four in the regional tournament. There are 4 regions in the state, and our region spans from Austin to San Antonio and to the Corpus Christi area. There are regional rankings that come out every so often, and on the Pre-Season Region 4 Rankings I am ranked 2nd in the region (Austin Moore is going 140 this year).

But there is a tournament this weekend here in Austin that will have alot of teams from the region, so it will be a great chance to field out the rest of the competition and maybe move into that number one spot!

I'll post results from meets and tournaments, and link to rankings and pictures as the season moves on. The goal is state, nothing else will suffice.

Wish me luck!

Eagle Project

Well as I'm sure most of you have seen from my Mom's Blog, I have finally completed my eagle project. Its been a long and difficult road, but the deed is done! I've been a life scout (the rank right below eagle) and able to do my project for three years, but was also a procrastinator, and got it done with about 50 days before my 18th birthday. I actually started the process about 2 years ago, working on the cemetery next door, but someone beat me to that project. So I started work on this one and submitted it for approval. This was July of 2007. Let me just say that there would be many more submissions for approval till it finally was in October of this year. So no one can say that I didnt work for this. But now its done, and looks great! A huge thank you to everyone who helped out and got me this far. Hopefully I'll be blogging about my Court of Honor really soon!