Around the corner

November 29th, 2008 by Ryan Cook

Wrestle Offs are this afternoon which signifies the first competition for the team. Eleven practices and two scrimmages later we are about to compete for fourteen starting positions. Wrestle offs will be held in the best two out of three fashion with winners earning the spot and opportunities for wrestlers losing their wrestle offs to challenge at one more weight class.

The first competition will be Saturday December 6Th at the Mountaineer Invitational at Phillipsburg Osceola High School. This tournament starts in an Olympic pool fashion in which wrestlers are paired in pools and compete against all wrestlers in their assigned pool. The top two wrestlers in each pool will then move out into the semifinals of a championship bracket to decide the top four places and the bottom two will wrestle for 5Th through 8Th place. THen on the 12Th we will be competing in our first Dual Meet in the War on the Shore Showcase. This event has us wrestling Region foe McDowell at the Civic Center on a raised stage on center ice. This unique event also features eight other High School teams in four duals and a Division 2 match between Gannon and Mercyhurst. All family and fans are encouraged to attend and help make this special event a success and give our sport the stage and exposure that these hard working athletes deserve and yet so rarely receive.

After our first two scrimmages a few things were obvious to the coaching staff. On the positive side our conditioning is one of our early weapons as we remained fresh and effective as the scrimmages wore on. The hard work and long practices have honed the team into tough and well conditioned athletes. On the other side technique and execution still needs some fine tuning but if anything is evident from the attitude and willingness to commit to practices this will be fixed quickly.

Many times as wrestlers begin to settle into their weight classes some of the focus shifts onto weight cut instead of improvement. I challenge the team to continue to progress their technique and control their weights through extra work before school or after practices. The staff will be available upon request for any needed workout.

Coach Cook