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Monday, March 6, 2017

Toppenish Tournament 03-04-17


Anthony participated in his first ever wrestling tournament in Toppenish, WA with some of his team members, The Goldendale Grapplers, this past Saturday! We were all very excited and nervous all at the same time! Eeekk!

This is just the first tournament of the season. There are to be 5-6 more this month and into April. I'm not sure if we'll get to every one, but we're going to try. Toppenish is one of the closer tournaments to us.

Registration and weigh-ins start at 7am, soooooo no sleeping in on tournament days! 67.2 pounds was his weight in the 9/10 year old division. 


Registration and weigh-ins lasted from 7-9, so we had a lot of time to chill and wait before pairing and things getting underway. Anthony snacked, hung with his buddies, and played legos to decompress and work out his jitters. Sam ran to the store to get us all breakfast sandwiches and teas. I took some photos and tried to pay attention to what the game plan was going to look like for the tournament, lol.


Coach took the kids on the mats for some stretches, warm ups, and pep talk. Our team's shirts, sweats, and wrestling singlets did not show up in time for this meet, but they should be in soon and I'm looking forward to getting a photo of Anthony, along with all the Grapplers, in their sweet wrestling get-up!


They called kids down to the pairing room by division. 5/6 years olds were called first, along with 13/14 years olds, followed by 7/8 year olds, along with 11/12 year olds, and finally 9/10 year olds. When your division was called, you went to the correct division pairing room and were told who you would wrestle with for that match. Sam and I went with Anthony to each of his three pairings, as well as one of the coaches. Immediately after pairing, you walked out into the gym and were told what mat you would wrestle on. Usually the mat was clear and ready for your match right as you walked up. It all happens fast once you're paired up. 

Since it took a bit of time for your division to be called to the pairing room, Anthony and his older team mates were able to watch the younger kids wrestle and cheer them on. When your division was called, you'd pair up and wrestle. Once your match was done, you went back into the stands to wait for your division to be called again. Nice cycle. 


Anthony's 1st match - a loss. 

Anthony did very well in his first match, though he was outmaneuvered and unable to land himself any points. I think he felt discouraged with the loss, but taking a breather and getting a pep talk about the things he DID do right, as well as pointers from the coach, got him fired up before his next match. 


 
Anthony's 2nd match - a win.

His second match was awesome. It was definitely a nice pairing. Both boys scored points on great maneuvers, each taking turns "taking control." In the end though, Anthony came out on top with 7 points and his opponent 4. I think he didn't realize he had won at first, hahaha, he was so elated! You could hear his team hooping and hollering for him in the stands and he was so proud of himself. It was truly a rush of excitement!



Antony's 3rd match - a loss

If you won a match, but also lost a match (which was Anthony), you got to do a third match called a consolation match. This match was to decide who would go home, and who would continue on to wrestle for placement.  

This third match was truly a tough and intense one! His opponent was very quick and agile, and Anthony was taken off guard by his continuous quickness and wasn't able to ever get the upper hand and take control. It was hard seeing him thrashed about so much, you could tell by the end he was fatigued, in pain, and just wanting it to be over with. We are really proud of him for sticking it out and not giving up. He came away from this match with some abrasions, a nice bruise on his nose, and exhausted.



With Anthony being so exhausted after that last match, we decided to hit the road instead of staying till the end of the tournament and watching to see who placed. He was ready. We chatted with coach, said our goodbyes, and were on our way. 


We are SO PROUD of you Anthony! You got a win under your belt! You and your team are really good sports and show great sportsmanship. Of course everyone wants to place and get that medal, but not everyone can win all the time. You grow from losses. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and you never know who you're going to be paired up with to wrestle and how tough the match will be. All we ever ask of you is that you always do your personal best, show sportsmanship, love what you do, and be proud of yourself! 

Go Grapplers! 

With love,
Mama Hauck

1 comment:

  1. Anthony we are so proud of you. You did an amazing job! Wonderful bog post Becca Lynn, c u soon.��

    ReplyDelete