The season ended Saturday so it seems about time to recap the rest of the year.
Let’s start with some sample texts from Christopher about wrestling:
“I LITERALLY HATE YOU RIGHT NOW”
“This is annoying I want my Saturday back”
“I think it’s funny how people think I care”
“Wrestling is cancelled yeahhhhhh”
“Off to torture. Never talking again. I hate this. Bye pray for me”
“Saddest part of my teen life. I could cry right now for an hour. I feel betrayed by you. I hate my life with all the events. THIS IS AWFUL”
and maybe the best text of the wrestling season
“Dad when school is over can you bring me a pair of underwear please I’ll go out to your car long story I’ll explain later”
!!! (that last text is not all what it seems….there was a hole and he made it a lot bigger during gym while stretching….)
So, yeah, he’s hated every second of wrestling. I’ve reminded him; he went into this willingly….I’ve only NOT let him quit. And he’s been pretty happy after he’s done well. But those moments have been few and far between.
So let’s walk through the meets since the last post.
Jackson Parkside: The team wrestled 5 different teams; Cpher wrestled 4 times and went 1-3.
-vs- Western. Click for video. This is at the beginning of the 2nd period…he is winning 2-0. And he overextended trying to do what the coach was telling him to do and the kid rolled him up for the pin.
-vs- Chelsea. One bad thing about MS wrestling is if you are over 195 you wrestle everyone who is over that weight. But again, Cpher is winning in this match 2-1 before the kid took him down and pinned him. *if* I can convince him to try again in high school he *should* be able to wrestle at 215, not heavyweight.
-vs- Hillsdale. The only match where I looked at the guy and went “Cpher has no chance here”. You can see the clock over there on the right; he is pinned about 3 seconds after this. But this picture is the big problem and the biggest area he could (and should) improve if he continues next year….he has been taken down and is not on his back yet….I don’t think Cpher has any idea how to get out of this position.
-vs- Lincoln. The last match of the day was the only win and it is the first (and only) time this year that Cpher came back from behind to win. Might be the match with the most movement by the two kids as well. The kid took Cpher down, escaped (but didn’t get a point for it….weird) took the kid down and then, by what Cpher swears was his plan, quickly got the kid in this headlock and pinned him about 10 seconds later. Was a pretty sweet moment.
Thornapple Kellogg: An ‘extra’ meet. Went 2-1 and finished in 2nd place(!).
He wrestled three times; the total was 90 seconds of mat time and it is all in that same video if you click above. This first match is fun for a few reasons.
1) He ‘practiced’ the move he used to beat guy #1 and guy #2 on Matthew Friday night. Matthew reports it is effective and he doesn’t want to be the practice partner too often….
2) You can see this guys parents behind the lady in the lime green on the left. The mom is fun to watch during the short time the camera is on her…..
Win by pin in 30 seconds.
This kid must not have watched Cpher’s first match because Cpher very quickly gets him in the same position and after some pulling and yanking pins him in 22 seconds. The next match is for first place!
This guy, who was the closest to Cpher by weight and by height (still about 10 lbs heavier) had watched Cpher both times….and said screw this, I’m shooting for the leg the moment the match begins. Cpher does not do well when he is taken down and 30 second later he is pinned…..
The participants…..only posted here for the weights.
The final bracket….
Okemos: Our only home meet; two other teams are here but only one has a kid in his weight class. And Cpher loses by pin in the first period.
Click for the video. This is the first match since the introduction of the new move; so, of course, he tried it again here and actually got it in place. BUT…this guy knew what he was doing and caught Cpher’s legs….and powered Cpher over and pinned him.
Eaton Rapids: The end of the season (you can hear Cpher going ‘thank God’ as you read this). The meet is double elimination and Cpher loses both matches to go home 0-2.
-vs Owosso. Click for the video. He had faced a kid from Owosso to start the season but that kids is nowhere around….and this kid was a whole lot better. Had Cpher down 8-0 before pinning him in the 2nd period….heck, I’m impressed Cpher fought him off that long. The kid went on to pin the top seed in the bracket in his next match.
-vs- JacksonParkside. Again, click for video. Cpher is winning the match 5-1 at the end of the second period….he has pushed this kid around for two periods, taken him down twice, has never been in a bad position and his coaches choose(!) for him to be down here. He never escapes, and he makes a mistake and turns where the kid can pin him, and of course the kid does pin him with 30 seconds to go in the match.
Cpher admits this is the closest he came to crying about losing all year….he had this, and the coaches (I just don’t understand it….all year he only once escaped a bad position and was always better standing or on top) put him in the down position and that was that.
Sigh.
