• 11Mar 08

  A Journey's End (Preview)

  Well, it's about 12:30 AM here in Michigan, and I can't sleep. My alarm will go off at about 3:15 AM. I have to be up and meet up with the rest of my team by 4 o-clock in the morning. Because I have a drive 2 hour drive to Detroit to catch a 7:45 flight. Now, why can't I sleep? Well, most of you that read this will already know the answer to that quesiton. But, for those that don't, it's because tomorrow I fly to Florida for the NCWA National Chamionships, a wrestling tournament that will cap off an 11-year career.
  
  This is the third straight trip to the National Finals for me. This is it, though, win lose or draw, doesn't matter. I'm walking off the mat this weekend for the last time as a competitor. There will be tears, there will be some heartbreak. I'm getting a little emotional about it right now as I type this. But, there should also be some great memories that will last me a lifetime. Hopefully, there will be some jubilation for me personally, and for my teammates that are going. All nine of them. We hope to get our team it's first top-5 finish (National Champs? It is possible) in it's history. Not only do we, as a group, hope to achieve that which has yet to be done (place top-5), but individually, I hope (as does one of my teammates) to be the first 2x All-American from my team. I'm the second 3x qualifier, but, noone has yet to place more than once. There are two of us that can end that.
  
  I've been getting those butterflies in my stomach for the last week. I don't remember ever being this nervous about anything in my life. I've felt just about every emotion possible leading up to this. And I don't think it's over by a longshot.
  
  *sigh* Wish me luck.

  • Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:30 pm PT
  • Category:
  • 7 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 3Mar 08

  Going back...

  Yes, that's right. Your resident smart-ass is going back to the NCWA National Wrestling Finals for a third straight season. This time, in Lakeland, Florida. Our team (which includes 9 wrestlers, maybe 10, I'll explain later) will be leaving a week from Wednesday. For those that read my earlier blog about last season's trip to Dallas, this should be right up there in post tournament fun.
  • Posted Mar 3, 2008 11:52 am PT
  • Category:
  • 5 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 13Mar 07

  Not Quite

  That's the key phrase here. I fell just two matches shy of becoming a two-time All-American. And my team fell about a dozen or so team points short of placing. We finished 6th, with the top 5 teams getting awards. Two of my four matches were losses to what would end up being two of the top 4 finishers, if i'm not mistaken. Our team did get three All-Americans, two 3rd place finishers and a 6th. We also had three others only one match away from the AA plateau. The defending National Champs, Grand Valley State University, out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, won the tournament again, for the 3rd time in about 5 years. We should get most, if not all, of our team back for next year. So it should be an interesting finish to next year. Not to mention, nationals is in Las Vegas next season.

  Saturday night after the tournament was over with, we all, every wrestler from around the country, partied in the main hotel. The room I was in for quite a bit of the night belonged to the guys from the University of Florida. After awhile the party got quite loud, apparantly. And the security gaurd, whom was from what I was told was a Warren Sapp looking guy in a bad mood just looking to throw someone out. Had called the cops to multiple floors, with specicifc rooms in mind. And it just so happens that me and my team, which had about 8 minors, were in one of the rooms. So we had to hall ass out of the room and to a floor that didn't have cops on it. In an attempt to get the minors out of the hotel and back to ours, where there were no such dilemas. Now mind you, our team had a midnight lights out, due to the fact that our wake-up call to go to the airport was 4 am. But since we were going to get so little sleep, we figured we might as well stay up and party with eveyone anyway. Needless to say that since I had been drinking since about 11:30, and it was now about 4, I was a few sheets to the wind. I'll tell you what, the trip through security at the airport was a bit of an experience, especially considering that our teams assistant coach was drunker than any of us. As in puking all over himself drunk. Most of us though were passed out before the plane was even finished taxiing to the runway to take-off. When we got back to Michigan and were waiting for our bus to go home, many of us felt like we had been hit by a car. It took me all of Moday to recover and recoop from Saturday.

  Next years finals should be even more exciting of a finish to the season. I can't wait.

  • Posted Mar 13, 2007 9:38 pm PT
  • Category:
  • 7 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts