Rev Blog Entry 10: Marshall Marquardt, Dana College

The last two weeks have flown by. It seems as if we are competing every other day, and I think everyone is starting to know the end is near. As of today, we have only 22 training days left, and only a few more competitions until nationals. I can't wait. I wish they were tomorrow. We have a saying in our room that says, "I will win this match because I have been training for it my whole life." That is basically what it comes down to. Almost twenty years of wrestling, all to be over in a month.

Last weekend we wrestled at the Northwestern invite. It is always a very tough tournament, but what I like about it the most is that almost all of our regional teams are there. Some of these teams we don't see anywhere else, so it is nice to get a chance to wrestle these guys before regionals and nationals. It was an amazing day for me and for our team. I won the individual title at 174 pounds, going 5-0 on the day, but what was really cool was receiving the outstanding wrestler of the tournament award. It is the first one I have ever received and it was a great feeling.

Marshall Marquardt

Our team also won the team title there. It was a big deal for us because one of the teams we beat destroyed us last year in a dual, and we ended up winning by almost twenty points. We also won three duals these last two weeks, going 37-3 in them as a team. It is really amazing to me how well prepared these guys are. Earlier this year, we knew we could have a good team, but our coaches have really brought it out of us. We are training smart and wrestling better than many of us ever have.

It will be interesting to see what happens the next month with our team, as we had a few guys become eligible for second semester. Most other schools previously ineligible wrestlers are already wrestling and have been since the new year, but because we have a three week interim semester, our guys didn't become eligible until now. One big addition for us is the return of All-American Jimmy Rollins. He was our biggest point-scorer at nationals last year, and he has been impatiently waiting to get back in our top twelve and in our dual line-up.

We recently has a dual against Northern State (Division II) in Aberdeen, SD. It was a pretty surreal experience. We actually wrestled at Aberdeen High School in the middle of their tournament. I have been to a lot of collegiate wrestling rooms, but not one of them was as nice as their high school room was. Their facilities were unbelievable. They even had a jumbotron in their gym. (Something most of us NAIA schools aren't accustomed to.) We only lost one match in the dual, which made the five hour drive home much better.

The next two weeks are just as busy as the last. We have four duals and our Conference Championships. I think it will be interesting to see if we can maintain the roll we are on. We are hot right now and have to keep it that way. Everyone is counting on everyone else, and no one is getting let down. It is truly a great thing when a team can come together and accomplish goals. We recently broke our 'dual wins in a season' record, and with four duals left, we look to add to the win column.

Until next time, keep getting better.

Marshall Marquardt

Past Entries:

Entry 9 (1/19/06)
Entry 8 (1/5/06)
Entry 7 (12/28/05)
Entry 6 (12/7/05)
Entry 5 (11/23/05)
Entry 4 (11/9/05)
Entry 3 (10/26/05)
Entry 2 (10/13/05)
Entry 1 (10/1/05)

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Rev Blog Entry 10: Marshall Marquardt, Dana College

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