As we woke and checked our weight the next morning, we had a couple guys a little over and some guys (like me) were up to one pound under weight. Everything was seemingly going okay until our first guy checked on the scales at Simpson. At this time we realized that the scales were extremely heavy and our entire team suited up and rushed to cut weight before the 7:00 a.m. weigh-ins. Luckily everything worked out and we made weight and were now ready to wrestle.
Highlighting the day for us was the performances by Burke Barnes, Terrance Almond, and Wade Jordan. All three of these men went undefeated on the day and claimed Simpson titles. Although Burke and Terrance have created a winning history for themselves, this was Wade's first college tournament championship. By winning this tournament, Wade showed what all of us at Dana have known for a couple years -- that Wade will be a huge and special part of our program.
As losses come early in a tournament, come a long day and a many matches to battle in the backside of the brackets. This is what many of us found on Saturday. After winning first round, I dropped a close decision in the quarterfinals. This set me up for an additional four-match battle to third place. However, I was not alone as Hawaiian native Bula Tuzon and freshman Eric Graham claimed a third place and senior captain Craig Trampe took home the silver. Additional medalists for the Vikings included Brett Brandl, Bryan Graham, Clinton Dale, Jason Bilinski, Josh Gobadapor, and Jesse Boggs.
Along with the three titles and many medalists, Saturday also revealed something else to look forward to for Dana wrestling. True freshman Josh Gobadabor was not having his best day. Josh was sick and was battling with his stomach all day. Josh continued to wrestle and battle every match. As if sickness was not enough, Josh suffered a concussion in his last match and still maintained total desire to compete. Josh is not alone as we have a tough, talented freshman class that I am excited to watch mature into amazing competitors.
On Monday, we had individual training sessions with our assigned coaches. During this time we worked on problems noticed by the coaching staff at Simpson. On Tuesday, we get ready for a 60-minute grind match in the afternoon. We are currently focused on our trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to take on Sioux Falls University Friday night. Our goal is total domination and to continue improving on our "hammerstyle" wrestling. Most of those not competing in Sioux Falls will head to brawl at the UNK open in Kearney on Saturday. That's all for me. Good luck to all heading into finals weeks!
Train Hard,
Webster Farris
Past Entries:
Entry 1 (11/21/06)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now