Today was a wide range of emotions for the River
King wrestling athletes, coaches, family, and friends.
Morning Session:
The first round saw #3 Dustin Caldwell and #9
Dillion Chase continue their march to the 2013 Iowa State Wrestling Tournament.
finals #5 Hunter Genco continued to bounce back from his early loss and
head towards a third place finish.
#3 Alex Caldwell, fell in his wrestle back against #1 Joel Northrup.
Hunter Genco
Hunter came out on a mission again. He
dominated all match long with good hands and level changes on his shots. He scored on two great shots, including
one at the edge near the coaches.
Hunter used his length and savy to turn Gill and earn the major 13-3.
Alex Caldwell
At 145 pounds Alex Caldwell took on #1 Joel
Northrup. This was the third match
up between this two wrestlers.
Caldwell started off the match very stern and full of good
movement. He fought off several
attacks early on, but the elbow injury sustained yesterday and the strength of
Northrup was too much. Caldwell
could not get his offense going, and just didn’t have the strength in his arm
to close the gap. Caldwell lost
Alex gave his best effort, but wrestling with one
hand against a highly ranked opponent was too much. He fell to Northrup 9-0.
Dustin Caldwell
The 152 pound match featuring #3 Dustin Caldwell
and John Milani from Iowa City West.
Dustin came out determined.
He looked confident and dominant early on. He scored early on a high crotch and never looked back. He continued to wrestle his match using
his ties, and holds to control Milani throughout the match. His dominance frustrated the younger Milani
causing him to shove Caldwell at the whistle. Dustin turned, faced, and walked into him and had to be
separated by the referee. Caldwell did nothing cheap and didn’t say a
word. All you needed to know was
the look on his face. He would not
be denied.
Dillion Chase
Dillion Chase took on Markram Ibraheem from Des
Moines East (Jr. 23-17). The match
started out in a torrid pace.
Ibraheem was very active on his feet. He changed levels, used a flurry
of hands, and low shots to drive Dillion out of bounds. Dillion remained unphased. He countered Ibraheems energy with a
great shot and finish. He promptly
tied up Ibraheem and pinned him in under a minute.
The Evening Round:
Hunter Genco
Genco started out the
match against Kelly with great pace.
He worked hard to get position and got in deep on several shots. Kelly used his length to generate a
counter to score the first takedown. Genco would not be denied. He continued to battle and worked his
way back.
Kelly rode tight to Genco’s
hip looking for a tilt, but Hunter would not give in. He continued to work for an escape. He nearly hit a switch, but went out of
bounds where he was docked a penalty point for swearing. Genco go to his feet late in the third
period and hit a headlock with back for 4 points to send the match to
overtime. Hunter worked head
position and countered a quality shot by Kelly to score the winning 2. What an exciting match!
Dustin Caldwell
Dustin came out and looked solid on his feet. He fought off several attacks by
Nemmers. Caldwell could not break
through Nemmers defense and found himself in a front headlock position several
times in the first period.
In the second period Nemmers gained an escaped 20
seconds into the match. Nemmers
offense lacked any leg attacks and he consistently tried to work a front headlock. The continued to fight for psotion and
battled in a front headlock. The headed
into the third period with Nemmers up 1-0.
Nemmers rode a bar arm and tight waist to try to
wear Caldwell down. He keep
working to free his wrist. He
freed his wrist and got to his feet with 47 seconds left in the matc.
Dillion Chase
Chase took control of the match early on. He scored early with a takedown and back, but was reversed. He lead 4-2 after the first period concluded.
In the second Chase rode Walkup tough with a power half. He burned in both legs and tried for the pinning combination on either side, riding nearly for a full minute and fifteen-seconds. After being warning for stalling Dillion had Walkup in a tilt that looked awfuly close to receiving back points, but none were given. The period ended with no scoring change.
Into the third period Dillion earned an escape and upon getting to his feet he tried for a throw by but the hold took both the wrestlers out of bounds. Walkup got in on a shot off the restart, but Chase defended well earning a stalemate. Next Dillion fired off a shot that lead him to his belly. He could not fully gather himself and Walkup hit a spladle on Chase. Dillion fought hard, but the hold got tighter and Walkup got the fall.
The Bob Lueders' Mental Toughness Match
This section will recap the match and it's
turning point that lead the River King wrestler to display the mental toughness
taught by Hall of Fame coach Bob Lueders.
Hunter Genco's huge four point swing with under fifteen-seconds to go. Genco knew the score was tight, saw an opportunity for a headlock, hit it, and recorded two nearfall before the hold took the wrestlers out of bounds. The momentum from the move carried over into the sudden victory period where Hunter countered and scored the winning takedown.
Five Things I Think
1) I think the “streaker” (not really a streaker as
he was wearing a Superman costume” got too greedy. He almost completed a full lap before security got him. If he was really “super” he would have
bounded over the northern ledge, ran up to a cheerleader and saved her from
evil. Instead, he was escorted arm
and arm with one of our fine event staff.
2) I
think Hunter Genco may be one of the most creative wrestlers I have seen in my
life as a competitor, coach, and now journalist. He is able to use his body, his strength, and length to
create scoring opportunities that most wrestlers wouldn’t see. And I believe his veins are filled with
glacial water.
3) I think Wells Fargo arena filled to capacity with wrestling fans not only reaches ear shattering volumes when Brands, Schwab, and Gabel are announced. But that those thousands of fans would be ready for a match with any and all members of the IOC. Wrestling fans with a purpose are not ones to mess with.
4) I think the chicken dance should be banned from state wrestling for all eternity (maybe every sporting even for that matter). It is worse than the macarana, electric slide, gangnam style, cupid shuffle, and country line dancing all wrapped up together in some crazy cross-cultural-cross-decade combination dance. It doesn't even get the little kids to dance! I could continue on about the music choices of the arena, but I digress.
5) I think there is nothing more gut wrenching then seeing a kid/student/athlete that you work with have their dreams dissolve before your eyes. It makes you feel helpless and give you a hole in your stomach. The only reassurance is that in the big scheme of things this has happened for a reason, and life continues on.
The Why Would You Wear That in Public, Let Alone to the State Meet Award:
Winner: The Pekin Panthers. With a mascot like the panthers, you could make certain assumptions about their uniforms, but one that you would not make would be lightning bolts. Yep, they had red and white lightning bolts on the back of their singlet. Oh, and uh, the panther was on the front.
Runner-up: People in colored jeans/pajama pants. I don't mean girls or guys, parents or kids. I mean anyone that buys those colored gap pants or crazy designed golfer pants. If you are walking around with tabasco bottle patterned pajama pants and you aren't wrestling (even if in my opinion, but I'll let it slide today) you should contemplate your timing. Furthermore if you are wearing colored jeans, they better be your school colors... well no forget it, colored jeans are not cool.
Coach Lueder's Thoughts:
"I'm just so proud of these guys. If you look at draws and seeds we really overachieved in the minds of others. The end goal is always a state title, but our guys are going out and just trying to wrestler their best, which is all we ask. We were :17 away in one match, and 2 points away in another. It's such an emotional roller coaster ride. You have the elation of Hunter's match, then the tough gut wrenching losses of Dustin and Dylan. Your heart just goes out to them. But, life goes on and we have to get up tomorrow, move forward, and battle tomorrow."
Tomorrow's Match-ups
Consolation Round:
#5 Hunter Genco vs. #1 Alijah Jeffery Linn-Mar (Sr. 46-3)
#3 Dustin Caldwell vs #9 Dylan Matter West Des Moines Valley (Sr. 25-7)
#9 Dillion Chase vs. #2 Dalton Witte (Burlington 38-6)
Tomorrow's session starts at 10:00am with all three classes wrestling the consolation semifinals and consolation finals.
Thanks for taking the time to read the tweets, this
blog, and most importantly supporting the journey of these young men.
It's gone so fast! Tune in
tomorrow and follow me on twitter @kellenschnee and check back on the blog!
Thanks again!
KRS
Photos from the day:
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