End of Wrestling Season this year

Its sad to say but the wrestling posts you have already read are going to be it for this year. Due to the economy, not enough boys are showing up at the tournaments to make it worth the time and money for us to attend. To keep Robbie busy and in shape he is now attending karate lessons again. His plan is to do this until football season starts in August. Can you believe it? It's almost time for football season again. Boy, has time flown by! So, I guess watch for the next post on Robbie's football blog in the Fall.

Top Dawg Challenge - March 13, 2010

Wrestling Justin Franklin-Match 1 Pinning Justin Franklin - Match 1 - Ref was Chad Stamey. Wrestling Colby McNeil - Match 2 - Ref was John Navey. Wrestling Bradley Wonavich-Match 3 - Ref was John Navey. Medal winners: Bradley 1st, Robbie 2nd, Colby 3rd Today was our home tournament and lots of fun because there were so many people there we knew. I started the day early (7:15 am) helping with registration and the concession stand. After getting my work done I was able to watch the many kids I knew from our club wrestle as well as my HS kids who help by being a ref or table worker. We also cheered on a few kids who were brand new to wrestling. It was a great day for our home town. Robbie did great today. He had 5 in his bracket (85 lbs/5th & 6th grade). 3 of the boys he wrestled last week at St. Stephens and knew would not be a problem but he had one he know would be a challenge. This boy was a 6th grader and a great seasoned wrestler. Robbie started the day out with 2 wins and then a bye. It seemed like forever before he wrestled again. And it was time for Bradley, the good wrestler. It was a intense and good match. As a parent it was hard to watch but as a spectator it was a match you like to see. They each had their moments but Bradley was a better wrestler on the mat. It ended that Robbie was pinned and was left with one match to go. He pinned his last match in 27 seconds. So the day ended with Robbie getting 2nd place. Over all, it was a great day!

St Stephens Open - March 6, 2010

St Stephens Open was Saturday, March 6, 2010. It was a good day for us all. It was a close tournament and I even took Robbie by myself. Tony had to work. I thought it was going to be interesting to see how Robbie would do without his dad by his side but he did great! He handled it like a pro. Robbie had 3 in his age/weight class other than him. The group was asked to bump up to the older age group at 85 lbs since there was only one in that class and they did. That made 5 boys total in the group. Robbie had a great day and won each of his matches taking home 1st place. All the grandparents came to watch, Gma & Gpa Emanuelson along with Freda & Mackey. One of his matches was against a first year wrestler. Friends of ours were from the same club as this boy. They asked Robbie to take it easy on him. Boy, was that frustrating to watch. The whole first period Robbie barely wrestled or should I say, he wrestled in slow motion. He never seemed to finish a move. If you didn't know any better you would have thought he had forgotten everything he knew about wrestling. Then in period #2, Rusty (coach) gave Robbie the go ahead/nod and then the Robbie we know was back. He pinned the boy in a matter of seconds. It was really funny to watch Robbie go from night and day in seconds. So the day was good getting home early in the afternoon while taking home a 1st place medal. This Saturday will be our home tournament...The TopDawg Challenge.

Elementary States in Winston-Salem February 13, 2010

The Elementary States were very tough this year. Robbie had 14 boys in the 85 lb. weight class and wrestled 5 matches. The age group was 5th & 6th graders so he was the younger of the group this year. I know its only one year but I think at this age it really makes a difference in strength and maturity. Robbie started out good and won his first match. The second match went all 3 periods and Robbie lost by points....4-2. It was a competitive match and hard for parents to watch. Losing that match put him in the losers bracket to fight his way back to the top. The next two matches he did just that, winning them both. Then he wrestled a new kid we had never seen before. He was about a head taller than Robbie and a year older. The height gave him leverage and he was extremely strong. He had a twin brother and both had great strength and were natural athletes. Many people were talking about them and how well they were doing in their first year of wrestling. So the bad news is Robbie was pinned by him in the first period. That put Robbie out by double elimination. It was a day of good wrestling and competition and as the saying goes.....That's Wrestling! Each tournament is a valuable learning experience so any mat time he gets is all good. It was also great to have the support of his Grandma & Grandpa Emanuelson but his Great-Grandma Grace came to watch all the way from Ohio. It was a long day for her but we were so grateful that she was able to be there too. The next tournament that he'll probably attend will be close.....St. Stephens on March 6th and will be followed by our home tournament March 13th.

Pictures from the Dual Team Tournament 1-17-10

Robbie almost in a pin: 1st match- Robbie came out pumped up. He pinned this kid in the 1st period in just a few seconds. It was a great start to the tournament for Robbie! Robbie wrestling: Match 3- This kid Robbie had wrestled 2 weeks before at the Denver Challenge. This made it better for Robbie knowing what to expect before the match started. Actually both knew what to expect so it made it a closer match. Robbie won this match by decision 10-0. Robbie almost pinning his opponent: Match 4- Robbie pinned him. You can see the ref has almost hit the mat here. Again, check out dad in the back ground....you got to love it! Picture with Robbie's hand raised: This was at the end of Match 5. Robbie pinned him. It was a tense match because we were wrestling to win for 3rd & 4th place. It came down to the last match of the day and 1 point to determine the winner. We ended up in 4th. Picture with Tony in background: Can you believe this dad? Ha! Tony's said that this was a stressful tournament because all the matches were so close. You can see it here! Picture with 5 boys & trophy: This is a picture of just the members of the Top Dawg wrestling club that Robbie is a member of with the trophy. Bottom Picture: Here is the entire team with the trophy after the tournament was over. They received 4th place. The dual team was made up of members from four clubs combined from the western part of NC.