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.