Hey all here is the update and match by match write up from Blaine on Wednesday night.  Feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

 

Wednesday night we traveled to Blaine for a dual meet.  Blaine had numerous returners from last year's team that placed pretty highly in the state meet.  Our inexperience showed throughout the night as we just haven't had the mat time yet for this season.  Starting out with a team like Blaine is a tough way to start.  The final score was 59-18 Blaine.

 

103 - We haven't found a 103 pounder this year so we were forced to forfeit to Blaine

112 - Frank Burge vs Anthony Ortiz - Frank got us out to a great start.  He was really intense and looked like he was on a mission as he shot in on a double leg right off the whistle and got a takedown.  He then moved out to the side and pancaked his opponent and got the fall.  Total match time 30 seconds.  Got all the Mount Vernon team and fans up and excited.

119 - Pavel Okara vs Shaffer Hendrix - Tough first match for Pavel.  Pavel is in his first match ever and was wrestling against a very experienced wrestler from Blaine.  Pavel has been showing a lot of toughness and heart in the practice room and that translated well into the match but the experience of wrestling for a long time vs not having wrestled before got the best of us.  Pavel was pinned in the first round.

125 - Ricarda Garcia vs Kelton Nix - This turned into one of the better matches of the night.  Ricarda was giving up a few pounds and as it turned out the Blaine wrestler was a leg rider (not something Ricarda has seen much of).  His ride was also a bit of a stall ride as he basically just had a choke hold the whole match but it had an arm in it and since it is something as a coaching staff we haven't seen in a while (probably 5-10 years since I've seen someone use it, as it is more of a move to hold on than to score points or work for a fall), we hadn't taught how to get out of it.  Thus Ricarda spent most of the match on the mat.  Late in the match she was able to get going as she does and put the pressure on the Blaine wrestler and we ended up getting 3 stalling calls on them during this match which was a plus..  Final score 8-2 for Blaine.  Ricarda did have a pretty good attitude after the match and realized that this is just something that she wasn't ready for...she will be next time.

130 - We were short on eligible wrestlers and had to forfeit this weight

135 - Again we forfeited this weight to Blaine

140 - This match we expected to be a good match but once we sent Jordan Watts out to the table, Blaine forfeited to us due to their wrestler dealing with an injury.

145 - Aaron O'Neill vs Kamden Nix - A really exciting match with lots of action.  The two were all over the mat.  There were many opportunities for both wrestlers to score and that provided for a lot of action.  In the end Aaron's lack of mat time the past few years cost him a little bit.  The Blaine wrestler is one of their guns and we knew that and were excited for that opportunity for Aaron.  He often has suprised other teams guns over the years.  Tonight though we lost a lot of scrambles and this match was a glaring example of that.  Aaron would get into a scramble and then just barely lose the scramble.  The final score was 17-2 for Blaine.  Tough match but allowed us to see some of the things we need to work on and I do think the next time these two wrestle it will not be nearly as lopsided (Aaron can definately beat him...just a matter of making him wrestle our match instead of the other way around).

152 - Dylan Wolfe vs AJ Pieczynski - One of the few matches that came down to the wire.  Dylan had a great back and forth match with the Blaine wrestler.  He was a great example for the team of using the things we have been showing as he was successful everytime he did the techniques we have been showing.  Including one time he went to a sit out first then went to our knee dip we have been teaching and immediately got out once he went to the knee dip.  In the third period we got a late takedown with about 35 seconds to go to give us the lead.  We were unable to ride him out and so Blaine got an escape.  Dylan was still up by one.  We got taken down with about 20 seconds to go and that left Dylan down by one.  At this point though Dylan was a little tired and went back to things he's worked on in the past.  It's very hard for Dylan as he's wrestled for so many different coaches in the past few years so he knows so much technique that it's hard for him to know what to go to late in matches.  He went to his sit out and ended up needing a few more seconds.  He was on his way out as the buzzer went off but no points and so we lost 10-9.  Tough match for Dylan but as always Dylan learns from each match and spent a lot of time talking with the coaching staff after his match and I think he learned a lot from this match.  It definately will not be the same outcome if we get to see him again.

160 - Joe Barrington-Richards vs Michael McCulley - This match was probably the only one where our wrestler was more experienced than their's.  Joe did what he should and took care of business.  He even got a little flashy early in the match as the Blaine wrestler was pushing pretty hard so Joe through a lateral drop that made the Blaine kid's feet almost touch the ceiling.  That got all the Mount Vernon team, and fans excited.  Joe then allowed an escape and then went back to normal moves and took his opponent down with a high crotch and finished the match with a 3/4 stack (Derek Garcia style).  Final match time 1.24

171 - David Buchanan vs Juan Avena - David is a great kid to have in the room.  He just gets so nervous when it's match time though.  I am certain if they wrestled in our room David would win this match over half the time.  However, this match was in the gym and at Blaine and he got caught in a bad position and was reverse head and armed to his back.  Blaine got the pin.

189 - Derek Almanza vs Caleb Johnson - This match turned into a really good match.  This one was back and forth with Derek doing a great double leg early then Blaine got away and got a takedown in a scramble.  The two spent most of the next to periods with each person getting a chance on top and riding for most of the period.  Derek had opportunities but as he said when he got off the mat "I felt like I was in positions to do things but didn't know what to do."  Derek is in a tough spot as even though he wrestled last year it took most of the season for him to buy into what we were doing and teaching and even into the sport.  He is a great competitor and really wants to do well and I believe he will, but he needs more experience and mat time.  Late in the match he got caught in a throw as we were forcing the issue and he was pinned at 5.59. 

215 - Ricky Rodriguez vs Jeremy Holdaas - Tough first match for Ricky.  He was wrestling a returning state finalist and it showed.  Blaine took care of business rather quickly and Ricky wasn't really able to do much.  Ricky did come off the mat with a great attitude and knew that there just wasn't much he was going to be able to do about this one as his opponent has just spent more time on the mat than he has.

275 - Chucky Bousquet vs Joel Garza - This one was the final match of the night and Blaine had a lot of momentum going into this one..  Chucky got caught in a throw fairly early in the match and was pinned so he was unable to show what he is capable of.  He again as so many of our guys do, just needs more mat time.

 

We went back to work yesterday and worked on some of the things that were glaring out as we haven't showed them yet or that weren't being done correctly and yesterday was a great practice.  The kids worked really hard and learned a lot.  I expect this weekend will be a lot different as we wrestle more within our experience level and will get a better feel for how they are doing.  Today the JV's go to Squalicum for the JV portion of the George Younlick tournament and tomorrow the Varsity will travel to the same tournament.  Hope to see MV well represented.

 

It's a great day to be a Bulldog!

Paul