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    Y2CJ41

    #WrestlingWednesday: Garcia has a new approach to his Junior year

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    By JEREMY HINES
    thehines7@gmail.com

    If Asa Garcia ever needed a nickname, perhaps The Fireman would be the most fitting.

    Sure, the Avon junior’s favorite wrestling move is the fireman’s carry - but that’s not the only reason for the nickname. Firemen are some of the bravest men on the planet. While most sane people run in the opposite direction of a fire, firefighters run towards it. Garcia is one of those that run toward the fire.

    A perfect example of this came a few weeks ago when Avon competed in the team state tournament. Garcia knew that he would have a gauntlet of top tier opponents in his path. He couldn’t wait for the challenge.

    Garcia, the top ranked wrestler in an absolutely stacked 126 pound class this year, beat two returning state champions and a fourth place finisher in team state. He dropped last year’s 120 pound champ, Cayden Rooks (now ranked No. 2 at 126 pounds) 3-1. He beat last year’s 113 pound champ Alec Viduya (ranked No. 3 at 126) 7-5 and he also knocked off fifth ranked Colin Poynter, who finished fourth at 120 last year, 3-2.

    “Asa was excited for the opportunity to get so many good matches at team state,” Avon coach Zach Errett said. “He was really looking at it as an opportunity more than anything. He knew he was going to get to wrestle and compete with some of the best kids in the state. That’s who he is. He looks to compete, always. I enjoy that about him. He wants to wrestle the best people.”

    Garcia said he approached team state with the mentality that it was going to make him a better wrestler, no matter what happened.

    “I knew the tournament would be tough,” Garcia said. “I’ve beaten those guys before, but I’ve also taken my lumps to some of them. You don’t know how well you’ll perform until you get out there and do it. Right now, wins and losses don’t matter anyway. If I took a loss or two, it wouldn’t have affected me. At the end of the day, the state tournament is when it really matters. Everything up until that point is practice.”

    Garcia won state as a freshman at 106 pounds. He came into that tournament with six losses, but emerged as the champ after pinning Warren Central senior Keyuan Murphy in just under two minutes.

    “Getting under the lights is an experience that’s tough to explain,” Garcia said. “You would think you’d be really nervous. But, everything just shuts down and you probably wrestle the best you’ve ever wrestled in your life.”

    This year Garcia is making great strides because his approach to practicing has changed. Instead of practicing to get down to weight, he’s practicing to get better.

    “Last year stung a little not winning (he placed third at 113),” Garcia said. “It was a tough season all around. I was cutting too much weight and it showed when things started to count. I was like 133 pounds during the week and I was cutting to 113. I wasn’t able to practice to get better, I was practicing to get the weight off. This year is much different. I’m able to maintain my weight and in practice I’m really able to focus on improving.”

    One of the keys to Garcia’s wrestling success is his ability to learn and expand his arsenal.

    “One of the things I really love about wrestling is when you get out of your comfort zone and do something you aren’t used to,” Garcia said. “It’s no secret my favorite move is the fireman’s carry - but I’ve been able to build a more elaborate offense because I worked on things I wasn’t comfortable doing. You have to work on them until you are comfortable with them.”

    Garcia’s top priority this year is to get back under the lights and to claim his second state title.

    “You think of getting under those lights all year long,” Garcia said. “You plan in your mind what your celebration would be like. You constantly think of how you want to wrestle and how you react when you win. But, all of that shuts down when you’re actually in the moment. You just have to let go and have fun.”

    As a team, Avon breaks down after every practice with a chant of “State Champs.” Garcia knows that after that, it’s his turn to run toward the fire.

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    The firemans carry...ugh...you can't stop it, you can only hope..it doesn't happen when you're up 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the semis and you end up in a headlock on the pic next to the article! SMH.....

    Nice article. Good luck, good health to Asa.

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    3 hours ago, Y2CJ41 said:

    I was like 133 pounds during the week and I was cutting to 113. I wasn’t able to practice to get better, I was practicing to get the weight off.

    Sounds like Mr. Faulkens may need to pay a visit to the Orioles to discuss their adherence to the weight management protocol...

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    1 hour ago, JMILL said:

    this is an example of a D-bag comment for anyone who is reading.  Just wanted to point it out since Y2 won't install the "dislike" comment button for me.

    Asa is a fantastic wrestler and from everything I’ve heard a fantastic young man as well, and I wish him the absolute best with his season.

    But I can’t say I totally disagree with RegionRoyalty. A 20-pound a week cut is absolutely illegal for wrestling guidelines and I would have just assumed it be left out of the article. 

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    “Sounds like Mr. Faulkens may need to pay a visit to the Orioles to discuss their adherence to the weight management protocol...”

    I was thinking the same thing. I guess you’re a, “d-bag,” for commenting on the egregious rules violation the kid admits to in the article. Just goes to show that some schools don’t feel they are subject to following the same rules as the rest. I can’t say I’m too surprised...

     

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    No need to counteract or retract his comments in the article. He probably felt that way last year with injuries & cutting weight and other things personal things going on. He made weight every week. IHSAA has his weight charts/weigh-ins and if they had a problem with it they would of said something already with heavy consequences. Yes it’s a D-Bag comment. 

    Key word for you haters is “Like” <—-

    Hate, like, love and preferWe can use hate, like, love and prefer with an -ing form or with a to-infinitive: … ... We use the to-infinitive form of verbs that follow: … Like as a preposition meaning 'similar to'Like means 'similar to'. We often use it with verbs of the senses such as look, sound, feel, taste, seem:

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    Well this took a right handed turn!

    I can assure everyone this... 

    1. Coach Blevins (who is now gone) is the straightest man that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. His integrity should not be questioned. I’m sure that all others that really know him would agree. 

    2. I’m sure that it did feel “like” Asa was cutting 20 a week (to him). But ... cmon man.. that would be just about impossible for a 113. Perhaps he should have chosen a better way to express himself. With that said... I’m not too surprised that a bunch of anonymous grown posters have decided to make that one part of a great article the focus of that article.

    3. There are very few kids that are not above the required weight range a few minutes after weighing in. A couple waters and a sandwich and that’s a done deal. With this said, most are good by Monday’s practice. That’s just typical. 

    4. I have had the pleasure of being around some of the most talented youth wrestlers that have came out of Indiana over the last decade (my ISWA duties). Asa was not always the top dog. He had worked hard and has earned everthing that he has achieved. He is very respectful and is not a rule breaker. Words can’t express how proud I am of this kid. 

     

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    32 minutes ago, TeamGarcia said:

    Key word for you haters is “Like”

    I don't consider myself to be a hater.  I'm actually a fan of Asa and think he wrestles a fun to watch, aggressive style.

    1.5% weight loss per week to get to 113 would put your max at 114.7 in a 1-week period.  114.7 and 133 are not ALIKE.  They are not SIMILAR.  They are not ALMOST THE SAME, or any other word you'd like to use to describe two things that are similar.  "Like" is not the key word here, because 133 and 114.7 are not ALIKE. 

    Exaggeration about the amount of weight you cut is not "cool".  It hurts our sport.   I'm sure most kids lose more than 1.5% in a week, probably even in a practice.  It doesn't need to be published or exaggerated.  It's not cool, especially when you're an athlete who a lot of peers and young wrestlers look up to.  

    I just think that when Mr. Faulkens comes to a coaches dinner in the Region and lectures 50 coaches about adhering to the weight management plan, and then a couple weeks later an article is published about a state champion (one of the faces of the sport at the high school level in our state) cutting 20 pounds in a week, it's not a good look.

    Just my two cents...

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    The 1.5% rule is from weigh-in to weigh-in. Kid's weights fluctuate easily between 3-5lbs in a day especially during wrestling season when they can lose 2-6+lbs a practice. Most kids will lose 1.5% of their weight or more during a normal wrestling practice.

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    51 minutes ago, TripleB said:

    What I've learned on the board in the last 2 weeks - 

    Nobody wrestles sick kids

    Everybody adheres to weight loss regulations.

    Man I'm really glad Indiana is of such high integrity, kudos to you all!

    Don't forget about the "Extra training during the Season"

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    16 hours ago, TripleB said:

    What I've learned on the board in the last 2 weeks - 

    Nobody wrestles sick kids

    Everybody adheres to weight loss regulations.

    Man I'm really glad Indiana is of such high integrity, kudos to you all!

    We also learned that even though Fabio has great map making skills, that his lack of familiarity with the small schools of the T.E.C like Cambridge City Lincoln is an insult to the small school wrestling movement.

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    On January 4, 2018 at 2:01 PM, Mattyb said:

    2. I’m sure that it did feel “like” Asa was cutting 20 a week (to him). But ... cmon man.. that would be just about impossible for a 113. Perhaps he should have chosen a better way to express himself. With that said... I’m not too surprised that a bunch of anonymous grown posters have decided to make that one part of a great article the focus of that article.

    As a former 13 pounder who has made that 20 pound cut, it's very possible. And happens a lot more often then most would think 

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    9 hours ago, wrastler2244 said:

    As a former 13 pounder who has made that 20 pound cut, it's very possible. And happens a lot more often then most would think 

    Twenty pound cut in one week would be dangerous and definitely ill advised for anyone ... unless maybe if you have a liposuction operation.

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    On 1/4/2018 at 12:05 PM, Caleb Spires said:

    Asa is a fantastic wrestler and from everything I’ve heard a fantastic young man as well, and I wish him the absolute best with his season.

    But I can’t say I totally disagree with RegionRoyalty. A 20-pound a week cut is absolutely illegal for wrestling guidelines and I would have just assumed it be left out of the article. 

    Well said. 

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