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Y2CJ41

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  1. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Anthony Cashman for a article, Iron Sharpens Iron: Rossville’s Noah and Jacob Weaver Look to Make Hornets History   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    Eleven months after securing their respective tickets to become Rossville’s first IHSAA state wrestling qualifiers since head coach Thomas Lynch in 2002, brothers Noah and Jacob Weaver are working towards a new feat for their school’s record books.
     
    The Weaver brothers are two of four total state qualifiers in school history. In a little over a month, in what could be their penultimate year donning the same school colors, Noah and Jacob will look to build on recent winter success to become the Hornets’ first state place winners.
     
    “It’s definitely been a unique experience, being able to be alongside Jake and see his growth over time, just being able to be watching him during practice or drilling with him and being able to help him out,” Noah said. “It’s just this back-and-forth advice, feedback between each other. I really like it’s a really neat experience and it’s cool to have.”
     
    It’s an “iron sharpens iron” mentality, Jacob said so himself, that drives the two family-oriented brothers to help each other succeed. Close in age with one school year between the two – Noah as the No. 4-ranked 190-pound wrestler as a junior and Jacob, a sophomore ranked No. 6 at 150 pounds (rankings by IndianaMat as of Dec. 27) – the two’s bond through wrestling extends far beyond just the Hornets’ wrestling room.
     
    “I’ve always been Noah’s partner throughout all the years even though there’s a size difference,” Jacob said. “Iron sharpens iron, we’re both always trying to make each other better whether it comes to mindset, technique or just training. We always try to motivate each other because we know we can do better.”
     
    As sons of former Purdue wrestler Matthew Weaver, getting into wrestling around 5-6 years old and sticking with it was always about their love for the sport. A skill difference in the beginning transferred into a size difference, fostering a teammate-like relationship of collaboration between the two.
     
    Where there wasn’t direct competition on the mat – they have always and continued to be in each other’s corner at home, practice and official matches – they made up for in brotherly battles like comparing the number of takedowns in a single season.
     
    “Initially, around elementary school, there wasn’t very much competition,” Noah said. “I didn’t really understand wrestling very well, and at that time Jacob had a much better grasp on the fundamentals and he was much more aggressive than me.
     
    “We did still have the same goal to eventually become high school state champions.”
     
    That goal might not be far off for the two. On Dec. 13 at the Clinton Prairie Invitational, both brothers took home first-place finishes. Noah recorded three consecutive pins for the title, and his six wins logged on IndianaMat in December were via fall. At the same tournament, Jacob tallied two pins, a major decision and a 9-7 title match victory over No. 17 Jayden Jett of Cowan.
     
    Although their roles have changed for each other in tournaments from wrestling unattached to as a team, Jacob and Noah are always in each other’s corners.
     
    “When we didn’t carry a team with us, Noah was just my teammate through that,” Jacob said. “We would always cheer on each other and try to work with each other. We’d always be a warmup partner, grilling partner, we were kind of bonded with each other no matter what weight we were at.
     
    “Even though now when we go to tournaments there’s a 40-pound difference, we still make each other sweat and work hard.”
     
    As workout and practice partners, the brothers continuously strive to grow through each other’s guidance.
     
    “There have been a couple times when we’ve helped each other be our best,” Noah said. “[One time], we were getting a practice in at our house, and Jacob was just really struggling through it. It was just one of those off days. I was drilling with him and was just trying to encourage him and keep up his attitude. He just pushed through and got through the practice.”
     
    Following the 2024-25 season, Noah and Jacob will go their separate ways – for a year, at least – as Noah heads to college and Jacob finishes out his high school career.
     
    Regardless of where their futures take them, through wrestling or not, their relationship will continue to grow with the same teammate foundation it’s had since they were kids.
     
    “Jacob and I are very family-oriented individuals… so I feel like depending on where we go to college, I don’t believe [our relationship with each other] will change too much,” Noah said. “If we do wrestle, we’ll still probably have that competitive spirit to see who could keep the highest GPA or who could score the most points. I feel like we’ll still keep that competitive spirit, but it’d still be friendly and loving.”
     
     
  2. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from MUSKEEWRESTLER for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Baylor driven to succeed   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    Muhammad Ali once said, “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
     
    Milan sophomore Matthew Baylor has that will. It’s what drives him on and off the mat.
     
    “Matthew is a very smart student and wrestler,” Milan coach Adrian Wilburn said. “he’s methodical and he doesn’t do anything that he hasn’t thought out already in his mind. His greatest strength is his brain. He outthinks his opponents.
     
    “He is better than average with his speed and strength, but what gets him to the next level is his intelligence.”
     
    Last year Baylor was trailing Wawasee’s Kaleb Salazar in the Friday night round at state. He was outmuscled and found himself trailing 6-2.  But Baylor wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
     
    “I thought about how there aren’t many kids from my school that had ever made it as far as I had,” Baylor said. “I didn’t want it to end there. I just decided to wrestle my match and give it everything I had.”
     
    It worked. Baylor went on to win the match 11-7 and became only the second Milan grappler to ever place at state. He finished 8th at 106 pounds and completed his freshman campaign with a 48-4 record.
     
    He had the distinction of going up against fan favorite, Northeastern’s talented female wrestler Heather Crull in the Richmond regional last season. He won the match 9-3.
     
    “That match was a little stressful because I was the guy everyone seemed to want to lose,” Baylor said. “I knew Heather was a really good wrestler and I had to be cautious against her.”
     
    Currently Baylor is ranked No. 5 at 113 pounds. His goal this season is to climb higher on the podium than he did last year.
     
    “I have worked really hard in the offseason, and I want to climb the podium,” Baylor said. “Last year it was nerve racking as a freshman. When I qualified for state, it was a feeling I’ll never forget. It was hard to believe. The thrill, the energy. I had confidence before, but it was something special that has led me to working even harder for this season.”
     
    Baylor is successful in whatever he puts his mind to. He played football up until eighth grade, and according to coach Wilburn, he was very good at it. He played on the defensive line and weighed around 100 pounds. That didn’t matter to Baylor. He would use his smarts and his speed to outmaneuver the linemen across from him and more often than not make the tackle.
     
    In the classroom he has a 3.9 grade point average. He also devotes time helping out younger wrestlers in the Milan program – particularly his brother Mason.
     
    “I’ve got a younger brother and my coach will try to take credit for how good he is, but I’m the one that coaches him the most,” Baylor joked. “He’s a special little wrestler. Every match he has I’m right there with him. That’s one of my favorite things about wrestling. I like this sport a lot and I hate to admit it, but he is going to be better than me. But it’s really a thrill to get to watch him.”
     
    Coach Wilburn believes Milan can be a force to be reckoned with in the small school division at team state for the next few years.
     
    “We were hoping to get voted in this year for team state,” Wilburn said. “We were hoping to get voted in last year, too. I haven’t had a senior in four years and I don’t have any seniors this year. We’re hoping for big things out of this team.”
  3. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Randy Qualitza for a article, 15 Years of IndianaMat   
    By Anna Kayser
    In 2008, IndianaMat emerged as an informational resource for high school wrestling across the state of Indiana, filling a communication void and connecting the wrestling community from border to border. Fifteen years later, it continues to serve as the epicenter of the Indiana wrestling community, from providing feature stories on prominent athletes to weekly rankings across regions.
     
    This is the story of how it began.
     
    For years, a message board run by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) served as the main source of communications for wrestlers, fans and coaches – both high school and college coaches looking to recruit – on lineups, rankings (loose rankings, if any at all) and results.
     
    It was late-November, peak holiday and weight-cutting season for wrestlers across the state with less than one month of official practice under their belts, when the message board got hacked and effectively rendered useless. There was no Twitter – or X, as it’s now known – to provide instantaneous information like there is today. Facebook was just gaining traction, officially surpassing MySpace as the most used social media app earlier that year.
    “[The message board] was your go-to place to get wrestling information,” Joe Caprino, creator of IndianaMat, said. “You didn’t have access to cell phones and such – everyone was communicating that way. It was really popping at times, especially during the season.”
    The old message board served as an initial connection for wrestling fans in the state, which is how the trio of Caprino, Chad Hollenbaugh (who had previously coached with Caprino) and Eric McGill ­(a former two-time state champion at Munster High School and Cornell University wrestler) formed to create a new information center.
    With the first week of competition looming, there was a frenzy for information and no resource to turn to. Caprino, Hollenbaugh and McGill knew something new was needed – and quickly.
    “Everyone was just needing information,” Caprino said. “Matches were starting and they wanted to know who won where. Everyone was looking for lineups. For about a week or 10 days, people were just going nuts trying to figure out how to get results and everything.”
    It took some encouraging on Hollenbaugh and McGill’s part to convince Caprino to create the website and provide a new alternative for fans to turn to, but that encouragement quickly turned to action. After going back and forth on the possibility of creating a website, Caprino pulled the trigger on Dec. 2, with help from the two that convinced him in the first place.
    “[The old message board] was a really convenient way for people to chat and keep in touch with their friends, so when that website went down it kind of created a void,” McGill said. “I think my role was more of just offering support and being willing to help out wherever it was needed.”
    McGill – who was then in his sophomore year at Cornell – took over the rankings in between practice and schoolwork. Hollenbaugh wrote articles early on and was instrumental in getting the word out about the website by placing an advertisement in a program for upcoming duals.
    News traveled quickly, and within 24 hours of the site being up, Caprino had to replace the server to keep up with the traffic they were experiencing. Word of mouth helped as well, with fans who were aware of the site sending out information to the masses.
    Within the first few days, Caprino estimates that the website had hundreds of members, something that never could have been reached without the goals they set and exceeded in the early days.
    “[We just wanted to] provide great coverage: Rankings, articles and obviously results. Put everyone onto the encyclopedia of [Indiana] wrestling, is what it’s kind of evolved into,” Caprino said. “The goal is to just continue to get information and results, and then to obviously promote the sport. We wanted to give recognition to kids and coaches for all of their work.”
    Over the years, the website has grown beyond the borders Indiana – and the internet. Caprino has continued to build on the website’s foundation for years, becoming recognized nationally through tournaments and college coaches seeking information.
    “I know that the website now is extremely popular in terms of college coaches going and checking the rankings and making decisions about recruiting based on those things, so it’s really been taken to new heights,” McGill said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing to be a part of in the beginning because I know what IndianaMat has become, and to have just a small part in getting started is pretty cool to reflect back on.”
    Now, the website and growth of IndianaMat and the wrestling community can only continue to move forward.
    With the evolution of social media and the reach that’s possible, the ceiling for IndianaMat and the sport in Indiana is sky-high. However, the goals haven’t necessarily changed.
    “The goal is just to keep doing a lot of great coverage and promotion of the kids.” Caprino said. “I think [the sport] has grown a lot in the 15 years and it’s pretty neat to see that growth with the kids and how people use IndianaMat.”
  4. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HCman for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Baylor driven to succeed   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    Muhammad Ali once said, “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
     
    Milan sophomore Matthew Baylor has that will. It’s what drives him on and off the mat.
     
    “Matthew is a very smart student and wrestler,” Milan coach Adrian Wilburn said. “he’s methodical and he doesn’t do anything that he hasn’t thought out already in his mind. His greatest strength is his brain. He outthinks his opponents.
     
    “He is better than average with his speed and strength, but what gets him to the next level is his intelligence.”
     
    Last year Baylor was trailing Wawasee’s Kaleb Salazar in the Friday night round at state. He was outmuscled and found himself trailing 6-2.  But Baylor wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
     
    “I thought about how there aren’t many kids from my school that had ever made it as far as I had,” Baylor said. “I didn’t want it to end there. I just decided to wrestle my match and give it everything I had.”
     
    It worked. Baylor went on to win the match 11-7 and became only the second Milan grappler to ever place at state. He finished 8th at 106 pounds and completed his freshman campaign with a 48-4 record.
     
    He had the distinction of going up against fan favorite, Northeastern’s talented female wrestler Heather Crull in the Richmond regional last season. He won the match 9-3.
     
    “That match was a little stressful because I was the guy everyone seemed to want to lose,” Baylor said. “I knew Heather was a really good wrestler and I had to be cautious against her.”
     
    Currently Baylor is ranked No. 5 at 113 pounds. His goal this season is to climb higher on the podium than he did last year.
     
    “I have worked really hard in the offseason, and I want to climb the podium,” Baylor said. “Last year it was nerve racking as a freshman. When I qualified for state, it was a feeling I’ll never forget. It was hard to believe. The thrill, the energy. I had confidence before, but it was something special that has led me to working even harder for this season.”
     
    Baylor is successful in whatever he puts his mind to. He played football up until eighth grade, and according to coach Wilburn, he was very good at it. He played on the defensive line and weighed around 100 pounds. That didn’t matter to Baylor. He would use his smarts and his speed to outmaneuver the linemen across from him and more often than not make the tackle.
     
    In the classroom he has a 3.9 grade point average. He also devotes time helping out younger wrestlers in the Milan program – particularly his brother Mason.
     
    “I’ve got a younger brother and my coach will try to take credit for how good he is, but I’m the one that coaches him the most,” Baylor joked. “He’s a special little wrestler. Every match he has I’m right there with him. That’s one of my favorite things about wrestling. I like this sport a lot and I hate to admit it, but he is going to be better than me. But it’s really a thrill to get to watch him.”
     
    Coach Wilburn believes Milan can be a force to be reckoned with in the small school division at team state for the next few years.
     
    “We were hoping to get voted in this year for team state,” Wilburn said. “We were hoping to get voted in last year, too. I haven’t had a senior in four years and I don’t have any seniors this year. We’re hoping for big things out of this team.”
  5. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Coach Beezy for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Baylor driven to succeed   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    Muhammad Ali once said, “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
     
    Milan sophomore Matthew Baylor has that will. It’s what drives him on and off the mat.
     
    “Matthew is a very smart student and wrestler,” Milan coach Adrian Wilburn said. “he’s methodical and he doesn’t do anything that he hasn’t thought out already in his mind. His greatest strength is his brain. He outthinks his opponents.
     
    “He is better than average with his speed and strength, but what gets him to the next level is his intelligence.”
     
    Last year Baylor was trailing Wawasee’s Kaleb Salazar in the Friday night round at state. He was outmuscled and found himself trailing 6-2.  But Baylor wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
     
    “I thought about how there aren’t many kids from my school that had ever made it as far as I had,” Baylor said. “I didn’t want it to end there. I just decided to wrestle my match and give it everything I had.”
     
    It worked. Baylor went on to win the match 11-7 and became only the second Milan grappler to ever place at state. He finished 8th at 106 pounds and completed his freshman campaign with a 48-4 record.
     
    He had the distinction of going up against fan favorite, Northeastern’s talented female wrestler Heather Crull in the Richmond regional last season. He won the match 9-3.
     
    “That match was a little stressful because I was the guy everyone seemed to want to lose,” Baylor said. “I knew Heather was a really good wrestler and I had to be cautious against her.”
     
    Currently Baylor is ranked No. 5 at 113 pounds. His goal this season is to climb higher on the podium than he did last year.
     
    “I have worked really hard in the offseason, and I want to climb the podium,” Baylor said. “Last year it was nerve racking as a freshman. When I qualified for state, it was a feeling I’ll never forget. It was hard to believe. The thrill, the energy. I had confidence before, but it was something special that has led me to working even harder for this season.”
     
    Baylor is successful in whatever he puts his mind to. He played football up until eighth grade, and according to coach Wilburn, he was very good at it. He played on the defensive line and weighed around 100 pounds. That didn’t matter to Baylor. He would use his smarts and his speed to outmaneuver the linemen across from him and more often than not make the tackle.
     
    In the classroom he has a 3.9 grade point average. He also devotes time helping out younger wrestlers in the Milan program – particularly his brother Mason.
     
    “I’ve got a younger brother and my coach will try to take credit for how good he is, but I’m the one that coaches him the most,” Baylor joked. “He’s a special little wrestler. Every match he has I’m right there with him. That’s one of my favorite things about wrestling. I like this sport a lot and I hate to admit it, but he is going to be better than me. But it’s really a thrill to get to watch him.”
     
    Coach Wilburn believes Milan can be a force to be reckoned with in the small school division at team state for the next few years.
     
    “We were hoping to get voted in this year for team state,” Wilburn said. “We were hoping to get voted in last year, too. I haven’t had a senior in four years and I don’t have any seniors this year. We’re hoping for big things out of this team.”
  6. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from FCFIGHTER170 for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  7. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HWTDAD for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  8. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HCman for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  9. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from GenHeavyHandz for a article, Mendez wins Big 10 Wrestler of the Week   
    Ohio State Claims Wrestler of the Week Honor
    The Buckeye posted a 5-0 record en route to the 141-pound title at the 2023 Cliff Keen Invitational
     
     
    Wrestler of the Week
    Jesse Mendez, Ohio State
    141 pounds – So. – Crown Point, Ind. – Crown Point
     
    Captured the 141-pound title at the 2023 Cliff Keen Invitational with a 5-0 record Earned the crown with three-consecutive wins over top 15 wrestlers in his weight class, including a major decision over No. 4 Brock Hardy of Nebraska Defeated No. 14 Vince Cornella of Cornell in the quarterfinals by technical fall (18-1), before winning the title match over No. 7 Ryan Jack of NC State by decision, 5-2 Last Ohio State Wrestler of the Week: Rocco Welsh (Nov. 8, 2023)  
      
    2023-24 Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
    Nov. 8: Rocco Welsh, Fr., OSU
    Nov. 14: Shayne Van Ness, So., PSU/ Dean Hamiti, Jr., WIS
    Nov. 22: Beau Bartlett, Sr., PSU/ Yaraslau Slavikouski, Gr., RU
    Nov. 29: Gabe Arnold, Fr., IOWA
    Dec. 6: Jesse Mendez, So., OSU
  10. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from THall for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  11. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Gable for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  12. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from No One Famous for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  13. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from April Whitehead for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  14. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Tcarter for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  15. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Scbbcb for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  16. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from buttler73 for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  17. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from RAJR for a article, #WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Patience and Perseverance have paid off for Byrd   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
     
    “Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
     
    While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
     
    “That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
     
    Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
     
    “The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
     
    Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
     
    Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
     
    “I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
     
    “I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
     
    Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
     
    “The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
     
    Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
     
    “Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
     
    Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
     
    Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
     
    “People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
     
    Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
     
    “Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
     
    Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
     
    “Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”
  18. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from MAJAM152 for a article, 15 Years of IndianaMat   
    By Anna Kayser
    In 2008, IndianaMat emerged as an informational resource for high school wrestling across the state of Indiana, filling a communication void and connecting the wrestling community from border to border. Fifteen years later, it continues to serve as the epicenter of the Indiana wrestling community, from providing feature stories on prominent athletes to weekly rankings across regions.
     
    This is the story of how it began.
     
    For years, a message board run by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) served as the main source of communications for wrestlers, fans and coaches – both high school and college coaches looking to recruit – on lineups, rankings (loose rankings, if any at all) and results.
     
    It was late-November, peak holiday and weight-cutting season for wrestlers across the state with less than one month of official practice under their belts, when the message board got hacked and effectively rendered useless. There was no Twitter – or X, as it’s now known – to provide instantaneous information like there is today. Facebook was just gaining traction, officially surpassing MySpace as the most used social media app earlier that year.
    “[The message board] was your go-to place to get wrestling information,” Joe Caprino, creator of IndianaMat, said. “You didn’t have access to cell phones and such – everyone was communicating that way. It was really popping at times, especially during the season.”
    The old message board served as an initial connection for wrestling fans in the state, which is how the trio of Caprino, Chad Hollenbaugh (who had previously coached with Caprino) and Eric McGill ­(a former two-time state champion at Munster High School and Cornell University wrestler) formed to create a new information center.
    With the first week of competition looming, there was a frenzy for information and no resource to turn to. Caprino, Hollenbaugh and McGill knew something new was needed – and quickly.
    “Everyone was just needing information,” Caprino said. “Matches were starting and they wanted to know who won where. Everyone was looking for lineups. For about a week or 10 days, people were just going nuts trying to figure out how to get results and everything.”
    It took some encouraging on Hollenbaugh and McGill’s part to convince Caprino to create the website and provide a new alternative for fans to turn to, but that encouragement quickly turned to action. After going back and forth on the possibility of creating a website, Caprino pulled the trigger on Dec. 2, with help from the two that convinced him in the first place.
    “[The old message board] was a really convenient way for people to chat and keep in touch with their friends, so when that website went down it kind of created a void,” McGill said. “I think my role was more of just offering support and being willing to help out wherever it was needed.”
    McGill – who was then in his sophomore year at Cornell – took over the rankings in between practice and schoolwork. Hollenbaugh wrote articles early on and was instrumental in getting the word out about the website by placing an advertisement in a program for upcoming duals.
    News traveled quickly, and within 24 hours of the site being up, Caprino had to replace the server to keep up with the traffic they were experiencing. Word of mouth helped as well, with fans who were aware of the site sending out information to the masses.
    Within the first few days, Caprino estimates that the website had hundreds of members, something that never could have been reached without the goals they set and exceeded in the early days.
    “[We just wanted to] provide great coverage: Rankings, articles and obviously results. Put everyone onto the encyclopedia of [Indiana] wrestling, is what it’s kind of evolved into,” Caprino said. “The goal is to just continue to get information and results, and then to obviously promote the sport. We wanted to give recognition to kids and coaches for all of their work.”
    Over the years, the website has grown beyond the borders Indiana – and the internet. Caprino has continued to build on the website’s foundation for years, becoming recognized nationally through tournaments and college coaches seeking information.
    “I know that the website now is extremely popular in terms of college coaches going and checking the rankings and making decisions about recruiting based on those things, so it’s really been taken to new heights,” McGill said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing to be a part of in the beginning because I know what IndianaMat has become, and to have just a small part in getting started is pretty cool to reflect back on.”
    Now, the website and growth of IndianaMat and the wrestling community can only continue to move forward.
    With the evolution of social media and the reach that’s possible, the ceiling for IndianaMat and the sport in Indiana is sky-high. However, the goals haven’t necessarily changed.
    “The goal is just to keep doing a lot of great coverage and promotion of the kids.” Caprino said. “I think [the sport] has grown a lot in the 15 years and it’s pretty neat to see that growth with the kids and how people use IndianaMat.”
  19. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HornetSloan for a article, 15 Years of IndianaMat   
    By Anna Kayser
    In 2008, IndianaMat emerged as an informational resource for high school wrestling across the state of Indiana, filling a communication void and connecting the wrestling community from border to border. Fifteen years later, it continues to serve as the epicenter of the Indiana wrestling community, from providing feature stories on prominent athletes to weekly rankings across regions.
     
    This is the story of how it began.
     
    For years, a message board run by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) served as the main source of communications for wrestlers, fans and coaches – both high school and college coaches looking to recruit – on lineups, rankings (loose rankings, if any at all) and results.
     
    It was late-November, peak holiday and weight-cutting season for wrestlers across the state with less than one month of official practice under their belts, when the message board got hacked and effectively rendered useless. There was no Twitter – or X, as it’s now known – to provide instantaneous information like there is today. Facebook was just gaining traction, officially surpassing MySpace as the most used social media app earlier that year.
    “[The message board] was your go-to place to get wrestling information,” Joe Caprino, creator of IndianaMat, said. “You didn’t have access to cell phones and such – everyone was communicating that way. It was really popping at times, especially during the season.”
    The old message board served as an initial connection for wrestling fans in the state, which is how the trio of Caprino, Chad Hollenbaugh (who had previously coached with Caprino) and Eric McGill ­(a former two-time state champion at Munster High School and Cornell University wrestler) formed to create a new information center.
    With the first week of competition looming, there was a frenzy for information and no resource to turn to. Caprino, Hollenbaugh and McGill knew something new was needed – and quickly.
    “Everyone was just needing information,” Caprino said. “Matches were starting and they wanted to know who won where. Everyone was looking for lineups. For about a week or 10 days, people were just going nuts trying to figure out how to get results and everything.”
    It took some encouraging on Hollenbaugh and McGill’s part to convince Caprino to create the website and provide a new alternative for fans to turn to, but that encouragement quickly turned to action. After going back and forth on the possibility of creating a website, Caprino pulled the trigger on Dec. 2, with help from the two that convinced him in the first place.
    “[The old message board] was a really convenient way for people to chat and keep in touch with their friends, so when that website went down it kind of created a void,” McGill said. “I think my role was more of just offering support and being willing to help out wherever it was needed.”
    McGill – who was then in his sophomore year at Cornell – took over the rankings in between practice and schoolwork. Hollenbaugh wrote articles early on and was instrumental in getting the word out about the website by placing an advertisement in a program for upcoming duals.
    News traveled quickly, and within 24 hours of the site being up, Caprino had to replace the server to keep up with the traffic they were experiencing. Word of mouth helped as well, with fans who were aware of the site sending out information to the masses.
    Within the first few days, Caprino estimates that the website had hundreds of members, something that never could have been reached without the goals they set and exceeded in the early days.
    “[We just wanted to] provide great coverage: Rankings, articles and obviously results. Put everyone onto the encyclopedia of [Indiana] wrestling, is what it’s kind of evolved into,” Caprino said. “The goal is to just continue to get information and results, and then to obviously promote the sport. We wanted to give recognition to kids and coaches for all of their work.”
    Over the years, the website has grown beyond the borders Indiana – and the internet. Caprino has continued to build on the website’s foundation for years, becoming recognized nationally through tournaments and college coaches seeking information.
    “I know that the website now is extremely popular in terms of college coaches going and checking the rankings and making decisions about recruiting based on those things, so it’s really been taken to new heights,” McGill said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing to be a part of in the beginning because I know what IndianaMat has become, and to have just a small part in getting started is pretty cool to reflect back on.”
    Now, the website and growth of IndianaMat and the wrestling community can only continue to move forward.
    With the evolution of social media and the reach that’s possible, the ceiling for IndianaMat and the sport in Indiana is sky-high. However, the goals haven’t necessarily changed.
    “The goal is just to keep doing a lot of great coverage and promotion of the kids.” Caprino said. “I think [the sport] has grown a lot in the 15 years and it’s pretty neat to see that growth with the kids and how people use IndianaMat.”
  20. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HCman for a article, 15 Years of IndianaMat   
    By Anna Kayser
    In 2008, IndianaMat emerged as an informational resource for high school wrestling across the state of Indiana, filling a communication void and connecting the wrestling community from border to border. Fifteen years later, it continues to serve as the epicenter of the Indiana wrestling community, from providing feature stories on prominent athletes to weekly rankings across regions.
     
    This is the story of how it began.
     
    For years, a message board run by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) served as the main source of communications for wrestlers, fans and coaches – both high school and college coaches looking to recruit – on lineups, rankings (loose rankings, if any at all) and results.
     
    It was late-November, peak holiday and weight-cutting season for wrestlers across the state with less than one month of official practice under their belts, when the message board got hacked and effectively rendered useless. There was no Twitter – or X, as it’s now known – to provide instantaneous information like there is today. Facebook was just gaining traction, officially surpassing MySpace as the most used social media app earlier that year.
    “[The message board] was your go-to place to get wrestling information,” Joe Caprino, creator of IndianaMat, said. “You didn’t have access to cell phones and such – everyone was communicating that way. It was really popping at times, especially during the season.”
    The old message board served as an initial connection for wrestling fans in the state, which is how the trio of Caprino, Chad Hollenbaugh (who had previously coached with Caprino) and Eric McGill ­(a former two-time state champion at Munster High School and Cornell University wrestler) formed to create a new information center.
    With the first week of competition looming, there was a frenzy for information and no resource to turn to. Caprino, Hollenbaugh and McGill knew something new was needed – and quickly.
    “Everyone was just needing information,” Caprino said. “Matches were starting and they wanted to know who won where. Everyone was looking for lineups. For about a week or 10 days, people were just going nuts trying to figure out how to get results and everything.”
    It took some encouraging on Hollenbaugh and McGill’s part to convince Caprino to create the website and provide a new alternative for fans to turn to, but that encouragement quickly turned to action. After going back and forth on the possibility of creating a website, Caprino pulled the trigger on Dec. 2, with help from the two that convinced him in the first place.
    “[The old message board] was a really convenient way for people to chat and keep in touch with their friends, so when that website went down it kind of created a void,” McGill said. “I think my role was more of just offering support and being willing to help out wherever it was needed.”
    McGill – who was then in his sophomore year at Cornell – took over the rankings in between practice and schoolwork. Hollenbaugh wrote articles early on and was instrumental in getting the word out about the website by placing an advertisement in a program for upcoming duals.
    News traveled quickly, and within 24 hours of the site being up, Caprino had to replace the server to keep up with the traffic they were experiencing. Word of mouth helped as well, with fans who were aware of the site sending out information to the masses.
    Within the first few days, Caprino estimates that the website had hundreds of members, something that never could have been reached without the goals they set and exceeded in the early days.
    “[We just wanted to] provide great coverage: Rankings, articles and obviously results. Put everyone onto the encyclopedia of [Indiana] wrestling, is what it’s kind of evolved into,” Caprino said. “The goal is to just continue to get information and results, and then to obviously promote the sport. We wanted to give recognition to kids and coaches for all of their work.”
    Over the years, the website has grown beyond the borders Indiana – and the internet. Caprino has continued to build on the website’s foundation for years, becoming recognized nationally through tournaments and college coaches seeking information.
    “I know that the website now is extremely popular in terms of college coaches going and checking the rankings and making decisions about recruiting based on those things, so it’s really been taken to new heights,” McGill said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing to be a part of in the beginning because I know what IndianaMat has become, and to have just a small part in getting started is pretty cool to reflect back on.”
    Now, the website and growth of IndianaMat and the wrestling community can only continue to move forward.
    With the evolution of social media and the reach that’s possible, the ceiling for IndianaMat and the sport in Indiana is sky-high. However, the goals haven’t necessarily changed.
    “The goal is just to keep doing a lot of great coverage and promotion of the kids.” Caprino said. “I think [the sport] has grown a lot in the 15 years and it’s pretty neat to see that growth with the kids and how people use IndianaMat.”
  21. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from Justin Ratliff for a article, 15 Years of IndianaMat   
    By Anna Kayser
    In 2008, IndianaMat emerged as an informational resource for high school wrestling across the state of Indiana, filling a communication void and connecting the wrestling community from border to border. Fifteen years later, it continues to serve as the epicenter of the Indiana wrestling community, from providing feature stories on prominent athletes to weekly rankings across regions.
     
    This is the story of how it began.
     
    For years, a message board run by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association (IHSWCA) served as the main source of communications for wrestlers, fans and coaches – both high school and college coaches looking to recruit – on lineups, rankings (loose rankings, if any at all) and results.
     
    It was late-November, peak holiday and weight-cutting season for wrestlers across the state with less than one month of official practice under their belts, when the message board got hacked and effectively rendered useless. There was no Twitter – or X, as it’s now known – to provide instantaneous information like there is today. Facebook was just gaining traction, officially surpassing MySpace as the most used social media app earlier that year.
    “[The message board] was your go-to place to get wrestling information,” Joe Caprino, creator of IndianaMat, said. “You didn’t have access to cell phones and such – everyone was communicating that way. It was really popping at times, especially during the season.”
    The old message board served as an initial connection for wrestling fans in the state, which is how the trio of Caprino, Chad Hollenbaugh (who had previously coached with Caprino) and Eric McGill ­(a former two-time state champion at Munster High School and Cornell University wrestler) formed to create a new information center.
    With the first week of competition looming, there was a frenzy for information and no resource to turn to. Caprino, Hollenbaugh and McGill knew something new was needed – and quickly.
    “Everyone was just needing information,” Caprino said. “Matches were starting and they wanted to know who won where. Everyone was looking for lineups. For about a week or 10 days, people were just going nuts trying to figure out how to get results and everything.”
    It took some encouraging on Hollenbaugh and McGill’s part to convince Caprino to create the website and provide a new alternative for fans to turn to, but that encouragement quickly turned to action. After going back and forth on the possibility of creating a website, Caprino pulled the trigger on Dec. 2, with help from the two that convinced him in the first place.
    “[The old message board] was a really convenient way for people to chat and keep in touch with their friends, so when that website went down it kind of created a void,” McGill said. “I think my role was more of just offering support and being willing to help out wherever it was needed.”
    McGill – who was then in his sophomore year at Cornell – took over the rankings in between practice and schoolwork. Hollenbaugh wrote articles early on and was instrumental in getting the word out about the website by placing an advertisement in a program for upcoming duals.
    News traveled quickly, and within 24 hours of the site being up, Caprino had to replace the server to keep up with the traffic they were experiencing. Word of mouth helped as well, with fans who were aware of the site sending out information to the masses.
    Within the first few days, Caprino estimates that the website had hundreds of members, something that never could have been reached without the goals they set and exceeded in the early days.
    “[We just wanted to] provide great coverage: Rankings, articles and obviously results. Put everyone onto the encyclopedia of [Indiana] wrestling, is what it’s kind of evolved into,” Caprino said. “The goal is to just continue to get information and results, and then to obviously promote the sport. We wanted to give recognition to kids and coaches for all of their work.”
    Over the years, the website has grown beyond the borders Indiana – and the internet. Caprino has continued to build on the website’s foundation for years, becoming recognized nationally through tournaments and college coaches seeking information.
    “I know that the website now is extremely popular in terms of college coaches going and checking the rankings and making decisions about recruiting based on those things, so it’s really been taken to new heights,” McGill said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing to be a part of in the beginning because I know what IndianaMat has become, and to have just a small part in getting started is pretty cool to reflect back on.”
    Now, the website and growth of IndianaMat and the wrestling community can only continue to move forward.
    With the evolution of social media and the reach that’s possible, the ceiling for IndianaMat and the sport in Indiana is sky-high. However, the goals haven’t necessarily changed.
    “The goal is just to keep doing a lot of great coverage and promotion of the kids.” Caprino said. “I think [the sport] has grown a lot in the 15 years and it’s pretty neat to see that growth with the kids and how people use IndianaMat.”
  22. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from HCman for a article, Reynolds Overcomes Surgeries, Long Road to Recovery Ahead of Comeback Campaign   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
     
    Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
     
    “When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
     
    Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
     
    According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
     
    Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
     
    The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
     
    “Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
     
    Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
     
    “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
     
    The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
     
    After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
    “[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
     
    Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
     
    And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
     
    “He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
     
    Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
     
    He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
     
    “Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
     
    Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
     
    “After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
     
    Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
     
    A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
     
    A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
     
    And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  
  23. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from busstogate for a article, Reynolds Overcomes Surgeries, Long Road to Recovery Ahead of Comeback Campaign   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
     
    Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
     
    “When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
     
    Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
     
    According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
     
    Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
     
    The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
     
    “Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
     
    Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
     
    “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
     
    The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
     
    After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
    “[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
     
    Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
     
    And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
     
    “He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
     
    Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
     
    He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
     
    “Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
     
    Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
     
    “After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
     
    Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
     
    A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
     
    A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
     
    And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  
  24. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from TeamGarcia for a article, Reynolds Overcomes Surgeries, Long Road to Recovery Ahead of Comeback Campaign   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
     
    Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
     
    “When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
     
    Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
     
    According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
     
    Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
     
    The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
     
    “Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
     
    Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
     
    “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
     
    The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
     
    After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
    “[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
     
    Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
     
    And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
     
    “He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
     
    Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
     
    He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
     
    “Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
     
    Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
     
    “After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
     
    Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
     
    A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
     
    A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
     
    And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  
  25. Like
    Y2CJ41 got a reaction from indypharmd for a article, Reynolds Overcomes Surgeries, Long Road to Recovery Ahead of Comeback Campaign   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
     
    Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
     
    “When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
     
    Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
     
    According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
     
    Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
     
    The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
     
    “Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
     
    Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
     
    “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
     
    The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
     
    After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
    “[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
     
    Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
     
    And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
     
    “He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
     
    Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
     
    He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
     
    “Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
     
    Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
     
    “After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
     
    Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
     
    A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
     
    A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
     
    And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  
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