grappler87

I was just trying to get a free t-shirt. ;D

Monday, December 8, 2008 From the moment his alarm clock goes off at 5:30 every morning, Preston Richard rededicates himself to the struggle and gets ready for a daily run that takes place while his competition may still be catching another hour of shut-eye. For Richard, there is no other option. Everyone the 145-pound Castle High School wrestler faces this season represents someone with the capability of winning ? a prospect that drives him from the moment he wakes up. "I feel like I have to be ready to wrestle every match," said Richard, who qualified for the state tournament before getting knocked out in the first round and ending the season with a somewhat hollow 40-4 record. "I don't pay attention to names because you never know who might be capable of beating you," he said. "You have to be ready to wrestle every match like it's your last one. I'm only worried about that next match. I'm not worried about that match in February." That match in February refers to the individual state championship at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse. Last year, Richard arrived with a stellar 40-3 record and it is obvious his performance then galls and motivates him to this day. Facing Bellmont's Tyler Baker in the win-or-go-home opening round of the state finals, Richard was overwhelmed in a 14-4 loss that ended his season and started his quest to return. Despite a season in which he often dominated opponents and earned a regional championship in a deep and dangerous weight class, Richard mostly remembers the loss that ended it. "I know I didn't wrestle the way I wanted to," he said, sitting in a quiet hallway outside the Castle gym during Saturday's Castle Invitational. "Everything about it was different and I didn't adjust very well. "There's not a lot of floor space, but there's a lot of volume at Conseco. Then you look up and see all of those seats and the ones at the top look so tiny." Had Richard been as focused on Baker and a string of takedowns, he may have turned in a better showing. In this match, however, he was second best and that's a fact he's not willing to let go of. "I don't think it's just me," said Richard, who currently holds the No. 6 state ranking at 145. "I think our whole team considers itself second best. "The guy that's second best has to work harder than No. 1. The second-best guy is going to have to be ready to fight to the end because he has to. You have to have that attitude every time you wrestle and every time you go into the wrestling room." But to be a champion, there comes a point when every extra mile run, every bloodied nose in practice and every close battle won transforms the psyche. At some point the ultimate champion will be the one who believes in his heart that the win belongs to him. Castle coach Bob Harmon believes that last degree of confidence is the only thing separating Richard from a triumphant return to Conseco. "Preston is everything you'd hope for in a kid," Harmon said. "He's really hard-working, he puts in his time and he does extra. The biggest thing for him now is the confidence thing. "I think he learned a lot last year. Going up there and being in that atmosphere for the first time is tough, and then in the back of his mind he felt like he might have had a little bit of a weakness on his feet and that just gives you a little more vulnerability." It is the difference between winning and losing at Conseco, but there isn't a day that goes by that Richard doesn't improve and gain confidence, thanks in large measure to very talented teammates that include eight other semistate returnees. "There's nobody on this team that takes a match off and there's nobody on this team that loafs in practice," he said. "Not in our room. We've got a very competitive situation in our room and everyone is struggling to get better. You're always going to have that fight or two, but practice is practice and that's where it stays." Harmon said that the experience in the room can be humbling but invaluable. "One day you can be king of the room and the next day you can't buy a takedown," he said. "You start getting some success and that builds confidence. Then it's up to you to take it to the next level." It's a place Richard is committed to and reminded of every time the alarm clock goes off.

December 6, 2008 Wrestler gets to the right weight Junior Anthony Sparks gains pounds and ground in his weight class By Steve Brooks Star correspondent If Greenwood junior wrestler Anthony Sparks feels like he's strong enough to take on the world right now, no one could blame him. A junior, Sparks weighs in at 103 pounds -- light by most standards, but 23 pounds heavier than he was as a freshman and eight pounds more than a year ago, when he spent the season wrestling in the Woodmen's 103-pound varsity slot. He didn't make it out of the sectional last season but is off to a strong 5-0 start this year. "It really feels tremendous. I just feel so much stronger and so much faster," Sparks said. "I can go to tournaments, relax and just wrestle. I don't find myself thinking, 'I'm only 95 pounds. These guys are so much bigger than me.' " Greenwood coach Mike Smitson feels that Sparks competing in a weight class typically inhabited by freshmen and sophomores can give his wrestler an advantage. "The last couple years he's been (at) a 15- to 20-pound weight (disadvantage). Now he doesn't have that," Smitson said. "Now he can walk out on the mat with a weight pretty equal to his opponent." Sparks agreed. "I've been at this weight class for three years. I know what it takes and know how kids wrestle," he said. "It's a huge difference for me. I feel like I have a lot of experience with this group." There wasn't any miraculous weight gain during the offseason for Sparks. Rather, he followed a pretty simple regimen. "I lifted a lot, and I focused on eating the right things," he said. "I ate healthy food, not a lot of junk, so I could work out and get stronger." Sparks made his debut last weekend in the Bison Invitational at Benton Central. He was 5-0 with a pin, two technical falls and two major decisions. "You could tell his summer preparation paid off," Smitson said. "You could see that he'd lifted and that he'd worked on technique. He's one step closer to becoming a better wrestler." Sparks didn't place in the top six in the sectional this year. He plans on doing much better this time. "Of course getting out of the sectional for the first time is the big goal," he said. "I know there are some tough kids in my sectional, but I feel like this could me my year."

December 8, 2008 Millers, Huskies, Eagles win wrestling tourneys By Ted Schultz Ted.Schultz@TheNoblesvilleLedger.com The Noblesville wrestlers went 5-0 Saturday to capture the Hagerstown Invitational championship. The Millers rolled over Tri 67-9, Shenandoah 55-19, Wapahani 72-9 and Richmond 48-21 before edging Southport 43-37 to close the day. Alex Bowers came up with a big pin in the finals against Southport to clinch the victory. Luke Dzirbik went 5-0 with five pins at 152 pounds, Wayne Specht went 5-0 with four pins at 145 and Andy Fleenor went 5-0 at 171 and 189 to lead Noblesville. Eli Robertson (103) went 3-0, while Jordan Edwards (125), Patrick Mangan (130), Alex Bowers (140) and Wes Isaacs (189/215) all went 4-1 and Tyler Carlotto (103/112) went 3-1. "Luke Dzirbik, Wayne Specht and Andy Fleenor were dominant," Noblesville coach Tom Knotts said. "Wes Isaacs and Jordan Edwards each lost close two-point decisions that kept them from undefeated days. We are a team of mostly sophomores and freshmen, and this 5-0 day will help our confidence and growth." Hamilton Heights wins Western Super 6 The Huskies routed South Bend St. Joseph's 72-7, Taylor 66-13, Kokomo 76-3, Clinton Central 66-10 and Western 54-18 to claim the title. "Having two conference teams there, it was kind of important to do well, and I think we did what we needed to do as far as getting ready for conference," Heights coach Rick Willoughby said. Zach Powell (112), Jarrid Logan (125), Colin Bullock (135), Zach Bowers (140) and Josh Duncan (152) all went 5-0 and Tyler Elmore (103) went 4-1 to win their weight classes. Sam Marshall (119), Brayden Alley (130), A.J. Miller (145), Tyler Shook (171) Zac Garrity (189) and Jackson Kerfoot (285) also went 4-1, and Kyle Watkins (215) went 2-1. "It was nice to see Zach Powell win his weight class, and Tyler Elmore going 4-1 was nice, being the only freshman in our lineup," Willoughby said. "Brayden Alley had a real good day." Guerin Catholic wins Indiana Blind Invitational The Golden Eagles racked up 157 points to claim the nine-team tournament. Howe finished second with 133, and Park Tudor was third with 76. "This time, we wrestled better (than in winning last year's tournament)," Guerin coach Tom Vondersaar said. "It was a very good day." Ben Vondersaar, who won the 189 weight class, was voted the tournament's outstanding wrestler. Robbie Painter (103), Diego Otero (112), Kevin Butler (140), Charlie Brankle (160), and Nick Vondersaar (285) also won their weight classes, while Carr O'Connor (152), Dave Smith (215) and Chris Weiper (285) finished second, and Zach Nielson (135) took third. "I would say all the guys wrestled impressive and at a higher level than they have all year," Tom Vondersaar said.

December 10, 2008 Late flurry pushes Shamrock wrestlers past Millers By Ted Schultz Ted.Schultz@TheNoblesvilleLedger.com NOBLESVILLE -- A young Noblesville wrestling team had perennial power Westfield on the ropes with five matches remaining Tuesday night. The Millers led 21-19 after nine matches. But the Shamrocks won the final five to pull out a come-from-behind 39-21 victory. "We wrestled just about as well as we could tonight," Noblesville coach Tom Knotts said. "We had a couple of kids that had headlocks. If we secure those, we're right there. They're just more physical than us and more experienced than us. They're very good with the legs, and we did all right countering it until we got to the low weights." Westfield took the lead for good when Sparky Inman won a decision at 103 pounds. Conlin Krebs (112) and Brady White (119) followed with major decisions to give the Shamrocks a 30-21 lead, and Parker Bankert (125) used a big escape to pull out a 9-7 decision and clinch the match at 33-21. Will Mueller (130) finished things off with a pin. "I'm real proud of our team because we're out a state-placer in R.V. Peter, and we're out two semistate qualifiers in (Paul) Parsons and (John) Floor, and we had to juggle our lineup around to cover for those kids and the guys that stepped in did a real nice job," Westfield coach Terry O'Neill said. "Normally, it's Floor and Parsley and Peter and (Robert) Melby that carry the team, but lo and behold, here we got big wins from Inman and Krebs and at 119 with Brady and 125 and 130 and kind of separated ourselves right there. It was nice to see those guys who normally the role players of our team come through and take the leadership role when we needed them." The Shamrocks took an early 3-0 lead on a decision by Drew Billman (130), but the Millers tied it on a decision by Alex Bowers (140) and took the lead on a pin by Wayne Specht (145). Westfield's Brock Robinson (152) won a major decision to cut the lead to 9-7 before Noblesville's Garrick Williams (160) and Andy Fleenor (171) won decisions to push the lead to 15-7. The Shamrocks used back-to-back pins from Melby (189) and Andrew Petty (215) to take a 19-15 lead. Steven Rushforth (285) then scored a pin to give the Millers their final lead before Westfield's frantic finish. "In two years, we'll be able to wrestle with anybody," Knotts said. "I have some talented kids. They just have to grow up. If they stay with the system and do what we ask them to do, they'll be competitive with anybody. It's just a matter of time." "Coach Knotts is doing wonderful things over here at Noblesville," O'Neill added. "They'll be a force to be reckoned with soon. They're very much improved."

I will be on the floor coaching, so I will post some scores when I can. Coach Wadkins always does a great job of posting all the team scores along with what place each team finished once the tournament is over. I can't wait for this great day of wrestling.

Thanks Guru

Do you have a link to get to it?

Franklin Community 64 Plainfield 9

It would be a great match up if Tsirtsis bumps up to wrestle Harper.

Does anybody know how Union County looks this year? Last year they brought some studs.

Cashe comes back to beat Spencer 11-9 in overtime.

Thanks for creating this board...

Franklin Community 49 Mooresville 17