All-American!

Kansas City was so much fun.

We stayed with Bobby's aunt and uncle in their new house. The boys loved the basement where we stayed. It was a "Man Room." It really was pretty cool. A 96 inch High Definition Projector TV, with surround sound that was built into the walls. Then when Uncle Dale started a movie, by remote control the lights dimmed at the same time the movie started. It was like being in a movie theater. The sofa even rumbled with the surround sound!

On Friday, Andrew was a bundle of nerves. We could not get him to relax. He lost his first match, won his second, then lost his third. It was pretty neat that kids in his bracket were from places like Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Idaho.


By Saturday, the Andrew we know and love was back. It was his day off of the competition (while the High School kids wrestled). So, we had a great time playing. We went site seeing at some outdoor stores and met up with some friends that live in the area. We went shopping at T-Rex, a dinosaur themed restaurant. It was really cool, we "built" a toy dinosaur for Spencer's bday, Andrew and Shawn "dug" for dinosaur bones and "explored" a mine".


Then we met up with the other wrestlers at Dave and Busters. The kids had a blast. They told us the wait time for a table was 2 HOURS! So, we played first and then ate. By the end of dinner Shawn (who can fall asleep anywhere) fell asleep at the table.

Sunday. The All-American Rounds and the Finals. The competition started with over 1500 kids and now the top 8 in each bracket were competing. Each kid only wrestled once on Sunday. Andrew was wrestling for 7th or 8th. They started the morning with a parade of the All-Americans. The lights were dimmed, smoke machines, loud music, colored-lights going everywhere. It was a neat environment for the kids, but for the spectators it made it hard to see the kids on the floor.
Andrew wrestled a little boy from Idaho. I had a good seat to videotape the match from, but I couldn't see the scoreboard. At the end of each round, I would look over to a man sitting a few seats to my left so he could tell me the score.
Round 1 0-0
Round 2 0-0
It was a real nail-biter.
Round 3 The man called out. 5-1. Your boy won!

WAHOO!!!! 7th Place

Then the top 8 from his bracket head to the theater where the awards podium is set up. While we waited, Bobby told me that the boy from Idaho is LDS! We knew they were from Idaho and Bobby took the chance and just asked him. I of course thought "Wow! That's pretty cool!" But, I don't think they thought it was as neat as we did. I mean come on, we are from the South. The only LDS wrestler we saw all year, is in our ward. We really enjoy meeting other Mormons just by chance.

Andrew's teammate, a 6th grader from Sulphur, won 1st place in his bracket. A National Champion!

We flew to Houston Sunday evening and made it home by 1 am. Andrew and Shawn made it back around 3 pm yesterday. Just in time for us to get ready and head to the ball park. :( Brian plays T-Ball. He lost 32-9. Andrew's team lost 12-0. Shawn plays Thurs
day and we are hoping for better results. :)

Unbelievable

It's been a while since I've updated my wrestling posts. And I know you are all dying to know how it's going since no one ever comments on the wrestling posts. ;) But I need to write it down lest I should forget.
Andrew went to the State wrestling tournament on March 22nd. Just to recap, Andrew has been doing pretty well this season. Only losing to one wrestler, whom I have nicknamed "George". George won the first three weeks. Then Andrew won the next two. We figured he was on a roll and had a pretty good shot at winning state, although it would not be easy.
Andrew took 2nd at state. George won 1st. I was okay with this, because they are both very tough wrestlers and it could have gone either way. Andrew likes to bring up the fact that our household had been passing around the stomach bug again that weekend and he probably wasn't up to par. Either way I am extremely proud of Andrew for having such a wonderful season.

During Spring Break, Andrew's coach hosted a wrestling camp featuring world-class Coach Rob Hermann. I was impressed when I saw his credentials.

Rob Herman
• 1996 Head Coach- U.S. Olympic Team
• 2000 Asst. Head Coach- U.S. Olympic Team
• 1991 & 1995 Head Coach- U.S. Military Team
• 1995 Head Coach- Pan American Wrestling Team
• 1992 & 1996 USA Wrestling Coach of the Year
• 2000- Present All Navy Wrestling Team
• World Cup Silver Medalist (wrestler)
• 4 time U.S. Open Champion (wrestler)
• 3 time World Team Member (wrestler)


I was excited that he was going to get to work with such a great coach and not have to travel very far.
After the first day of the camp, Bobby picked Andrew up and was talking to another dad there while they waited. Apparently, they found out and it was confirmed that George's father and another parent with George's team had this coach, Rob Hermann, watch tapes of the kid's wrestling so that he could give them pointers.

I couldn't believe it. It was almost funny. These parents needed an olympic coach to watch tapes of Andrew wrestling so that he could tell an 11 year old how to beat him. We have truly entered the world of competitive sports!
So does this change my newly found good feelings towards George's dad? Nope. I was just dumbfounded that they would take it so seriously. :) And it does make Andrew feel better.


Anyway, just when I thought wrestling season was over it lingers on....

1st place!

Saturday was also our home wrestling tournament, which was very convenient. Since we were so close, Bobby stayed home most of the day and I was able to go pick him up so he could watch the championship match. Andrew absolutely amazes me. He is so tough! Last weekend at his greatest competitor's home tournament, Andrew brought home the gold in his age bracket. The first time he has ever beaten that kid. He also brought home the bronze in an older age bracket, wrestling against 12 and 13 year olds.
This weekend, he did it again! In a 14-man bracket Andrew won 1st place.

It makes for really exciting matches when the competitors are both really tough and evenly matched. Exciting and intense. It is sometimes hard to watch!

What kind of call was that???

He was robbed!

Another weekend...Another wrestling tournament.

Bobby had to work and was unable to go to this weekend's wrestling tournament. He can't stand it when he has to miss one. We have to call him after every match with updates.

Andrew did great. He got a bye the first round. He pinned his first and second opponents in the first minute. Now it was time for the championship match. At the beginning of the third round the score was still 0-0. All through the third round Andrew had to keep his opponent down. As soon as the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the match, this official (some high school kid) awarded the opponent an escape point. One point. Andrew's coach was MAD! However, a coach is really not allowed to question an official's judgment. So, this official, Andrew's coach and the other guy's coach (who was his father) argued about it for a few seconds. With Andrew's coach coming out of it yelling, "YOU'RE WRONG!"

I had two coaches from completely different teams standing right behind me saying, "Ain't no way that was an escape point! They never lost contact." Even another coach from this kid's own team (who happens to also coach the Olympic team) and was sitting right next to the kid's father and said it was not an escape and they should have gone into overtime. But what do you think the kid's father is going to say? Of course he's going to be a jerk about it and came out of the argument clapping and nodding at his son. Are you kidding me? Coaches all over that mat were shocked, but this high school kid has final say. Bobby watched the video this afternoon and couldn't believe it.

Now, I'm not one of those moms that is going to start yelling and tell the coach what I think about what just happened. I just quietly sit and video the match. OK, not always quiet, sometimes you might hear me yell on the video, but never at a coach or official. We let Andrew know that he did great along with several other coaches. They told him he didn't lose that match.

The kids are usually pretty good at being friendly at the tournaments. They will run around and play all day and then get out there and wrestle then run around and play some more. Andrew doesn't talk to this kid much and I'm not sure why. The guy that he wrestled a lot last year couldn't understand why Andrew was being nice to him. He had the mind-set of "you're the enemy" most of the time. Finally near the end of the season, he started warming up to the other wrestlers and talking with them more.

Well, now that I've vented about the bad call, I'll get over it, move on and look forward to a rematch next weekend. :)

I don't have any pictures to post right now because I'm always videoing. I'll try to get some though.

1,201 Miles

Bobby and Andrew made their annual trip back to Independence, KS 2 weeks ago. For Matthew and I, it was our first time back in 3 1/2 years. Andrew's wrestling started in Independence when the Hogge family had 3 boys wrestling and encouraged us to let Andrew try a practice. (At that age Andrew was just as energetic and on the go as Matthew is now, if not more.) So, we decided to give it a try. He LOVED it. And still does. He started practicing when he was 4, and went to his first tournament when he was 5. After 2 years with that club, we moved back to Louisiana and were so happy to find a jr wrestling club in Sulphur. Bobby promised Andrew that we would take him back to the tournament in Independence each year. Andrew did not do as well as he hoped this year. Every kid in his bracket was a state finalist in Kansas last year. Tough kids. Andrew took 4th in a four man round robin, but gained a lot of experience against the tougher wrestlers. Before we left the tournament Andrew wrestled an exhibition match against one of his friends. This kid took 2nd in a heavier weight bracket than Andrew's, but Andrew was able to beat him, almost getting a pin but the buzzer went off. It gave Andrew the boost of confidence he needed to come home with. His own wrestling season would start the next weekend in Lafayette. Andrew took 2nd there and has his eyes set on 1st this weekend. If we were still in Kansas Andrew would be practicing 6 hrs a week starting in November with 13 Saturdays in a row of all-day tournaments. Here he practices 2 hrs a week starting in January with 6 tournaments. Don't tell him, but I am actually relieved with the lighter schedule. :)

It was wonderful for me to be able to go with them this year. All the kids came with us. There are so many awesome people that we were able to see in the 48 hours we had to spend there. We stayed for sacrament meeting Sunday morning, but had to leave as soon as it was over. Some of the primary kids were actually upset with us for not letting the boys stay for primary. :) But the kids had school the next day, so we hit the road again, making it home about midnight.

So, Blessing #6. A trip of 1,201 miles without incidence. No breakdowns, flat tires, no one went to the ER :) We had a great time and returned home safely. Yeah!!!