Well it wasn't a very successful week and a half of wrestling. It started off with our dual vs Russia. The Russian I wrestled wasn't bad but wasn't great. I couldn't seem to get my offense working. I thought I controlled the ties but made some mistakes that cost me the win. He was stronger than I anticipated and but still I didn't force my attacks like I should. I'll post all my matches from my trip so I won't go into to much detail on them but I'll give you my thoughts. I didn't win my match but USA did win the dual. It was nice to wrestle in Jersey again in front of a home crowd. I just wish my match turned out a little different.
Then from NJ we went to NY to get ready for the NYAC tournament. I had 3 matches and in the finals I met up with the Russian again. My first match was against a Canadian and I came out strong and dominated 2 periods for the win. In the match I hurt my rib that has been aggravating me and I also pulled something in my back. It wasn't really how I wanted to go into my next couple of matches. My next match was against American Israel Silva which I won in 2 periods as well. Going into the finals I knew what I needed to do differently from the other night but, unfortunately, the result was the same. I gave up a first period takedown that I'm still kicking myself in the butt for. I never get dragged out of a front headlock but this time I did. Second period went no score and was forced to the clinch with him winning the toss again. He was able to finish the clinch position for the win.
A couple of days later we headed to France to compete. I tried to stay off the mats as much as possible to try and recover. We hit the sauna a couple of times and I was ready to go for the weekend. I only had 1 match because of the new rules (which I hate). If you lose your first match, the person you lose to must make it to the finals or you are done. My first and only match was against France's #1 guy. I got off to a slow start making a couple of mistakes that once again cost me the match. I took some shots that I should have finished but didn't. My opponent lost in the semifinals so I was out of the competition. At least now I know my areas that I need to work on if I want to make the Olympic Team in 08. Sorry I'm not getting into too much details about my trip but I'm still exhausted and I need to get ready to head out to the OTC on Thursday for training camp. I'll post the matches so you can take a look. Thanks for all the support and keep checking out the site for updates.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Medved International
I got back early this morning and I'm extremely tired. I left Tuesday for Belarus to get acclimated then compete on Sunday. I didn't know what to expect before going over there. Most of the major cities that I have been to overseas to wrestle haven't been that nice but Minsk, on the hand, was a complete 360. The city was very clean and well kept up. Most of the trips that I go on overseas I usually bring my own food because you don't know what to expect but the food was actually pretty good. I've had my fair share of Borsch (soup) but the Borsch we had over there was great. I'm going to see if Terry can try and whip it together some time.
I was lucky enough to be able to have some time to adjust to the time difference and was able to spend some time on the mats before I had to weigh-in on Sat. After weigh-ins we went back to the hotel got some lunch and went over to the finals for the other weight classes. We got to see fellow Americans Espo, Hrovat, Frayer, and Bunch compete for medals. After the finals we headed to one of the local eateries. You might know it as TGIFridays. I headed back to the hotel to get ready to compete in the morning.
Having 3 Americans (Cerminara, Lawal and myself) at the weight, we were pretty sure that one of us were going to meet up first or second round. They typically don't separate wrestlers overseas. At weigh-ins you draw a number and they put you into the bracket.
The brackets came out with Cerminara and I first match. First period I won 1-0. I got a take down in the first 20 or 30 seconds and held him off for the 1st period win. Second period went to clinch where Kyle had the lock. He ended up false starting 3 times and they cautioned him and gave me a point. Its a crappy way to win but you know what they say. A win is a win.
Second match was against a Belarusian. I end up beating him 5-0 and then I got a pin in the last couple seconds of the second period.
I'm not going into too much detail because I have some video footage that I'm going to try and post on the site so you can check out the matches.
My semifinal match was supposed to be against a Russian but he got hurt the match before and decided to forfeit in the semis. My final match was against fellow American and rival Mo Lawal. Up to this point, I haven't beaten him in freestyle. My lone win over him was in the semi-finals of my junior year at the NCAA's. First period went to the clinch where I won the toss and got the lock. I was able to secure the leg and drive him out of bounds for the point. Second period he won 2-0 on a single leg takedown to a leg lace and the third period I won 3-1. I was able to turn him with my front head lock and also get a push out for a point.
In all it was a great trip. It was a nice city with great Borsch and I wrestled well but it still feels great to be home. I'm going to try and get those matches up on the site tonight or tomorrow so you can check them out. Probably tomorrow though as I'm hitting a wall right now. I need sleep.
I was lucky enough to be able to have some time to adjust to the time difference and was able to spend some time on the mats before I had to weigh-in on Sat. After weigh-ins we went back to the hotel got some lunch and went over to the finals for the other weight classes. We got to see fellow Americans Espo, Hrovat, Frayer, and Bunch compete for medals. After the finals we headed to one of the local eateries. You might know it as TGIFridays. I headed back to the hotel to get ready to compete in the morning.
Having 3 Americans (Cerminara, Lawal and myself) at the weight, we were pretty sure that one of us were going to meet up first or second round. They typically don't separate wrestlers overseas. At weigh-ins you draw a number and they put you into the bracket.
The brackets came out with Cerminara and I first match. First period I won 1-0. I got a take down in the first 20 or 30 seconds and held him off for the 1st period win. Second period went to clinch where Kyle had the lock. He ended up false starting 3 times and they cautioned him and gave me a point. Its a crappy way to win but you know what they say. A win is a win.
Second match was against a Belarusian. I end up beating him 5-0 and then I got a pin in the last couple seconds of the second period.
I'm not going into too much detail because I have some video footage that I'm going to try and post on the site so you can check out the matches.
My semifinal match was supposed to be against a Russian but he got hurt the match before and decided to forfeit in the semis. My final match was against fellow American and rival Mo Lawal. Up to this point, I haven't beaten him in freestyle. My lone win over him was in the semi-finals of my junior year at the NCAA's. First period went to the clinch where I won the toss and got the lock. I was able to secure the leg and drive him out of bounds for the point. Second period he won 2-0 on a single leg takedown to a leg lace and the third period I won 3-1. I was able to turn him with my front head lock and also get a push out for a point.
In all it was a great trip. It was a nice city with great Borsch and I wrestled well but it still feels great to be home. I'm going to try and get those matches up on the site tonight or tomorrow so you can check them out. Probably tomorrow though as I'm hitting a wall right now. I need sleep.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Salmon River
Like I promised, some updates about my father in-law and myself fishing the Salmon River. To start our trip we headed up to Pulaski on a Thursday night so we can prepare ourselves for the day and a half of fishing.
We got down to the SR at 5:30 am to get a spot. There were hundreds of people finagling their way up and down the stream finding spots. At first light we started fishing and fished all day with nothing to show for it, but everyone around us was catching them. All you heard was "Fish-On!!!", "Going Up Stream!!!", "Going Down Stream!!!". Even though we weren't catching them, it was pretty exciting. All I wanted to do was have the chance to yell FISH ON like everyone else. It was a huge learning experience for us both. Figuring out how to fish for them and what to fish with was a challenge. We met a lot of nice people on the river that gave us some good advice for the following day. Some of them gave us some of the flies they were using to help us out.
After fishing all day we headed back to our hotel with the flies and we decided to tie some of our own. Rick, my father in-law, has tied a lot of his own flies before so he was prepared with material. We whipped together some flies and tried to mimic the ones that were given to us. In all they turned out pretty well and we were prepared to go for the next day.
The morning started at 5:30 again so we could get to the water and get a spot. Daylight came and we started fishing. In about 20 minutes of fishing I got my wish. I was yelling FISH ON! I fought him for a couple of minutes then he jumped and spit the fly out. I was bummed but the fight made it worthwhile. Next I hear Rick say "fish on, going up stream, going down stream". I drop my rod and get the net. He fights for a while and eventually he brings it close enough and swoop! - he's in the net. First fish of the day and it was a nice King.
A little later in the day two of my fellow coaches met up with us, Tyler Baier and Travis Lee. Within a matter of minutes of them being there, they got to witness me yelling fish on. I'm hooked into another salmon. This one was big. I fought him and kept him close for a while. It was pretty amazing watching him jump and thrash around the water. Now all I wanted to do was get him in the net. As soon as Rick got down there with the net and the salmon got one look at it, he took off heading back down stream. Everything was still ok because he was hooked well. All of a sudden I look down and he already went through my fly line which is about 25yrds worth and now he's into my backing and not stopping. He's ripping through my backing and almost taking it all off my reel and then it happens, he's gone. Bummer.
I hooked into one more and guess what? - that one got off too. So I got skunked for the day. Rick, on the other hand, caught 6 but we are only allowed to 3. He had fish on all day and got the trifecta. We kept 1 king 20+lbs, 1 coho 12lbs and 1 skamania steelhead 16lbs.
I didn't do that well on the fishing side but I was one hell of a netter. It was a great trip and we plan on making it a yearly venture. I'll post the pics on the site so check them out.
We got down to the SR at 5:30 am to get a spot. There were hundreds of people finagling their way up and down the stream finding spots. At first light we started fishing and fished all day with nothing to show for it, but everyone around us was catching them. All you heard was "Fish-On!!!", "Going Up Stream!!!", "Going Down Stream!!!". Even though we weren't catching them, it was pretty exciting. All I wanted to do was have the chance to yell FISH ON like everyone else. It was a huge learning experience for us both. Figuring out how to fish for them and what to fish with was a challenge. We met a lot of nice people on the river that gave us some good advice for the following day. Some of them gave us some of the flies they were using to help us out.
After fishing all day we headed back to our hotel with the flies and we decided to tie some of our own. Rick, my father in-law, has tied a lot of his own flies before so he was prepared with material. We whipped together some flies and tried to mimic the ones that were given to us. In all they turned out pretty well and we were prepared to go for the next day.
The morning started at 5:30 again so we could get to the water and get a spot. Daylight came and we started fishing. In about 20 minutes of fishing I got my wish. I was yelling FISH ON! I fought him for a couple of minutes then he jumped and spit the fly out. I was bummed but the fight made it worthwhile. Next I hear Rick say "fish on, going up stream, going down stream". I drop my rod and get the net. He fights for a while and eventually he brings it close enough and swoop! - he's in the net. First fish of the day and it was a nice King.
A little later in the day two of my fellow coaches met up with us, Tyler Baier and Travis Lee. Within a matter of minutes of them being there, they got to witness me yelling fish on. I'm hooked into another salmon. This one was big. I fought him and kept him close for a while. It was pretty amazing watching him jump and thrash around the water. Now all I wanted to do was get him in the net. As soon as Rick got down there with the net and the salmon got one look at it, he took off heading back down stream. Everything was still ok because he was hooked well. All of a sudden I look down and he already went through my fly line which is about 25yrds worth and now he's into my backing and not stopping. He's ripping through my backing and almost taking it all off my reel and then it happens, he's gone. Bummer.
I hooked into one more and guess what? - that one got off too. So I got skunked for the day. Rick, on the other hand, caught 6 but we are only allowed to 3. He had fish on all day and got the trifecta. We kept 1 king 20+lbs, 1 coho 12lbs and 1 skamania steelhead 16lbs.
I didn't do that well on the fishing side but I was one hell of a netter. It was a great trip and we plan on making it a yearly venture. I'll post the pics on the site so check them out.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Back at it again
Its been some time since my last post and a lot of things have been going on. I was out at the OTC for the second part of the training camp. I missed the first camp due to my knee. It just wasn't ready. The second camp was good in the fact that we worked on our areas of concentration and got to scrap with other national and world caliber wrestlers. It was a lot of drilling, live situation, some matches and conditioning. These World Team training camps are more focused on the World Team members so they got a little more individual instruction but it was all worth it. I think our world team is ready to go bring home some medals. I was a little disappointed that my boy Tweez (JL) couldn't make it out to training camp. It would have been nice to catch up with him.
Now I'm back in Ithaca getting the guys ready for the up coming season with pre-season training. Along with their training I'm preparing my for my own 2007-2008 season. I have a good competition schedule that I will post on the site so you can keep up to date with what is going on and where I'll be. My first competition is in 1 month in Russia. I'm excited to get back into competition, especially considering my last competition I only had one good leg to stand on.
In the mean time, I've been able to get some fishing in. I fished in the Bass Masters Weekend Series Tournament on Cayuga Lake. What an experience that was. It is a random draw, so I got paired up with someone I didn't know and fished for the entire day with him. I ended up taking 23 or 24 out of 49 riders. It wasn't all too bad as I was able to gain points so I can fish in one of the upcoming tournaments if I have time.
My In-Laws are coming out at the end of the month and my wife Terry and I are excited to see them. I'm looking forwarded to taking my father in-law and fishing buddy Rick up to the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY. They're coming at the perfect time when Coho and Chinook (King) salmon are making their run upstream to spawn. I should have some cool pictures and hopefully some good fishing stories to share. Stay Tuned!
Now I'm back in Ithaca getting the guys ready for the up coming season with pre-season training. Along with their training I'm preparing my for my own 2007-2008 season. I have a good competition schedule that I will post on the site so you can keep up to date with what is going on and where I'll be. My first competition is in 1 month in Russia. I'm excited to get back into competition, especially considering my last competition I only had one good leg to stand on.
In the mean time, I've been able to get some fishing in. I fished in the Bass Masters Weekend Series Tournament on Cayuga Lake. What an experience that was. It is a random draw, so I got paired up with someone I didn't know and fished for the entire day with him. I ended up taking 23 or 24 out of 49 riders. It wasn't all too bad as I was able to gain points so I can fish in one of the upcoming tournaments if I have time.
My In-Laws are coming out at the end of the month and my wife Terry and I are excited to see them. I'm looking forwarded to taking my father in-law and fishing buddy Rick up to the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY. They're coming at the perfect time when Coho and Chinook (King) salmon are making their run upstream to spawn. I should have some cool pictures and hopefully some good fishing stories to share. Stay Tuned!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Slowly but Surely with the Knee, Rugters Thoughts and Fishing
The knee has been feeling better and better everyday and taking it slow might be the best medicine for it. I wrestled live for the first time since the trails the other day and it felt ok. I find myself a little weary in some situations and give up the position instead of risking hurting it again. It's getting stronger and more stable but definitely not 100 %. It should be ready to go by the next National Team camp in COS.
On a couple other notes, WOW!!!! This Rutgers situation is finally coming to a close and my boy Goodale will be taking over the helm. I think a huge congratulations is in order. I honestly think he is the perfect man for the job. He is a people person and no one knows NJ like him. Must I add his coaching accomplishments. I would have to say he is the best public HS coach in the state. The only thing thats gonna change now is he's on a bigger stage. He will start to build that program right away. The biggest thing that will help this program rise to the top is Alumni and fan support. Thats one thing here at Cornell we're blessed with and Rob and our coaching staff work very hard to keep it that way. With Jersey being one of the greatest wrestling states, when it comes to wrestlers and fans. Get behind Goodale and help him build that program.
The fishing has been going great. I've had the pleasure of having my sister in town, so any free time I've had I've been taking her fishing. We've went a couple of times in the past week. Some in the streams and the other day out on the lake with one of my wrestlers. She actually did ok in the streams. She caught a couple of smallies but blanked out on the BIG lake. Bummer for her, but me on the other hand landed a monster. 20 1/2", 4 lb. Large mouth. I know for some this is not big, but for me, mostly fishing in streams and the occasional lakes in MN for Walleye and Northern. This is the biggest bass I've ever caught. So let me brag a little. I'll have some pics up on the site for who ever wants to take a look. Enjoy and we'll meet again.
On a couple other notes, WOW!!!! This Rutgers situation is finally coming to a close and my boy Goodale will be taking over the helm. I think a huge congratulations is in order. I honestly think he is the perfect man for the job. He is a people person and no one knows NJ like him. Must I add his coaching accomplishments. I would have to say he is the best public HS coach in the state. The only thing thats gonna change now is he's on a bigger stage. He will start to build that program right away. The biggest thing that will help this program rise to the top is Alumni and fan support. Thats one thing here at Cornell we're blessed with and Rob and our coaching staff work very hard to keep it that way. With Jersey being one of the greatest wrestling states, when it comes to wrestlers and fans. Get behind Goodale and help him build that program.
The fishing has been going great. I've had the pleasure of having my sister in town, so any free time I've had I've been taking her fishing. We've went a couple of times in the past week. Some in the streams and the other day out on the lake with one of my wrestlers. She actually did ok in the streams. She caught a couple of smallies but blanked out on the BIG lake. Bummer for her, but me on the other hand landed a monster. 20 1/2", 4 lb. Large mouth. I know for some this is not big, but for me, mostly fishing in streams and the occasional lakes in MN for Walleye and Northern. This is the biggest bass I've ever caught. So let me brag a little. I'll have some pics up on the site for who ever wants to take a look. Enjoy and we'll meet again.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Been A While
This is our last week of camps up here in Ithaca. I'm actually happy that camps are almost finished. I've been on the mats showing technique and things have been going well. My knee has been holding up when showing moves. I have been able to get on the mats a couple of time to drill with Arnone and Taylor Moore. Unfortunately the last drill I had with Taylor I tweeked my knee a little. Due to that, I haven't got back on the mats to drill again. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on the mats this week to work on my technique.
On another note, I've been doing some fishing up here in the Finger Lakes. The other night I went out with one of my wrestlers and his father and we all hooked into some pretty nice large mouth bass. I have to admit I did catch the smallest and least fish out of the bunch. Thats okay though, we still had a fun. I went out yesterday in one of the streams that run though Ithaca into lake Cayuga and killed the small mouth bass. I fished for about 4 hours and walked a little over a mile of the stream. Didn't catch to many big ones but I caught close to 50 smallies. I did catch one that was around 1 1/2 lbs. and was one hell of fight. It took me nearly 10 minutes to bring him in using a 4 and half foot ultra light rod with 4 lb. test. I know I keep saying I'm going to put pictures up, so if you want to see some of the fish go to my Multimedia page and check them out. Talk to you soon.
On another note, I've been doing some fishing up here in the Finger Lakes. The other night I went out with one of my wrestlers and his father and we all hooked into some pretty nice large mouth bass. I have to admit I did catch the smallest and least fish out of the bunch. Thats okay though, we still had a fun. I went out yesterday in one of the streams that run though Ithaca into lake Cayuga and killed the small mouth bass. I fished for about 4 hours and walked a little over a mile of the stream. Didn't catch to many big ones but I caught close to 50 smallies. I did catch one that was around 1 1/2 lbs. and was one hell of fight. It took me nearly 10 minutes to bring him in using a 4 and half foot ultra light rod with 4 lb. test. I know I keep saying I'm going to put pictures up, so if you want to see some of the fish go to my Multimedia page and check them out. Talk to you soon.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Results are in
We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the doc doesn't think that I tore my ACL. The bad news is that I tore my MCL and the doc wants me to stay off the mats for the next 6 weeks. I'm going back on Monday to get the MRI. I'm getting the MRI to check on my medial meniscus. He's wants to make sure that I didn't tear that. So basically it wasn't that bad of a trip. Maybe I can get some pics to post for everyone to see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
