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.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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.
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