Nick's Freshman Year In High School---Part 4

Nick Suffers A GSW! (Gun Shot Wound) And Misses The Bill Dies Tournament.

As we entered the new year of 2014, Brunswick wrestling was looking good. We were all very excited about the remaining part of the schedule and knew, or at least felt very confidently, that we were going to take a handful of wrestlers down to the state tournament in Columbus in March. 

The wrestlers who we felt most confident about based on their performance thus far were our sophomore 120 pounder Josh Heil, our senior 126 pounder Brett Thomas, our freshman132 pounder (Nicky), and our junior 138 pounder Christian Camacho. We also felt that some of the upper middleweights had strong potential.

With that being the case we were looking forward to the up coming Bill Dies Tournament to continue to improve and showcase our talented lineup.

Life has plenty of unforeseen things planned for us however and one such incident side railed us, which gave us quite a scare and put things in perspective in terms of what was most important in life...our own well being.

In the Winter of 2013/2014, which I mentioned was one of the most brutally cold winters on record there were a lot of "Cold Days" in the Brunswick School District. What that means is the schools were closed because the temperatures were too extreme for the kids to wait for their buses and things like that.  Safety first. All about it.

However when the cold is that extreme the kids are pent up inside at home. As parents we try to do everything possible to keep them busy and entertained. In our house we had Alex sleep over for a few days. Alex you may remember from previous posts was our neighbor who Nicky and Kevin grew up with and I affectionately call him my "third son" as we were around each other so much as they were growing up.

Just as a side note...this is what Kevin looked like in 2014. He was still pretty wishy washy about wrestling but we kept him involved the best we could without forcing it on him...and he showed the same type of athleticism that Nick possessed.

Kevin with 1st place medal at an open tournament in Bay Village.

Well at some point during one of these brutally cold spells when Alex was visiting, Kevin and Alex decided it would be a great idea to go outside and shoot one of Nick's pellet guns. I really don't understand to this day why they thought this would be a good idea, especially in light of the fact that it was so cold out and there wasn't a snowballs chance in Hell that my wife or I would let them out in that kind of weather! All we can attribute it to is boys will be boys and they were a little stir crazy from being inside too long.

I have to state for the record that my boys have been shooting BB and pellet guns since they were young.  Around 7 years old. And they were supervised until Nick and Alex were teenagers. They understood not to point a loaded gun...of any type...at a person or animal. They did not hunt with them.  Just shot objects. Target practice. And I always had the guns put away in my room. Unloaded. 

I'm not trying to start a whole gun control debate here or anything of the nature. In hindsight I bear full responsibility for not having them locked up whereby they couldn't have access to them. 

Anyhow Nicky wasn't there as Kevin and Alex were planning to go outside. He was at a wrestling practice. The boys and coaches still had access to the wrestling room and the roads were clear and safe to drive upon, so why miss a practice?

Well when Nicky returned home it happened. Alex had, at some point earlier, put a pellet in the gun and Kevin was unaware of it. Nicky said something to Kevin and Kevin, not knowing there was a pellet in the gun, playfully lifted the gun, pointed it at him and pulled the trigger.  

Pam and I were upstairs.  There was no commotion or anything that we heard. Nick calmly walked upstairs and said that Kevin shot him in the neck. We went to him and there was blood trickling down from the entry wound which was located below his right ear.

The facts that the blood was not "spurting" out, that he was conscious, could move his head all around and was not in a tremendous amount of pain told me that, THANK GOD, it wasn't a life threatening injury. 

Pam was naturally upset and started to get excited and emotional seeing what happened but I calmed her down.  I didn't want Nick to be scared any more than he was either. He was remarkably calm. Love that kid. Always cool under pressure.

To be honest I thought it was a simple matter of just going to the emergency room and having it extracted. So we decided that Pam would run Nicky to the hospital, which is probably less than a mile from our house, and I would stay with Kevin and Alex. So that's what we did.

Kevin came upstairs and started crying, telling me he didn't mean to do it and that he didn't want Nicky to die. I reassured him that Nicky wasn't going to die and that we knew it was an accident and that he didn't have to blame himself.

I got all the facts out of him and Alex regarding the entire situation and we had a long talk about everything. As I said, I bear full responsibility for not having the pellet gun secured better. We all learned what is, I am sure, a life long lesson in the storing of BB & pellet guns.

As it turned out, the staff at the local hospital felt it was best to transport Nick to Rainbow Babies And Children's Hospital. They had X rays and MRI's done to locate the precise location of the pellet. What I thought was going to be a simple extraction process wasn't the case at all.

Because there was tissue trauma, the pellet looked as if it was lodged dangerously close to the spinal column in the upper cervical area. However several doctors felt that they really needed to let the tissue swelling subside to get an exact location and determine how to move forward. With that being the case, and because Nicky showed no signs of being in immediate danger, they sent Nick home with an appointment to follow up...but with instructions not to wrestle or do anything of a physical nature.

So that is why Nicky didn't wrestle in the Bill Dies Tournament his Freshman year. The team started to refer to the whole incident as the GSW, short for Gun Shot Wound, and busting Nicky's chops about not beating up on his brother any more etc... 

After a couple more weeks, on January 21st, we had a follow up visit (and X-Rays and MRI's) with Nicky's neurosurgeon. Here's Nicky in the waiting room that day:

After reviewing everything the Dr. ascertained that there was no need to surgically remove the pellet as it was lodged in muscle and wouldn't be moving around anywhere. Unless we wanted to. When the swelling from the tissue trauma subsided it revealed exactly where that was. We decided to not undergo surgery. And it has never bothered him since. And he's wrestled hundreds of matches and countless hours of wrestling practices since. 

It was close enough to the spine however to make us all realize how fortunate we were. It could have been so much worse. And the fact that the pellet didn't hit a major artery was another true blessing. All I know is that we love our sons with every fiber of our bodies and we are so very grateful that it turned out the way it did. This was one of those freak random occurrences that make you reevaluate all that is precious and significant in your life...and without a doubt Nick and Kevin are exactly that and so much more.

Thanks for taking time to read this latest installment on Nick's journey spanning his youth to high school wrestling career. Next installment will cover his first post season tournaments. Until next time, take care.

Nicks Freshman Year In High School--- Part 1

Saying Goodbye To Grandma And A Best Friend 

Nick Chooses Brunswick High Over St. Edward High School

There are so very many things that happen when our kids are transitioning from being a relatively care free kid to being a young teenager in high school. It's a period of time that goes by in the blink of an eye and if we're not present...I mean really tuned in...we can easily miss them. Some things that occur however, are really big, and affect us in many ways. Such was the case in Nick's freshman year of high school.

Outside of wrestling, Nicky's summer was spent as it usually was...spending lots of time with his friends, who were becoming increasingly important to him, fishing, swimming and camping, and playing outside basketball.

Caught a three pounder here!

Nicky and his friend Tomas Castaneda rowing in from fishing.

Getting his old man to take a selfie with him on his new phone.

Spending a few moments grilling with dad.

Hanging with Brunswick friends in Summer. 

Okay back to wrestling! I have been asked many many times why Nick did not wrestle for St. Edward High School. St. Edward is a private, all-male Catholic, college-preparatory high school located in Lakewood Ohio. They are, and have been for quite some time, the most dominant OHSAA wrestling program in Division 1. When I say dominant I mean Dominant...with a capital D! They've won 32 Team State Wrestling championships since 1978. 

We were approached, advised, and steered towards talking to Coach Urbas so much concerning Nick that we felt it should at least be explored. And so we did.

Coach Urbas was the long standing Head Coach for St. Edward at the time Nick was going into high school. It is absolutely impossible to meet this man and not like him and I have yet to meet a person who said otherwise. 

We met him with Coach Urbas several times. Nick applied, took the apptitude/entrance test, and was accepted.  Coach Urbas and St. Ed's was very appealing for many reasons other than the wrestling program, the main one being the extraordinary graduation to college rate that they achieve. I can still hear Coach Urbas: "He sure would look good in the green and gold!"

We ultimately left the decision to Nicky.  He chose to remain in Brunswick and be the guy who would take on the Ed's wrestlers in their own backyard...and beat them. One thing about Nick is he is loyal. He said he could not see himself at Ed's and the rest is history. Having explored the option, Nick decided he would make the best of his high school days in his own neighborhood and community without regrets. And that is basically the long and the short of it. From that point on Nick was a Brunswick Blue Devil wrestler. I just wanted to add that part of the story...it's the little things that make it interesting.

With the beginning of the school year came a lot of excitement. Nick, being our oldest, was bringing us on an incredible journey and we had no idea the twists and turns, and the peaks and valley's we were going to encounter.

First day of school as a freshman.

Freshman year school picture.

Pam and I are incredibly united and single minded when it comes to doing everything possible to help our kids grow...in all areas of their lives...and succeed. We feel that no matter what comes their way...whether it's good or bad...and life is a combination of both...we are going to provide unconditional support and encouragement to the best of our abilities and resources.

And so it was when my beloved Irish mother passed away. This was the first death in the family my sons were experiencing being older than toddlers. They were very close to their grandma as she was a stroke victim who spent several years living with us before her physical condition worsened to the point where we had to enter her into a nursing home. Her departing our lives was very difficult and we miss her greatly to this day. Here's a few pics of us visiting her on Mothers Day, which unfortunately was not too long before she got very sick and passed away later in September.

  
And then...as if the loss of their grandma wasn't enough for my sons to deal with...our beloved dog Mack passed just two short weeks later. So my boys were really getting a crash course in loss. It was not easy and was definitely a challenge to be dealt with emotionally for our entire family. 

Of course there is nothing we can do when dealing with the loss of a family member, but with the passing of a pet I've always believed that it is made easier by acquiring a new one. The pain subsides a little easier because you have new life to focus on.  

So I went to the animal shelter and picked out Buddy, a Lab/Pit mix to bring home.  That was close to 5 yrs. ago now and it was a good move.  He's a little crazy...but he fits right in! Here's a couple pictures of both Mack and Buddy:

My best dog ever...Mack!

Kevin with Buddy within moments of his first arriving.

Buddy's "Welcome Home" Bone

So that's a little about what was happening in Nick's (and all of our) lives as he began his high school wrestling career. A tough choice between a premier wrestling powerhouse school and his local high school where he already had friends and relationships established, and the adversity that comes with the loss of a beloved family member and pet. 

Stay tuned into this blog to see...if you don't already know...how it all plays out for Nick and our family.  As always thank you for taking the time to read my blog!

Until next time.      

Achieving The Ultimate Goal--- An OHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Summer Wrestling For The Brunswick Blue Devils!

Getting Ready For A Big Transition...

We wrestled Nick more in the Summer to prepare him for high school wrestling. 

He attended the Wrestle for Autism tournament where he went 3-2, losing to a wrestler with the last name of Watson twice.  The first match he was pinned and the second match he wrestled much better losing by decision 4-3. 

At the two Baldwin Wallace Duals tournaments...they were scheduled on consecutive weekends...he went 9-1 with 7 of his wins coming by way of fall. His single loss was to Alec Benedetti, a scrappy Senior from N. Royalton.  He lost by decision 4-3.

One of the highlights of this Summer, in terms of wrestling, for him was taking a trip down to Florida with his Brunswick teammates to participate in the AAU Scholastic Duals, commonly known as the Disney Duals. It's a great National tournament that brings talent in from all over the U.S. Terrific opportunity to wrestle kids who have different styles and who you're not going to see during the regular season. He had a blast with his teammates and it's always a great trip for team bonding. 

Coach Koshar liked what he saw of Nicky, who won 7 out of 11 matches.  He was pinned 3 times, all by outgoing Seniors, young men who were headed to college. The other loss was a 10-5 decision. He wrestled good for an incoming Freshman however and 6 of the matches he won were from pins and the other was a 15-4 major decision.  Good stuff.

Here's a couple pics of Nick. It's very obvious by his frame and face that Nick was very much in that transition stage from young teenager to the mid-teen years. Knowing that he was going to continue to physically mature throughout the season, and for the remainder of his high school career, we were able to understand that the losses he suffered during the off season were mostly due to his opponents being more physically mature. He was growing fast, still strength training, and Brunswick coaching staff was predicting that he would be the starting 132 lber. in his freshman year. 

Knowing that Nick was coming into the light middle weight classes, I had tempered expectations on how he would fare in the beginning of his Freshman year. 

While I have always had major confidence in his wrestling ability and mindset, the fact that there were so many GREAT wrestlers in those weight classes who were Juniors and Seniors and...who came into high school at the lightweight buzz-saw weight classes where technical proficiency ruled...definitely created some apprehension in this dads mind. The Brunswick Coaches however recognized his potential and some of the other intangibles that other kids just simply didn't have...and that can't be taught.  They would prove to be correct.

This was also being forecasted by FloWrestling as they had Nick ranked 27th out of the top 50 wrestlers (Nationwide) coming into high school on the Freshman Class Big Board. As a side note...there were two of these freshmen who would go on to become NCAA National Champions in their true Freshman years in college. I always considered this peer group of Nick's as exceptionally talented. That proved to be the case.

That's pretty much all there is for this post. He only wrestled one other tournament...a local one held annually at Lutheran West.  It was a Round Robin format and he pinned all 7 opponents, including a tough kid out of Parma named Tyler Workman.

Next post will resume at the start of Nick's freshman school year and his freshman wrestling season.  Thanks for taking the time to read this!  Very much appreciated and I'll try my darnedest to have that post ready for next weekend.

Take care.  

The Road To Nick's Youth State Championship---Part 6

Chasing Down A Youth State Championship---Part 6

2011 OAC 95 lb. State Runner Up!

Let's move right into the 2011 OAC State Tournament as all the background information leading up to this tournament was given in the preceding post.

Needless to say we were very excited to get down to the OAC. And it wasn't simply because Nicky won the OYWA State Championship.  To be honest we truly felt that the officiating was the main reason Nicky didn't make it to the Finals last year. We were determined to keep it out of the hands of the officials this year.

At the 2011 OAC St. Ignatius District tournament Nicky picked up right where he left off at the OYWA State tourney. He opened the tournament up by pinning Jaezin Tytko from the TNT Wrestling Club. He then tech falled Ian Mound from Black River Falls 13-0. In the Finals he pinned a familiar opponent, David Crawford from Canfield Red.

While waiting for The OAC State Championships we decided to wrestle Nick in the OURWAY District Championships.  It was a tough tournament, with some solid kids there who would provide Nick with great matches in preparation for OAC States. 

He opened the tournament by pinning DJ Skiba from WestShore and then pinned Zach Madison from N. Olmstead in the Quarter Finals. Those were his tune up matches as he had to wrestle Cody Surratt from Wadsworth and Jaret Lester from the AWC in the Semi-Finals and the Finals.  He defeated Cody (6-2) in the Semi's leading to a much anticipated Finals match up between Jaret and Nicky.

Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of wrestling to occur. Within 30 seconds of the first period they both shot in looking for a takedown and BOOM!  They collided and smacked their heads together. Jaret dropped like a sack of potatoes.  It was very loud and we were all relieved when Jaret stood up. He was unable to continue wrestling however and so Nicky won by injury default.  Not a way any true competitor wishes to win. Afterwards Mr. Lester came up to me and said "Well we definitely know who has the hardest head."

A few weeks later we were at the Covelli Center in Youngstown Ohio for OAC States. This was the first year that the tournament was being held in this MUCH improved venue.  It was much cleaner and fan friendlier that the old Marion Coliseum.  Big improvement.

However Nicky wasn't 100%. He let Pam and I know that he wasn't feeling great the 1st day of the tournament. He was beginning to come down with something. We felt confident that he would be able to still do very well...especially that first day.  And we were correct. Nicky opened up the tournament by pinning his first opponent, Lucas Hughey.

His second match was against Dereck Wilson from New Lexington who Nicky tech-falled 14-2.

His Quarter Finals match resulted in another another pin against Josh Doherty, a wrestler from Circleville. Josh was a bit upset after losing, but you can see Coach Mike Heil at the end of the video keeping Nick focused.  The Quarter Finals is when it all boils down to the most talented and competitive wrestlers and that was an important match to win.




The Semi Finals and the Finals matches were to be held the following day so we hustled Nicky out of the Covelli Center so he could get some food, hydration and much needed rest.  We asked him a few times during the day how he was feeling and he said he was feeling "alright." We could tell at dinner though that he was feeling ill.  He didn't eat that much at all and fell asleep earlier than he normally did.

In the morning he was feeling worse.  He had a fever and said he was a bit nauseous. We asked him if he felt like he could wrestle today and he said yes. We knew he was going to have to face Jaret Lester, an opponent he wrestled many times before, so it was probably going to be a close one.

When the Semi-Finals came around it was apparent Nick wasn't himself.  The match went the full 3 periods as we expected and Jaret wrestled an excellent match.  He took Nicky down 3 times during the match. Nick's mat wrestling was the difference. This I attributed to Mike Heil's taking Nick out of State and into Pennsylvania as many times as he did. He was able to secure 2 reversals and a set of 3 backpoints when he locked Jaret up in a cradle.  

Nicky won by decision 8-6. Jaret was in on a shot when time ran out. His coaches tried to argue. but one of the refs told me later (about 6 months later when I ran into him) that there was no way he was going to let Nicky get ripped off. Having fell short at the OAC the previous year due to sloppy officiating that was much appreciated to hear. 

There were several hours to wait before the Finals were held in the evening.  Nick said he was fatigued and that he felt like vomiting while he was wrestling Lester.  He knew that his performance was compromised because he was sick.  If he was any younger than he was I probably would have not allowed him to wrestle...even if it was the Finals.  My kids health and well being have...and will always...take priority over anything else. But he worked extremely hard and it was his call to go ahead and wrestle in the Finals match.

His Finals match was against Drew Hobbs from Team Miron. They are a club out of the Columbus area and definitely a premier youth club. Nicky wrestled Drew tough, but was just a little too spent by the dog fight he had against Jaret Lester to get anything going. And credit of course goes to young Drew Hobbs. He wrestled an excellent match and won by decision 4-0. Nicky didn't hang his head, and neither did we. We knew Nicky wasn't 100% and felt that sooner or later they would probably run into each other again. They did...but it wasn't until high school at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament.     





And that, my friends, was the end of Nicky's youth wrestling career. An OYWA State Championship and an OAC State Runner Up finish! He faced many challenges, much adversity, but I feel he lived up to his youth potential.  We were very proud of Nicky, and because there were hardships within our family that began towards the end of his youth career, he was always a beacon of celebration because of his wrestling exploits. More important was the fact that he was always respectful and likeable to everyone who crossed paths with him...both opponents and adults. He was always quick to smile and get into something fun. Here's a few pictures of Nick up on the podium and with his youth award collection that he put together by the time he was finished with the 6th grade.  The kids love the bling! 

    
Man it was a lot of fun to put this together. Taking trips back down memory lane is always fun when it's about your kid. I hope everyone who comes across this blog enjoys it also.  There's also a lot of little life lessons that one can pick up and use for themselves or for their own kids journey. This blog's original purpose is to be a source of inspiration and positivity for anyone who comes across it. I enjoy spreading a positive message.  We all contribute something to the universe...why not make it something healthy & helpful?

The next few installments will go over the two year journey to Nicky's next big wrestling achievement...his Ohio Jr. High School State Championship! A lot happened in that two years and I'm sure you'll find it pretty interesting.  New names, faces and personalities enter the picture.  Until then...take care! 

The Road To Nick's Youth State Championship---Part 5

Chasing Down A Youth State Championship---Part 5

2011 OYWA 95 lb. State Champion!

Tom Roehlig told me, when I once came to pick Nick up from a training camp, "He's going to make you a proud father for many years." While I was a proud father already, I appreciated and understood what he was saying. He clearly saw the promise and potential in Nicky.  Tom would wrestle with Nicky who, by the time he was in 6th grade, was beginning to roll around with one of Tom's life long campers, Ivan McClay. We'll talk about Ivan here shortly.

But first let's talk about Jaret Lester. We met the Lester's when Nick was done with his first season. It was one of the few Spring/Summer wrestling tournaments that Nicky attended. They warmed up together and became friends.  Jaret was a very tough minded, scrappy kid who you could tell loved to wrestle. But in terms of his wrestling skill set, in the beginning, he had a long way to go to be up to Nick's level. But he was going to be good.  I was sure of that.

When Nicky was in his 2nd season of wrestling he wrestled him twice. On 2-11-07 at the Beachwood Brawl Nicky won by major decision 11-2. And even though the score was lopsided, I could see he was improving.  At the Stow Bulldog Open on 4-14-07 they wrestled each other again with Nicky winning 11-1. I knew by Nicky's not being able to pin Jaret (Nicky has always been a pinner) that Jaret was working hard.  Here's a couple pictures of Jaret Lester when he was a youth wrestler.

Early in Nicky's 3rd season of wrestling Nicky and Jaret met up for the 3rd time at the Valley Forge Tournament. This was on 11-18-07. In small talking with his dad I mentioned to him that Nicky and Jaret were in the same bracket.  His dad's response was...I shit you not..."Sorry about your luck."  I couldn't believe it given the fact that Nicky had majored him the last few times.  I told my wife what he said to me and she laughed. She was surprised also.  Well I guess Mr. Lester should have waited to say that to me because Nicky beat him 10-4....a decision. Once again though I could see that Jaret was closing the gap and had improved a lot. Nicky's level of athleticism was just something you couldn't teach, and remained the difference maker. 

Now, remember, I didn't start taking Nick to any Summer training camps until after Nicky's third grade season. But I could clearly see that Jaret was getting better and knew that it had to be the result of off season training.  That helped me decide that Summer training...at least some to the degree I felt was necessary...was crucial to Nick's future development.  I didn't know where Jaret was going...until I signed up for Tom Roehlig's Fall Club.  As we were waiting for Tom to arrive and unlock the doors at Massillon Jackson High School Jaret's dad strolled up with Jaret in tow.  So Tom's camps and Fall club were definitely contributing to Jaret's development. 

If I recall correctly, I didn't see too much of Jaret at Tom's camps & Fall Club after Nicky and I found out about Tom and started attending regularly.  But I knew, from the wrestling grapevine, and FB that Jaret was doing well, improving and looking good, and was attending other good camp systems. Here's a picture of Jaret with Jeff Jordan at one of his camps:

After that match at the beginning of Nicky's 3rd grade wrestling season Nicky didn't wrestle Jaret until they were both in 5th grade. On 12/05/09 they finally ran into each other again at the Barberton Open and Jaret won their match by decision 3-2. Jaret was wrestling out of the Akron Wrestling Club (AWC) and had Corey Simpson and Antwon Pugh in the same room, so it was a program full of talent and they were working hard and getting better.  As a matter of fact Jaret won the OYWA 79 lb. State Championship in 2010.  He was legit.  Here's a picture of Antwon Pugh, Corey Simpson, and Jaret Lester after winning their OYWA State Championships that year. 

I write about Jaret here because by Nick's sixth grade season Jaret obviously improved enough to where I felt that if Nick wasn't wrestling well, Jaret could definitely beat him.  I mean he was a State Champion after all. Like all the young tough wrestlers I saw Nicky wrestle and become friends with, I liked Jaret and enjoyed the friendly rivalry that had developed between them.  Jaret serves as a terrific example of how much a wrestler can progress when they love the sport and work their tail off to improve.  He is also the perfect example of why Summer Camps, under a great coach, can increase a young wrestlers technique and intensity, which in turn makes the young wrestler more confident and allows them to compete harder.

In Nick's 6th grade season, during the regular season, they wrestled three times.  At the Mantua Duals and the Young Guns tournament Nicky decisioned Jaret 4-2, but at the Shaker Duals Jaret won 4-3. Here's a picture of Nicky and Jaret that was taken at the Mantua Duals. So going into the post season I knew that Jaret was definitely a great competitor who was on Nick's level. 

At the OYWA Sectionals and District tournaments Nicky steam rolled through his opponents.  On 1/30/11 he pinned all three of his opponents at the Lutheran West Sectional and on 2/06/1, at Districts, he pinned all his opponents except for Kenston's Brad Verbic, who he techfalled 15-1.  He absolutely looked great and we could see that he was peaking at the right time. Here he is with his teammates from the Cardinal Club after they won the Lutheran West Sectional. It was the first time that the Westshore program didn't win it in 17 years. Nick was a 4X Sectional Champion.  

And here are a few shots from the Kenston District tournament.  He was king of the mountain after 3 years of being District Runner Up. This experience was going to serve him well later in high school.

The OYWA State Tournament was held on 2/13/11 at Akron Firestone High School.  We were all excited.  Mike Heil had a district tournament with his son on this day so I sat with Jeff Jarrell in Nick's corner.  It was a great experience.  I felt that Nick was going to go straight through the bracket and he did just that.  His first opponent was Lane Lucas from Madison.  Nicky pinned him. Here's the video:
  



His Quarter finals match was against Victor Marcelli from Jackson. Nick won that match by decision 12-6. Victor was tough and not really on my radar at that time.  Really talented kid.  Here's their match. It was a good one:

Nick's Semi-Finals match was against a kid we wrestled before, David Crawford from Canfield.  David was a solid wrestler, but we felt that Nicky had too much horsepower at that time for him and that proved to be the case as Nicky tech-falled him 13-0.  Here's that match:




In the Finals Nick faced Aiden Pasiuk from Carrolton. Pasiuk defeated Jaret Lester so while we didn't know a lot about him, we knew he had to be very solid and stressed to Nicky to be very aggressive throughout the match.  We just wanted Nicky to keep wrestling the same way he had throughout the season.  He did just that. Aiden was tough but as Coach Jeff Jarrell said after the match...Nicky "wasn't going to be denied."  He locked up a bottom leg cradle and secured the fall!  What a great way to win a State Championship!  Here's Nick's Finals match:




You can see at the end of his match that he was interviewed by the cable station that was airing the tournament which replayed the entire tournament later on in the week. We were so very proud of Nick. He accomplished a big goal. It took the entire 6 years of his youth career to reach the top of the mountain, but to us that made the achievement all the more satisfying. We understood that because Nick was a middleweight he was smack dab in the middle of the bell curve of the most athletic boys. Boys that are the position players on the football field...like he was. Rarely does anything good in life come easily.  He paid his dues, put in the time and effort, and was rewarded by reaching the top of the podium at the State Tournament. Here's some more pictures of him at States.

We were all pretty darn happy to say the least...but we had to TCB...(Take Care of Business) at the OAC State Tournament. With much larger brackets and even more boys who we were not familiar with to wrestle, we got back to training to prepare for the tournament.  And that's where we'll leave off for now.  :) 

The Road To Nick's Youth State Championship---Part 3

Chasing Down A Youth State Championship---Part 3

Nick Gets Up On The Podium At The OYWA State Championships

After the excitement of his first trip to both OYWA and OAC States it was back to the business of having fun!  Riding around on his Yamaha 50 and Polaris 4 wheeler, playing in the woods and the creek that was besides our house in North Royalton, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit that we dug out in the back of our yard, playing plenty of basketball on the court of Albion Elementary which was directly behind our house, trips to the zoo and the parks and beaches of Greater Cleveland, blowing off the case or two of fireworks that "Uncle" Mike Mennozi always gave them after our annual Fourth of July parties, fishing and boating on Lake Erie with my old friend Gary Gottschalk and his son, and just hours and hours of Nicky and Kevin playing with Alex Ashworth, who lived next door and was Nicky's age.  I wish I had a dime for every time I pulled in the drive from work to see those three playing in one of our yards.  Good times.

My philosophy continued to be "if it's not broke than don't fix it." So I continued to have Nicky strength train under my watchful eye, attend a few camps at Tom Roehligs, wrestle in a few tournaments, get ready for football season that began every August, and attend Tom's Fall Wrestling Club.  That was the nature of Nick's off season schedule.  Once again...very moderate compared to many of his youth wrestling peers.

Nick continued to play football and showed super athleticism. Another great youth wrestler in the Brecksville Club, named Luke Strnad had a father who was aware of Nicky's ability.  Luke played on the Brecksville Bee's and Nick played on the N. Royalton Bears. Luke's dad, named Lee, decided to put together a Pop Warner football team to play against the tougher football teams in the Cleveland area.  

He formed the Southwest Seminoles and approached me to see if I would be interested in having Nicky play with Luke. I jumped at the chance because Luke was an incredible athlete and I wanted to see them play together also.  They had a blast and although they took their lumps in the Pop Warner league, I feel they were better for it. Luke went on to have a very good high school football career, becoming the starting quarterback for Brecksville-Broadview Hts. High School.  Always a favorite of mine.  Here's a few pictures of him, Nick, and future Brecksville High State Champ Austin Hiles...yes three wrestlers from the same club who also played football together!     

When wrestling season resumed the Brecksville Club was in high gear. Even though I really had no need to take Nick to additional rooms...I did...to get in a few practices ran by Mike Heil.  It was a way for me to have Nick drill and wrestle live with his group of boys who, as I noted before, were exceptional and who Nicky was now friends with.  

One practice room that I neglected to mention before was the Chanel Firebird wrestling room.  I use to take Nicky there also. Chanel closed down in 2013, but they were a powerhouse wrestling program over the years and had a great youth practice room also.  

Todd Assad, a friend from the city I grew up in, Bedford, had two exceptional sons who were developed there.  Their names are Aaron and Austin.  Both were high level wrestlers who went on to wrestle for Brecksville High. Aaron, the older of the two, would win a State Championship and Austin would become a 4X State Placer...and a 3X State Runner-Up.  

Austin was probably the best Ohio high school wrestler I know of who didn't capture a State title.  That being said, he more than made up for it by becoming a 2X National Freestyle Champ at Fargo. Aaron went on to wrestle for Missouri, and Austin wrestles for Michigan.  

Another very successful high school wrestler who came out of that room (there were many) who Nicky took his lumps from was LJ Bentley. LJ wrested for national powerhouse St. Edward's in high school and wrestles at the University of Pittsburgh now...so you can see there was some serious talent in that room.  Austin and LJ both had a few years worth of physical maturity on Nicky, but were both lightweights so Nicky was able to wrestle with them as he was a bigger young boy.

Nicky opened his 5th grade season up with a match against LJ.  He lost 10-0 but didn't get teched or give up the fall, so I was happy with that.  He had a very solid season and because he weighed 82 lbs. he had many tough sixth, seventh and even small eighth grade opponents to contend with. It was obvious he was still progressing. 

   
After a very fun and competitive regular season we were anxious to see how Nick would fare in the post season.  He won his OYWA Sectionals by pinning his way through it.  Dominant.  

At the OYWA Kenston District Tournament he pinned his way through...until the Finals when he ran into a total hammer of a kid...Tanyon Jarrell.  Tanyon pinned Nicky.   

A little bit about Tanyon.  Tanyon was the 2009 OYWA 76 lb. State Champ. Tanyon was wrestling out of the Cardinal Club that was put together and ran by his dad Jeff Jarrell.  Tanyon had been on my radar for awhile.  This kid was one of the toughest young wrestlers I had seen.  A brute.  He was solid in all positions and just a complete hammer on top.  Knew how to throw legs in and use them.  Nick wrestled him at the beginning of his 4th Grade season at the Valley Forge Tournament and lost a close match to him 6-4.  After that loss I knew he was tough and followed his matches.  He was exciting and fun to watch.  Here's a few pictures of Tanyon. All around athlete. Super tough. Just like Nick.  

I thought that Nick had grown considerably in his wrestling since Tanyon beat him.  And he did.  The only problem was so did Tanyon. His skill set was clearly above 99% of the Ohio Youth Wrestlers. He used his boots to turn Nicky and at that time Nicky just didn't have the defense or horse power to deal with him. 

Nicky was wrestling tough though and we still felt good about his chances to win a State Championship this year or at least place very high.  At OYWA States he won his first match by pinning the only girl he's ever had to wrestle, a girl named Katie Bender from Brookfield. He won his Quarter Finals match by a 2-0 decision over another tough kid, Victor Marcelli. Unfortunately he lost his Semi Finals match to a boy named Corey Simpson. Corey was another outstanding wrestler and, like Tanyon Jarrell, ahead of the pack.  

I truly believe Nick would have placed third at this State Tournament had a huge upset not occur.  However, as fate would have it, Tanyon, who was in the lower part of the bracket, was upset by Massillon wrestler Noah McCumbers 4-2.  I personally believe strongly that Tanyon would have beaten Simpson in the Finals. As it was, Nicky had to face Tanyon in his first Consolation match. Tanyon pinned Nicky and went on to capture 3rd place after a rematch with McCumbers who lost in the Semi Finals to Wadsworth's Joey Baughman.  So Nicky wrestled for 5th and 6th place against Wadsworth's Cory Surratt, a familiar foe.  It was a close match but Nick was able to win by a 6-4 decision.

We came away very happy as Nick earned his way onto his first State Championship podium.  And we learned a lot.  So we felt very optimistic about the upcoming OAC District and State Tournaments.

At OAC District's Nicky wrestled his way to the Finals by beating Midpark's Justin Clarke, Team Myron's Ben Tate, and Wadsworth's Cody Surratt.  Of course waiting for him in the Finals was none other than Tanyon Jarrell.  Hey! In wrestling if you want to be the best you have to beat the best! They had a good match and this time Tanyon won by Major Decision 13-5. Still...it wasn't a pin and we felt progress was being made. We absolutely respected Tanyon and his abilities and was happy to find ourselves competing against him in a District Finals for the second time.  We're on the right track I assured Nicky.

At OAC States we suffered huge disappointment.  In the second Championship round we got robbed of not only back points but a pin. I have it on my video tape and I assure you the referee who officiated the match was absolutely incompetent.  Joe Hiles and I shook our heads in disbelief as he made one officiating mistake after another. Our pleas fell upon deaf ears and a feeble brain.  So Nick's opponent, Robbie Oswald from Elder Kids, won by decision 7-5. Tanyon had a dominating performance, techfalling his first opponent and pinning his way to a State Championship in the Finals against Oswald...who made it through his bracket. We feel absolutely sure that outside of an injury occurring, getting caught, or horrible officiating (which is what happened) Nicky would have wrestled Tanyon in the State Finals.  

Nicky dropped down to consolation and won two matches in row before losing and bowing out of the tournament.  He lost 10-2 to Josh Herhold...the second year in a row that he was one match away from placing in the OAC.  To be honest he just wrestled poorly.  

We learned (or I should say had reinforced) a few valuable lessons after this tournament. Lesson number one: try as hard as you can to keep the match out of the refs hands and lesson number two: you have to wrestle better and not give your opponent so many opportunities to score off your mistakes as in the Herhold match. Lesson number 3: Have to learn how to bounce back strongly and be ready to compete after a setback.

And that wrapped up his fifth grade season. 

Season Five Record: (42-17)  Pins/Techs (27)

The big takeaway was that he earned his way up on the podium and that he was only losing to the very toughest of opponents...most of whom would be moving onto Jr. High School the following year.  We felt more confident than ever that Nick's youth State Championship would be accomplished next year when he was at the top of the mountain as a 6th grader. Here's an example of how Nicky was wrestling in 5th grade.



And here's Nick and the rest of the 82 lb. wrestlers on the OYWA State podium!  This was the Hammer bracket of the tournament.