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 4

Chasing Down A Youth State Championship---Part 4

Strategy Matters.  Positioning Nick For Success At States

Rinse and repeat. There's nothing to it but to do it! We kept doing what had gotten us to this point.  A few Summer tournaments, Tom Roehlig's camps and Fall Club, and more football.   

Another thing Nicky had going for him was (if I may take a little credit here) was knowing our family's genetic potential and what I could bring to the table.  I knew from how Nicky was built and how he was growing that he was going to be a middleweight during his high school years. Having done my share of serious lifting and strength training...and more importantly training several other men over the course of twenty years...I knew that I didn't need to find another trainer to address his strength development.  

Even though I've neglected myself over the course of the last 15 years, I still have a deep knowledge base of how to build strength and have remained a student of strength training.  It was becoming evident that Nicky was always one of, if not the, strongest boys his age and size in any room he went into.  Add in the core exercises that my friend Tom Roehlig introduced Nick and I to and I felt pretty confident that Nicky would retain that "edge" he had over the competition throughout Jr. High and High School.      

Steady strength training and, for the most part, keeping my sons diets relatively clean were factors that we definitely could control, so Pam and I were very diligent about that. Of course they're eating their fair share of junk food like all kids, but we were very consistent with their breakfasts, lunches and dinners.





A complete protein source with every meal, starchy complex carbs to fuel their muscles, and fruits and vegetables for them to get the fiber, vitamins & minerals, and phytochemicals to grow and have the energy needed for solid sports performance.  Plenty of water. Fueling an athlete is important, and sports nutrition is a vital piece of the puzzle.  Two things an athlete needs more than the average person is better quality nutrition and more sleep.  Especially when their young and growing!  I saw many young wrestlers whose dads were restricting their kids diets too much...I personally felt they were crazy to do so, but hey, to each their own.

So let's get to the wrestling season and talk about another outstanding wrestler who Nicky competed against.  Antwon Pugh was yet another wrestler who Nicky had to contend with.  Antwon was heavier than Nick in past years, but Nicky put on weight every year and that put him in new weight classes with new faces to wrestle.  By Nicky's 6th grade year we were in Antwon weight class.

Antwon was a sensational wrestler. Another all around athlete. He was from the Akron area and I had watched him over the course of the last several years.  Super impressive. Antwon was the 2009 OAC  75 lb. State Champ in his age group and was the 2010 OYWA 86 lb. State Champ. 

Nick wrestled Antwon two times within a month when the wrestling season began.  Once at the Green Bulldog Round Robin and once at the Medina Fall Open. Although Nicky wrestled him tough, Antwon tech falled him the first match (12-0) and pinned him the second.  

Tom Roehlig, who was corner coaching Nick during the Green tournament, turned to me and said "That kid is really good."  When you have a kid as good as Nicky was, who is pinning and tech falling his way through a tournament, and then himself gets tech falled or pinned by a wrestler, you just have to accept it and acknowledge the other wrestlers ability.  And so that's exactly what we did.  Here's a few pictures of Antwon back then.

I felt that our best bet to win a youth state championship was to not be in the same weight class Antwon was in.  And what made it the best strategy of all was that I could wrestle Nicky at bodyweight. He would be well hydrated and fed properly...ready for the competition.

More strategy.

The Brecksville Youth Club lost most of the kids who were in the practice room for the past two years.  The only wrestler that remained who was tough enough...and skilled enough...to drill and wrestle live with Nicky was Luke Strnad.  However, these two were very used to each other and knew each other so well that it was a dog fight whenever they went live. I knew that the best thing to do was to get Nicky in a fresh room with as many good wrestlers as possible.

Mike Heil had settled into the Brunswick wrestling room and had a good relationship with Brunswick High head wrestling coach Mike Koshar.  This was to prove very valuable for Brunswick Wrestling moving into the future.  Coach Koshar is deeply committed to the program and had a number of good wrestlers came through under his watch...including two time State Champ Richie Spicel.  The influx of talent he was about to receive in a few years, because of his open mindedness, was going to elevate Brunswick wrestling to new heights. More on that later. Here's a picture of  Coach Mike Koshar with Nick and I during Nick's Freshman Year.

I needed an OYWA youth team...like Brecksville...for Nick to wrestle out of.  Mike Heil's Team Wrecking Crew wasn't participating in the OYWA.  He suggested to me that I approach Jeff Jarrell about Nicky wrestling with his Cardinal Club.  It made perfect sense to me for a few different reasons.

I was never the kind of guy who held any resentment towards another parent or coach of a wrestler who could beat my kid.  I brought Nick up with the belief that every kid he would ever face out on a wrestling mat had a warrior's heart, and that regardless of a match's outcome they were deserving of respect.  That would become a trademark characteristic of his.  Win, lose or draw, he was always a great sport after a match.  There is nobody out there that can say they've seen Nick lose his cool or anything remotely close to that. That being said, I was excited to reach out to Jeff to see if not only could Nick wrestle varsity at 95 lbs. for the Cardinal Club, but would he be willing to bring Hammer Tanyon in to work with Nick, especially in regards to getting better with his legs.

It worked out great.  Jeff had a great line up with some super tough kids.  Among them was Brendan Price and Stan Bleich.  Stan was a regular in Mike Heil's room and wrestled for TWC and Nick and Stan already knew each other well from going to a few tourney's together. Brendan was a hammer.  Tough, and a great scrambler, he was going to be the Cardinal Clubs 90 lber.  Between Brendan and Tanyon at the Cardinal Club, the boy's in the Brunswick room wrestling under Mike Heil, and going to Chanel's practice room once a week to wrestle with Austin Assad, LJ Bentley, and other tough Firebirds, I felt confident that Nicky was getting not only great drill partners, but great coaching as well. Here's a few pictures of the Cardinal Club members.  What a fun group of kids. 

Jeff went above and beyond with Nicky, having Tanyon work with Nicky, especially tweaking his leg turks, cross wrist tilts, and the figure four leg ride.  They had great chemistry and Nicky responded well to Jeff's coaching.  Nicky had become a serious wrestling shoe buff and collector and bought a pair of red John Smith's.  Jeff played with Nicky constantly, talking up "those shoes" and Nicky loved it. So he was having a lot of fun as he was working hard and learning.  It showed too. Nicky was catching on quickly and it was showing in the live goes with Tanyon.  More importantly...it was showing in competition.

One example of this was when Mike Heil took Nicky on two consecutive weekends to a couple of bruiser tournaments in PA. The Winter Storm and Young Guns tournaments. These tournaments had some elite level youth wrestlers attend from both Ohio and PA. Nicky placed 2nd in both of these tournaments.  He lost to the same kid, a boy who was a year older named Greg Bulsak.  Greg went on to become a 2X PIAA State Champ and Super 32 placer.  Very tough youth wrestler at the time.  Very solid. He teched Nick 11-0 at the Winter Storm, but at the Young Guns tournament he only lost by a score of 5-3.  Nick normally does very well in rematches and this would show itself to be true later throughout his Jr. High and High School career.  Mike said that Nick listened well and that Nick showed "great improvement." I was very proud of him.

My next post will cover the OYWA District and State tournaments. For now suffice it to say that during the course of the regular season he was an absolute wrecking ball. Up until the post season he only lost 7 out of 54 matches! Those loses were to State Champs and a few oddball matches where they combined weight classes with older or bigger boys at a couple open tournaments. He was clearly head and shoulders above 98% of the kids in his weight class and his coaches and I were very optimistic...and I would say even confident about his winning a State Championship this year. His time had come.

Here's a few videos from the OURWAY District Tournament. That's another youth league that has a State Championship tournament. The first opponent is DJ Skiba from St. Ed's feeder program Westshore, and the next is our friend (but always game and competitive rival) Cody Surratt from Wadsworth.  DJ ended up being a teammates of Nick's at Brunswick High. He's a great young man who always worked hard.  He's currently serving in the U.S. Air Force.

These pictures and videos bring back a lot of great memories for me, and I am sure they will for others who either had kids wrestling at that time, or were coaching.  Good times indeed!             

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.

My Son Nick Kiussis Accomplished A Major Goal In His Life!

My Son Nick Kiussis Won A High School Wrestling State Championship!

A Testimony To His Perseverance...

This past March, on March 11th to be exact, my oldest son Nick accomplished a major goal in his life.  He won an Ohio Wrestling State Championship (OHSAA Division 1) in the 160 lb. weight class as a Senior wrestling for Brunswick High School!

Of course I'm biased as I am his father, but I think most people who know the circumstances of this achievement view it as being somewhat special as well.  The next few posts are going to be, for the most part, the story of that journey.  I feel the need to document some of the important points of this experience before they fade with the passage of time. 

Nicky, as we affectionately call him in our family, started wrestling when he was in first grade at the age of 7.  He came home from school one October day excitedly waving a flyer around that was passed out at school that day. "Daddy! Daddy! They have wrestling! Can I join?"  "Of course you can buddy!" I replied.  That day set everything in motion.  A twelve year journey that now, when I look back at it, were among the most incredible years of our family's life.

See, what very few people know outside of my family is that when my wife Pam was pregnant with Nicky I use to tell her...and Nicky inside her belly...that he was my wrestler and that one day he would be a state champion!  This wasn't a once or twice occurrence mind you...I spent a LOT of time rubbing Pam's belly and telling Nicky how much I looked forward to his arrival and all the things I wanted to do with him.  So he heard this a great deal.

The days both my sons were born were by far the happiest days of my life.  Nothing compares.  Since Nicky was my first born it was definitely the more emotional of the two...being a first time father present at his son's birth was just absolutely overwhelming to me.  I remember looking at him...and crying.  Just crying, unabashedly, because the love I felt was so instantly deep that I knew I would never be the same man again.  And I never was.  My reason WHY arrived.  And when my incredible son Kevin arrived 3 and a half years later my reason WHY doubled.  Being a great father to them and teaching them how to be stand up men was my purpose.

God blessed Nicky with extraordinary athleticism.  I was very athletic when I was younger myself, but because of a troubled home life and bad relationship with my father I never had the opportunity to showcase it in the school arena.  I was bound and determined to give Nicky and Kevin every opportunity within my means to showcase their talents...whatever they may be and however unique they may be to each boy.  Nicky started walking and a day later was running on uneven ground! Exceptional balance.  The lady's at the day care that he was at who witnessed this remarked to my wife how amazed they were by this.

The first few years of a young boy's wrestling career can be tough. For the most part it's all about teaching the kids the basics of the sport.  Ant that's what he began to learn in the North Royalton Youth Wrestling Club.  What a good stance is and how to stay in one.  Learning how to move. How to sprawl.  How to change levels and penetrate so you can accomplish a takedown.  How to spin around an opponent and get behind so you can score. A basic breakdown, stand up escape, and a pinning combination or two round things out.  It's really about teaching them the basics and teaching them to work hard while making sure they're having fun doing so.  

As with all sports, kids have differing levels of ability with some being able to advance faster than others.  This was the case with Nicky.  Halfway through the season the coaches felt it was appropriate to move him to the other side of the room to practice with the more experienced boys.  Kids who had at least two years of experience.  The youth club was for kids in grades 1-6 so, for the most part, the average kid had about three years of experience.  Not every kid starts in first grade like Nicky.  Some start rolling around as young as 4 yrs. old, and some start their first year when they are in 4th, 5th, or 6th grades.  Nicky began to wrestle some of the kids who were a couple years older with a few more years experience...and he gave them all they could handle.  By the time he was 9 he was wrestling varsity for the club and competing against the other boys in his weight class from other clubs within our league, the Ohio Youth Wrestling Association.  Here's a picture when he was 7 yrs. old and in his first year of wrestling with the North Royalton Youth Wrestling Club.  All 55 lbs. of him! He's in the red and black shirt with his headgear on hitting the double bicep pose!

 Life is all about relationships.  Over the course of Nicky's first three seasons I met a lot of other dads who I became friendly with. Some of them had a few sons who were wrestling and who therefore were more experienced in what it took to develop a young wrestler at a high level.  I took notice.  I listened. I learned.  I saw that I had many of the right ideas concerning Nicky's development. And because of this I decided that some changes and additional effort on my part had to take place.

The coaches at the North Royalton Youth Wrestling club were decent enough fellows...but the program was a 90 day club that did not make a commitment outside of that time period towards making the kids better.  No camps to retain the skills they learned during the season...no tournaments that they would go to as a team where the boys could continue to learn how to compete.  I didn't agree with this philosophy.  I took note that other teams, the feeder teams of the successful high school programs in our area, were doing things much differently.

Another thing that made the decision to look for a different youth club for Nicky to wrestle out of rather easy was the fact that there was a personality conflict between the head coach and I.  It was nothing major...but I could tell that he didn't like me.  And well, the feeling was mutual.  I'm a pretty straight shooter.  I'm not everybody's cup of tea...nor do I try to be.  I was pretty aggressive about rooting on my boy (I've been told my voice carries) and I also wrestled Nicky at tournaments on the weekends when our club team wasn't competing at anything other than their league matches. While the other parents kids were getting one or two matches a week, Nicky was getting in four or five.  So in a nutshell, without going into a whole lot of details, I decided after Nicky's third youth season to enroll him into one of the more successful youth wrestling programs in the area.

Here's his win loss record for his first three seasons wrestling for the North Royalton Youth Club.

Season One: (23-10) Pins/Techs (20)
Season Two: (27-2)  Pins/Techs (19)
Season Three: (31-14) Pins/Techs (22) 

This wraps up the story of Nicky's 1st three years of his youth wrestling career.  The next entry will chronicle the following three years where he begins to emerge as a major youth contender in the State of Ohio.  Until then here's a few videos that you can check out!
   
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