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.      

Nick Captures A Jr. High State Championship---Part 1

Necessary Changes Take Place

Getting Ready For Eighth Grade States

Eighth grade was a year where we had some significant changes in the off season. It was also a big year of change for our family in many ways. One of those changes was that we moved from North Royalton to Brunswick.

To say that Nicky's wrestling didn't factor into our decision would be a lie. We wanted to put Nicky into a school system that had a solid wrestling program for him to take part in. We were torn between Brecksville and Brunswick. 

In the end, and for many other reasons, we decided that Brunswick would be the best fit for Nick. This was not an easy decision as we had a long standing relationship with the Brecksville people...and they had built their program up to be a public school powerhouse under the guidance of head coach Todd Haverdill.

One reason that played a big role was that Mike Heil recently moved to Brunswick and was going to be an assistant coach at Brunswick High School. His son Josh was going to be attending Brunswick High, going a different route than his older brother Dean did who was attending St. Edwards. Josh was a tough, hard working kid, and I knew that Nick and him would make great drill partners. 

While Mike & Josh were the main draw at that time, I was also getting to know...and be impressed by...long time head coach Mike Koshar. Mike struck me as a straight forward fella.  Intelligent and easy to speak to, I could tell he was excited about the resurgance of his wrestling program because of the talent that was already there, and soon to be arriving.

Coach Koshar invited Nicky to wrestle with the high school team at a couple of the Summer duals hosted by area colleges. So Nick wrestled the 113 120 weight classes at the Kent State Duals and the Mount Union Duals. Nick had a 3 month break after States so he was fresh and ready to go. He would be able to get a lot of matches in between these two tournaments and they would be against high school kids. 

Here's a picture of Nicky posing with Coach Koshar and the high school team after the Kent State Duals. He's in the second row with no shirt on. The one who looks like a seventh grader! Josh Heil was in that row also. He was only in eighth grade. In the top row, second from the left with no shirt on is Tyler Hughes. Three future Brunswick State Placers.

I remember thinking to myself that if Nicky won 50 percent of his matches I would be happy. After all, these are high school kids! Wow did I seriously underestimate him. At the Kent State Duals he went undefeated...pinning 10 of his 14 opponents, and majoring 3 by scores of 9-0, 12-0, and 18-4! The last wrestler he decisioned 6-2.  

The very next weekend, on 6-29-12 and 6-30-12 he went undefeated at the Mount Union Duals, winning three matches by fall, another by tech fall 15-0, and winning three by decisions. The decision scores were 4-0, 10-4, and 3-1. From what I was told...I did not attend the Mount Union Duals...the opponent he beat 3-1 was a state qualifier.

To be honest even I was kind of shocked. I knew where he stood among his own age group, but to see that he could run through 21 straight high school opponents, pinning 13 of them no less, was pleasantly surprising. I knew that it absolutely had to help his confidence. 

So he wrestled in those duals and then the following weekend I entered him in the Lutheran West Open, which he won by pinning his next 5 opponents. That was another change. Definitely more Summer wrestling than ever before. and of course we were still going down to Tom Roehlig's camps and keeping that going. Here's a few pictures of Nick with Ivan McClay and learning leg riding from 2 time State Champion, Massillon Perry's David Bavery. 

Another change was that I began introducing barbell strength training to Nick. Up until this point I had Nicky doing bodyweight training only...progressive calisthenics, playground workouts at the school that was behind our house in N. Royalton, plank workouts, and bodyweight complexes that I got from Tom Roehlig. 

Other than weighted pullups and partner carries in the practice room, there was no lifting weights. You could tell that he was plenty muscular from that type of training...in addition to all the strength he had built up from the sport of wrestling since he was seven yrs. old...but it was time to begin building strength through well structured and well supervised weight training. Here's what Nicky looked like before he began lifting in eighth grade.

    
It was time to develop some serious horse power in his legs, hips, back, (the posterior chain) and upper body pressing structure. I knew that if we started right now he would be in excellent shape by the time he began high school. We would not be abandoning bodyweight exercises completely, but instead would take a hybrid approach. I was actually pretty excited to tap into my own weight lifting days and pass on more of what I know to my son.

Our next post will tell how Nick ran into a preseason buzz saw at the Super 32 that he would have to overcome in order to become an Ohio Junior High State Champion, and how he fared in some pretty prestigious jr. high tournaments. Stay tuned and, until the next installment, 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 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 2

Chasing Down A Youth State Championship---Part Two

The Stage Has Been Set

Enter Tom Roehlig.  After Nicky's last season with the N. Royalton program I decided to have Nick attend some Summer wrestling camps to further his technique.  I jumped on the internet and came across Tom Roehligs wrestling camp.  After exchanging some e-mails and lengthy phone conversations I decided that Tom was a solid individual...not just for what he could offer Nicky in terms of wrestling instruction...but in many other ways also.

Tom currently owns a Cross Fit gym in Massillon Ohio.  He's what I consider a man who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. He was a high school multi-State Placer himself and a former Ohio State wrestler.  He started training youth wrestlers in the Massilon/Carrolton area and had great results with many of the boys down there.  Two of his former long time Roehlig Wrestling Club members, Tom Straughn and Ivan McClay, not only went on to become high school State Champions, but NCAA Division 2 National Champions at the Division 2 powerhouse program Notre Dame.

Tom taught Nick (and I) a lot about core strength training and so many other things I couldn't even begin to put them all down in this blog post.  Suffice it to say that Nicky and I developed a great friendship with Tom.  Nick attended his camps every Summer and was in his Fall Clubs as well.  Even in Nicky's high school years Tom proved to be a valuable resource that I could depend on for timely advice...whenever I called he made himself available and we took advantage of his Sports Performance training knowledge also. While I have a fairly deep knowledge of strength training myself, it would be fair to say that Tom more than filled in the gaps that I needed when training Nick at home.  And yes that's Olympian Harry Lester who was giving a clinic at one of Tom's camps. Nicky was so excited to meet him. 

So now the stage was set. The actors were in place.  It was just a matter of time we felt.  As long as Nicky kept working hard and kept a great attitude it was only a matter of time before he won a Youth State championship.  So that's what he did with us (Mom & Dad & coaches) all supporting him and trying to position him for  it to happen.  But still, not at the expense of having fun!  Here's a picture of one of Nicky, Kevin, & Alex after trick or treating one Halloween. What a haul huh?  I tried to tell them that a wrestling mat is not supposed to be used in such a way!

So Nicky had a terrific year in 4th grade.  He won a lot of tournaments and continued to make progress in his wrestling.  The year prior, when he was still wrestling for N. Royalton, he won his Sectionals wrestling at 67 lbs. but failed to get out of Districts losing to 6-4 to Kenston's Mason Daugherty and 4-1 to Cuyahoga Hts. wrestler Nick Orr.  This year he won Sectionals again by beating his former teammate Paul Petras 2-0.  Petras returned the favor the following week defeating Nicky 6-0 at Districts...but he qualified for the OYWA State Championships and we were very optimistic.

He wrestled tough at his first States at 73 lbs.!  Came out on fire and avenged his last years District loss to Mason Daughtry by defeating him 9-0! Hit him with two nasty twisters!  A close friend of mine, Gary Gottschalk, told me that Mason's dad said to him: "Who is that kid? He's got the best hips I ever seen!"  A year can make a big difference in wrestling. Unfortunately, due to a very controversial ref call, Nicky lost his next match to Massillon's Jake Donahue 2-0. Won his next match against Tuskeegee Valley's Leland Hostetler 11-4 but failed to place losing to Jackson Purple's Kelan McKenna.

Although he failed to place, we were very pleased by his performance and looked forward to his first OAC District tournament.  He ended up placing third there, losing to another boy that he wrestled several times, Jaret Williamson.  Jaret pinned him there and it was the first time I really saw Nicky upset about a match.  It was the only time Jaret had beat him and he didn't like it one bit.  Jaret was a solid wrestler though and a good kid...but that didn't matter to Nicky!

At OAC States he wrestled great again, but fell short.  After wining his first three matches he lost to Team Myron's Ryan Thomas who went on to become the eventual champion.  The next time Nick would see him would be in their senior year of high school.  Nicky lost his next match in overtime 2-0...to Westshore's Garrett Lambert...a future high school teammate...who was coached by our friend Mike Heil.  So that was it for his 4th grade season. 

Season Four Record: (54-13)  Pins/Techs: (28)

My next post will cover his 5th & 6th grade years as they were pivotal in that a few key figures entered into the scene and moves were made that I feel positioned Nick perfectly for success.  Hope you're enjoying reading this as much as dear old dad does writing it! Here's a few more general pictures of Nicky.

And of course a video of him in action...this is a match between him and the always tough and dangerous Cody Surratt out of Wadsworth. These two wrestled each other a lot growing up and a few times in high school. Cody is as tough as they come,,,and as tough as he...is he's even a greater kid. Well a young man now. Cody will be wrestling for the Air Force in the Big 12 next year.

Here's a picture of Cody and another of Nick's wrestling friends and training partner, 2X State Champ James Handwerk out of Lutheran West, meeting with the Congressman who endorsed them to be accepted into the Academy.  Two fine young men. They both are on the ends, Cody has his suit jacket on.

And here's that video of Nick and Cody wrestling each other in an OAC District tourney.