Nick's Freshman Year In High School---Part 2

AND SO IT BEGINS... 

Nick's first high school wrestling match was a dual meet between Brunswick and North Royalton on 12/6/2013. He wrestled a Junior named Jon Bonnaci. Jon was a former youth teammate of Nick's, from the very first wrestling club that Nick participated in while he was in first grade. 

Any anxieties I had about the match disappeared pretty quickly. Nick dominated the match and won by major decision 11-0. Bonnaci was warned for stalling and you could clearly see he was wrestling to take away the tech fall or pin that would have surely resulted had he engaged Nick more in the match. 

It was a good first high school match however and Nick and his coaches were satisfied.  His coaches were of course (just in case you're reading this blog for the first time) long time Brunswick Wrestling head coach Mike Koshar, and head assistant coaches, Mike Heil & Jim Hewitt, and Boomer Fechko. These are great coaches to have in your corner with a wealth of coaching experience with different personalities and coaching styles that all complimented each other.  

Nick scoring his first official high school takedown!

About to power half. 

Breaking down opponent from top.

Extending opponent after being shot on.

Riding.

Digging in an arm bar.

Coach Heil trying to get more bonus points out of Nick.

Nick happy that his first high school match was in the books.

The next day, on 12/07/2013 Nick wrestled at his first official high school tournament, the Copley Duals.  He wrestled Hudson's Nate Szoch, Copley's Brandon Grimes, and wrestlers from Carrolton, Norwalk and Maple Hts., whose names I didn't record. He pinned all of his opponents and placed first! Great start so far to his high school wrestling career.

Nick receiving feedback from Coach Koshar after his first match.

Coach Jim Hewitt preparing Nick's mindset before a match.

Nick securing a cradle against an opponent.

Leg turking an opponent. 

Pinning his opponent with a head lock.

About to lock up a near side cradle on opponent.

Pinning opponent with a double arm bar.

The following weekend Nick wrestled in the North Coast Classic.  A very solid tournament with 24 teams with a few teams that travel from Pennsylvania to participate in it. This was a definite upgrade in competition and Pam and I were very excited to watch.

The North Coast Classic is a 2 day pool type tournament where teams were grouped into pools and after the teams all wrestled each other they are put into brackets with other wrestlers who had the same record (wins/losses) thus pitting wrestlers of similar abilities against each other more times than not.

Nick before his first match at the North Coast Classic. Coach Heil said Nick looked a little apprehensive at the beginning and I would have to agree with him based on this picture. He definitely relaxed as he began to wrestle. 

The first day was on 12/14/13 and Nick opened up his tournament with a 15-0 techfall against Padua's Steve Shivak. His very next match was the one Brunswick wanted to see. It was a match against a very solid wrestler named Jarrad Lasko. Jarod was a Junior who was a 2013 Division 1 State Placer at 126 lbs. who was ranked 2nd in the state at 132 lbs. 

Jarrad, who currently wrestles Division 3 for John Carrol University, finished his high school career as a state alternate in 2015 and 2015. He also was a 4 time Sectional Champion and a 3 time District placer.  All around very solid kid.  

It was a good competitive match, but Lasko's high school experience paid off for him on his feet and on top. Nick was able to score a reversal and had a couple cradles locked up, but was unable to turn him. In the third Lasko caught Nick in a scramble and pinned him.  

All in all Nick had a very good first day.  He went 4-1with two pins, a tech fall and a 14-2 major decision. The following day was a continuation of the pool format to completion. 

The 132 lb. weight class was one of only two weight classes that were completely filled and it was very competitive. Alec Benedetti, the North Royalton wrestler who defeated Nick back in the Summer at the Baldwin Wallace Duals was there, a Solon Senior named Chris Wymer, who was at the top of his game, and two tough PA kids...a Junior and a Senior. They ALL traded losses to each other.  It was crazy.  Round robin wrestling at its best!

The next day Nick came in loose, without the jitters, and wrestled tough again. Beat the Senior from PA., Ken Tarpley by decision 8-2 but dropped the next match to the Junior from PA. 13-10. Nick got off to a slow start but finished strongly with three take downs in a row, but couldn't overcome the point deficit that the wrestler, Greensburg's Austin Shaw, established. I clearly remember Coach Heil and Coach Fechko emphasizing to Nick that in high school he needed to come out with more urgency.

Nick with teammates Brett Thomas and Austin Fallon.

Nick playing around on the mats before tournament began.

With his biggest fan...his Mom!

Relaxing sometime between the matches.

His 3rd match of the day was a rematch with Jarrod Lasko from Madison again. This time Nick looked more poised and aggressive from the start and in all positions. He beat Lasko by decision 7-2 and this time 3 of these points were from earning a near fall off a scramble. It was great to watch.  He was serving notice! 

With the win Nick earned the right to wrestle for 3rd place later in the evening.  It was against Ringgold's (PA.) Ken Tarpley again. It was a good match and Nick wrestled solid the entire match and earned his 2nd trip to the podium in as many tournaments. He won by decision again...8-2.

In deep on a shot in 3rd place match.

Trying to finish a single leg on his feet.

Opponent quad podding up while Nick attempts far side cradle.

Winning his 3rd place match.

Third Place finish at the North Coast Classic.

This was a great learning tournament for Nick who finished 7-2. Also a really impressive showing for Brunswick Wrestling as a whole. Brunswick crushed the tournament field by 125 points and was also serving notice that they were deep in talent and would be a force in Division 1 wrestling for the foreseeable future.  With a young talented squad and able committed coaches, fans of Brunswick wrestling had a great deal to be excited about. 

Coaches Mike Heil and Boomer Fechko

Coach Boomer Fechko giving Nick feedback after a match.

Brunswick 2013 Team Picture.

Team picture hoisting the first place trophy. 

That's it for this installment.  Next week we'll be covering more of this special and unique period of time that everybody involved with Brunswick Wrestling got to experience. By the way...here's a picture of how Nick looked at the end of this tournament.

Sporting a nice shiner...but also a smile.  Ya gotta love a grappler. Take care and thanks for reading my blog and following Nick's high school journey.

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.  

Nick Captures A Jr. High State Championship---Part 4

An OAC Jr. High State Championship Is Won By Nick Kiussis

An Epic Battle Takes Place At 120 lbs.

When Nick was in Eighth Grade the toughest OAC District to place in was undoubtedly the Brecksville District. So when it was time for the district tournament, and especially since we lived within a half hour of Brecksville High School where it was located, that is where we decided to compete. Some of the wrestling dads that I know use to wrestle their sons at the other districts where they felt their sons had a better chance of winning or placing higher to secure a higher seeding in the state tournament. I did not feel the need to strategize in that way.

My feelings were correct as Nick went 5-0 to become the District Champion in a 32 man bracket. He pinned opponents Nathan Beaver, Luis Roman, & Brad Holmgren all rather quickly. He then went on to techfall Wadsworths Connor Clark 15-0 in the Semi-Finals to advance to face Joseph Koontz from Akron Wrestling Club in the Finals.

Heading into the match against Koontz we felt pretty confident that if Nicky was focused and kept his mistakes to a minimum he wouldn't be in any real danger as we faced Koontz a few times before and thus were pretty familiar with him.  That proved to be the case as Nick won by decision 5-1.  Koontz was game, a tough kid, but Nick looked sharp and controlled the match in all positions from start to finish.

Here's a picture of Nick posing with his buddy and future Walsh Jesuit State Champion and 3X State Placer Matt Fields, who also placed at the very competitive Brecksville Tournament.

Here's Nick with 108 lb. District Champion Antwon Pugh.

And a shot of Nick up on the podium and at home. Notice the banner concerning Saving Olympic Wrestling. Very proud of how the wrestling community throughout the country protested the decision of the Olympic Committee to drop the oldest Olympic sport from the games.  I'll never understand how they could even be considering that!

On March 9th 2013 the OAC Jr. High State Tournament began at the Covelli Center in Youngstown Ohio. Nick felt great going into the tournament and so did I and his corner coach Mike Heil. Nick was officially wrestling under the Brecksville Wrestling Club but since we were going to Brunswick High and considering the facts that 1) Mike Heil was assistant head coach at Brunswick, and more importantly 2) Mike knew Nick's wrestling better than anyone! At the most important tournament to this point of his life, we definitely felt it was in Nick's best interest to have Mike there.

Nick wrestled GREAT! Came out strong and, like the District tournament, pinned his first 3 opponents: Justin Mason, Tyler Speelman, and Alex Neuberger. Mike Heil was running late and the Quarter Finals match was early in the morning.  Nick got a little sloppy against Neuberger and went down in points 4-0 but, both of us (I was corner coaching him in Mike's absence) remained calm and knew he could turn things around quickly. Which he did.

This led to a Semi-Finals match the next day against his Brecksville Club teammate Trey Crockett. To be honest we felt that Chandler Golic, who Nick lost to in the beginning of the season at the Claymont Invitational, would be there, but Trey pulled off the upset. Although Trey and Nick were club teammates and friends, Nick focused and took care of business defeating Trey by major decision 12-4.

Of course Cory Shie, the future stud for LaSalle High, came out of the other side of the bracket.  They hadn't met up since Corey handed Nicky a lost at the Super 32.  If you don't remember from a previous post, Corey defeated Nick by a score of 3-2 in double overtime.  That first match was great and we absolutely knew that to win this Jr. High State Championship it was going to be an all out war!  Shie was well traveled and as battle tested as they come with a great support system behind him as well as a terrific club team to which he belonged. 

As a side note this would be the last time Corey and Nick would wrestle each other as they went into different weight classes. Corey had a stellar high school career, being a perennial State Placer, Fargo All American in both Greco and Freestyle, and Champion of many tough tournaments. If I recall correctly he is the only wrestler to win the tough Top Gun tournament 4 years in a row. Corey's a great young man who is attending and wrestling for West Point now.

They had a great, very exciting match!  They put on a real show and the match was broadcast live on the internet by FloWrestling.  Just goes to show Ohio wrestling is no joke! Even in Jr. High! They had a back and forth barnyard brawl with tons of scrambling that prompted the commentator to say that they "look like two T-shirts in a dryer!" 

The match, like their first one, went into overtime. Shie locked up a cradle but Nicky avoided being turned and there wasn't enough control for it to be considered a take down.  It would be something that came to be a hallmark move for Nick throughout his high school wrestling career. As they were wrestling for the take down Nick was able to gain enough position to throw a leg in and the refs awarded Nick the two points for the take down and with that he won a Jr. High State Championship! That match will always be a very memorable one for me as I knew that with a victory over such a great wrestler as Shie, Nick was bound to take a renewed sense of confidence with him into high school.

Here's the video of the match:

I cannot express how proud we were of Nick. He put in a lot of work and determination to get to this point and he deserved to be on the top of that podium. Here's a few pictures immediately following the tournament:

Podium shots: One is with Mike Heil awarding the State Placers with their medals around their necks and one is of his son Dean walking the medals to his dad. Dean Heil was fresh off his Senior year of wrestling for St. Ed's and securing his 4th high school State Championship.  He then went on to have an illustrious career at Oklahoma State wrestling for the great John Smith and winning two National Championships and becoming a 3X All American!

Here's a couple with Coach, dad and Mom (his biggest fan) Dean, his friends Stan Bleich and Antwon Pugh, who won the 108 lb. State Championship a few matches before.

All in all Jr. High was quite the experience for our family. Nick was heading in the right direction and Pam, Kevin and I were all excited to support him as he went into high school.  We would soon be wrestling for Head Coach Mike Koshar and the Brunswick Blue Devils.  Many adventures lied ahead! Thanks for taking the time to read this. Sorry it took so long to get back to this. Many times as we know life gets away from us a bit.  I'll definitely try to put out a few installments..hopefully conclude his high school career much sooner!  Take care.  

Nick Captures A Jr. High State Championship---Part 3

Winning An OAC Jr. High State Championship Is Making A Serious Statement

Nick Makes A Statement In Some Very Impressive Tournaments 

The OAC Jr. High State Tournament is a very reliable predictor of high school talent. If a wrestler can do well at the OAC Jr. High State Tournament..from what I observed over the last 15 years...chances are he's going to do very well in high school also. Physical maturity is starting to kick in...definitely for the middle weights and heavy weights...and many of the kids who have wrestled through the youth programs have developed their techniques and style to an impressive degree.

I heard many people say, during Nick's youth wrestling years: "this is only youth wrestling...it's just practice for high school. I completely agree. There isn't any need for a parent to be overly concerned about a young wrestler's performance during the youth developmental years. But by eigth grade Jr. High State's absolutely does mean something. And if you disagree with me then go to the OAC website and look at how the top placers...in all the weight categories...fared during their high school years. You will quickly see that there's a strong correlation between the high performers in Jr. High and the high performers in high school. Are there exceptions to this? Of course there is. But Jr. High States IS more than practice and winning it is certainly making a statement that your wrestler is usually very well prepared for high school.

So picking up from where we left off Nick is in the middle of his eight grade season. He wrestled in the Super 32 and a few other good tournaments but there were some other very competitive tournaments to wrestle in before OAC Districts came around.

Two such tournaments were in PA. The notoriously tough Young Guns tournament and North Hills tournament. At the Young Guns tournament pinned Turner Gray, his QuarterFinals opponent wrestling out of the OMP club. Here's the match:  

He then faced, and pinned, Michael McIntire, a solid Ohio wrestler who wrestled out of the Akron Wrestling Club.




In the Finals Nick won by decision over a game young wrestler out of the OMP club, Anthony Boeh, 6-4. You can see in these videos during Nick's eighth grade season that he was putting things together quite nicely and you can hear Coach Heil giving him timely coaching cues to which Nick responded very well to. Here's his Finals Match:




Young Guns was a good win and confirmed that Nick was headed in the right direction before States with just minor improvements to be made.  Here's a picture of him with his bracket, medal, and a nice hoodie that he was awarded. You can see him wearing it proudly when he posed with Kevin and I after Kevin won a tournament in Medina. Good times.

There were three good tournaments after the Young Guns tourney that Nick wrestled in. A week after Young Guns Mike Heil took his TWC boys back to PA for another very competitive tourney, the North Hills Open. Nick pinned Tyler Grine of Burnett's Trained Wrestling to start the tourney and then pinned Christian Hyrb from Beaver PA in the Quarter Finals. In the Semi Finals he teched Team Erie's Shimeir Jones 16-1 to advance to the Finals where he lost by decision to a solid 9th grader from the OMP Wrestling Club, Logan Heinl, 9-4.

On 1-12-13 he wrestled in an outstanding regional tournament. The Philo Electric Invitational was known to bring great wrestlers around from Ohio, PA., W. Va., Mi., and even Georgia. We traveled down with the Brecksville Club and I was really excited to see if Nick would meet up with a boy from PA. who was very good...Cameron Coy.

Nick opened up the tourney by pinning Monte Tremonte from Medina Root. He then decisioned a Georgia wrestler from Team Minions, Cody Cochran 6-0. 

Nick got his chance to wrestle the highly touted Cameron Coy in his next match. Coy won by major decision...almost teching Nick 16-2. To be honest I was shocked. Once again a real wake up call to the talent that was out there throughout the country. It's one thing to be one of the best in your state...but it's a whole different ball game to be the one of the best in the country. I remarked to my friend Jimmy Fields that Coy "put on a cradle clinic" at the expense of Nick. 

Coy turned out to be an elite high school wrestler as well. Throughout his high school career he was always at the very top of the national rankings, culminating in his number one national standing in the 152 weight class his Senior year. He was a 3 time State Champion, only losing his Sophmore year to Sam Krivus. Krivus was no slouch either...a two time State Champ and a three time Super 32 Champion. Here's a picture of  high school age Coy:

     

Sorry no videos but the last tournament that offered Nick a look at some quality competitors within his weight class was the West Virginia Duals held on 1/25/13. Nick wrestled with the Brecksville Club and pinned and techedfalled his first three opponents until meeting up with a very game Joseph Koontz, out of the AWC, in the SemiFinals.  Nick decisioned Joe 6-5 and it was a very good match to watch. In the Finals he met up with a Golden Cross opponent, Michael Atkinson, who Nick majored 8-0.

The next post will be covering the Brecksville District Tournament and the OAC Jr. High State tournament. It was a great year of wrestling so far with Nick performing very very well.  We had high expectations for a very solid State performance based on this. Thanks for reading this blog thus far.   

Nick Captures A Jr. High State Championship---Part 2

The Talent In Ohio Wrestling Runs Deep

The Preseason Arrives...Along With A Few New Adversaries

The talent in Ohio wrestling runs deep. Very deep. Every year kids change weight classes due to the fact that they're growing up, and with the changes in weight classes come new opponents to face and compete against. We would encounter another great Ohio wrestler on a preseason trip down to the Super 32. 

Nick (we'll be calling him Nick from this point on) was looking very strong down on his trips to Tom Roehlig's. He was training regulary with a solid high school kid named Hunter Pizzone (who now wrestles for Heidelberg University) and looked very good. Definitely could easily mistake him for a high school wrestler. I remember quite vividly one time seeing a look of surprise come over Ivan McClay's face when they were wrestling and when I spoke with Ivan he said that Nick "got a lot better...was a lot tougher...and wasn't falling for the things he used to." This was just a few weeks before our trip to the Super 32.

The Super 32 is the premier national folkstyle wrestling event for high school. It's an absolute meat grinder for the high school division and a great way to see the up and coming talent in the junior high division. It takes place in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro North Carolina, and wrestlers come from all over the country.

Nick opened up the tournament on fire with a pin and then a 16-0 tech fall over North Allegheny wrestler Jake Woodley. Jake would go on to become a 2X PA State Champ in high school. In the Quarter Finals he met up with another talented and accomplished Ohio wrestler, Corey Shie from the Cincinnati area who was wrestling out of the Golden Cross Wrestling Club. 

You can put Corey right up there with all the other great Ohio youth wrestlers that I discussed while covering Nick's youth career. From 2007-2011 he was a perennial state placer...a three time State Finalist...and a two time State Champion. They had a great match, but Nick came up short losing a decision in double overtime 3-2. Here's that match.   

In the first round of the consi's Nick lost 1-0 to Louie Deprez from Hilton New York. Deprez would go on to become a 3 time New York State Champ. To give you more of an idea of just how competitive and tough a tournament the Super 32 is, by the time these guys were seniors Woodley was ranked 3rd in his weight class (195), Deprez was ranked 1st (182), Shie was ranked 15th (138), and Nick was ranked number 10 (160)...nationally...by InterMat. Here's Nick's match against Deprez. Definitely a winnable match against a tough kid. 





The regular season was a blast for Nick. For the most part he was with the Brecksville Club, but practiced out of Brunswick's room. The main reason for this was that in the very beginning of the season, when they were wrestling live together at Brecksville, Luke Strnad broke his finger. It was a bad break that eventually required a surgery because it didn't run across the bone, but rather ran vertical along the bone. 

We didn't know it at the time but it would cost him the entire season. It's too bad because Luke would have more than likely been in the Finals against Kaleb Romero. Kaleb was an extraordinary youth and junior high wrestler who had never lost a State Finals match in youth or even 7th grade. He would end up being a 4 time high school State Champion for Mechanicsburg and signed with the Ohio State Buckeyes. A Luke and Kaleb's match would have been fun to watch.

My friend Todd Assad boys, Aaron and Austin, would sometimes be in the Brecksville room and would wrestle with Nicky, but not nearly enough to warrant going there all the time, and to be honest there wasn't anybody Nick'y age who was really on the same level as him. Heck once Nick was wrestling with one of the Brecksville Club coaches, Ryan Marks, and hit a nasty Twister on him...putting him to his back!  Believe me...Ryan Marks was trying too. Did it right in front of where I was sitting. Looked up at me and winked. I liked that. 

Brecksville Club had an aggressive tournament schedule and I knew that I could fill in the gaps for tournaments when they didn't have anything to attend. So that's what we did. And of course Nick would travel with the TWC boys to the good tournaments that Mike Heil would be coaching at. Coach Heil always liked those tough PA tournament. 

Nick opened up the season with Brecksville Club at the Claymont Invitational. Claymont is a Division 2 high school and they always do a great job of developing their boys. They have a kick ass atmosphere to wrestle in also. Nick pinned his first opponent in the way that most opponents fared against him at this point...unless they were really good.  
   



Nick then wrestled Claymont's Chandler Golic. Nick lost 8-7 in what I can only express as a total homer ref called match. Sorry I can't show the video.  It was all over the damn place and I was yelling too damn much! We looked forward to possibly meeting up with Chandler at some point in a more neutral environment lol! But now Chandler was on our radar as well. We knew Chandler from before...he was one weight class heavier than Nick before and placed 2nd in the 100 lb. weight class at OYWA states. 

The rest of the tournament went as expected.  Nick placed third. Pinned everyone there except Chandler. Here's another short match: 




Nick then went on a nice little run through some very good tournaments. He traveled up to the Border Wars Duals in Battle Creek Michigan and pinned all his opponents. One from Indiana, one from Michigan, one from Illinois, and two from Ohio. Because of this outstanding performance he won the Outstanding Wrestler award and a nice plaque to add to his already impressive bling collection.  

He then attended the Cleveland State Duals and pinned his way through.  Here's his Semi-Finals match against a Burnett Trained wrestler:
  



And here he is in the Finals match against a Massillon Perry Club opponent:





Next was to Nick's soon to be high school!  Had to show off in front of his soon to be high school coach Mike Koshar.  He just made short work outta kids here in the first couple rounds with his Twister. He loved that in Jr. High school. The last State Champ from Brunswick was also in the crowd watching Nick...Richie Spicel:








And here's his Finals match...Blue Devils baby! Go Big Blue! You can hear Coach Koshar coaching him in the match. Just the beginning between these two.




I'm going to have to wrap this post up right here. Nick wrestled a lot his 8th grade year so I'm going to have to break it up a bit. I'll cover the other regular season tournaments in my next installment. Eighth grade was a lot of fun. Top of the food chain again and it was always exciting going to a tournament and wondering if a top notch wrestler would be there so we could watch Nicky wrestle in a really tough, competitive match. There are a few tournaments coming where Nick would definitely run into some hammers. I'll be happy to share those with you in the next post. Until then...take care.