State--Mat Classic XXXVII

 We had a really good state tournament.  It was really LONG and really LATE for me.  But we did well, learned a lot and feel confident about moving into the future.

Sarah won her first match, then had to wrestle the returning state champ, no. 1 seed.  So she went to 1-1.  Then she got a another win.  Her last match was probably winnable, but in a season where just being able to wrestle at all was the bar, she didn't quite have enough strength and skill to get that 3rd win.  Still, she improved her state record over last year.  We're working on a strength training plan (where is the time!?)

Ben got quickly pinned in his first match--an unexpected outcome.  He rallied and won 2 straight.  Then in his 4th match he had a bit of a heartbreaker loss.  It was tough all the way through, but tied in the last few seconds, he thought he heard the whistle and let go, giving his opponent an escape.  Bummer.  His next match would have been our other 106 pounder, Emi, so it was close to the end for Ben either way (Emi placed 8th).  But still, it was a rough way to go out. 

I'm super proud of both of them, and of Derek.  It was fun spending time with my family in Tacoma.  We didn't get as many pictures as we usually do, especially after the finals.  We had another State Champ in Finley and a finalist in Lukas.  I wrote about it on the Shoreline Area News Site.  

The next day I went to the Olympus Spa to recover.  Whew.  I was pretty exhausted all week.  But I'm not an official Einstein coach this year, so I've got more time to get things done at school (and to work on wrapping up SW) which is nice.

The SW banquet is tomorrow night, and girls camp planning starts today.  Never a dull moment.

Since I write a lot for the Shoreline Area News, they sponsored press photographers on the floor for us.  We got some GREAT photos.  Here are my favorites of Sarah and Ben.

Ben is stoked that he's ranked #16

I got to sit in the corner for Finley's finals match again this year.  Such a privledge!

This was a WIAA phtographer, they posted this on FB.  Sarah getting taken down by the eventual State Champ (and I think returning State Champ as well.) 

Ben with his club coach Kenny Courts.  He was like, "Ben--you've got muscles!" 

After Sarah's last loss.  Some loving feedback from Dad. 

They seriously used another of Libby's pictures for WIAA promo.  For real! 

At the Tacoma Dome! 

Ben v.  Liberty (I think) 

Proud Sarah with a win! 

The whole state team minus Kai who was getting his ankle taped.  There were a few less placers than we hoped for--but it was a good tournament.  Derek was all smiles after. 

Also the picture I posted last week was EVERYWHERE on the screens in the Tacoma dome. Everyone was sending them to Libby all day, haha. 

Coaching in the finals 

Libby: WIAA STATE Poster Child!

How cool is that? 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was so excited when I saw that Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday that we didn't have a tournament!  I decided to resurrect a tradition from early in our marriage.  We used to babysit someone else's kids so they could have a night out.

We did that again last night and it was so fun!  Our favorite little guys from the ward came over for pizza, making Valentines, and a movie.   Sarah and Ben had the best time as we all helped them have a blast and their parents get a night off.  Hats of to Ben and Sarah for doing MOST of the work.  We're a good team :). Derek was up for a bit to hang out too.  So fun. 

I cut out heart pepperoni!  So cute. 

So many Valentines made.  Haha.  Super adorable.  (Sarah took some pics on her phone, which I sadly never get.) 

Three 3rd Place Nortons!

 Between last weekend and this weekend, we had 3 Nortons wrestling for district championships.  

Ben, freshman year.

Sarah, junior year.

Libby, freshman in college.

I am so proud of my kids! They worked hard and wrestled so well--all taking 3rd!  (It's so great to end on a win.) 

Ben has had a great season.  He's learned so much, and gotten so tough.  He missed a few weeks due to stitches (see Christmas Eve post...) but came back into the lineup strong and didn't look back.  He only lost in the district tournament to the eventual champ (one of his Rhinos Elite wrestling partners.) 

He pulled a couple of his matches from Matboss and added score keeping so you can watch.  So much fun: First Win 

3rd Place Match

Sarah had such a rocky season.  She had a hard time with her meds this year, and ended up puking more than wrestling.  It was so frustrating.  We finally pulled her off most of her meds and she wrestled so strong at districts.  She also only lost to the eventual champion.  I'm sharing my favorite video from her tournament.  She made a mistake and ended up on her back--but she didn't give up!  The book manuscript I'm working on is called Reversal.  This move Sarah executes is almost just like the reversal described in my book.  So proud of her! (Also, I was SO sick last week.  I wore a mask to districts, and finally went to Urgent Care the next day for antibiotics.  Started feeling better but still climbing out of the illness.  So glad I made it to the end of the season before I went down, but I went down HARD.) 

Girls coaching staff this year--It's been so much fun working with Nate & Brady this year. 

Libby has done so much learning in her first college season.  They've gone to a lot of tournaments with 4 years schools--so she's wrestled some tough opponents.  This was her first 2 year school only tournament.  She has been struggling to figure out the best way to maintain her weight at school--so she was cutting coming into the day.  Her first match was really rough.  She looked like she was nervous and outmatched.  We watched it on the livestream before we left for the temple.  Then after the temple (thankfully she had a bye in the consolation round so we didn't miss any while in the temple), she turned it on.  We watched her next match in the temple parking lot.  Win!  Then she beat her teammate, and kept on winning.  Her 2nd to last match was against the girl she lost to in her first match of the day.  I was so proud of her--it was a close match, but she came back and won it!  I can't figure out how to pull her match off of Flo--but trust me, it was a great day.

We hope that this secures a spot for Libby for Nationals--we already bought our plane tickets--so we're hoping! There are 2 other SW alums wrestling for sure, so we're hyped!  I also just can't wait to see and hug my girl. 

Einstein season started this week--and we've got State this week. So we're not done yet.  But we're almost there! 

Fun Wrestling Events! & I'm Tired!

 My goal for this year was to create more fun and hype at our dual meets.  WHY did we have to have so many home meets in the same weeks?  It was fun but so tiring!  And so much organization and planning.  

I'm going to have to reevaluate and decide if it was worth my time. But the events were so fun.

This week we did a teacher appreciation event & senior night.

We also had a girls dual on Wednesday, so 3 nights in a row--2 of them huge events at Shorewood.  Also Tuesday was important because if we won, we got into the first ever WA Dual State Tournament.  

Shoreline Area News Article I wrote about the Teacher Night.  

Sarah helped deliver the message to the teachers.  I used AI to help me summarize all the nice things the kids said about their teachers. 

Derek giving intense feedback to Max after a match.  

Ben getting a quick pin. 

We did win, so Saturday (which was going to be a day off) turned into a dual meet.  We sat one of our best kids, who is recovering from an injury, so we went 0-2 at Dual Meet state (we could have won the 2nd match with Lukas, but decided not to risk it as he recovers for next weekend's district meet.) 

I think the teachers really enjoyed the event on Tuesday.  They seemed touched by the invitation, the gift, the t-shirt and recognition.  Sometimes (often, all the time) teaching is pretty thankless.   Also, many stayed for the match, and it was the first match they'd ever seen. So that was really fun too.  I hope they wear their shirts to school and hype up wrestling to their students. 

Wednesday we went to a match at Kamiak, although we wrestled Shorecrest and Mariner. 

It wasn't a great night for us.  Finley had a great match.  Sarah beat the two Shorecrest girls at her weight.  But then Sarah got pinned by the Mariner girl.  Ulyana hurt her knee.  The girls season continues to be a struggle for everyone but Finley.

We did a combo Senior Night on Thursday, boys and girls.   It was super fun--we had the Stormray, the drum line, a balloon arch, and the senior singlets/heads (hilarious).  We had 13 seniors to honor.  So it wasn't a short night.  But we kept it organized.  We only had a couple of girls matches.  Then the boys handed it to Lynnwood.  

Sarah ended up getting pinned--but she did get a takedown first. 

I love creating fun events.  But I gotta pace myself better next year.  Whew.  Thankfully we are on to the post-season now.  Sarah hurt her knee in practice on Friday, so she didn't wrestle yesterday, sadly.  But it seems like just a bruise, so she'll be back for districts.

Ben did well at Dual state.  He made it into the 3rd period with the kid from Hermiston--getting teched while everyone else got pinned.  Then he beat the kid from Snohomish.  We missed both because we were at Lady Hawk for the morning (so no photos).  We got to Edmonds Woodway just in time to see the last two matches that sealed the loss of the 2nd dual.  But then I stayed with Derek and we watched the rest of the tournament.  It's more fun to watch when you have no skin in the game.  Hermiston destroyed everyone.  Also we got to see ALMOST a bench clearing brawl between Edmonds Woodway and Lincoln.  Derek had to go into cop mode and push people back, etc.  It was crazy.  (And some bad officiating.) Just practice this week--and starting to get ready for 5th grade camp.

We also bought plane tickets this week to go to Omaha in March for the Junior College National Championships.  Don't know if Libby will be wrestling, but some other Shorewood Alums will be--so we're going!  Then Ben and I will go to Orlando from Omaha to Brad's wedding.  Going to be a crazy weekend!