Wrestling

Futenma "Tap Out" Wrestling Tournament

Today was the MCCS Wrestling tournament at Futenma. It was a good way to get the boys back on track after the holidays- especially since January is action packed with wrestling events every week.

Wrestling finally got underway just before 10:00am. Matt's first match started out well. He held his own during the first round, but lost by points.

During the second round Matt was ahead on points...but a slick move on his opponents part caught Matt with in a pin.
Matt was frustrated- if he had realized how little time was left in the round, being ahead on points means he could have gone on the defense and possibly won the second round so they could go on to the third round for the best two out of three.

Second match...another scary looking Marine! (Matt has said that after wrestling the Marines at these tournaments, he will never again be intimidated by a high school student on the wrestling mat. This was an issue last year as Matt wrestled, as a freshman, against some very accomplished and scary looking seniors).
On this match, the first round went well for Matt, but the win still went to the Marine on points.

During the second round "after the Marine scored several points, Matt, in a desperate attempt to score, threw his opponent in an impressive head-and-arm, taking him to his back (and holding him there seemingly forever) to win with a pin". (in case you are wondering, those are Matt's words!)s).Yeah!! I'm not sure who was more excited- me or Matt! I was yelling and screaming- very exciting!! Matt was thrilled to
have beaten a Marine. OOOO-RAAAH!

After winning a match, you have to go up to the head table and sign your card. Despite shaking hands, Matt was able to sign his score card (accompanied by a proud little brother)!

Just 10 minutes later Matt was called for his third match. Caught him by surprise- and if he had known, he could have asked to have more time. They are supposed to have a minimum of 15 minutes between matches. With only 12 minutes to recover from a pretty intense second match, Matt was once again on the mats. Matt definitely held his own during the two rounds, but in the end was out pointed.Today was by far the day of wrestling Matt has had- he went out aggressively and fought hard and well. The two Marines may have won their matches, but they worked hard to do it! Great job Matt- Proud of you, Kiddo!

By the way, Matt attributes his stellar performance today to his new red, white and blue Asics wrestling shoes!