It's On!

The boys, stretching it out on day #1

          The 2012/2013 wrestling season has begun.  We are done with 2 practices and it looks to be a very promising season.  We have a nice mix of experienced studs and eager new wrestlers and they have been working extremely hard to learn new skills and improve their existing skills.

Co-Captain Scott Cooper working on a front headlock

          In all aspects of practice so far this season, we have seen exciting improvements for previous years.  The running has been fast-paced, the stretching has been better than ever (despite the photo I posted on facebook), the willingness to learn and improve has been excellent and the intensity during the live wrestling sessions has been strong.  Above all, the attitude has been as  good as any team I have ever coached.  This group of young men will be a joy to work with this season.

          Yesterday, on day #2, we selected team captains.  We are happy to announce, seniors Scott Cooper, Cooper McCauley and Stephen Collins will be leading our team this season.  These three young men have happily accepted the role as leader and will work very hard to help the coaches develop this team into a diciplined, successful group.

"Story Time"

          Many things are different this season, but three things have remained the same.  The first is that the coaches and wrestlers are looking for great things from the Southern Garrett Wrestling team this year, secondly, we still have "story time" every day and thirdly, we still meet in our secret meeting room every day.  These are three traditions that will remain and may never change as long as the Rams are hitting the mats.

2012-2013 Schedule

Southern Garrett Wrestling Schedule

Date                Opponent                                           Location         Time             

Dec. 5              Frankfort/Boonsboro                       Frankfort       6:00pm          

Dec. 8              Harford Tech/Winters Mill              Home              1:00pm          

Dec. 14            South Hagerstown                             Home              6:00pm

Dec. 15            Musselman Duals                              Away              9:30am

Dec. 19            Brunswick                                          Away              5:30pm

Dec. 28/29       Wheeling Park Duals                        Away              10:00am         

Jan. 3              Mountain Ridge                                Away              7:00pm          

Jan. 4/5           Super Duals                                       Fort Hill          4pm                

Jan. 10            Northern                                            Away              7:00pm          

Jan. 16            Fort Hill / Keyser                               Keyser           6:00pm          

Jan. 22            Allegany                                             Away              7:30pm          

Jan. 26            Williamsport                                      Home              2:00pm          

Jan. 31            Northern                                            Home              7:00pm          

Feb. 2             Hyndman                                           Away              6:00pm          

Feb. 6              Regional Duals                                  TBA

Feb. 9              State Duals                                         TBA

Feb. 16            Bi-County Tournament                    ???                  10:00am

Feb. 22/23       Regional Tournament                       Oakdale          10:00am         

Mar. 1/2          State Tournament                             UMD 

Where ya goin'?

      The question all wrestling coaches hear at this time of the year between the kids on the team and the new kids who are being recruited is "Where ya goin'?"  It is not a question regarding the plans that each of the kids has for the upcoming weekend, nor does it relate to which restaurant a wrestler will go for his last big, good, fattening meal.  "Where ya goin'?" is a question directed to every wrestler asking what weight class they intend to compete in during the upcoming season. 

      I don't put a whole lot of faith in the answers I hear to this question.  I have found in the last 10 years, that in most cases, wrestlers under-estimate their actual weight when answering this question, while they tend to over-estimate their weight when talking about it with other wrestlers and their coaches.  A kid might weigh 150 but he tells everyone he weighs 165 and his answer to the question "where ya goin'?" is 132.  As a coach, these discussions have humored me for may years.  Sometime, the kids are more accurate, but most of the time I don't count on their answer as being accurate and I just smile, nod my head and carry on with my business.

      It has been my experience, that after a week of practice and the nightly weigh-outs, I know "where they are goin'" and when they will be able to get there.  The practice of over and under estimating weight and weight classes is nothing new.  I am sure that most of the boys in the state champs picture were guilty of this in their day as well.

      So, the next time you see a kid on a high school or college wrestling team, go ahead and ask them "where ya goin'?" but don't have a whole lot of faith that their answer will be all that accurate.