JH Wrestlers Have First Competition
The junior high wrestling team traveled to Atwood on Thursday, January 17, to compete against wrestlers from Decatur Community, Hoxie, and Rawlins County. It was the opening competition for the 2019 wrestling season. The junior high wrestlers won 4 matches and lost 20, but gave good effort throughout the evening.
Individual results for the Indian wrestlers are listed below:
Seth Tumbelson: lost by a 19-4 technical fall to Weimer, Hoxie; lost by fall to Meyer, Hoxie; lost by 9-4 decision to Rickford, Atwood-Rawlins County.
Dawson Rose: won by a 6-3 decision over Rickford, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Weimer, Hoxie.
Dodge Fromholtz: lost by a 9-4 decision to Dixson, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Epp, Hoxie; lost by fall to Crespo, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Hanson, Atwood-Rawlins County.
Aiden Fernandez: lost by fall to Shepard, Hoxie; lost by a 12-4 major decision to McFee, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by a 7-0 decision to Rodriguez, Atwood-Rawlins County.
Cris Espino: won by a fall over Holle, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Bretz, Hoxie; lost by fall to Micek, Atwood-Rawlins County.
Connor Waschman: lost by fall to Popp, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by a 6-3 decision to Brudenall, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Baalman, Hoxie.
Jordan Smull: lost by fall to Micek, Atwood-Rawlins County; lost by fall to Johnson, Hoxie.
Javier Yanez: lost by fall to Baalman, Hoxie; lost by a 10-5 decision to Crouse, Atwood-Rawlins County.
Colton Raile: won by fall over Klitz, Hoxie; won by fall over Diederich, Oberlin.
Coach Dylan Loyd shared the following comments on the evening:
"After a couple of weeks of practice time the St. Francis junior high wrestling team had their first competition in Atwood this past Thursday. I know talking with the majority of the kids they had some jitters for their first competition but, I felt like they all did a good job of competing hard. This is a very young and green group with the majority of them being 7th graders so they still have a lot to learn but, I was excited to see the amount of fight that they had. We still have a lot of our technique that we still need to cover, a lot of the mistakes that were made was mainly due to the fact that we just hadn’t shown it yet. However, it’s always encouraging to see kids who may not have a lot of experience have a sense of “feel” and mat awareness; knowing where they’re at, and when to hip in, etc. The goal as we move forward is to always improve and hopefully come end of the season these kids will be beating some of these kids who have previously defeated them. I really do like this group. They all work pretty hard and have a willingness to learn. We preach to them a lot about wrestling hard and giving 100% effort. Those are two things you struggle with correcting. The technique side of wrestling is something you can fix, the effort is one you really can't. The effort is there with this group. Just like anything in life in order to get good at something it takes practice and time. I know this group will continue to get better and I look forward to watching them grow as this season unfolds.
Individually, Seth Tumbelson gave up some weight to the kids he was wrestling but, man did he battle hard. When he gets to compete against competition closer to his own weight, I believe we will see some different results, but this kid is tough. Dawson Rose is another one who gave up some weight in his matches. You can tell him and Seth work out together because both of them are tough and scrappy. This kid works really hard everyday and you can already see big improvements. Dodge Fromholtz doesn’t have a lot of experience but, he does have a natural feel to him. He can get into some bad situations but manages to get out of them due to him just having a sense of mat awareness of where his hips need to be. He has a lot of tools to work with and will be one to watch. I was really impressed with Aidan Fernandez his first time every wrestling in a real match. He does a great job of just working hard from whistle to whistle. He very well could have won 2 of his 3 matches had he had more experience. But this kid has a great attitude and really wants to get better. Cris Espino had himself a good day as well. This was his first time ever wrestling and he battled tough. Cris is a naturally aggressive kid and he isn’t afraid of anyone and that’s a very important trait to have. He really does a good job of picking up the technique and I look forward to watching him continue to get better. Jordan Smull is another one who had never wrestled before and he ran into a couple of buzz saws but, he did very well. Jordan is another one who is fearless and he works hard. I love his attitude; he is one who is always asking questions and I love his willingness to learn. He does a lot of great things and will be another one who will improve a lot. Javier Yanez is our only 8th grader on this team and he really has improved from a year ago. Javy is a pretty soft spoken kid but, he has a good heart and it’s always exciting to see kids improve over time. It’s a testament to them sticking with something and working hard to get better. He was in position to win a couple of his matches just made a couple of mistakes that can be corrected. Connor Waschman is a tough kid. He has a very good build to be successful in this sport. I think with more time and experience he could be very good. He was competing against some pretty tough kids who just had a little more maturity and experience. I firmly believe though that he can beat both of those kids if he believes it. He’s got a lot of tools to work with. Colton Raile had a very dominant day pinning both of his opponents. Colton is another one who has a strong desire to learn and be the very best he can be. He has a lot of natural skills and is another one who could have a very bright future in this sport. He is naturally a very hard worker and that will take him a long way. I am excited to watch him grow and get better.
The junior high wrestling team will wrestle in Oberlin on Thursday, January 24.
