At the beginning of the freestyle season (just a few weeks after his success in the state high school tournament), my son told me that his goal was to finish in the top 8 in the National tournament in Fargo, ND.
I didn’t want to squelch his dream…but that is a HUGE goal!
I didn’t think that he was dreaming. After all, he has surpassed all reasonable expectations in the sport thus far…
However, I did wonder if he had seriously considered what he was saying…
Fargo is the biggest wrestling tournament in the world. There are about 60-90 entrants in EACH weight class. Every one of those young men is a serious, year round wrestler. Every one of them has to qualify to get there.
Well, after watching him wrestle in the Junior National Duals, I am a believer.
He had 3 wins and two losses today. As has been the case, the losses are the most interesting…
His first loss was to the #1 guy in the country who will be attending Oklahoma State on a full scholarship. He got whipped in the first period, 8-0. However, in the second period, he lost by a score of 3-2 and there were quite a few people who questioned the scoring.
His next loss was to a young man who will attend the University of Minnesota on a full scholarship. Big A lost that 1-0 and 6-4. His normally passive coaches protested/questioned the scoring at the scorer’s table three different times during the second period.
I think he won the second period of both matches.
He definitely has the talent to reach his goal. Only one question remains: Will he train hard enough? If he does, I will be telling an amazing story to you at the end of July.
