The Roosevelt Wrestling team traveled to Independence Iowa for the Cliff Keen Independence Invitational. If I had to use word to describe our performance over the weekend, that one word would be developing.
The Cliff Keen Independence Invitational is loaded with ranked wrestlers from with in our state and out of state. This is a great experience for our team right away so they get to compete against high quality opponents for two days.
Our team is made up of students-athletes that have lots of experience wrestling, some with minimal experience, and some with no experience. Our job as a coaching staff is to develop each wrestler and cater to their strengths while honing what they need to work on through out the year. Our wrestlers development is our first priority.
Below is a more detailed summary on how each wrestler performed over the weekend.
113 Nigel Madison
Nigel is new to our wrestling program and has been placed into the varsity line up while our current varsity starter works on improving as a student. Nigel has embraced everthing that has beeen thrown at him up to this point. Nigel learned a lesson in the importance of making weight in order to compete. On Friday and Saturday Nigel showed improvement in every match. Nigel’s last match of the day was a 9-11 thriller in which Nigel came up a little short. He did some very good things that we can build on going forward. Nigel has expressed that he enjoys wrestling and can feel himself getting better in each match. We are looking forward to watching Nigel grow as a wrestler throughout the season.
120 Abel Fanuel
Abel is not a new comer to our program and gained value experience last season being placed in the varsity line up after an injury to our starter. On Friday night Abel did not get off to a great start in which he lost a first round major decision and them was pinned in the second round. Abel’s body language Friday night indicated to me that these losses did not sit well with him. On Saturday we saw a different Abel who went 3-0 on the day and placed 17th out of 31 wrestlers. When Abel wrestles like he is capable of, good things happen. I challenged Abel in the top position during his matches and he responded. We are excited to watch Abel continue to compete and grow into a complete wrestler.
126 Tyler Herselius
This young man has shown great heart in the wrestling room and in competition. Tyler goes out and wrestles without complaining. Tyler understands that wrestling is a process and that he will get better as the season progresses provided he keeps putting in the work. Tyler faced some tough competition throughout the weekend, however Tyler left us some clues that he was developing and getting better as he wrestled each match.
132 Jacob Senna
A good hearted kid that works very hard in the wrestling room. Jacob also struggled on Friday night in his first two matches suffering falls. He came back in this 3rd match to record a fall of his own to pick up a win on Friday night. On Saturday Jacob wrestled much better with a few technical mistakes that can be fixed. Jacob placed 21st out of 31 in a tough weight class. In his placing match, Jacob recorded an 11-4 decision to complete his day. I know Jacob will be ready to get back to work on Monday and fix some of the issues that we saw over the weekend.
145 Ernest Seaton
Ernest is new to our wrestling program but not new to wrestling. Ernest has showed up early on that he has the physical tools to become a great wrestler with some fine tuning. Ernest is cat like quick, has great strength, and is willing to wrestle through situations. Ernest has some tough matches on Friday & Saturday against quality opponents and managed to pick up a fall late Saturday. We saw some great things out of Ernest this weekend and we look forward to building on what Ernest already does well. Ernest placed 26th out of 31 wrestlers.
170 Prince Nyean
Price continues to impress us as a coaching staff not because of his wrestling ability but because of his positive attitude. Prince is a new member of our team with strength like a gladiator. He has continued to come to practice and has become a student of wrestling asking great questions in practice and after he competes. On Saturday he became a little frustrated however Prince has showed great improvement over the last three days. He had a very close match on Friday night (6-7 dec.) after being pinned in the first round. As long as Prince keeps his great attitude and his unquenchable thirst for wrestling knowledge, their are no limits for him.
170 Matthew Jones
Matthew continues to be a leader and is no stranger to our wrestling program. Right out of the gate Matthew was tested in his first round match and came up short 5-6 in a great to start the tournament. Matthew was not happy with his first round performance and came back in the second round with an 11-2 major decision. On Saturday Matthew won all 3 matches by fall (39 sec, 1:27, 1:46). It was great to see one of our leaders wrestle in a dominate fashion early in the season. Matthew will build off of this performance and continue to grow and get better. Matthew placed 17th out of 31 wrestlers.
182 Dylan Lerch
Dylan has come back to our program after taking a year off but has worked hard to learn new techniques and get himself into shape to compete. Getting sick threw him off his training plan however Dylan has made the commitment to wrestling and plans on sticking with that. Dylan had a tough tournament however he will bounce back, fix his mistakes and compete at a high level this week.
285 Aracin Leuang Van
Aracin is another new comer to our program that spent his fall on the football field chasing quaterbacks and running backs as a defensive lineman. He decided he wanted to give wrestling a try and we are glad he did. Aracin pulled out two wins over the weekend and is getting better. He is learning how to be a wrestler that plays football. We will continue to help develop Aracin as we progress through the season.