Steve Garland

 On Tuesday we were honored to host Steve Garland, Head Coach UVA

 

1st Day of Spring Season

 A good group of young men and women putting some work in to kick off the first day of off season training.

2022 VAWA State Championships

After taking a year off of coaching to care for my parents during the low period of COVID I wasn't sure what to expect when the season kicked off. Now that the season has come to a close, I can honestly say that my expectations of this year have been greatly exceeded. Every kid (some not mentioned below in the placings) has a different story and is at a different place in their development. It has been an honor and a privilege to get to know each of them. Thank you to the parents for putting your trust in our program. Thank you to the Brentsville staff for being so supportive. Thank you to Jesse Cline for all of his efforts in coaching, financial support and letting us use his facility. Thank you to Jeff Arndt for all of his support in coaching as well as his dedication to the boys in finding competition and being at all of the youth events. Welcome to Pat O'Neill, who's son has advanced into our room from the youth program. Liam is a first year wrestler who placed 2nd in the state! Following in the footsteps of his father (who is on the Brentsville wall ;) 

This week we will have an off week and Spring training begins on March 8 (next Tuesday) under Brett Stein. 

 Below are the results of the VAWA state tournament for kids who trained with us this year. 

1st Place - Cameron Craigie of Haymarket Hurricanes Wrestling 

3rd Place - Adam Hagenbuch of Virginia Patriots 

1st Place - Matthew Arndt of Virginia Patriots 

4th Place - Camden Ward of Virginia Patriots 

1st Place - Chris Hamm of Mat Sharks 

5th Place - Joseph Ramos of Virginia Patriots 

1st Place - Evan Sanati of Integrity Wrestling Club 

5th Place - Logan Katz of Virginia Patriots 

2nd Place - Jacob Brubaker of Virginia Patriots 

5th Place - Anthony Edwards of Virginia Patriots 

2nd Place - Liam O`Neill of Brentsville Tigers WC 

3rd Place - Dylan Blankenship of Haymarket Hurricanes Wrestling 

4th Place - Billy Tyler of Integrity Wrestling Club

website - https://www.vapatriotswrestling.com/

2020 VAWA U14 State Champions

Team pic

Saturday Clinic

With most of the team in NJ and several kids going to Morrow on Sunday the room was very light on Saturday.  Calvin brought his friend Connor to watch but I recruited him to practice.  Below is some video of Connor’s first day of practice.

Big Trophy Hammer Tournament (Top of the Podium)

First year in a new location, Top of the Podium events will be on the calendar for the Virginia Patriots for the foreseeable future.  There is a lack of youth tournaments in Virginia and Tom Houck is starting to fill the void.  On Friday evening we all got to see Penn State compete @ Carver Hawkeye Arena against the Hawks.  What was interesting about these two teams going head to head was to see that these top two teams are both made up of wrestlers from Pennsylvania.  Virginia, wake up, follow the model.  The model is comprised of a healthy regimen of open tournaments.  Over the past 10 years we've competed @ most of these events at small local high schools throughout the state who have been hosting these tournaments for 30-50 years.  Just go the pywrestling.com and click on an event.  You'll see banners like the Shippensburg 35th Annual...  Biglersville, Mechanicsburg, Milton,  North Allegheny, Canon Mac, etc, etc, etc...  The model WORKS.  Local High School Coaches step up....  We need to start hosting youth tournaments the day after our big high school tournaments.  Leverage the facilities and coordination that you managed to pull together for your High School tournaments and schedule an extra day for the youth.  High School wrestling success starts in elementary school.

We had nine kids at the tournament : Matthew Arndt, Connor Hogbin, Cole Hogbin, Andrew Krajic, Calvin Cardone, Wyatt Carter, Owen Clayborne, Colton Quaker and Carson Stroud.

Tom Houck, owner of Top and Tournament Director makes every competition day unique.  The theme of this tournament was "The Big Trophy".  There was no award for second place.  Kids either won the day or didn't!  This made for heightened anxiety for the wrestlers who made it to the finals.  My day started at 8:30am with Calvin Cardone and ended at 5pm with Wyatt Carter.  Wyatt's final match was literally the last match of the day.  He had won 3 matches in his round robin competition and might had won at that point if another wrestler hadn't been having a similar degree of success and so Wyatt watched this kid decisively defeat the same kids he had beaten earlier and the anxiety started to increase as it became clear that Wyatt would have to face this opponent in a final match.  The stage was set, the day was done for everyone else in the gym and Wyatt had one more to go.  To add to the stress of the day, Wyatt hasn't won a tournament yet this year and his entire family was there to watch.  Wyatt has had a bit of a black cloud over his wrestling results to some extent this year never seeming to pull it out when it mattered.  In the heat of the event before the match I asked Wyatt, so what's the plan?  Wyatt's response "I'm gonna lat drop him".  I looked deep into his eyes and said in a very stern voice "NO YOUR NOT".  Your not going to force anything Wyatt you're going to win this with good fundamental wrestling.  OMG LOL.  The picture below tells the rest of the story.

Another great moment of the day was Colton Quaker, who dominated his opponent in the final against a kid who tech falled him last year.  Tony, his dad, prior to the match said "this kid is good"... after every one of Colton's matches the coaches who were coaching kids for the next match were saying... "that kid is good".  Colton turned some heads.  Congratulations Colton.

Andrew Krajic dominated on the day.

Carson Stroud had a GREAT day only to be stopped in his final match against a stud by the name of Ben Weader.

Billy Tyler ventured to Connelsville, which I believe is the toughest area of the country for wrestling (Pittsburgh area) and placed 2nd on the day.  Billy is on a run after doing well at both Tyrant, McDonough duals as well.

Although I highlight the success here, the day was mixed with success and learning opportunities.  Several wrestlers took losses as opportunities to make adjustments and come back the next time.  Keep on wrestling.

VACW State Tournament

Arthur Ashe, Richmond VA

Virginia Patriots placed 9th as a team with only 12 participants and 7 place winners

Tyrant Duals

The Tyrant Duals is a dual team tournament on the schedule of what is referred to as the "National Dual Team Events" on the East Coast.  Dual team tournaments are not typically on our calendar but we made an exception for this one.  Two kids on our team are regulars on teams that recruit and compete at these events and CYA was looking to fill some holes in their elementary lineup.  Since at that point we had 6 kids already going, we decided to jump in with a Middle School team.  Thanks to Jeff Arndt for coordinating with CYA for the ES team.  Much thanks to Jihoon and the CYA program for hosting elementary and for Jason Spence for his hard work to fill the roster on the Middle School Team.  Thanks to Brian Hogbin for coordinating with the hotel and to Mark Katz for making special fully sublimated event t-shirts.  I coached the Middle School team with Matt Keel.  Much thanks to Matt for running point on the Middle School Team!  All in all a great weekend of wrestling!  Lots of hammers and very tough matches.  Thank you to the wrestlers and parents who traveled and competed on our team.  We had kids from as far as Ohio and New York.

Results :

Virginia Patriots had 12 kids on 4 teams at the Tyrant Duals
The CYA / VAP Elementary Team placed 2nd in the American Division
All wrestlers had varying degrees of success and lessons learned.
Evan Sanati wrestled for TYW in the National Division and received the Outstanding Wrestler award from his coaches.

Middle School Team had a rough go...

Match #1 Round 1

Ohio Grey defeated Virginia Patriots 71-15

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 76 - Ethan Cantrell (Ohio Grey) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:19
• 80 - Cole Krutzfeldt (Ohio Grey) over Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:54
• 84 - Joey Ditullio (Ohio Grey) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:50
• 88 - John Green (Ohio Grey) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:07
• 92 - Wyatt Wheeler (Ohio Grey) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:15
• 96 - Aiden King (Ohio Grey) over Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) TF 17-1
• 100 - Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) over Nino Morici (Ohio Grey) Dec 7-0
• 105 - Jared Goldberg (Ohio Grey) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:06
• 110 - Joey Love (Ohio Grey) over Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) Dec 7-2
• 115 - Aiden King (Ohio Grey) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:09
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 130 - Patrick Androsik (Ohio Grey) over Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:26
• 140 - Brennan Stout (Ohio Grey) over Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) Dec 6-4
• 160 - Landon Campbell (Ohio Grey) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 210 - Gage Yackee (Ohio Grey) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #2 Round 2

Kraken defeated Virginia Patriots 49-35

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over Randy Cordel (Kraken) Maj 9-1
• 76 - Leo Pezone (Kraken) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Maj 12-1
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Bryce Boyer (Kraken) Dec 5-2
• 84 - Andrij Szczesniuk (Kraken) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Fall 4:03
• 88 - Dean Houser (Kraken) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:26
• 92 - Kane Lengel (Kraken) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) TF 21-4
• 96 - Blake Boyer (Kraken) over Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) Maj 12-1
• 100 - Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) over Zack Jaffe (Kraken) Maj 10-1
• 105 - Brecken Strickland (Kraken) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:35
• 110 - Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) over Michael Pepe (Kraken) Fall 0:48
• 115 - Wesley Owen (Kraken) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:52
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Haylie Jaffe (Kraken) Fall 0:32
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Ethan Wentzel (Kraken) Fall 4:23
• 140 - Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 160 - Frank Miller (Kraken) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 210 - John Pardo (Kraken) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #3 Round 3

MJWL All Stars defeated Virginia Patriots 52-28

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over Cayden Farver (MJWL All Stars) Fall 2:18
• 76 - Kane Desch (MJWL All Stars) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Dec 2-0
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Charlie Spoales (MJWL All Stars) Fall 1:17
• 84 - Chase Wheeler (MJWL All Stars) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Dec 9-2
• 88 - Mason Quintana (MJWL All Stars) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Dec 2-1
• 92 - Xavier Brown (MJWL All Stars) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Dec 7-0
• 96 - Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) over Tanner Cooper (MJWL All Stars) Maj 12-0
• 100 - Brandyn Fish (MJWL All Stars) over Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:14
• 105 - Jonathan Chang (MJWL All Stars) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:24
• 110 - Owen Pelaez (MJWL All Stars) over Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) Maj 12-2
• 115 - Maximus Conley (MJWL All Stars) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:59
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over James McCrory (MJWL All Stars) Inj 3:48
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Landon Bell (MJWL All Stars) Fall 2:34
• 140 - Noah Onkst (MJWL All Stars) over Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:42
• 160 - Ivan Carrillo (MJWL All Stars) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 210 - Derrick Grant (MJWL All Stars) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #4 Round 4

Terps Xtreme defeated Virginia Patriots 54-16

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over Sam Wolford (Terps Xtreme) Dec 9-6
• 76 - Jacob Perry (Terps Xtreme) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Maj 14-1
• 80 - Liam Hickey (Terps Xtreme) over Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) Dec 6-2
• 84 - Jeremy McGrath (Terps Xtreme) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:29
• 88 - TJ Gernhart (Terps Xtreme) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:46
• 92 - Beau Lewis (Terps Xtreme) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Maj 18-4
• 96 - Eddie Radecki (Terps Xtreme) over Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) Dec 4-0
• 100 - Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) over Kaden Walker (Terps Xtreme) Maj 13-3
• 105 - Caden Finck (Terps Xtreme) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:52
• 110 - Sebastian Ortega (Terps Xtreme) over Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:36
• 115 - Antoine Glasgow Jr. (Terps Xtreme) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:21
• 120 - Cameron Milheim (Terps Xtreme) over Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) Maj 8-0
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Jackson Buck (Terps Xtreme) Dec 6-2
• 140 - Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 160 - Double Forfeit
• 210 - Cole Shupp (Terps Xtreme) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #5 Round 5

MPR defeated Virginia Patriots 59-12

• 72 - John Luchansky (MPR) over Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:39
• 76 - Patrick Woloshyn (MPR) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:17
• 80 - Connor Lenahan (MPR) over Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) Dec 5-2
• 84 - Pierce Kane (MPR) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:15
• 88 - Luke Reitter (MPR) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:30
• 92 - Steven Harris (MPR) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:34
• 96 - Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) over Brody Mazzerle (MPR) Fall 2:06
• 100 - Charlie Robson (MPR) over Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:57
• 105 - Blaise Mele (MPR) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Maj 15-3
• 110 - Jackson Young (MPR) over Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) Maj 8-0
• 115 - Gavin Cole (MPR) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:00
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Walker Murray (MPR) Dec 4-0
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Mark Effendian (MPR) Dec 3-0
• 140 - Kaleb Wright (MPR) over Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:58
• 160 - Double Forfeit
• 210 - Double Forfeit

Match #6 Round 6

Pope John defeated Virginia Patriots 43-26

• 72 - Rivers Addison (Pope John) over Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) Dec 7-0
• 76 - Michael Ramirez (Pope John) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Maj 12-0
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Kellen Nelson (Pope John) TF 19-4
• 84 - Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) over Jake Holly (Pope John) Dec 5-0
• 88 - Eren Sement (Pope John) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:40
• 92 - Anthony Rossi (Pope John) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:03
• 96 - Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) over Gino Schinina (Pope John) Dec 4-3
• 100 - Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) over Kaleb Nelson (Pope John) Dec 3-0
• 105 - Spencer Moser (Pope John) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:09
• 110 - Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 115 - Caedyn Ricciardi (Pope John) over Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:14
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Justin Holly (Pope John) Dec 3-0
• 130 - Andrew Barford (Pope John) over Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:51
• 140 - Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) over Ryan Burton (Pope John) Dec 6-4
• 160 - Double Forfeit
• 210 - Aidan Buggey (Pope John) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #7 Round 7

Kingsway defeated Virginia Patriots 63-19

• 72 - Dom Lucian (Kingsway) over Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:31
• 76 - Tanner Berkenstock (Kingsway) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:49
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Aaron Menickella (Kingsway) SV-1 2-0
• 84 - Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) over Cooper Feltman (Kingsway) Dec 7-0
• 88 - Ty McLeer (Kingsway) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:41
• 92 - Sean Kirwin (Kingsway) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:27
• 96 - Ryan Glenn (Kingsway) over Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:25
• 100 - Miles Darling (Kingsway) over Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) Dec 7-4
• 105 - Stephen Borrelli (Kingsway) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 2:05
• 110 - Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) over Tommy Dipietro (Kingsway) Maj 10-2
• 115 - Jackson Hoopes (Kingsway) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Brandon Bormann (Kingsway) Fall 0:29
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Tristan McLeer (Kingsway) SV-1 6-4
• 140 - Ben Dryden (Kingsway) over Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) Fall 4:15
• 160 - Luke Van Brill (Kingsway) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 210 - Rocco Bennett (Kingsway) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #8 Round 8

Virginia Patriots defeated Central Maryland 50-28

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over James Wright (Central Maryland) Fall 1:01
• 76 - Sean Garretson (Central Maryland) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Maj 18-4
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Braydon Ambrose (Central Maryland) Maj 9-1
• 84 - Nicky Melfi (Central Maryland) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Dec 2-0
• 88 - Vinny Paolucci (Central Maryland) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:50
• 92 - Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 96 - Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 100 - Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 105 - Scott Anderson (Central Maryland) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Dec 7-2
• 110 - Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) over Gordon Griffith (Central Maryland) Maj 13-4
• 115 - Grayson Stewart (Central Maryland) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Peyton Miller (Central Maryland) Fall 0:40
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Austin Lewis (Central Maryland) Fall 3:59
• 140 - Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 160 - Double Forfeit
• 210 - Calieb Collazo (Central Maryland) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #9 Round 9

Lions Den WC defeated Virginia Patriots 44-42

• 72 - Ezekiel Keel (Virginia Patriots) over Neil Sharma (Lions Den WC) Fall 4:30
• 76 - Jared Gonzalez (Lions Den WC) over Justin Strier (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:20
• 80 - Austin Zimmerman (Virginia Patriots) over Ayden Elzalata (Lions Den WC) Fall 2:24
• 84 - Quinn McBride (Lions Den WC) over Andrew Krajic (Virginia Patriots) Dec 6-3
• 88 - Branden Rozanski (Lions Den WC) over Connor Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 1:50
• 92 - Cole Coffin (Lions Den WC) over Cole Hogbin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 0:34
• 96 - Arment Waltenbaugh (Lions Den WC) over Cason Rankin (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:55
• 100 - Gauge Botero (Lions Den WC) over Ben Weader (Virginia Patriots) TF 18-3
• 105 - Cody Wagner (Lions Den WC) over Owen Clayborne (Virginia Patriots) Fall 3:24
• 110 - Aiden Rush (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 115 - Julian Bonner (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 120 - Kyle Csikari (Virginia Patriots) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 130 - Will Levy (Virginia Patriots) over Caleb Sine (Lions Den WC) Fall 0:39
• 140 - Colton Quaker (Virginia Patriots) over Emerson Goering (Lions Den WC) Fall 0:24
• 160 - Double Forfeit
• 210 - Dante Burns (Lions Den WC) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

2020 Battle Of the Bay

This event was 2 hours north of us... North of Baltimore on 95 and just South of the PA border at North East High School.  We took 5 Patriots and 3 double bracketed.

Owen Clayborne
Evan Sanati
Landon Spence
Carson Stroud
Billy Tyler

Good lessons, steady improvement, seeing technique that we've worked on in the room.

Below is a picture of the Patriots bringing home the hardware.  From left to right : Landon Spence, Evan Sanati, Billy Tyler.

Tomorrow Colton Quaker will be competing with Team Virginia in a dual team event against MD, PA and NJ and we have several kids competing in Chantilly at a Mason Dixon open.  We look forward to sharing those results as well!

Top of the Podium : The evolution of wrestling in Virginia

Yesterday we spent the day competing at the hammer tournament at Top of the Podium in Northern Virginia.  I feel compelled to take this opportunity to provide a bit of context for our involvement in this tournament.

There was a time when elite youth wrestling in NOVA was dominated by a dual meet calendar administered by the CAWL (Capital Area Wrestling League).  Today the CAWL is not what it once was and there is a new movement in NOVA centered around regional centers of excellence that are not bound to any single school district but attempts to create an environment where wrestlers in a general area can come to train and where the competition schedule has a wide variety of options for all wrestlers depending on ability and willingness to travel.  The wrestlers who train out of these regional centers have a smorgasbord of options for competition and if there was a void left by the CAWL, Tom is helping to fill it.

I grew up in central PA where this was a well proven model for many years and that still exists and thrives today and produces the best wrestlers in the country.  Iowa may win the NCAA tournament this year.  If they do, it will be because they recruited wrestlers from PA.  When I was a kid we'd go to a local tournament to compete and there was always a table somewhere with printouts for the tournaments for the next several weeks advertised.  You would write a check and mail in the registration form.  Today the same model exists at the same venues but all of the tournaments are browsable on a single site (www.pywrestling.com) and registration is done online.  The site in VA is www.virginiawrestling.com.  URL to Top is https://www.topofthepodium.org/

When I walked into Top of the Podium it didn't take me long to run across Tom Houck, the man behind the mission.  I'll call it a mission more than a facility because the mission is clear.  He wants to promote wrestling in the most entitled area of the country where it is most desperately needed.  I was talking to Joe Scanlan about this and we are in violent agreement that this a sport that is very needed in the area and we will do everything we can to support it.  Wrestling isn't a game.  It isn't always fun.  You get what you earn.  There is absolutely nothing about the sport that rewards a kid for just showing up.  On the other hand if a kid does just show up but hasn't put in the work it won't work out too well for that kid LOL...  This is why we as coaches talk about the value of the sport and how these are life lessons.  Work is rewarded with results and there are lessons in every failure.

I was at Tom's facility all day and didn't have the opportunity to talk to him until the very end of the day.  This is because Tom was on a mission the entire day and was relentlessly engaged in running the event.  Hard work.  What is Tom's reward?  Perhap Tom has seen the benefit of the sport in his life and he wants to give back?  Maybe he wants to have a positive impact on NOVA.  After 1 year in this new facility I'd say he's off to a pretty darn good start.

We had a great day at Top and took about 10 kids.  The highlight for me as a coach was our 4 wrestlers for whom this was their first tournament outside of novice level competition.

Calvin Cardone
Benji Cardone
Julian Bonner
Michael Bonura

The benefit to more advanced competition for these wrestlers is that they learn that bad technique doesn't work here and we take these lessons back to training and now there is a purpose to the training.  Practicing with a purpose makes the difference.

Enjoy the holidays!

Coach Burns

Wreck the Halls

This weekend was filled with wrestling all up and down the East Coast.  Our boys were scattered, but as a coach following everyone's individual advancement was extremely satisfying.  I decided to attend Wreck the Halls in Martinsville, WV with 3 of our wrestlers, Billy Tyler, RJ Phelan and Wyatt Carter.  Let's start with little RJ Phelan, who we won't see for 6 months as his family spends the winter months in Florida.  This kid wrestled up an age group and also up 10 lbs.  The kid he wrestled in the finals was a veteran from PA and about a foot taller.  RJ has an excitement of the sport and a never quit attitude like nobody.  He was down the entire match but came back to a tie by the end of the third period and took the match to overtime.  He got a little impatient with his shots in OT took a bad one and lost but what a fighter and also a good sport!  RJ's dad Rob has been a great addition to the coaching staff on game day and in the room so the Phelans will be missed and we look forward to their return in April 2020.   Billy Tyler double bracketed in 2 age groups and wrestled up a weight class and dominated both of his brackets.  The champion received a t-shirt so Billy decided to get one for himself and one for his dad.... picture below....!  Wyatt is starting to try new things in competition and placed 2nd on the day.  Crossfit for Wyatt has paid off!  Landon Spence took out a MD state champ in dominant fashion (6-1) at the Viper duals in MD and went 4-0 on the day.  We had several kids at the Top of the Podium tournament on Saturday.  Matthew Arndt took 1st at the Top tournament ant THEN decided to spend Sunday in PA at the Gettysburgh tournament where he ran into some hammers that had an age advantage but he wrestled solid up there and will be better for it.  The Hobgin twins ended up with a positive Win Loss ratio overall at the TOP tournament with Cole going 3-1 and Connor going 2-2.  Leland Cline placed 2nd out of 9.  Evan Sanati wrestled out of his mind at NAWE duals going 4-1.  All of this combined with a 3 hour clinic on Saturday at Eagle Alley.  GREAT WEEKEND OF WRESTLING!

2019 Cougar Challenge - Catoctin HS, MD

Billy Tyler extends winning streak after tech falling his opponent in the finals.  Colton Quaker and Matthew Arndt finish 2nd on the day.

As always, the crab soup that the event coordinators sell at the concession stand alone was worth the trip down Route 15.

Virginia Patriots were well represented with the following wrestlers.

85LBS Andrew Krajic
126LBS Angel Fonseca - scott
95LBS Billy Tyler
95LBS Cole Hogbin
144LBS Colton Quaker
90LBS Connor Hogbin
108LBS Matthew Arndt
108LBS Owen Clayborne

Overall I am seeing kids making individual improvements, which is what this is all about.  Incremental improvement and going in the right direction.

18th Annual Vipers Mike Beck Tournament

This tournament was in Cooksville MD on Dec 1 and is always held on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving.  This year the tournament was run by Todd Del Tufo and went as smoothly as any tournament we've been to.  We had to make a decision about which even to attend between the pre CAWL tournament.  We selected this one primarily because we have several kids who are younger and the CAWL format (with no age categories) didn't really accommodate the age distribution that we have.  We're glad we went.  We took 9 Virginia Patriots to the event.  Below are the place winners and attendees.

Colton Quaker's crossfit training combined with a marked improvement in technique is starting to shine thru.

Billy Tyler is on a run bringing home the championship award several weekends in a row

1st Place
Billy Tyler
Colton Quaker

2nd Place
Landon Spence
Angel Fonsecs
Carson Stroud

3rd Place
Corey Hunt
Owen Clayborne

RJ Phelan
Sam Blevins