21 days until Fall League

The Fall wrestling season is about to start. We will be encouraging all those that want to wrestle to start the year off by participating in the fall league. This has grown each year and looks to be a great jump on the season. Click HERE for more details about the fall league.

Also wanted give a big shout out to all those that wrestled in the spring and summer. I hope all of your hard work pays off this upcoming season. I sure wish there were more of you, but i can only encourage the off season workouts.

Also thanks to those that helped us move into the new wrestling room. It is slowly being put together, and beginning to look like a wrestling room.

Outdoor Camp and Match in the Park

K-6 Kids at the first Annual Outdoor Camp in the Park

 We had a great 2 Day Wrestling Camp in the Park located at 100 East Main Street in AF. This was a new experience and it turned out great. These pictures are just a few of the ones that we took during all the action. Thanks to all who came and helped and participated. We look forward to another great season starting this Fall. 

Camp Registration Booth

Water fight at the end of K-6 Camp on Day 1

Matches in the park under the Moonlight

Spectators at the Matches in the Park

Olympic Wrestling: The Path to Folkstyle Success

Making the Transition from Folkstyle to Freestyle

Below is a great article that highlights the reasons a wrestler should be wrestling Freestyle in the off season. 

By Matt Krumrie Special to USA Wrestling | March 18, 2014
 With most youth and high school wrestling seasons now complete, it's the time of year where many wrestlers will transition from competing in folkstyle to freestyle. "Freestyle wrestling really teaches the fundamentals of the sport," says University of Iowa Head Assistant Coach Terry Brands, a two-time Freestyle World Champion and 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist. "The more skills you master in any style of wrestling, the better wrestler you can become."
That's what Teague Moore learned in his wrestling career at Oklahoma State University, competing for legendary head coach John Smith, a six-time freestyle World Champion and a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. Smith’s ability to teach freestyle skills—and incorporate how they crossover into folkstyle—played a huge role in Moore becoming an NCAA champion and three-time All-America wrestler.
Now the head coach at American University in Washington, D.C., Moore said: "My freestyle experience and exposure are the only reasons why I succeeded in folkstyle. Without freestyle, I would have been mediocre at best."
Understanding the Differences
Folkstyle wrestling puts more emphasis on controlling your opponent, while freestyle puts more emphasis on exposure points. The goal from the bottom position in folkstyle wrestling is to get away. The goal from the bottom position in freestyle is to avoid being turned/exposed. In freestyle, the goal is to pin or expose your opponent’s shoulders to the mat. Learning each discipline provides crossover opportunities that can help a wrestler become as complete as possible.
"When training in freestyle, an athlete must have total body awareness and control," says Moore. "With proper positioning, a wrestler can execute with minimized exposure to defense.  The best executed offense eliminates an opponent’s defense.  The best example in wrestling right now is the (Jordan) Burroughs double, it secures a takedown and potentially secures back exposure while eliminating the opponents' quick front headlock defense or crotch lock defense.”  Although this is only one example, it can be applied to many other scoring positions. The athlete that trains to execute an offense that completely eliminates their opponents defense will excel in folkstyle because of this laser-like precision offense."
What’s more, freestyle wrestling teaches you things you can't get from training folkstyle only, says Dan Tramontozzi, head coach of the New Jersey Wrestling Academy, a wrestling club and training facility that serves wrestlers and teams throughout northern and central parts of the state.
Exploiting the Similarities
"Training freestyle in the offseason benefits your folkstyle game in many ways," says Tramontozzi. "Wrestling is changing and evolving everyday. I think freestyle training has a lot to do with that. You look at guys like Ben Askren and watch him "funk" and toss guys around after getting shot on. You normally don't learn that in folkstyle wrestling but that is what wrestling has become today. You have to train your body to be comfortable and know what to do in scramble positions and freestyle is a great tool to use. In order to keep up you have to learn freestyle, because that's what the best are doing."
And that's what the best have been doing. Moore rattles off a list of names: Cael Sanderson, Jake Varner, Jordan Burroughs, Henry Cejudo, Brandon Slay, Kurt Angle, Tom Brands, Kendall Cross, Kenny Monday, Bruce Baumgartner. These men were all Olympic Gold Medalists. In addition, says Moore:  They all wrestled folkstyle, but became legends because of freestyle."
"Folkstyle is the style that captures more media attention in our country,” Moore acknowledges, “but moving forward, the champions of folkstyle will be well versed in freestyle wrestling.  Learn freestyle and you will learn the best fundamentals for folkstyle."
When Brands was wrestling, his focus was on being the best he could during that specific season. During folkstyle season he wanted to be the best folkstyle wrestler. During the offseason, he wanted to be the best freestyler or Greco-Roman wrestler. He advises coaches and wrestlers to take advantage of the opportunity to learn new styles and combine them to be successful. The sport is always evolving and so should a wrestlers training and practice habits.
"Training and competing in freestyle wrestling puts you in positions and in experiences you are not in during the folkstyle season," Brands explains. "It helps you deal with different kinds of pressures. It helps develop a new set of skills that maybe your opponent doesn't have. And if he does, it will teach you how to counter different skills that opponent may be using. This is the time of year to work on something new. Freestyle is a great way to advance as a wrestler, become a more complete wrestler."
Five tactical benefits freestyle wrestling can provide folkstyle wrestlers
-from Teague Moore, head coach at American University
1. Front Head Lock Offense: This position is crucial to a successful freestyle career, if you can score every time you control your opponent’s head, your scoring potential becomes much better. This position is usually taken after defending an opponent’s leg attack (defensive FHL position).  The Russians have mastered the offensive FHL by snapping wrists to clear inside ties and snapping collar ties from neutral.
2. Head inside single, from contact: Most youth wrestlers in the U.S. learn from collar and elbow position so it’s a natural offensive leg attack to attempt while clearing the collar.  In the freestyle setting the finish to this offense forces a clean and “backside” finish that transitions easily to a leg lace offense.  Young wrestlers that learn a quick “swing single to lace” offense will naturally develop a solid folkstyle technique because by it’s very nature the swing single to lace forces you to control an opponent’s hips, which eliminates the typical “funk” defense that is popular in folkstyle.  The learned freestyle skill helps to develop a very proficient folkstyle takedown artist.
3. The backstep and backarch: It’s a basic technique for freestyle athletes to learn and should be one of the seven basic skills that every wrestler learns. The headlock, lateral drop, and body lock throws all utilize its skillset but folkstyle doesn’t appear to be emphasizing it with younger wrestlers.  An athlete that learns to properly backstep and backarch usually adds a deadly element to their offense in folkstyle, with a five-point move.
4. Bottom offense: Bottom offense in freestyle doesn’t seem to offer much to a folkstyle wrestler, surface, but, in fact, the freestyle bottom position teaches a vital element to the folkstyle wrestler.  Bottom freestyle demands a wrestler to learn a position to maintain a strong base.  Positioning is not one dimensional in freestyle. A wrestler must learn how to position to defend a gut wrench, which is very similar to defending a tight waist in folkstyle.  Defending and moving from an ankle lace attack can quickly teach a folkstyle wrestler how to reposition to defend an ankle ride in folkstyle. Although the bottom position in freestyle appears to happen with little movement, the reality is that it teaches a folkstyle wrestler how to reposition themselves and hold a strong base, which is a key element for younger wrestlers to learn.
5. The top position: Freestyle top position offense teaches a wrestler the importance of hip control. The wrestler on top in freestyle has to expose their opponent’s shoulders to the mat for points, but most of these scoring opportunities are presented after you open the bottom wrestlers hips. In a gut wrench, you must learn to properly lock and drive, but without popping the bottom wrestler’s hips, exposure can remain futile. Another common freestyle technique is the figure-four leg ride, or bent leg turk that allows you to hip your opponent over for exposure. This turn can be done exactly identical in folkstyle so this technique is a great way to transition the technique between both.  If a wrestler properly learns how to control an opponent’s hips, cheap tilts, leg rides, and dominance in top position become easily transitioned.

Wrestling Camp in the PARK

I am very excited to announce that we now have the approval from AF City to have a wrestling camp in the park. We will be hosting the camp on July 22 and 23 at Robinson Park located on the corner of 100 East and Main Street in AF (it will be held the week following the Steel Days celebration). We will be planning the event and are trying to get more information out as it is planned. W plan to end the camp with a dual in the park under the evening stars. We hope to make this a big event for all! Hope to see you there.

Banquet

The date of the 2013 - 2014 Wrestling Banquet is Tuesday April 22. Please email Coach Spencer to let him know if you are coming and how many will be in your party. More details will be forth coming.

Practice this week

Practice this week for those in the Elementary, Junior High, and High School club will be held on Wednesday and Thursday. Times are as follows:
3:30 - 4:45 for High School and Junior High
4:50 - 6:00 for Elementary aged wrestlers.

Spring Wrestling

Well I am trying to send out information about the Spring Club season. We will be hosting practices during the Conditioning class the rest of this week. I am still trying to decide whether on not to have them after school. We will also try and Start our Spring Junior High and Elementary teams on Thursday. So this week the schedule will be as follows:

High School will be held on Thursday during the conditioning class (B8) for those that have the class

High School and Junior High practice for those not in the conditioning class will be held on Thursday starting at 3:30 until 4:45

Elementary will be held from 4:50 until 6:00 on Thursday.

I will be letting each of you know the cost and details of where to pay next week. I do know that you will need to register for a USA Wrestling Card through Themat.com. Details will be forth coming if you have not purchased one before.

Please pass the word along to any and all who may be interested in these offerings. Again these times may change. We are looking at adding one more practice day each week (so that there are two scheduled practices at AFHS each week).

We are also looking for High School age boys and Dads to help us with the Elementary team. Please let me know if you are interested and willing to help. 
801-400-5932
evspencer@gmail.com

--

ERIC SPENCER
Wrestling Coach
Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Leadership
Computer Tech
American Fork High School
http://americanforkwrestling.blogspot.com
@afwrestling

Olympic Wrestling: The Path to Folkstyle Success

State Day 1 Results

After the first two rounds of competition yesterday our team is in ninth place over all. Of the 9 wrestlers that we took to the tournament there are 4 still alive and trying for a spot on the podium tomorrow evening.

Senior Tanner Durfee at 160 pounds is in the consolation bracket. If he can win his first two matches today he will be guaranteed a top 6 place.

Sophomore Cameron Hunsaker 106, Junior Jackson Wilson 126, and Senior Andrew Bartholomew 132 are all in the Semi-Finals tonight at 7:00. They are all guaranteed a spot in the top 6, but are trying to make it to the championship match. If they win today they will wrestle tomorrow evening at 4:30 for the State Championship. I will try to keep you posted by twitter @afwrestling. 

You can also follow the results by live scoring at trackwrestling.com using the following link
http://s401.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/MainFrame.jsp?newSession=false&sport=wrestling&TIM=1392395402741&pageName=&ie=false&frameSize=925

We hope to see some of you there tonight and tomorrow. All 5 divisions 1A - 5A will be there today and tomorrow. This will be the first time that I can think of that all 5 divisions will compete at the same time in the same venue for their individual titles. Wrestling will start today at 3:00 at the Maverick Center in West Valley City. Thanks so much for your support these past few months.

After Thursdays medal rounds at the Divisional tournament we ended up qualifying 9 wrestlers for this weeks State Tournament. This is the most we have taken to State that I know of. Great job guys.

Cameron Hunsaker was the champion at 106. He wrestled great in the championship match winning his opponent from Syracuse 5-0. (He's only a sophomore)

Jentry McGary at 113 pounds qualified by placing 5th. (He's a junior)

Tayler Durfee at 120 pounds qualified by placing 8th (He's only a Freshman)

Jackson Wilson at 126 pound wrestled a great tournament and placed 2nd. He lost a hard fought match to last years State Champion. He only lost by a score of 8-4. We hope to meet him again next week in the finals. (he's a junior)

Senior Andrew Bartholomew at 132 also placed 1st. He had to avenge a loss from earlier in the season, and did so in an amazing, hard fought match. He came from 5 points behind to win the match in overtime with a takedown. It even landed him the Outstanding Wrestler award for the tournament.

Craig Johnson, also a Senior, at 132 pounds qualified by placing 8th. Great to have two wrestlers in the same weight class qualify.

At 138 pounds Sophomore Porter Johnson did not qualify but rather is the alternate at his weight.

145 pounder Morgan Palmer also a junior placed 5th. He wrestled a great tournament and hopes to improve on his performance next week to place at the State Tournament.

152 pound wrestler Kalin Godwin will also be an alternate for next weeks tournament.

Senior Tanner Durfee had a great showing at the tournament in the 160 pound weight class. He placed 3rd, only losing to the eventual champion in the semi-finals.

Also at 160 pounds freshman Jacob Rhoton placed 8th which will allow him to wrestle at State as a freshman.

GREAT JOB CAVEMEN WRESTLERS. Now lets continue to show our support by coming and supporting those that are going to represent our team at the Maverick Center Thursday - Saturday.

What a great few weeks of wrestling for the Cavemen. Starting the first week in January we had two wrestlers compete in annual All-Star Classic. Cameron Hunsaker and Andrew Bartholomew. The following day we traveled to Provo to square off against the Bulldogs. The Cavemen came away victorious on all levels. The final varsity score was 53-18.

The following week proved to be a test for the cavemen and their conditioning. Wow what a fun filled week of wrestling that was. We started the week off with a bang up at Brighton High School. The Bengals became food the starving Cavemen. The final score ended up 55 - 24. The cavemen dominated from top to bottom as of the Bengals 24 points, 12 came from two forfeits by the the cavemen. So in all fairness of the 12 matches wrestled the cavemen won 10 with 8 of those by pin. This set the stage for Thursdays match with Lone Peak and the Knights.

This match is a battle every year going back and forth. The match started out with what looked like what would be a win for the Knights by a blowout. After only 6 matches the Knights led by a score of 26 -6 (12 points coming from forfeits). But that was not the end of the Cavemen. The Cavemen proved too strong for the Knights winning 6 of the remaining matches (5 by pin). This was enough to seal the deal for the Cavemen. The final score was 40-33 for the Cavemen wrestlers. Congrats on a great victory. It is always great to beat the Knights, especially on their turf.

The wrestlers then traveled to the Rumble Wrestling Tournament. This is the most prestigious wrestling event hosted in the state. There were 70 teams from Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, and Idaho. There were many multiple time returning state champions and qualifiers from all states represented. The cavemen had their ups and downs. But in the end they crowned 1 champion (the first ever for AF wrestling at this event) in Cameron Hunsaker at 106 pounds. They also placed 1 other wrestler in the top 8 in Andrew Bartholomew (7th place) at 132 pounds.

What a great week of wrestling. This week the Cavemen will be tested as they host the 3 time State Champs from PG. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE.

Week 3 Wrap-up

 Andrew Bartholomew Champion @ 132 pounds

 All Varsity Team placers form L-R
Cameron Hunsker 1st 106
Andrew Bartholomew 1st 132
Jackson Wilson 2nd 126
Morgan Palmer 6th 145
Tanner Durfee 7th 160

 Cameron Hunsaker Champion @ 106

 All placers both Varsity and JV minus two wrestlers.

JV and Extras showing their medals and JV Absolute Champions plaque.

Wow what a great week of wrestling. We started the week off with the first annual dual against Spanish Fork @ the Battle of the Forks. We had a great showing against a team with multiple state placers and even a 2X Returning State Champ. We wrestled tough and provided some good entertainment. Cannot wait for this dual again next year.

We then wrestled against another tough team in Herriman. We again wrestled tough, lost a few that we should win next go around, and won a few that were close. Both Herriman and SF are great teams with great wrestling traditions. It is teams like this that we continue to strive to become.

The culminating event of the week came at the Viewmont Invitational Wrestling Tournament (VIT). Wow what a great showing we had there. With perennial powers like Viewmont, Delta, Millard, Payson, and many others, we represented ourselves well. The coaches decided that we wanted to only enter 6 of the 12 Varsity wrestlers in the Varsity competition. 5 of the 6 placed in the top 7. As a Varsity team we tied for 7th place with Millard, whom is a powerhouse wrestling school. We had the best showing at the Viewmont invite that I have ever seen AF have. We were led by 5 of our team captains placing in the tournament.

At 106 pounds Cameron Hunsaker had the best tournament of his AF folkstyle career. He had tough matches in the quarters, semis, and finals; ultimately winning the gold. He wrestled with great mat sense and also utilized the clock to his advantage. He showed all in attendance why he deserved to be crowned Champion.

At 126 pounds Jackson Wilsons semi-finals match allowed him to avenged a loss from the first week of the season. He dominated the Olympus High standout from beginning to end. Then in the finals Jackson lost a tough battle to the a Delta High standout. Cannot wait until later in the season when we can wrestle him again.

At 132 pounds senior Andrew Bartholomew also had a dominating performance. He wrestled great and advanced to the finals against an opponent from Payson whom we lost to the 2nd week of the season. Andrew showed great poise as he wrestled very confident and smart. In the end Andrew was also crowned Champion.

2 others wrestlers placed in the top 7. They were Morgan Palmer at 145 pounds placing 6th and Tanner Durfee at 160 pounds placing 7th. They both had some great close matches and in the end were able to win enough times to place at this prestigious event.

As for the JV tournament we wrestled very tough. We had some great matches and in some cases even had to wrestle our own teammates. Over all the official team scores showed our JV team in 5th place. Great job guys. We had one champion in TJ Larsen whom defeated AF's own Kalin Godwin in a hard fought battle for 1st and 2nd. Freshman Tony Brady @ 113 pounds had a great showing and ended up placing 5th. Tayler Durfee also wrestled well as a freshman and placed 3rd. Senior Craig Johnson at 132 pounds placed 3rd as well. Again and 152 pounds Junior TJ Larsen took 1st and Senior Kalin Godwin placed 2nd. At 160 pounds Senior Austin Bradford placed 3rd. At 195 pounds we also place tow wrestlers. Seniors Dallin Slade and Riley Smith placed 3rd and 4th respectively.

The VIT staff also tallied up all points for all JV and Extra wrestlers entered per team. They gave one team champion award for the team with the most overall points scored thought-out the two day event. The AF JV and Extras were crowned the first ever JV Absolute Champions. Great job to all of our wrestlers. Now it is time for some R&R (but not to much as the season is only half over).

Please be safe for the Holiday break, and plan some time to workout each day until practice resumes on Friday morning at 7am. Lets not let the holiday break set us back on finishing strong for the end of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for all the support you have been.  Also visit Shaegoodwin.com for videos and pictures previous events. Please remember to order FAN GEAR ASAP. We extended the time due to multiple requests. Show your team support by ordering your fan gear for family, friends, and anyone whom may wear it.

The following was written by Kolter Atkinson, a student at AFHS:

The wrestling team at American Fork High School, home of the Cavemen, just opened their 2013-2014 season on Thursday against the Lehi Pioneers. As the matches drew near the you could feel the tension rising in the room as they all got ready to show what they were made of and hopefully leave with a victory. Some of the cavemen were able to do just that.

The night started with the Junior Varsity and Exhibition matches and they did not disappoint. The first win of the night for the Cavemen came from Craig Johnson, a senior in his third season of wrestling, in a match that was full of action in a power struggle. Craig was able to dig deep and find a way to pin his opponent with only one second left in the first period. Craig also went on to win his second match of the night 11-0. Other great matches from the Cavemen JV came from Dalton Nelson, TJ Larsen, and Alex Strasburg. All three were able to assert their dominance because of all of the hard work that they have put into the sport. Dalton, a junior, was able to show off his takedown skills as he to won his match 20-9. TJ and Alex, both juniors, were able to demonstrate how hard they’ve worked over the offseason and both walked away from the night victorious. TJ, Dalton, and Craig were all able to walk away from the night with a 2-0 record and a smile on their face.

Varsity also had its highlights such as sophomore Cameron Hunsaker bringing the Varsity team it’s first win of the season at the 106 weight class. Following Cameron, Taylor Durfee, Jackson Wilson, Andrew Bartholomew, and Austin Bradford were all able to bring American Fork victories as well. Taylor, Jackson, and Andrew were all takedown artists last night and were all able to win their matches by a substantial amount. Taylor won 10-1, Jackson earned 17-4, and Andrew won by a score of 12-4. Austin and Cameron weren’t necessarily showing off their takedown skills but instead showed everybody their ability to assert their dominance on top. Austin was able to slug it out for all 3 periods and winning by a score of 8-4. Cameron decided that he wanted to end it early and earned the quick pin in the first period.

Both teams wrestled their hearts out and it was a great event to see. If you have the opportunity to come and see these boys wrestle I know you won’t be disappointed. 

The team also traveled to the Syracuse Scuffle tournament on Friday and Saturday. They had 9 matches over the course of the two days. The team looked very good this early in the season. The Varsity team ended the 9 duals with 6 wins and 3 losses. Two of the three losses came due to an injury to the Heavyweight Dakota Blanco on Thursday vs Lehi. That injury leaves the Cavemen at a disadvantage because of the forfeit (which equates to 6 team points in favor of the opponent). We had 2 varsity wrestlers remain undefeated on the season: Senior Andrew Bartholomew and Sophomore Cameron Hunsaker.

They ended up 4th over all in the team standings.

The JV and Exhibition wrestlers (anyone not Varsity or Junior Varsity is called Exhibition 1, 2, 3...) also showed very well at the tournament. We had 5 JV wrestlers go undefeated: Kyle Poulsen, Spencer Murdoch, TJ Larsen, Craig Johnson, and Nathan Tobler.

The next dual for the Caveman wrestlers is at home against the West Lake Thunder on Wednesday, December 11, and it promises to be an exciting matchup. Go Cavemen! They will then travel to the Juab Winter Classic Friday and Saturday.

Varsity, JV, ...

Here is the list of wrestlers that are still on the team and the ranking order. The first name listed in each weight class will be our Varsity wrestler, 2nd name Junior Varsity, and then all exhibition wrestlers listed in order. In parenthesis each of the wrestlers grades will be listed. There are a few that have not ranked that are not listed, but we will add them as they become eligible or rank.

106
Cameron Hunsaker (9)
Jentry McGary (10)

 113
Jackson Wilson (10)
Trent Wray (10)

120
Jacob Tam (11)
Craig Johnson (11)
Nevada Larsen (9)
Dalton Nelson (10)
Nathan Tobler (9)

126
Andrew Bartholomew (11)
Tyler Ferguson (11)
Ryan Brown (10)

132
Kolter Atkinson (10)
Porter Johnson (9)
Ryan Bartholomew (11)

138
Morgan Palmer (10)
Shawn Nicholes (9)
Spencer Murdoch (10)
Ian Galbraith (11)
Tim Fannin (9)

145
TJ Larsen (10)
Jason Warnick (11)
Logan Sondrup (10)
Grant McKenna (12)
Timmy Hunsaker (11)
Clint Steele (10)

152
Tanner Durfee (11)
Austin Bradford (11)
Garron Carmona  (12)
Simon Alcala (12)

160
Kalin Godwin (11)
Jacob Knapton (11)
Joe Osmun (9)
Sam Riehle (12)
Dallin Hendry (9)

170
Sam Bateman (12)

182
Kenny Cordova (11)
Nathanael Rybin (10)

195
Alex Strasburg (10)

220 
Casey Golding (9)
Daniel Liebelt (11)
Dakota Beverage (10)

HWT
John Smith (9)
Dakota Blanco (10)

Conditioning Class Last week before Season Starts

Here is a video of the wrestling team in the conditioning class last week. Still need to work on some of the form, but not to bad overall. Wrestling season starts tomorrow at 2:45.                                                                                                                               

Forms needed for First Practice

I wanted to send a reminder out to everyone about the forms that you need to have completed and turned in before you can practice on the 5th of November. We will need a Tryout Checklist and a current Physical Form. HERE is the link to the tryout checklist and HERE is the link to the Physical Form. Also you should have paid the $90 fee to the finance office before the 2nd week of practice.

W.O.W.

Something new this season that I hope to implement consistently throughout the season and into the summer is our W.O.W. program. What is the W.O.W program you might ask? It stands for Wrestler Of the Week. Each week as coaches we will try and evaluate each wrestler and their efforts, improvements and overall dedication to becoming the best wrestler they can. The number of wrestlers each week will vary, but the outcome will always be the same; and that is improvement as a wrestler and person.

Throughout the past several months I have been watching and identifying each wrestler and his abilities and strengths. I have come up with two wrestlers for this week and hope that each of these young men realize that their efforts and dedication have not went unnoticed.  Let me introduce to you our official W.O.W's of the past few months.

Our first W.O.W is Jackson Wilson. Jackson is one of the many young men deserving of this award. Jackson is a self motivated young man who is wrestling pretty much non stop. He travels to UVU 6 days a week to workout with Justin Ruiz. He works out on his own each evening, and also leads the team each day in the conditioning class. Jackson, as one of only a few returning Freshman Varsity starters from last season is well on his way to again going to the State Tournament in February.

Our second W.O.W of the past few months is Kolter Atkinson. Kolter, also a returning starter from his Freshman year, is also very deserving of this honor. Kolter returns this season having worked very hard starting clear back last March. He was one of only a handful of our wrestlers that chose to wrestle in the Freestyle and Greco season. Unfortunately an injury plagued his summer plans. But even his injury did not stop him fro wanting to improve. Kolter would come to workouts and do modified lifting as to allow his injury to heal. Once healed, Kolter and his father would come in quite regularly after our morning workouts to drill. I have seen great strides in his mental toughness, as well as his technique.

Thank you Jackson and Kolter. I look forward to seeing who else will be our future W.O.W's. Be on the lookout as we begin a new season. I am sure the competition will be very surprised at the improvements these two young men have made. I also see great things going on as a team as well. 

The Final Countdown

Today begins the final 2 week countdown to when the official season starts. Who is going to be our team leaders? Who will be varsity at all of the different weight classes 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, Hwt? There will be new comers like Cameron Hunsaker, Porter Johnson, Tanner Green and many others. Then we will return Seniors like Sam Bateman, Grant McKenna, and Gage McGary. We will also have other potential star power in Tanner Durfee, Andrew Bartholomew, TJ Larsen, Logan Sondrup, Morgan Palmer, Dalton Nelson and many, many others.

Will the Cavemen crown their first State Champion in 20 years, and if so who will it be?

These questions and more will all begin to be answered over the course of the next few weeks. We will have an answer to all of them as the season goes on.We have worked hard all summer long, and even at the start of the school year; waiting, anticipating, preparing for the next few months of battle. I believe the CAVEMEN are ready!

Youth camp and Mettle is #1

We started our youth wrestling camp last night. It was very good to see all of our future wrestlers out there. We had about 40 youth there. I also wanted to let you know of something else that we received yesterday. Our feeder program, Mettle Wrestling was honored by USA wrestling. It was given a banner to hang in the wrestling room as one of the top 50 teams in the country. We also received a certificate stating that we were not only in the top 50 club in the US but that we were the Largest club. We had 265 wrestlers in our club last year. It is great to see the growth that our club has seen over the past few years. About 1/2 of those in Mettle wrestling will eventually wrestle here at AFHS. Congrats to our club for their #1 ranking.