Installment 10 - Road to the States

Good Afternoon Robinson Wrestling Fans!

 

It was great to see so many of you this past weekend, and as always, I want to thank you for your support, loyalty and dedication to our program over the last 39 years!  Without you, we wouldn't have the success that we enjoy, and I hope you will always feel part of the program!

 

The final week of High School season is upon us, and we are moving into the state tournament with momentum on our side!  This past weekend, we competed in the Northern Region Tournament.  We began the tournament with huge aspirations after the sting of a close loss in the District, and our men performed in a special way.  We finished with a 52 point (260-208) victory; our first regional title in 20 years.  Our last came in 1991.  We are sending nine wrestlers to the state tournament and our two alternates will hopefully also be competing!

 

 

On Friday night (2/11), we had a round that is incomparable to any tournament round I have ever been a part of.  We put nine wrestlers in the semi-finals and two in the consolation bracket and we finished the round 11 for 11.  We put 9 in the finals and 2 in the placement rounds.  This set the tone for the final day.  Unfortunately, seniors Shon Topper (140) and Tim Fitzpatrick (171) lost heartbreakers in the consolation semi-finals, but they came back to win huge matches for fifth.  These two wins made them State alternates, and there is a chance that they can compete this weekend.  These two consolation wins also set the tone for a phenomenal final round!

In the finals, we began early, and we finished the night in spectacular fashion!

At 103, Lucas Sodergren won a tight fought 4-3 battle to win the championship.

At 112, Dallas Smith avenged his semi-final loss from districts with a 5-2 decision.  He was trailing 2-0 late in the match when he reversed his opponent and received 3 near-fall points for a dramatic Regional title victory.

At 119, Jake Smith was leading his opponent from Edison when unfortunately, his opponent was injured and had to default.  We hope this doesn’t keep a young, tough wrestler from competing at the States!  At this point, we had a great roll going moving to 125.

At 125,  Freshman Jack Bass won 12-2 over the returning regional champ and last year’s state runner-up.  He scored early and often, and for his tournament, he received the Outstanding wrestling award.

At 130, Santiago Valdez wrestled a great tournament, but unfortunately he couldn’t overcome an early takedown and lost 3-2 to an undefeated wrestler from Wakefield

At 135, Brooks Martino had a tough run to the final, winning 1-0 in a BATTLE in the semi-finals.  He overcame his draw and won his second regional title with a 6-0 victory.     

At 145, Zak DePasquale gave up some early big points which he tried valiantly to overcome, but he fell short with a runner-up finish by a score of 10-1.

At 160, Wes Jones won his first regional title making his the 3^rd Jones to be a regional champion.  He defeated his opponent 5-2.

Finally at Heavyweight, our freshman STUD Jake Pinkston overcame arguably the toughest draw of the tournament defeating the top 4 ranked heavyweights in the region, and avenged his district final loss with a 3-2 victory over the returning Regional Champ from Westfield!   He showed incredible heart, athleticism and character as he rolled through the event!  Click on the following link for complete brackets: 

http://www.virginiawrestling.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2011_Nr_final.pdf

 

You can see some great pictures from the tournament from a Hayfield parent:  http://robcurrie.zenfolio.com/p794834428/h11d5d6e5#ha6ba90c.

 

We are so proud of our young men, and we are excited for what is coming!  They are getting FOCUSED for this weekend’s VHSL AAA State tournament at Robinson!  We hope to see you there!  It is going to be an exciting event with the best parody of teams in the last 25 years.  There are several teams who have a good shot at the title, and the team who can have the best event with the biggest heroes is going to come out on top!  Below is the schedule:

 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011

12:00 PM FIRST ROUND/FIRST ROUND CONSOLATION ELIM.

7:00 PM QUARTER-FINAL MATCHES

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2011

10:00 AM SECOND ROUND CONSOLATIONS

12:00 NOON SEMI-FINALS, QUARTER-FINAL CONSOLATIONS

2:00 PM SEMI-FINAL CONSOLATIONS

3:15 PM CONSOLATION FINALS (5TH AND 6TH)

4:00 PM CONSOLATION FINALS (3RD AND 4TH)

7:30 PM CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

 

As usual, our Robinson support staff has a top notch event planned, and we hope to have you there! 

 

In other Robinson news, former Robinson Wrestler TJ Hunt and his wife Leigh Anne were blessed with his first child Shannon Leigh Hunt on February 4^th.  In other procreative news, Former Robinson wrestler Marshall Huss and his wife had their first child Kayla Anne Huss on 12/6/10.  We love becoming pseudo-Grandparents for our former athletes! 

 

Hope to see you this weekend, and keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the rest of the season!!!!

 

We have some many ways for you to connect with the Rams! 

 http://eepurl.com/bUA3n - Click to sign up for this email newsletter.

http://robinsonhswrestling.blogspot.com/ - Click here to follow the online blog.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Robinson-Secondary-School-Wrestling/184312174915723 -  Click here to be a fan on facebook.com.  We also ask you to “like” our page and tell all of your friends to do the same!!!!

http://ramswrestling.shutterfly.com/ - We have Great photos done by one of our amazing wrestling parents…  

http://www.fcps.edu/RobinsonSS/athletics/wwrestling/varsity_wrestling.html - NEW Wrestling Home Page with our schedule:

 

Thanks,

 

Bryan Hazard

 

Bryan Hazard

Middle School Health Specialist / Physical Education Instructor

Head Wrestling Coach

Robinson Secondary

 

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.
John F. Kennedy