Little Kids State.

I had the good fortune of getting the call to officiate Little Kids State. Thursday afternoon they realized that they were a little short handed, so I was asked to officiate. I gladly accepted. Friday afternoon, I got another phone call to help with skin checks, and I left Soccer practice a little early to make sure I was there by 5:00. I knew they would be lining up, and I was not wrong. We started a little early on the weigh-ins and got about 500 kids weighed-in. That only left about 200 for Saturday morning.
I could not sleep so I left for the Hill. I arrived at 6:00am. I toured the set up, and after getting a good look at everything, the Cafeteria looked like the place to be. Plenty of seating, it's own concession stand, and Reselite mats. For some reason you get less sore when you officiate on Reselite mats. Frank found me, and asked If I would help with skin checks again. We got the 200 wrestlers through in a half an hour, and Tom started getting the scratches ready from the no shows. It amazes me that there are no shows for the state tournament.
When I got back inside, I got some great news. I would be officiating in the cafeteria.
Time to officiate. There was plenty of tough wrestling, and kids throwing some high level technique. I was surprised at how many kids showed poor sportsmanship, cried, screamed, and acted injured when they lost.

Most of the coaches were very well behaved, and I took the time to explain any confusing calls to them. One coach in particular showed a total lack of respect because he did not like the calls during one of the matches. he continued to attempt to berate me, but I did my best to ignore it. I did not want him to have to miss seeing his son wrestle. Another coach accused me of being inconsistent, but he just did not understand the rules, or the application of the rules. I took the time to explain it to him, and even showed him on the score card that what he was saying was not true. He was not satisfied, and I guess I should not have bothered.
110 or so matches latter we were up to the finals, and consolation finals. I was assigned to the u6 consolation finals. The first match I called had several reversals, a few illegal holds, and 18-10 when the pinfall occurred. The best part about the match was the kid that lost getting up with a giant smile on his face. He had the best time, and did not know he was supposed to be mad about loosing, so he just kept smiling. It felt as if the u6 matches were over before they started. I called a couple of matches that they moved from the u10 mats. I got to call a finals match that had a kid winning his 4th State title.
After the wrestling was over, I spent some time walking around during awards with my wife. a number of coaches took the time to tell me I did a good job. I always appreciate that, and thanked them. My wife enjoyed hearing the complements as well.

Many of the kids and parents consider this the end of the wrestling season, but I consider it the beginning of  the real wrestling season. I love freestyle and greco. The kids are a little less uptight. The coaches are a lot more confused about the rules, and tend to be more cooperative. The wrestling is more explosive, and fast paced. I can't wait. If you have not tried it before, get one season under your belt. You will be surprised at how much better you get.

No stripes for the Big Kids.

I was not in Stripes, but I was working the Team Georgia USA Big Kids State Championship at Whitewater High School today. I will start and end by saying that I am ashamed at the actions of some of the adults at the tournament, and leave it at that.
On to bigger and better observations on the day.
Great things.
Sean Russel breaking Dustin Kawa's long standing record of 7 kids State Championships.
Matthew Moore(my nephew when he wrestles well) completing an undefeated season.
Ryan Milhof looking like a High School wrestller.
Hard rides with tons of legs.
Brandon Westerman, and BSJ entering the kids hall of fame.
Receiving a volunteer award named after my old friend Troy Elliot. (Cheryl and Danny do more work than me, but they already have one).I just wish Wayne had have been there to present it to me.
Shaking hands with all of the U12 winners.
Talking with old freinds, and remembering old State Championships.
Seeing the high level and overall mean streak in our next generation of wrestlers.
One of the best quotes I have for the day.
Will Moss was wrestling in the Semifinals. He was winning in a dominant fashion, but there were a lot of strange problems in his match. The score table workers spilled some water, and they had to stop the match. There were also a couple of injury time-outs that seemed to drag the match out as well. In the third period with a big lead, Charlie sees that Will has a two on one so he starts yelling cheap, cheap, cheap for Will to hit a cheap tilt for back points to secure the tech-fall. Will did not get the tilt, and I believe the match ended 9-1. The opposing wrestler and his coach were walking towards me and met up with his mother. The mother asked the coach if he had heard what Charlie said. She said he was hollering cheat, cheat, cheat and the referee did not even do anything.
I am not scheduled for Little kids State next week, but Don said he may be giving me a call. If I do get to officiate, I sure hope no one tries to cheap in any of my matches.