Eastside

This was Eastside's first USA tournament, and they did a good job. There were just under 100 wrestlers, and we got all of the wrestling, plus exhibitions done before noon.They had a big spread out for the coaches, officials, and workers. It looked like the state tournament. Thanks Eastside.
I gave a quick freestyle clinic at the begging of the tournament. It was part of the woman's development program. I am sure that it confused some of the younger wrestlers, but all we worked on was the basics of mat defense. Next woman's development event will get some takedown work, looking for three points.
Now for the main reason I was there, officiating. This was the first set of matches I called since freestyle season. I remember it being difficult to transition from freestyle to folkstyle last year, but it did not seem as difficult this year. I was patient in scrambles, and waited until there was control before I gave points. There were some scrambles that would have been points for both wrestlers in freestyle that ended up being nothing for folkstyle. I feel like I did a good job and I am ready to call some more matches soon.
The MAWOA will be meeting tomorrow to to take our open book test. The season is getting closer every day.
I know that many of you are aware that a certain ex High School coach was at his son's first USA tournament. Regardless of his sons performance, the coach was shocked at the intensity of some of the other coaches. The funny thing about many youth sports, and wrestling is no exception, is that as the age groups go down, the intensity of the parents, and coaches go up. Officiating youth matches can be much more difficult than a varsity High School match.
It was good to see a group from Darton's youth club there, and even better to see some of our Team Georgi alumni helping coach them. One of the funniest moments of the tournament was a woman's match. The young ladies, one of which was from the Darton program, were scrambling hard. The Darton wrestler was on top, and trying to get a turn. The defensive wrestler was being kind of slick, and I could tell she was going for a defensive pin. I got in good position, and sure enough, the defensive wrestler got the pin. As they were getting up, I could tell that the Darton wrestler did not understand what had happened. I looked at her and said she got you. She said how. I said you were laying on your back. I saw the light bulb go off, and I raised the other girl's hand.