Hello Wrestling Families!
Last Week Recap
In last week’s email I predicted we would have a driven team that will improve quickly. The first week on the mat with these young Men exceeded even my lofty expectations. We won’t have the most kids on the roster, but the wrestlers we do have show the ability to put in the work – and that’s what it takes to succeed in wrestling. Work ethic is the most important attribute in wrestling. It’s also an athletically gifted group. It should be fun to see how these talented and hard-working individuals develop throughout the season. I’m incredibly excited to pick up with where we left off in week two.
Here are the details you'll need for the week ahead!
Volunteer Request - Please Help!
For Friday’s home match (and every home match from there on) we will need three people to help out with the score clock during the match. We are also very short on managers for the season and need one or two people willing to record and score matches. This is easy to train on/learn. If you are willing to help out please let me know as soon as possible. It would be nice to have a plan in place well in advance of Friday’s match. Volunteers are considered essential workers and thus do not count against our fans limit.
Home Meet Fans:
We are allowed 50 fans per home meet – which equates to basically 2 fans per athletes. We need to turn in the list of fans to the athletic office well in advance of match days. Booster Club President Kyle Kilgard will be creating a list. Please call or text him with the names of the fans who will be attending for your wrestler. Kyle’s # is 612-532-6426. Let me know if anyone has any questions or concerns.
Practices
Monday, Jan. 11th - Practice beginning at 3p.
Tuesday, Jan. 12th – Weight room at 2:30p. Wrestling practice will begin at 3:30p.
Wednesday, Jan. 13th – Practice beginning at 3p. Team pictures after practice at 4:45p. All wrestlers should have received a picture order form but if not please have them grab one from me.
Thursday, Jan. 14th - Weight room at 2:30p. Wrestling practice will begin at 3:15p.
Meets and Tournaments:
Friday, Jan. 15th – Home match vs. Zimmerman. Wrestlers should be to the school by 4:15p. We’ll do weigh-ins at 4:30p. In this match as in all matches this season the team will get two additional pounds (106 = 108, 113=115, etc.). Following weigh-ins wrestlers will eat and then we will set-up up the mat at around 5p. JV is set to begin at 6p with Varsity starting by 7p. After the match all wrestlers are expected to help take down the mat.
Contact Kyle Kilgard for in person tickets. NOTE: Wrestlers will only be able to wrestle if they have their parent signed certification sheets turned PRIOR TO FRIDAY.
Saturday, Jan. 16th – Away match vs. Totino Grace. All wrestlers should be to the school by 6:45a. There will be an extra pound for this match (106 = 109, 113 = 116, etc.). We’ll weigh-in at Maple Grove at 7a and the then head to Totino Grace at 7:30a. JV will start at 9a followed by the Varsity match. Contact Kyle Kilgard for in person tickets.
Friday and Saturday is must see wrestling! Can’t wait to see the Crimson battle again for the first time in almost 11 months! As always please let me know if you have any questions.
I look forward to seeing everybody soon!
Awesome Maple Grove Wrestling Fan Gear
We’ve done a couple rounds of fan gear orders to this point. If there is anyone who is still interested in ordering wrestling gear this season please let me know and I’ll see what I can do (no promises but if it’s possible we’ll try to make it happen).
Technique Video of the Week
A young Jordan Burroughs (Olympic Champion) shows some of the basic techniques that have made him the best in the world the last ten years. Spoiler Alert: Much of this is very similar to what we worked this past week in practice).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_BkUZ3wOQA
Looking forward to putting together four more great practices and getting the competition season started this week! See you all soon.
Coach Troy
763-913-0601
Crimson Wrestlers and Families-
Week Two Recap
After 10 practices (and 11 months) it was great to see some Crimson wrestling! While there is no shortage of things to work on – there is plenty of good things happening that we should be able to build on as well. Many of our wrestlers picked up their first wins of the season and five wrestlers (Noah Bourgeois, Connor Peterson, Ben Schultz, Max Johnson, and Zeth Petrie) remain undefeated.
We are a young team with 40% of our roster still in Junior High (by comparison Zimmerman had zero 7th and 8th graders on their roster). With youth also comes inexperience – and that’s especially true with many of our wrestlers. While that combination may not lead to immediate success – it does bode well for our learning curve. This is an athletic, hard-working group and it’s going to be fun to see them progress throughout the season.
Here are the details you'll need for the week ahead!
Weekly Schedule – Practices and Meets:
Looking forward to utilizing the next three practices to fix the areas where we got beat, improve upon what we are doing well, and to continue to work into wrestling shape. The plan is as follows:
Monday, 1.18.21 – No School – Practice at 3p (Note This is a change from the original schedule of a 9a practice – sorry for the last-minute notice).
Tuesday, 1.19.21 – Weight Room at 2:30p; Wrestling at 3:15p.
Wednesday, 1.20.21 – Practice at 3p.
Thursday, 1.21.21 – Home vs. Rogers (Conference and Section opponent). Weigh-ins at 4:30p. Be to the school by 4:15p. JV at 6p, Varsity at 7p.
Friday, 1.22.21 – At Orono Middle School vs. Orono and Apple Valley. Wrestlers to the school by 3:15p. We'll weigh-in at 3:30p and then take the bus to Orono. Wrestling begins at 5p and our rounds will take place around 6p and 7p. There will be NO FANS allowed but they are working on setting up a live stream for the matches. Will be +1 pound (106 = 109, 113 = 116, etc.).
Saturday, 1.23.21 – Optional practice at 9a.
Maple Grove Wrestling Team/Fan Gear
If anyone would like to order additional Team/Fan Gear please let me know. We are looking to open the store for one additional week – hopefully starting this week and if you are interested, I will get you the necessary information.
Mat Boss Video Access
Many of you have noticed the Carters video-taping (as well as scoring) all of our matches. This allows each wrestler to watch their matches once they are uploaded. This is how that is done:
Here is a video showing you how to gain access to your matches:
http://matbossapp.com/?page_id=10138#wrestler-login
Our team code is: NR64T1
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Technique Video of the Week
A few good videos on finishing shots when your opponent stops your initial attack (a position we spent a lot of time in this past week):
Cael Sanderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1QsqnCxhbg
Ed Ruth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qog727zuiu0
John Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnBNNOEOaBY
Can’t wait to spend the next few days getting better and see the improvements in action on Thursday and Friday! As always let me know if anybody has any questions.
Coach Troy
763-913-0601