February 17, 2002:

I didn't even wrestle in my own South Fayette Tournament because the night before the tournament I was running around with my friends in the gym and I slipped on the bleachers and hit my head. I had to get 7 stitches on my right eyebrow.

I was very upset with myself. If I wrestled I could have beat the kid that got first.

My Hopewell Match is the end of my regular wrestling season until The Tournament Of Champions on April 27.

A wrestler and his Dad that I beat 3 times came up to me and said that he felt sorry because we were supposed to wrestle again and he looked forward to trying to beat me again.

My coaches are going to help me train until the Tournament Of Champions. I won't start training until 4/1/02. I can't practice or go to tournaments for 4 weeks the doctor said. I guess this will give me a chance to finish reading Kurt's book.

[Note From Tyler's Dad: Even though the doctor said to wait 4 weeks, his mother and I have decided to have Tyler wait for 6 weeks to heal up a little better before starting him on his training for The Tournament Of Champions. Tyler has been very disappointed that he missed his last 3 regular season tournaments, but is really looking forward to his final tournament. We'll be back in a few weeks to update you on his training.]

February 14, 2002:

This was my thirtieth practice. In the first half of the practice, me, Stevie Hennon, J.J. Simpronio and Mikey Stetzer helped out when a kid did a move wrong. Then we wrestled kids that didn't have a partner. I wrestled with Travis Golden for half of the practice. I only went 60% on him because I weigh 10 more pounds than him. Then I wrestled him in half of the second session practice. I went 70% on him because this was my practice. I still didn't want to go 100% on him. Then I wrestled Monte Lyons. We wrestled a live match. I pinned him 5 times. He pinned me twice. Then we practiced sit out's. I practiced sit out's with Sean Lubin.

February 13, 2002:

This was my twenty-ninth practice. First we wrestled live. I wrestled John Cochran. He went 60% on me. He helped me when I did a move wrong. Next we did live wrestling from the top and bottom position. He went 60% on me again.

We switched partners and did a live match. I wrestled with Sean Lubin. I pinned Sean 5 times. He pinned me 3 times.

February 12, 2002:

This wasn't one of my usual practices. We got to bring a friend. My friend's name is Eric Conners. Coach Jeremy was teaching all of the friends moves that are easy. All of the wrestlers did live wrestling. We brought friends in so more people would get interested in wrestling.

I wrestled live with Monte Lyons. I pinned him once. He pinned me once. Then we wrestled live from the top and bottom positions. I pinned Monte twice. He pinned me once. Then we switched partners. My partner was John Schwab. We did more live wrestling. I pinned John 4 times. He didn't pin me. Then we wrestled live from the top and bottom position. I pinned John 7 times. He pinned me twice. Then we wrestled a live match. I pinned John 4 times. He pinned me 3 times.

February 09, 2002:

This was my fourth match. It was at Hopewell. I wrestled a kid from Hopewell. His name was A. Sepp. I got pinned in the second period.

Next I wrestled another kid from Hopewell. His name was W. Belknap. I wrestled him at West Allegheny twice. I lost to him again. The score was 2-5.

I wrestled another kid from Hopewell. I really wanted to win now. His name was P. Milch. I lost 4-6.

When you lose your focus and go out on the mat and think that you’re not going to win, you don’t win. When you think you are going to win, you win. I wasn’t focused because I was having a bad day. I want to do better next week at our South Fayette Tournament.

February 07, 2002:

This was my twenty-seventh practice. I didn’t practice with the first group like I usually do because I was stuck in traffic. When I got there, Collin Griffith, Adam Zombek and me were helping a new kid that just joined the team. His name is Zach Kelly. Coach Carr quizzed him when we were in neutral position and top and bottom positions.

Mikey Stetzer stayed for the second group practice to wrestle with me. First we did live wrestling from neutral, top and bottom. Then we wrestled a live match. I pinned Mikey 11 times and he didn’t pin me. Then we ended practice doing 25 push up’s.

February 06, 2002:

This was my twenty-sixth practice. First we did live wrestling from the neutral position. I pinned Monte Lyons once. He pinned me twice. Then we did live wrestling from the top and bottom position. I didn’t pin Monte at all. He pinned me 3 times.

Then we switched partners. I wrestled with John Cochran. He was wrestling at about 60% with me. He was helping me wrestle. He didn’t go live on me because he is 11 years old and he weighs 82 pounds.

February 05, 2002:

This was my twenty-fifth practice. First we did live wrestling. My partners were Mikey Stetzer and J.J. Simpronio. I pinned Mike 6 times. I pinned J.J. 4 times. Neither of them pinned me.

Then we did wrestling from the top and bottom position. I pinned J.J. 5 more times. He pinned me once. I pinned Mikey 6 times.

Then we practiced the Single Leg Takedown for about an hour. At the end of practice we ran for 5 minutes.

February 02, 2002:

This was my eighth tournament. It was at Avonworth. I was wrestling for my grandmother because she died two days after the Fort Cherry Tournament. Now she can see every tournament and match from Heaven. My two grandfathers showed up and my uncle. First I wrestled a kid from Carlynton. His name was Adam. I beat him 7-0. Then I wrestled a kid from North Allegheny. His name was Dan Toner. I lost 7-2.

Next I wrestled a kid from Hopewell. His name was Dan. I won 8-4.

I wrestled a kid from Franklin Regional. I beat him 7-0. The next match I wrestle, if I win, I wrestle for third and fourth place.

I wrestled a kid from Hampton. His name was Kevin. His coach was saying he could beat me. I made him cry. I beat him 4-2.

Now I’m wrestling for third and fourth place. If I win third place, I qualify for The Tournament Of Champions in Ohio. I wrestled the same kid that beat me, Dan Toner. I won 4-2 to place third. I wanted to beat him because he got pinned his last match. I also made him cry by the end of the match. I used moves that I usually don’t do. I felt comfortable to use those moves because once I got up to Dan Toner again, I won 4 matches and I only lost 1. Dan Toner was seeded # 2 in my bracket and he placed fourth.

Next I was wrestling a kid from North Allegheny. His name was Brendon. This was for true second place. I got pinned. But I accomplished my goal to qualify for The Tournament Of Champions by placing third.