December 30, 2002: I went to Quest because we weren't having any practices at South Fayette because there was no school for the holidays. And we have our South Fayette Tournament on Sunday, so I wanted to practice before it. First we did a move when you push on one arm and pull on the other. Then we shot a Single Leg Takedown. Then we just had to practice a Single Leg Takedown. My partner was J.J.

December 29, 2002:

This is my fourth tournament of the season. It is at Chartiers Valley. I placed 4th here last year in the 1st and 2nd year tournament and 4th in the open tournament. I can only compete in the open tournament this year.

My grandfathers and godmother were there. First I wrestled a kid from New Jersey. I shot with my elbows sticking out so he front head locked me and pinned me. I was really mad because I wanted to place 1st or 2nd. My next kid I was wrestling was from Burrel. I pinned him in the 1st period. The next kid I'm wrestling is from All-American Club. I pinned him in the 2nd period.

Next I'm wrestling a kid from Raccoon Wrestling. His name is Michael. He was the one who beat me 4-0 at the South Side Beaver Tournament. So I really wanted to beat him. It was very hard. I lost 2-1. I placed 4th.

Now my record is 13 wins and 9 losses. I have 9 pins out of the 13 wins. 9 pins is more pins than I've had in my career.

December 21, 2002: This is my third tournament of the season. It is at North Allegheny. First I wrestled a kid from Grove City. I pinned him in the 2nd period. I'm wrestling a kid from Raccoon Wrestling, his name is Wiley. He has beat me once in my 1st year wrestling and beat me twice in my 2nd year wrestling. So now I really want to beat him. I kept doing a Sit-out, then he caught me. He pinned me in the 2nd period. When Wiley pinned me, I felt bad because I've never beaten him before and because I got pinned. Now I'm wrestling a kid from Pine Richland. I wrestled him at Quest in practice. It was a tough match. I had 2 Takedowns. The other kid had an Escape and Reversal. I won 4-3. My next match is against a kid from Jetsons. He pinned me in the 2nd period. I felt bad because I was out of the tournament and didn't achieve my goal this year to place in every tournament I entered. I was also hoping to place better than last year at this tournament, since I didn't place last year either.

December 19, 2002: I practiced at South Fayette. First we were working on how to counter the Sit-out. Then we had to get out in 30 seconds. I got out against J.J. and I didn't get out against Monte. Then we ran to the wall and back 3 times. Finally we did live wrestling.

December 18, 2002: I went to Quest for practice. J.J. from South Fayette joined there. He was my partner. First we did a drill when you get in your wrestling stance, put your hand down and circle around it. The next drill we did we had their leg and drove up and took them down. Then we did a Takedown drill when you have their legs, they sprawl and you drive up. We each did it 2 times back and forth. Then we did it with a single leg. We then did live Takedowns. I was in a group of 3 with J.J. and the other Tyler from Moon that I wrestled last year. I took J.J. down every time except 2 times. Tyler from Moon took me and J.J. down every time.

December 17, 2002: This practice Mr. Walker and my Dad coached half of the practice. We did Sit-outs. Then Coach Jeremy came in the middle of practice and showed us a different way to do a Sit-out.

December 14, 2002: This is my second tournament of the season. The tournament is at South Side Beaver. It is another Tournament Of Champions qualifier. I want to place first. First I wrestled a kid from Aliquippa. I pinned him in about 30 seconds. I felt good, so I would only have to win 2 more matches to get to the 1st and 2nd place round. Next I wrestled a kid from Raccoon Wrestling. I kept putting my head down when I was shooting in on Takedowns. So he kept getting behind me. I lost 4-0. I need to win 4 matches to place 3rd. I have to wrestle a 1st year kid from my school named Zach Walker. I don't like wrestling kids from my school. I pinned him in the first period. I sat around for 3 hours and fell asleep until this next match. Then I wrestled a kid from Streetsboro, Ohio. I pinned him in 15 seconds. Next I wrestled a kid from Hopewell. I almost pinned him in the 2nd and 3rd period. I won 12-0. I wrestled for 3rd and 4th place. Now I am wrestling a kid from Carlynton. He was hard. I had 2 reversals. I won 4-0. I had 4 minutes until my next match. I am wrestling back for true 2nd place. I got pinned in the 2nd period by a kid from East Liverpool, Ohio. So I ended up in 3rd place. I qualified for the Tournament Of Champions again.

December 10, 2002:

I went to South Fayette. We had pictures tonight. My Dad and Mom took the pictures. Then Coach Carr's son Mike was pretending to be coach. He showed us how to do the Cradle and a Takedown. He is 5 years old and he was funny. When the coaches came in, we did 35 push-up's. then we did King Of The Mat. I won against Sabatino Rossi and lost against Monte Lyons. Then with Coach Jeremy, I beat Sabatino and Monty and John Schwab, but lost against Brian Haney.

December 08, 2002: This is my first tournament of the season. It is a preseason tournament. I was wrestling for my Pap and Mimi. I wanted to win this so I can qualify for the Ohio Tournament Of Champions again. The tournament was in Waynesburg, which is almost an hour from my house. The South Fayette team wasn't wrestling this weekend, so I was the only kid from South Fayette who went to Waynesburg. I was wrestling independently from my team and my Dad was coaching me. The rules for this tournament were Tournament Of Champions rules. Just 1 three minute period. My first match was against a boy from Connelsville. I was trying to take him down, but he kept sprawling and getting behind me. I lost 6-0. I was mad because I wanted to win this tournament. Next I wrestled a girl from Brownsville. I pinned her in 14 seconds. Then I wrestled another boy from Connelsville. I pinned him in a minute. Now I am wrestling for 3rd or 4th place. If I place 3rd, I'll qualify for the Tournament Of Champions. I won with a technical fall, 11-0. I was very happy to win so I didn't have to worry about qualifying for the Tournament Of Champions for the rest of my season now. I did it already!

December 04, 2002: I went to Quest School Of Wrestling. Coach Akerly wasn't there, so a substitute was. His name was Ken Smith. He is an assistant wrestling coach at Chartiers Houston High School. First he went over 5 of the 7 basic rules. They are stance, movement, level change, penetration and lift. Then we practiced the Cross Face Cradle. Next we did the Arm Drag. After that we had to run to the end of the room, do 10 push up's, run to the other side and do 9 push up's, and we did that until we got to zero. Then we did the same thing, except we had to do sit-up's. Next we did live wrestling Takedown's. I took my partner down 9 times. He took me down once. There were only he and I at practice that night, so we got more attention. And he weighed 20 pounds more than me.

December 03, 2002: I went to South Fayette practice. First we practiced how to peel the Half Nelson off. Then we went live when the person on top had the Half Nelson on us and we had to escape in 15 seconds. My partner was Nick Carr. Then we did live wrestling matches with 3 one minute periods. I pinned J.J. Simpronio 3 times. He didn't pin me. Then I wrestled with Brad Haney. I pinned him 8 times, he didn't pin me. We ended practice doing the Snap Down. The Snap Down is when your partner is pushing you, you snap their head down and get around them.

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