04/02/08 - 04/06/08
Cliff Keen Reno World Championships
Reno, Nevada
On Wednesday ~ 4/02/08, four Mepo Youth Wrestlers, along with one coach & two parents, hopped on a plane headed for Reno, Nevada to compete in the final event of this year's Jack Roller World of Wrestling Cliff Keen Series of Tournaments ~ the 2008 Reno World Championships. Over 2,800 young men and women from over 34 states competed in this year's event. Wrestlers who made this journey were 7th grader, Travis Delzell; 6th grader, Adam Drain; 5th grader, Cole Erickson; and 4th grader, Luke Erickson. The boys enjoyed not only the competition of this tournament, but also enjoyed the opportunity to spend quality time site-seeing the beautiful mountains and old mining towns of the Reno area, as well as the breathtaking views of Lake Tahoe.
During their first night in Reno, our wrestlers were invited to attend a local wrestling practice at Damonte Ranch High School, where they met some great wrestling partners, coaches, and parents. We would like to thank Damonte Ranch wrestlers, coaches, and parents for their kind hospitality and treating our boys as part of their group! You truly are what we consider to be, the best in Reno!!!
Weigh-ins took place on Thursday afternoon, with competition beginning on Friday morning from 8am-12:30pm for each of our wrestlers divisions. Wrestling picked back up for the 6 & Under, 8 & Under, 10 & Under, and 12 & Under divisions on Saturday ~ again from 8am-12:30pm. The final Championship matches for the top 6 places wrestled at 12:00pm on Sunday 4/6/08, with the wrestlers returning home on Monday 4/7/08.
Being the younger competitors in their division, both Drain & Delzell met up with some tough competition in their brackets, but succeeded in making it through to the second day of competition. Travis was wrestling the 12 and under 96 lb. division and Adam wrestled the 12 and under 105 lb. division. The wrestling, as well as competitors, in both of these divisions looked as though it belonged in a high school or college meet. Both boys looked great on Saturday, but fell just short of making it to the final round. They stuck around and showed great support for our other two wrestlers!
This was both of the Erickson's first trip to Reno, and it turned out to be a successful one at that...
Just like Delzell & Drain, Luke was also competing as one of the younger wrestlers in his division. Though Luke wasn't wrestling his best on Friday or Saturday, with luck on his side and a bit of hard work, he was able to secure a spot in the final round of competition on Sunday. Contrary to the previous two days, Luke woke up Sunday ready to wrestle & wrestled great to give him the 5th place win by pin on the podium in the 73 lb. 10 & under division. This was a great experience for Luke and he is looking forward to next years competition when he will be one of the older wrestlers in his division.
Unlike our other three wrestlers, Cole was one of the oldest in his 76 lb. 10 & under division. He wrestled solid on Friday and Saturday, meeting up with some great competition, and succeeding in making it to the Championship match on Sunday undefeated. This was a goal that Cole had after attending the Tulsa Nationals & seeing how each of the wrestlers competing for 1st & 2nd place are individually announced during the parade of champions. He was wrestling very well during the finals with a 4-2 lead, when a slight mistake, with a very experienced wrestler, cost him the 1st place championship. Even though he brought home 2nd place rather than 1st, this was a huge accomplishment for his first year of competition in the national circuit!
Congratulations go out to Coach Drain and these wrestlers for a fantastic trip & experience of a lifetime!!!
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