Hononegah Kids Wrestling Blog: January 2009 Archives

The Hononegah Kids Club wrestlers have continued to have strong performance over the past two weekends.

On Sunday January 18, twenty Hononegah wrestlers competed in the IKWF Jon Davis Kids Open with almost 1500 other wrestlers from across the state. This tournament is unique in a number of ways. Wrestlers get the opportunity to compete in a large venue in front of a crowd of thousands of people. They get to see competition from other areas of the state. All Hononegah wrestlers go down the day before the actual tournament and stay at a hotel, providing a great time to bond and get to know each other for parents and kids alike. Finaly, no coaching is allowed on the floor of the arena.

All of our athletes wrestled hard with 15 coming home with awards. Place winners were as follows:

Tyler Demoss - 2^nd place
Joey Welsh - 5^th place
Benjamin Zalapi - 1^st place
Manny Silva - 5^th place
Nick Carter, 1^st place
Boston Nimmer - 6^th place
Brady Powers - 6^th place
Keegan Powers - 2^nd place
Hayden Brown - 4^th place
Anthony Silva - 6^th place
Braden Zalapi - 3^rd place
Jordan Shahrikian - 3^rd place
Blake Zalapi - 3^rd place
Fernie Silva - 5^th place
Anthony Cicero - 4^th place

Congratulations to all!

On Sunday January 25, twenty-one Hononegah wrestlers attended the Marengo Cabin Fever tournament at Marengo High School. We hoped to bring a much larger group of wrestlers to this tournament to defend the team title that we won at last year’s tournament. In spite of our small numbers, we knew we had a strong group that was more than capable of repeating the performance of last year if they wrestled up to their capabilities.

Similar to other tournaments that have team competitions, all teams are asked to designate 10 wrestlers as team scorers. The placements of these 10 wrestlers are used to determine team points as follows:

-          1^st place earns 10 team points
-          2^nd place earns 8 team points
-          3^rd place earns 6 team points
-          4^th place earns 4 team points
It was somewhat tough to choose 10 wrestlers out of our 21, but at the same time we knew that almost any combination of 10 of our 21 wrestlers were capable of giving us the points we needed to bring home a trophy. However, our actual results exceeded even our own expectations.

For a second consecutive year, we had dominating performances at all levels, enough to earn us 92 out of a possible 100 team points. As I handed our score sheet to the head table, the table worker’s eyes went wide just prior to asking me if I was sure of my math.

As the announcer announced the results of the team competition, our wrestlers who were still there waited in anticipation as they heard, “In 3^rd place, with 86 points……the Cary Matmen. In 2^nd place with 88 points…..the Dundee Highlanders. And, your 2009 Marengo Cabin Fever champions, winning the team title for the second straight year, with 92 point……Hononegah!”

We all proceeded to the awards table to claim a very impressive trophy that stands about 4 feet tall. Make sure you stop into the wrestling room this week to take a look at the trophy. It’s definitely a nice addition to our collection that continues to grow at a steady rate.

Our individual performances for the tournament were as follows:

Brady Powers – 1^st place
Keegan Powers – 2^nd place
Braden Zalapi – 1st place
Blake Zalapi – 2nd place
Ben Zalapi – 2st place
Dominic Cascio – 3^rd place
Anthony Casio – 1^st place
Giovanni Cassioppi – 1^st place
Anthony Cassioppi – 1^st place
Louden Schnake – 4^th place
Xander Schanke – 1^st place
Ryan Spranger – 2^nd place
Hunter Comstock – 4^th place
Josh Lester – 2^nd place
Seth Wisowaty – 1^st place
Jordan Shahrikian – 3^rd place
Zach Mooney – 1^st place
Thomas Rollette – 3^rd place
Kameron VanTassel – 3^rd place
Tyler Brugman – Injury Default
Josh Willi – 1^st place

Congratulations to all who wrestled and coached.

Lastly, I would like to thank the many people who volunteered to work our first ever beginners tournament on Saturday January 24. The tournament was a huge success and we could not have done it without all of the wonderful volunteers.

Almost 250 wrestlers competed in the tournament from numerous clubs across the northern part of the state. Every wrestler had at least 2 matches. Our club had over 60 1^st/2^nd year wrestlers compete. Many wrestlers picked up their first wins, first pins, first 1^st place finishes, etc. The great performances were many and all kids should be proud of how they wrestled.

The tournament could not have run more smoothly, with the final matches ending just after 12:30 pm. At the end of the tournament, our outstanding volunteers worked together to have everything torn down and put away by about 1 pm. We received compliments and thanks from numerous coaches and parents on the event. Kudos to everyone involved in making this tournament a success.

Posted by hononegahkidswrestling at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It has been quite a while since the last blog entry, and much has happened since. We have passed the halfway point of the season and the fruits of our hard work have definitely begun to pay off with many strong tournament performances at all levels over the past month.

As many of you know, in addition to individual awards many of the tournaments we compete in also have team competitions. These tournaments typically award trophies or plaques for the top 3 teams. The way these team competitions typically work is clubs are asked to designate a list of 10 – 12 wrestlers as team scorers prior to the start of the tournament. The wins and losses of these wrestlers are then tallied to give each team a point total that is used to determine placement in the team standings. This method removes the advantage that teams with a large number of wrestlers would otherwise have. Last year, we were able to realize team success in one tournament in capturing the team title at the Marengo Cabin Fever Open. This year, I am pleased to say that we have already far surpassed the success of last season in terms of # of team awards with the following accomplishments in the first half of the season alone:

Wolves Varsity Duals on December 20th: This was a dual meet tournament that we were invited to this year hosted by the Crystal Lake Wolves. There were a total of eight teams in this tournament. Each team wrestled 3 dual meets with 18 weight classes. We brought our best wrestlers across all 18 weight classes, as well as a handful of quality second string wrestlers to compete. We were seeded fourth in this tournament and brought home the 3^rd Place Trophy. Due to our seed, we drew the #1 seeded team in the United Southern All Stars, an all-star team from southern Illinois loaded with numerous state qualifiers and place winners, in the semi-final dual. We wrestled very competitively and lost a tough match to this team. Along the way we defeated Richmond in the preliminary match and the Maine Eagles for 3^rd place.
Genoa-Kingston on December 20^th: We sent a group of 22 wrestlers to this tournament made up of younger wrestlers and 2^nd/3^rd string wrestlers who did not join the dual meet team at Crystal Lake. This tournament showed the depth and young talent we have in our club as we took home the 2^nd Place Plaque. Our 10 designated team scorers in this tournament won 26 of 29 matches earning 7 first place and 3 second place finishes. 22 of our 26 wins were by pin. The first place team, Dekalb Wrestling Club, also finished with 7 first place and 3 second place finishes. However, they won the first place plaque by virtue of having one more win on the day than we did winning 27 or 30 matches.
Stillman Valley Holiday Tournament on December 21^st: We had about 35 wresters compete in this tournament across all levels. There were two different team competitions at this tournament: one for tots, bantams and midgets and the other for Novice and Seniors. We designated groups of 10 wrestlers from each group as team scorers. This tournament was very challenging for our wrestlers. Many did not place as high as we expected. At the end of the day, we did not feel very confident of our chances in the team competition, so we left before the team scores were announced. Much to our surprise, we were notified the next day that we won the 3^rd Place Trophies in both age groups.
Wolves Interstate Battery Classic on January 4^th: We brought 17 wrestlers to this very tough tournament that had a lot of tough competition that we don’t often see, such as Gomez Wrestling Academy, Lakeland Predators, Libertyville Wildcats, Mad Dog Wrestling and many other talented clubs from the Chicago suburbs. We designated 12 wrestlers as team scorers. This tournament proved to be extremely tough for us with only 2 of our 12 wrestlers taking first place (Nick Carter and Blake Zalapi). Once again, we left the tournament prior to team scores being announced, assuming that we were not close in the team competition. Once again, I received a pleasantly surprising phone call from the Wolves tournament director on Monday morning telling me that we won the 3^rd Place Trophy, finishing behind the Lakeland Predators and Gomez Wrestling Academy.
Mid-Season North Section Preview on January 11^th: We brought 53 wrestlers to this tournament, our 2^nd largest number of entries this season. This tournament is unique in that it contains 8 person brackets for Bantams and Tots and true state weight classes for Midgets, Novice and Seniors, resulting in brackets as large as 16. Team awards were given for the top 3 teams in each of four groups: Bantams/Tots, Midgets, Novice and Seniors. Unlike other tournaments, the results of all wrestlers were used to determine team points and final team standings. Our results for the tournament were as follows:
- Bantams/Tots: 2^nd Place Trophy – Outstanding job by a group made up of many first and second year wrestlers.
- Midgets: 4^th place – we fell just short of winning a trophy here. Great job by the 9 – 10 year old wrestlers, nonetheless. We have seen a lot of improvement from our 9 and 10 year olds.
- Novice: 2^nd Place Trophy – Many wrestlers rose to the occasion to contribute here. We were missing perhaps our best Novice wrestler due to injury. Had he wrestled, we very well could have taken 1^st in this age group.
- Seniors: 3^rd Place Trophy – Our smallest group of wrestlers by far is our 13 and 14 year olds. We had 9 senior wrestlers wrestle hard and win some very tough matches to accumulate enough team points to outdistance many teams who brought more wrestlers. Great job, Seniors!
- Overall Team Standings: This tournament also awards a trophy for the Grand Champion across all divisions. We placed second in the overall team standings, falling just short of the Crystal Lake Wizards for the Grand Champion trophy. Wait ‘til next year!
Excellent showing by all wrestlers who have competed over the past few weeks! As much as I would like to call out all individual award winners in the above tournaments, there are far too many outstanding individual performances to keep track of and list. I will offer a blanket congratulations to all wrestlers who have tried their best and been rewarded for their efforts. You know who you are.
Upcoming Tournament Registration Deadlines:
Everybody should be aware of a number of registration deadlines for future tournaments in the upcoming days and weeks. Please review the details below and talk with a coach if you have any questions about a tournament you are considering for your son. (Please note the recommended levels)
Hononegah Beginners Tournament:
The deadline for registration was 1/6, but we will continue to take signups until Friday, 1/16
Date of Tournament: 1/24/2009
Location: Hononegah Main Gym
Level: All 1^st and 2^nd year wrestlers are expected to sign up and wrestle
Polo Wrestling Tournament:
Payment due by 1/12/2009
Date of Tournament: 1/31/2009
Location: Polo High School
Level: Open to all levels; This tournament is very beginner friendly
3^rd Annual Blake Barrone Memorial 4 Man Round Robin Tournament:
Payment due by 1/13/2009
Date of Tournament: 2/1/2009
Location: Boylan High School
Level: Great tournament for all levels. Last year, Hononegah had the most participants of any other club with 60+ kids wrestling (Let’s beat that number this year)
All Illinois Bantam Championships:
Payment due by 1/31/2009 (Make Checks payable to Vince Zalapi)
Entry Fee: $18
Date of Tournament: 2/14/2009
Location: Bloom Trail High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois
Level: 6-8 year old wrestlers who have solid winning records on the season
Note: Weigh-ins will be at tournament site on 2/13/09 from 8 am – 12 pm. Please notify Coach Vince Zalapi (vmzalapi@yahoo.com) if you are considering signing your son up from this event. See following link for more information: http://www.crosstownwrestling.com/docs/Bantam%20Info%20Letter.doc
DeKalb WC Kids Tournament:
Payment due by 2/7/2009
Date of Tournament: 2/15/2009
Location: DeKalb High School
Level: Open to all levels; This tournament is relatively beginner friendly
Dundee Highlanders 52^nd Anniversary Tournament:
Payment due by 1/23/2009
Date of Tournament: 2/22/2009
Location: Dundee Crown High School
Level: Open to all levels; There is no Tot Division (6 and under) at this tournament. This is one of only 5 tournaments in the state this weekend. As a result, participants from across the state often attend and; competition can be tough.
IKWF Regionals:
Payment due by 2/15/2009
Date of Tournament: 2/28/2009
Location: Stillman Valley High School
Level: Open to all levels; This is the last tournament of the season for 8 and under wrestlers. All wrestlers 9 and over should attend regionals. Top 6 wresters in 9-10, Novice and Senior divisions advance to sectionals.
Midget State Championships:
Payment due date: TBA
Entry Fee: TBA
Date of Tournament: 3/21 – 3/22 (Weigh-ins on 3/20/09)
Location: Palmer Arena, Danville, Illinois
Level: Any 8-10 year old wrestler is eligible to enter; recommended for 9 and 10 year old wrestlers who have winning records or 8 year olds who have winning percentages of 80% or higher.
As always, please do not let any question you have go unanswered. Please talk with coaches about any concerns you may have or e-mail me.

Thanks.

-Coach Vince (vmzalapi@yahoo.com)

Posted by hononegahkidswrestling at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hononegah Kids Wrestling Blog

Provides updates, news and results for all Hononegah Kids Wrestling members

January 26, 2009

Hononegah Kids Club Have Very Strong Showings at IKWF Kids Open and Marengo Cabin Fever Tournaments

January 12, 2009

Hononegah Kids Wrestling Club Collects Hardware at Recent Tournaments: