Summer Garage cleaning...

[MR TWISTER]

Well it's summer time and everything is coming up roses for the Illinois high school freestyle / greco juniors and cadets dual team. Three out of four is not too bad. And at this point no one really cares who was and who was not there. History was made when Illinois became the first state to win both the Junior Greco and Freestyle titles. Add the Cadet Greco championship and Illinois wrestlers spent a lot of time winning. The closest junior freestyle match was 43 points after pool play.

The Junior Freestylers claimed back to back National Duals titles with their win this year.

Read all about the junior freestyle championship right here.
http://www.illinoismatmen.com/forum/...ad.php?t=11344

Congrats to all of the wrestlers and the coaches as well. Illinois continues to impress the rest of the country with our off season success. Fargo is next. Who knows what might happen?

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Although school is out the teacher in me found some summer reading for the high school ( or college) wrestler. Feel free to pass these out to you friends and their friends.

The Rules of Life (learn them and live by them)
Rule 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault. Don't whine about your mistakes -- learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how "cool" you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
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I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer. Now is the time to make plans for the fall and the winter wrestling season and beyond. Be sure to take a peak at Get Recruited - the Easy Way...http://www.lulu.com/content/494797 Looking for the right direction to go? My book hits the nail on the head. Plan for your future.

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I got a chance last month to go to the premier of J. D. Oliva's independent movie 7 Minutes http://www.7minutes-movie.com/at the Arcadia in St. Charles. The movie is the story of a college wrestler's pursuit of the national championship and his own personal demons. Shot locally 7 Minutes will be released in DVD form at the end of the summer. Make sure when you get your copy that you look for yours truely as a national sports reporter.

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I have not heard a lot of feedback on the state finals DVD. I thought the project turned out well. The finished product was pretty slick and fast paced. The little feedback I have seen included compliment's on the Benefiel and White excerpts. Well I can't wait to see how next year's third version of the state finals tape turns out.

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Thanks to all of the state wrestling fans that have inquired about my son's injury. Everyone I meet ask how he is doing and often inquire when will he compete again. A quick update is he is back to wrestling and has completed a full recovery from ACL surgery. No competition this summer, just training and practicing. His coach has told him the team expects him to be in the lineup this season. So far so good...