Because some of you asked for it. Not the best of quality, unfortunately.
First match I don’t have. My wife’s phone was over its memory capacity, so while the camera showed that it was recording, the video itself immediately got deleted. Satch won with a pin in the second period, already up 7-0. It was his first ever pin by way of a cradle, which I taught him as an alternative to the Twister when an opponent posts a leg to stop from being spun.
Match 2 she was able to film, but because she was stuck watching a couple of young children while the parents of some other wrestlers I coach were in the staging area, she had to film from the stands on the other side of the gym. Satch is in blue at the far side mat. If you squint, though, you can make out the two points Satchel’s opponent was awarded for a phantom takedown. He didn’t complete the move and had no control (Satchel used his head to come around and get the actual takedown), which is why Satch got an immediate “reversal.” You can kinda make it out at the 1:25-1:28 mark. Sadly, all the “reversal” did was cancel out the bad takedown call instead of give Satchel two additional points. Which wouldn’t much matter much except that these were the only points he gave up on the day.
The championship match was against a teammate of the boy Satchel defeated in the semi-finals. He’d gotten word from his coaches and his teammate on how Satchel likes to wrestle and we could tell he was very tentative and very nervous. It wasn’t much of a match, really: Satchel tied up by grabbing hands, then kinda push-pull-pushed the kid off balance and drove him back, where he fell over his own feet. At that point, all that remained was for Satchel to cover him.
Honestly, it seemed to me that Satchel had the pin for a good 15-20 seconds before the ref finally called it. He’d even lifted the boy’s head off the mat so that the ref could better see it.
heh, looked like Satch was ready to go another round or two just before the post-pin handshake.
Satchel has a great stance and good technique.
Obviously he is the product of excellent coaching.
lol. Looks like third time is a charm with that last ref. wtf.
And that last kid really was beat at the handshake, Satch starting to get a bit of a rep, huh?
He’s starting to put it all together. There are still plenty of kids in his age/weight bracket who are better wrestlers than him right now, but he’s closing the gap. They know more, having been coached a different way. But he’s beginning to really learn to move like a wrestler, using his head to lead him, using more set-ups, turning wrist control and riding into turns and pins, which is what he did this weekend. Since I started taking on his coaching, I’m very proud of how he’s developed.
And soon I’ll start teaching him leg riding and turking, because when I think he’s ready for it, I can imagine it will turn him into an absolute terror. He has fantastic leg, back, and neck strength for his size.
That being said, I thought the competition level this weekend was a slight drop-off from the Eagle Open (which was a very slight drop from the Northern Colorado Grappler’s Open, a tournament I now believe he could have won, having reviewed the video), but then, I’m Satch’s toughest critic as well as his biggest booster, and it could just be that Satchel made it look easier this weekend, not that there was a drop-off in the competition. Last weekend he used takedowns, wrist control, and rode most of his opponents the entire match. This weekend, he got takedowns, took wrist control and used it to set up turns and, ultimately, pins.
I wish we hadn’t lost the cradle finish vid. That kid finished second, so he was pretty good, and as I say, Satch was leading 7-0 when he pinned him with it. I think he’s gaining confidence and it’s convincing him to shoot more, knowing he can get out of bad positions and still finish the take down. Some of his losses in finals this year came because he was nervous and wrestled defensively. Now we’re seeing him go after the legs a lot more — while his best moves still come off baiting kids into taking double leg shots, which he stuffs pretty regularly now and can turn into points.
Looks like he has presence of mind, knows where he is and knows where the ref is. If he’s thinking out there, that’s awesome.
Nice work Satch!