But I wanted to take the time and talk about something near and dear to my heart...Nebraska Wrestling. I had been wrestling for 10 years and loved every minute of it, on occasion I still jump on the mats and roll with some friends, but not to the extent that I was did. People are right when they say it is like riding a bike. All you have to do is jump on and pedal and the body will remember the rest. When I was in high school, I wrestled between 140-157lbs., I went to Bayard High School in Bayard, Nebraska home of the Tigers. I have been fortunate to wrestle with some of the coolest and best people around. Numerous state qualifiers, placers, and even champions. When I went to college I wrestled in Iowa at a place called Northwestern College, I was there for a year and half and to be honest, I got so much better being in there (but that is to be expected when you wrestle in the next level).
While I was attending high school and college, there was a school around me who had won numerous titles in wrestling. That school was Omaha Skutt Catholic...as of yesterday 02/18/2017 they had just clinched their 19th our of 20 state titles. To me that is amazing, they have finished in the top 3 20 out of 20 times. The only time they did not win a state title they finished 2nd overall. You have to really sit in awe of a school that can produce that many championships, and stay as dominate as they have been. They have produced numerous state champions and to the best of my knowledge five 4-time State Champions (There has been 28 overall). Just under 25% of 4-time state champions have come from this one school. It is truly a feat that will go unmatched with lots more champions to still come.
The other thing I was very impressed with, was the evolution of the weight classes. I do not know about other people, but I was in shock by how much the wrestlers have changed. I know in the heavier weight classes wrestlers looked more in peak physical condition. Even the lightweight wrestlers were shredded up and looked like they had been chiseled out of stone. With the evolution of the sport it was amazing to see how far they had come since I was in high school. Maybe I was too close to see it but, I was thinking they all looked ready for the next level in competition.
I was also impressed with the way Western Nebraska represented the wrestling community. Even though I have been away for sometime, it was still fun to see schools like Bayard, Scottsbluff, Morrill, and Mitchell involved. To see people from North Platte, Bridgeport, and Chase County placing in the tournament. If we could see an increase in the western schools in the state finals it would be amazing, but for now I am glad to see how well they are showing up.
Another thing I found astonishing was how much mat time these wrestlers are getting, at one point there was a wrestler who was 60-2 for the year. To get 62 matches in one year was mind blowing to me. I know a lot of schools are going to a two day dual tournament format to get that kind of mat time which I think is great for the state of Nebraska.
I want to give a big congrats to Bayard High School. We sent three to state, but they represented well with two of them placing in the tournament. I hope I am able to make it out next year during the tournament, I know my school will be bringing to Omaha a squad with them, and hopefully we will see them hold a team championship.
Let me know what you think of the blog, or you can tweet out at me @cm_miller85 and do not forget to check out my other blog Get The KO...the link is www.blogspot.com/gettheko
-Clifford Miller
-Clifford Miller
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