Kelly Green
01-31-2005, 11:22 PM
Twelve youth wrestling clubs ascended on Danville, IL for the annual IKWF Dual Team State Championships, from Murphysboro to Dakota and everywhere in between.What a great display they all put on for us. The State Duals are truly one of the best tournaments in the IKWF, in my opinion, only a notch below the individual State Tournament in Rockford. Dual Team competition is as good as it gets. For the kids who don’t continue to wrestle in high school, this is their only exposure they will ever have with the dual format.
It all started Friday night
Watching the Fighting Illini wrestling team beat...no pound, the Iowa Hawkeyes was awesome. Being so close to Danville, and watching that butt-kicking had me ready for Sunday. I couldn’t sleep for two nights. I was a wreck. I knew Sunday was going to be a special day. And it was.
And that’s why they wrestle ‘em coach
I was three for four with my first round predictions. Leave it to the Vittum Catz to spoil my perfect predictions. In round two, Orland Park stepped it up and beat Harlem(55-51) to ruin my final four prediction too. It’s great to have a team like Orland Park down the road and in our section. High level competition breeds high level competition. Can’t wait for the Tholl Elite on Feb 13th. I did nail the finals dual tho. I also took the safety route and made no prediction in that final dual. Altho, I knew it would be a close one.
Close as they come
This year there were six duals decided by four points or less. Last year there were ZERO. There were three duals decided by fifteen points or less too. That is a lot of close duals. There were only twenty total duals. And don’t forget, last year we had fifteen teams compared to twelve this year.With all the competitive duals the Palmer Arena was getting pretty loud at times. It was very exciting. I had no idea what was going on with the Granite City/Orland Park third place dual but, when the Orland Park folks went nuts I figured it was something good for them. What an ending. I’m glad Mr. Ambrose filled us in on what happened. That is a great story and very touching.
The Match...
After the Vittum Catz out dualed Edwardsville 67-37, they had a 10:00am date with Martinez Fox Valley Elite. And that meant only one thing...Uccardi(MFVE) vs. Murphy(Vit). Yeah I know, this was a day for the team game but, both these clubs are as tough as they come with styles as different as they come. Vittum seems to ride tough, play the edge, wrestle mistake free and take advantage of opponent mistakes. Martinez kids have more technique than most high school kids and have the winners attitude on the mat. A 2X Novice State Champ(Uccardi) and a 2X Senior State Champ(Murphy). They battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first period. Uccardi started down in the second period and Murphy proceeded to ride him out just like he did against Spangler(Fox Valley) at the Midwest Classic. Murphy was hit for stalling one time too. In the third period Murphy choose down and Uccardi "cut him" to make the score 1-0 with 1:25 left in the match. Uccardi worked for the take down but Murphy wasn’t letting it happen. With around 15 seconds left, Murphy is hit with his second warning for stalling. 1-1 now. First OT ended with no score so they go into the 2OT. Since Murphy scored first it was his choice and he picked the top position. Joey escaped with about 15 seconds left in the 2OT for the win. What a great match between to great Illinois wrestlers.
And Now For The Main Event
It really started at the first warm-up when the two clubs, Martinez Elite and the Little Celtics, shared the same mat.It was like two heavy weight prizefighters eye-balling each other on mat number two. It wasn’t a matter of "if" they would meet...it was "when" are they going to meet. Martinez Elite rolled into the finals by beating Vittum(79-19) and Orland Park(92-14). The Little Celtics on the other hand had to get by the Blackhawks(62-47) and Granite City(64-33). Neither was an easy task They started at 115#s all day. Not a bad draw for either team I thought. Heck, we knew where they were strong and they knew where we were strong. If I counted right, Martinez had seven victories by fall(101,108,115,147,177,215,275). The Little Celtics had four six point victories, three by fall and one by a forfeit(84,156,166,189). In fact, I believe the Little Celtics won more matches...11-10. Martinez started out with a fall to go up 6-0. Then the Lil Celtics battled back to win the next three bouts. At 147lbs. Martinez won again by fall to stop the mini-run the Lil Celtics had going. Lil Celts received a forfeit and a win between 156 and 166 to take the lead back. Martinez then went on a mini run themselves. They pinned three times(177,215,275) out of the next four bouts. The lone victory during that barrage for the Lil Celts was a fall at 189.Then the top of the weight class started. That’s when the littlest Little Celtics made their push for victory. "Murderers Row" won the next five out of six matches(62,66,70,74,84)for the Little Celtics. Now here’s where it gets exciting, going into the 89# match the Little Celtics had a16 point lead. If they(LCWC) win the 89lbs match the Lil Celtics would have taken a 19 point lead with three matches left. They say "Timing is everything." I don’t think either one of those boys new how much was riding on that one bout at that time. After watching that video a couple of times, it was a shame one of those young warriors had to lose. They both gave 110%. There was NO quitting in either one of them. They both were/are a credit to their respective clubs. The Little Celtic lost that 89lbs match 4-2, and that’s when Martinez hit the Little Celtics with the knock out punch. Martinez won at 95lbs and trailed by 10 points going into the last two bouts. They needed two pins in the final two bouts to win their fourth consecutive state championship. Martinez got those pins they needed and won.
"Your Best"...that’s all you can ask from anybody. Both these clubs gave just that...their best. From their coaches to their kids...they all gave their best. It was awesome to watch. I’m very gratefull I was there to watch. The NFL has "The Catch"(Montana to Clark against the Cowboys) and they have "The Drive"(Elway against the Browns), now the IKWF has "The Dual"(Martinez Elite vs. Little Celtics in 2005). It really was great.
It all started Friday night
Watching the Fighting Illini wrestling team beat...no pound, the Iowa Hawkeyes was awesome. Being so close to Danville, and watching that butt-kicking had me ready for Sunday. I couldn’t sleep for two nights. I was a wreck. I knew Sunday was going to be a special day. And it was.
And that’s why they wrestle ‘em coach
I was three for four with my first round predictions. Leave it to the Vittum Catz to spoil my perfect predictions. In round two, Orland Park stepped it up and beat Harlem(55-51) to ruin my final four prediction too. It’s great to have a team like Orland Park down the road and in our section. High level competition breeds high level competition. Can’t wait for the Tholl Elite on Feb 13th. I did nail the finals dual tho. I also took the safety route and made no prediction in that final dual. Altho, I knew it would be a close one.
Close as they come
This year there were six duals decided by four points or less. Last year there were ZERO. There were three duals decided by fifteen points or less too. That is a lot of close duals. There were only twenty total duals. And don’t forget, last year we had fifteen teams compared to twelve this year.With all the competitive duals the Palmer Arena was getting pretty loud at times. It was very exciting. I had no idea what was going on with the Granite City/Orland Park third place dual but, when the Orland Park folks went nuts I figured it was something good for them. What an ending. I’m glad Mr. Ambrose filled us in on what happened. That is a great story and very touching.
The Match...
After the Vittum Catz out dualed Edwardsville 67-37, they had a 10:00am date with Martinez Fox Valley Elite. And that meant only one thing...Uccardi(MFVE) vs. Murphy(Vit). Yeah I know, this was a day for the team game but, both these clubs are as tough as they come with styles as different as they come. Vittum seems to ride tough, play the edge, wrestle mistake free and take advantage of opponent mistakes. Martinez kids have more technique than most high school kids and have the winners attitude on the mat. A 2X Novice State Champ(Uccardi) and a 2X Senior State Champ(Murphy). They battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first period. Uccardi started down in the second period and Murphy proceeded to ride him out just like he did against Spangler(Fox Valley) at the Midwest Classic. Murphy was hit for stalling one time too. In the third period Murphy choose down and Uccardi "cut him" to make the score 1-0 with 1:25 left in the match. Uccardi worked for the take down but Murphy wasn’t letting it happen. With around 15 seconds left, Murphy is hit with his second warning for stalling. 1-1 now. First OT ended with no score so they go into the 2OT. Since Murphy scored first it was his choice and he picked the top position. Joey escaped with about 15 seconds left in the 2OT for the win. What a great match between to great Illinois wrestlers.
And Now For The Main Event
It really started at the first warm-up when the two clubs, Martinez Elite and the Little Celtics, shared the same mat.It was like two heavy weight prizefighters eye-balling each other on mat number two. It wasn’t a matter of "if" they would meet...it was "when" are they going to meet. Martinez Elite rolled into the finals by beating Vittum(79-19) and Orland Park(92-14). The Little Celtics on the other hand had to get by the Blackhawks(62-47) and Granite City(64-33). Neither was an easy task They started at 115#s all day. Not a bad draw for either team I thought. Heck, we knew where they were strong and they knew where we were strong. If I counted right, Martinez had seven victories by fall(101,108,115,147,177,215,275). The Little Celtics had four six point victories, three by fall and one by a forfeit(84,156,166,189). In fact, I believe the Little Celtics won more matches...11-10. Martinez started out with a fall to go up 6-0. Then the Lil Celtics battled back to win the next three bouts. At 147lbs. Martinez won again by fall to stop the mini-run the Lil Celtics had going. Lil Celts received a forfeit and a win between 156 and 166 to take the lead back. Martinez then went on a mini run themselves. They pinned three times(177,215,275) out of the next four bouts. The lone victory during that barrage for the Lil Celts was a fall at 189.Then the top of the weight class started. That’s when the littlest Little Celtics made their push for victory. "Murderers Row" won the next five out of six matches(62,66,70,74,84)for the Little Celtics. Now here’s where it gets exciting, going into the 89# match the Little Celtics had a16 point lead. If they(LCWC) win the 89lbs match the Lil Celtics would have taken a 19 point lead with three matches left. They say "Timing is everything." I don’t think either one of those boys new how much was riding on that one bout at that time. After watching that video a couple of times, it was a shame one of those young warriors had to lose. They both gave 110%. There was NO quitting in either one of them. They both were/are a credit to their respective clubs. The Little Celtic lost that 89lbs match 4-2, and that’s when Martinez hit the Little Celtics with the knock out punch. Martinez won at 95lbs and trailed by 10 points going into the last two bouts. They needed two pins in the final two bouts to win their fourth consecutive state championship. Martinez got those pins they needed and won.
"Your Best"...that’s all you can ask from anybody. Both these clubs gave just that...their best. From their coaches to their kids...they all gave their best. It was awesome to watch. I’m very gratefull I was there to watch. The NFL has "The Catch"(Montana to Clark against the Cowboys) and they have "The Drive"(Elway against the Browns), now the IKWF has "The Dual"(Martinez Elite vs. Little Celtics in 2005). It really was great.