Last Wrestling Match

Mishawaka couldn't pull out the Sectional win this year and it has brought Tyler's season to an end sooner than anticipated.  He did well though.  Up till now I have been somewhat discreet on my postings because of Tyler's well being but I know word has been out about him being hurt.  I honestly can't say that many knew how badly he was though.  Tyler found out he had a labrum tear in his good shoulder (the one not operated on last year) right before the Penn dual meet this year.  They talk about the tear in "clock" terms since the labrum is round.  He has two tears but could be considered one big one from 11:00 to 7:00.  That is well over half of his labrum and any tear would require surgical repair.  Tyler was forced to make a decision.  Stick it out with the team or get surgery immediately.  Ben and Tyler met with Darrick right after the word from the doctor.  After talking, Tyler decided to go ahead and stick it out...only wrestling when he was really needed (mainly big team matches).
Week after week we watched Tyler wrestle.  Some he was on and off the mat within twenty seconds (the way we like it!) while others I sat and cringed watching the opponent crank on his shoulder.  There has even been a few times where I have sat and watched Tyler cry in pain.  It has NOT been easy.
Then, last week...against Clay as we won our NIC title...Tyler had to injury default.  Not because of his shoulder...his knee popped during the match and could barely move it.  The trainer thought it could have been blown completely until she saw him the next day.  Conclusion for her...strained lcl, possibly tear in the hamstring.  So, this week Tyler has practiced with his knee completely taped, trying to get ready for Sectionals.  We knew it would not be easy the way the brackets were set up.  Penn could beat us (with the help of other teams) quite easily if we didn't wrestle lights out.
Tyler was seeded 4th.  He had Sunny Windhorft from Laville first.  I thought it would be fast, but it ended up being a longer match...Tyler pinned him in the third period.  This gave the Laville kid plenty of time to work on the injuries Tyler already had without even knowing it.  I was concerned after the match when Tyler went straight to the trainer's room to get ice and re taped.  Tyler said the knee had popped out again but they had taped it tighter. 

Next up was the first seeded kid (Nate Coddens from Riley) who has looked solid all year so far.  Snyder and Tyler talked out a plan but I think Coddens was just too strong for Tyler at this point.  Tyler got teched but was glad to not give up a fall.

By this point the team knew Penn had edged ahead of Mishawaka because we had lost nearly half our wrestlers in the second round while Penn had advanced.  I was very curious as to what Tyler would do.  They had a team meeting and Tyler shared with us that he went to Darrick and said, "Coach, would you be so kind to coach my last high school wrestling matches today?"  Snyder replied, "Absolutley, Tyler.  It has been my pleasure to coach you and I appreciate you sticking it out for us."  I knew Tyler was going to be done.  Even though the top four advance to Individual Regionals (and he could make it), Tyler had no intention on moving ahead individually.  This had been about "team" for him and it was almost over.  He did, however, want to go out on a good note so he had planned to wrestle lights out his last two matches.
Edar Gallegos from Adams was his next match and Tyler won this match to go on to wrestle for 3rd or 4th place.  This meant he could advance to Individual Regionals next Saturday.

His match was against Zach Johnson from Clay...the kid who actually was wrestling Tyler when his knee got hurt and had to injury default.  It was touching to see Tyler walk to the corner with Coach Snyder one last time.  This time he had his dad with him to film and "Millhouse" along with Coach to be there and watch him in his last match of his career.  Tyler won 3-0 placing 3rd in Sectionals. 

We are so proud of him for sticking this thing out.  For wrestling all these years even being hurt so much!  And Coach Snyder.  What an awesome guy.  We will forever be grateful for his confidence he has instilled in our boys.  He took the time to work with Tyler after he broke his leg (going into the 9th grade) - to beat the fright of getting back on the mat.  And this was before we even were enrolled at Mishawaka.  Coach Snyder's love of the boys who love the sport has shown through by his time he puts in.  We will forever love this coaching staff...Coach Darrick Snyder, Coach Fabian Chavez, Coach Mike Strycker, Coach Mike Lehman...these men make a difference.  Great coaches. 

I can honestly say we have a great bunch of boys this year.  Watching Penn win this year was hard for us because we knew the potential we had if all our boys were healthy.  It definitely would have been different.  But these boys didn't cry about it and we didn't make it publicly known...we worked harder and tried different techniques to work around the injuries as best we could.  We have a young team that only looks to be tougher next year...much to accomplish and they will.  I know they will. 
But for now...our high school wrestling is over and it is sad.  The brotherhood...the bonds...the families.  Will all be missed.  Proud of Tyler today.  You have been a REAL class act.  What a way to go out...at Mishawaka...with his dad, Millhouse and Coach Snyder beside him...under the lights....a win :)

Liberty

Had Gabi's basketball game this morning against Liberty.  Another win 30-12.  Gabi actually made 4 baskets this time.  Did very well on offense and defense this game.  So proud of her!  Learning more and more each game.  One more game and it's tournament time!

Cravings

I have a craving.  Not for food.  For warmth!  For some color.  I REALLY want the green grass and the green leaves and the blue sky and the pretty colors of new flower buds.  I am sooooo tired of the snow.  The cold, wet snow.  I hate being wet all the time.  And I REALLY don't like dirty snow, you know the brown snow we are constantly driving through.  ICK!  I WANT SPRING!  I want warm temperatures.  I want to go outside without wearing a million layers.  I close my eyes and I can see it...

I can almost feel the sun beating down....Oh PLEASE PLEASE bring us Spring SOOOOOOON! 
And while I am on my kick of cravings...I have really been enjoying these lately.  Nature Valley Granola Thins.  Peanut Butter.  A great idea for on the go breakfast.  MMMMM!  Another favorite my mom has turned me on to....From Snapple - Mango Madness.  THE best.  And I am LOVING my new running pants Ben got me for Christmas.  They are working out perrrrfectly. 
Another thing I want but can't seem to find ANYwhere....this necklace.  LOVE IT.  WANT it. 

Also, can you actually believe I enjoy folding laundry lately???  Has to be straight out of the dryer WARM though.  Love it.  I am desperate for WARMTH!  BRING ON SPRING! ASAP!

Life's curveballs

Many or most of you probably already know that our family has been hit with a curveball just in the last month or so.  Ben's dad had been complaining for quite some time (even back into fall) of a "hitch in his giddyup."  His hip seemed to really be hurting him when he sat for too long.  Ben continually told him to get it checked out and he finally did.  What they found was a fracture.  He had thought it was caused by a fall he had while walking the dog, but to his surprise it was not.  In fact, it was worse.  After many tests at the Urologists office, the conclusion was prostate cancer. 
Cancer.  An ugly word.  One I hate to see, hate to say, hate to hear. 
I hated this for Ben.  All the memories of his mom came flooding back. 
I was proud of Ben, though.  He decided this was not going to be like his mom.  This was different.  Everyone would be involved.  He would be involved. 
So we are educating ourselves.  Using the internet, listening to the doctors, getting second opinions.  Praying. 
He starts his first round of hormone therapy for the mestasis to his bones today.  I am praying for him.  I am praying for the family.  I am leaning on my faith that this is just a curveball for now.  We all know life throws us one or two from time to time.  But we take them and we swing away.  And we are.  Please continue to pray for Ben's dad and his family during this time. 
*Philipians 4:6-7  In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus
Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not onto thine own understanding.  In all they ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
*(mom R's favorite verses)

LaSalle

Last evening Gabi had a game.  A rough one.  These girls from LaSalle were just rough...somewhat even "bullyish."  They had a bit of heighth but their toughness was what helped LaSalle stay alive in the game.  This proved to be a challenge for Gabi, but was definitely one she was willing to take on and win!  It also seemed like our girls were off on their shots, maybe because of the bullying around on the court or perhaps the game was just moving so fast that they couldn't slow it down to their pace.  Either way, Hums stayed behind in points up until the fourth quarter.  We actually came back from behind and started to hit baskets in the last three minutes of the game.  Final score - Hums 17 LaSalle 12.  The free throws were a good thing too and helped out quite a bit.  Gabi made one basket and one free throw for the team score.  Not bad...she came home with lots of scrapes on her poor little knees from fighting for the ball.  Loved her expression when she sunk her basket to actually move ahead on points.  Her arms spread out looking at the audience, face red, huge smile.  Loved it.  And you can tell she does too :)

19 Years

Cannot believe Ben and I have been married for 19 years.  He brought me home a dozen red roses - a fave of mine and a beautiful card.  Tyler had a wrestling get together for dinner so we decided to take Gabi and go to another fave of all of ours - Logans.  Can't beat the deals they have.  LOVE the terriyaki chicken dinner.  We even splurged and went with the 2 dinners for $19.99 so we could get the strawberry cheesecake to take home :)  Ben knows I love doing that...
19 years of ups and downs but more importantly, 19 years of taking those ups and downs together.  I have to give credit to both sets of parents for being role models for us...showing us how it's done.  I am hoping and praying that we can give that to our children.  It is by far the greatest gift we could ever give them.

Birthday Boy

Was able to skype with the "birthday boy" tonight and catch up on some things.  Boy do I miss him.  He looks good.  Looks like he is doing well.  Studying hard.  Working.  Slowly recovering from his concussion, looking to take the comprehension test to get back to wrestling in the next few days.  So glad he took the time out to talk with us.  Sounds like he is going to have some people over for his birthday.  He said he thought one of the girls (Tarrah) made him a cake. 

20 years old.  Wow.  Hard to believe. And what a handsome fella!  My baby is becoming a man.  So glad to see him smile and laugh tonight.  It did my heart good.  WE LOVE YOU TRENTON and hope you had a wonderful birthday, son!

ND vs. St. Johns

Just got back from a women's ND basketball game.  Gabi brought her friend, Madison Kreil.  Front row court side seats.  Sat next to Tricia Sloma and her daughters.  Watch St. Johns lose to ND 69-36.  Gabi got to give her fave women's basketball player, Skylar Diggins a high five AND pass her the ball like three times!  No big deal.  lol  Great time!  Loved every minute of it!

One thing I did not enjoy...coming home to watch the Bears lose.  Cutler sucks.  On that note...Go Irish!

Twin Branch - Nailbiter!

What a game!  We knew it was going to be close considering Twin Branch had beaten Emmons by 30 points (same as us) last week.  And Gabi was prepared.  She knew she would be facing Twin Branch's point guard and knew she was good because she played with her on her ICE league last spring.  It certainly was a nail biter.  All of Twin Branch's girls were tall.  Every one of them.  I have to admit Twin Branch turned it up after half time leaving the 3rd quarter with a 10 point lead.  I was worried at this point.  Fourth quarter bell went off and our girls hustled.  Gabi was ready and she shut down Lindsey (Twin Branch's point guard).  Our girls worked over time tying the score 21-21 when the game bell went off!  Gabi had already scored 3 baskets plus 2 free throws!  2 minutes was put on the clock and it was go time!  One of our girls got fouled and we ended up making one free throw so we were up 22-21 with about 30 seconds to go when we got another basket to secure the win!  We were all very excited for this win!  Tyler even made it and was ready to "rush the court!"  So proud of my little "bulldog" (described by another parent)...she plays HARD and goes after what she wants, that is for sure!  3-0 now!

Out

We were able to go out with another couple last night - Ben's buddy from work and his wife invited us to go to dinner and see "The Dilemma."  We asked Uncle Dave if he would be willing to keep Gabi for us while we did this and it worked out well!  From the sounds of it, they ended up having a blast!  They played Clue and baked cookies!  The best part - got to spend time with Uncle Dave, grandpa and cousin Bren came over and they decorated their cookies all by themselves!  And they were YUMMY too!!!  We thought "The Dilemma" was going to be more funny than what it was...don't get me wrong, it was funny in parts, but it also had a serious side to it.  I can say I enjoyed it, it kept my interest and had a good plot to it.  Thanks Uncle Dave!  We appreciated you entertaining Gabi - she really had a great time!

Senior Night - Clay

Can't believe the time has come to watch the FINAL wrestling home dual meet that my sons would ever participate in.  Where has the time gone?????  This match was for the NIC title so it was important.  Tyler was set to wrestle.  They wrestled under the lights for them and our seniors wore their white championship singlets.  It was a special time.  Unfortunately, he had to injury default to his kid...more on that to come.
10 seniors say goodbye this year.  I had the opportunity to make the Senior Flyers along with the Wislers.  Pretty happy with the turnout.  Also were able to make showcase tables for each senior like we did with Trenton.  Also happy that we got that done and able to use it for graduation.  Soooo happy that we had so many family members come to support Tyler last night.  That is one thing I am extremely thankful for.  We could not ask for a better set of family on both sides.  My parents, Chad/Amber and family, Ben's dad, his brother and sister, Aunt Annie and Uncle Jay, Aunt Becky all were able to come.  On a good note...we are NIC Champions!  Won the meet 39-27 
I still don't think I have grasped the concept of not having a kid on the mat...well, high school, that is.  Even so, not sure what Trenton is thinking about next year.  With all his hurdles and with school really taking presidence...it seems wrestling may be coming to an end with him also.  We will have to wait and see.  Boys sporting events could be coming to an actual close.  I have to say though, it has been an awesome 7 + years of wrestling and being able to be a Mishawaka Cavemen has definitely made it all the more sweeter.  Oh we will most definitely be around here and there at the meets to come, but it just won't be the same knowing my son is not out there.  The plus side is...maybe my blood pressure will get better ;)
So here is to Senior Night and here is to the MANY years of wrestling.  Many memories.  Many good times.   

Emmons

Gabi was "on fire" according to one mom last night in her basketball game against Emmons today after school! :)  She made 10 of the 33 points they scored (against Emmons' 9 points).  She stole the ball, she moved, she blocked and she made baskets!  Their team is so much fun to watch this year - they have such chemistry with them being able to play on a league team out of season.  I am just so glad Gabi is having fun and it shows!

GO BEARS

In between wrestling meets and basketball games - we are always up for the NFL games!  And yes, I am still rooting for the Chicago Bears!!!  Big game Sunday against Green Bay Packers and it's on to the Superbowl!!!!!

On Hold

So it has been some time since I posted about Trenton wrestling.  The reason...well, first came the ankle sprain which lasted quite longer than expected.  Trenton actually started back live wrestling about two weeks ago.  He has been going lightly on his ankle because the doctor had noticed that the sprain was actually in a strange area which was much harder to heal.  Unfortunately, time was something Trenton didn't have if he wanted to get back on the mat for the season.  On probably the third day of live wrestling I got a call from Trenton saying he had hit his head pretty hard against one of his teammates.  Trenton immediately had the dry heaves and was dizzy.  I asked him if he had told his coach and he said no and that he did not go to the trainer either.  Ben and I told him that he most definitely should let coach know and should see the trainer the next day.  Since this is the fourth time he has gotten a concussion we were very worried that the doctor would tell him that sports were not an option anymore, but Trenton's life means far more to us than any sport could.  He took our advice and told the trainer.  Doctor Bob made the appointment for yesterday afternoon.  The good news...Trenton is not done with sports.  The bad news...he is probably done for the season (since there is only a month left).  Trenton will have to take it easy and take some tests when his symptoms subside.  Even better news...he is already starting to feel better.  This was just a reminder, however, that even though we love to watch him wrestle, his well being is priceless to us.  That is all that matters.  Wrestling is just the icing on the cake, so to put.  So, this is why there has not been much posting about Trenton's wrestling at North Central.  He is absolutely still part of the team, just taking a bit of a break to get healthy.   

NIC Superdual

So maybe it was our faults that Tyler lost his first match of the NIC against Riley (2-8)... we allowed him to go to a Wiz Khalifa concert with Abby, her brother and his roommate and his buddy last night.  We were originally told he would be back around 1 am and Abby would be driving home so he could sleep the whole way.  Things suddenly changed as soon as he arrived in Indy.  I got a text saying it wouldn't start till 9 pm, possibly 10 pm.  And with them having to take Abby's brother back to school (Ball State) it would be a 4 hour drive back home.  Needless to say, we were not happy.  I missed Tyler's first match against Riley (Nate Coddens) and agreed with Ben that he needed to be there for Tyler since it was a pretty big match.  While I was at Gabi's basketball game I got the text saying he had lost and basically didn't do much in the match.  Ben was disappointed.  He felt like Tyler could have done much better and was blaming it on Tyler being lethargic.  So, of course, Ben told Tyler what he thought, Tyler didn't like it and things were kind of tense till I got there.  Tyler sat out the second round against Elkhart Central.  Coach decided to wrestle him against Niles (Jacob Hill) and against Marian.  Tyler pinned them both in the first periods.  I was glad.  I didn't want to see Tyler in pain and I didn't want Ben to think Tyler was slacking.  Regardless, I can say we were glad to see him wrestle today.  We are surely looking forward to Senior night Thursday where we will be showing off Tyler's younger years, etc.  Big meet against Clay for the NIC title.  Should be interesting.

First Win In 2 Years!

...according to Gabi.  And that is Hums Basketball team!  Gabi was soooooo excited that the team won.  She told me during the week, "daddy said he thinks we are gonna win a game this year!"  - Lo and behold, Daddy was right!  Gabi split time with another girl playing point guard and did an AWESOME job!  She even made two baskets for the team (she put it up probably at least 15 times but only made it twice unfortunately)!  Score against Beiger....29 to 10!  Way to go Roadrunners!!  A special thanks to Aunt Annie, Uncle Jay, grandpa R, Aunt Pam, maw maw and paw paw for all coming to watch her first game of the season!  She is already looking forward to the next game!

And here is the first shot she made .... NOTHIN BUT NET BABY! :)