By Jaclyn Shambaugh  http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/08/31/1024841?sac=Sports

A pair of Rhino Wrestling Club athletes tied for second place in the N.C. Top 50 Challenge. The Top 50 Challenge is a series of N.C. Amateur Wrestling Association events that give wrestlers an opportunity to earn points to place in the state's top-50 list of wrestlers. Wrestlers Samuel Bartram and Bradley Wanovich of the Rhinos each racked up 88 points in the series, falling behind top wrestler Carl Guess of Western Carolina Wrestling Club.

Three other Rhinos also made the Top 50. Jakob Kirk finished 34th, and Bradley's brothers, Kevin and Andrew, finished 30th and 22nd, respectively. Rhinos' coach Marty Bartram said the goal of the Challenge is to encourage youth wrestlers to branch out from folkstyle wrestling to freestyle and greco-roman tournaments. He used his son, Samuel, and his experience as an example of the Challenge's goals at work. "Sam had decided he wasn't going to wrestle freestyle or greco-roman at the start of the season," Bartram said. "Then he realized that he needed those events for the Top 50. It changed his perspective, and made it much more important to him to get in those events."

The Challenge got its start as a joint-venture between the Rhino Wrestling Club and the U.S. Marine Corps. This was the first season that it was run by the NCAWA. The Top 50 wrestlers will be honored at the NCAWA's annual meeting in Winston-Salem on Sept. 11.

For many of us in the wrestling community, particularly here in the "Old North State", we are painfully aware of the sacrifices made daily in another subculture.
Today, more than others, I found myself putting my life and the life of my family in context as I read of the sacrifice of a 24 year old young man and his family. I encourage you to read the attached biography and not focus on the cause of the sacrifice but the sacrifice itself. Then look a little deeper and realize that in the six years this young man had been in our Army, he had completed five combat tours, and was on his sixth.

The attached is a simple biography, however, I am sure that when you read this and take the time to reflect on it, you will find a way to appreciate all the opportunities in front of you this season. And when challenges present themselves this year, and they will, I hope this helps you keep them in context and handle them positively.

Attachment

This year we did not plan on including a female division until we were approached by a couple of coaches and parents who requested we do so. We are all for supporting grassroots efforts for wrestling so we are including the division this year and are waiving the entry fee again to help offset travel costs. If you know of any team, club, state, etc. that may be interested in attending please have them contact us immediately at the nationaldualsdirector@rhinowrestling.org. Thanks and "Never Quit".

http://nationalduals.rhinowrestling.org/national_duals/nationalduals.html

~ Marty Bartram

6-7pm 2 Sep 2010 at Union Pines High School!

First time wrestlers as well as seasoned wrestlers from Moore and neighboring counties are welcome to attend this free clinic.

So quoted Jim Harshaw in a tweet from a NCAWA convention session a few minutes ago. Very true, not just for college coaches but also for high school and youth club coaches. But what is the answer? I used to post every match video after every event along with our results. But plagued by win at all cost parents and coaches watching the videos for scouting not for pleasure (yes believe it or not the parent of a 5th grader will have his kid spend hours studying the competition for a preseason tournament-but that is another story); I decided to keep our match videos private (a nice feature of flowrestling and youtube) and just publish highlight videos from each match.

From this decision the 7-minute highlight was developed. I advocate to college coaches that each dual meet and each individual tournament be turned into the “Pembroke Open in 7 Minutes”.

High School coaches use the 6 minute version, “The Boneyard Bash in 6 minutes” and youth coaches go with something similar, varying more on the number of competitors they had. These highlights facilitate the publicity your program deserves. Your local media will appreciate you giving them something they can use and your fans and players will love it as well.

Here is an example.

2. It is an example of self-control.

3. It pleases my family so much.

4. It is a sign of refinement and culture.

5. It shows how well educated I am.

6. It demonstrates my command of the language.

7. It sets a good example for youngsters.

8. It shows how tough I am.

9. It makes me a better teacher.

10. It makes people respect me.

11. It adds dignity to my role as a coach.

12. It demonstrates how much respect I have for you.

13. It will make you a better athlete.

14. It will help us win.

~ Ralph and Michael Sabock in Coaching - A Realistic Perspective