He’s done it again!  Eli is now 25-0 for the season, and has repeated as Eastern Regional Champion in his weight class!!!!  This year, Camden-Rockport Middle School was the sponsoring school for the event, which was held in the high school gym.  There were 3 mats set up, and it went surprisingly smoothly and quickly.   Here’s how Saturday went for Eli:

In wrestling with 8-person brackets, the rule is that if you want to end up in the championship match (for first and second place), you need to win two before you lose two.  So here’s Eli’s first match:

First match, ended in 30 seconds with a pin. It happened so fast I had barely hit "On" on the camera that I didn't get any video....

I managed to mess up the photography, alas, despite doing test-runs last week.  I brought out the GOOD camera, the DSLR Nikon and I really need to spend more time learning how to make it do what I want!  But I got some good shots.  And I took video…or so I thought…on my everyday digital, but I had taken it off Video and put it on still photo during the week and forgot to switch it back.  So this first match ended so fast I didn’t get a chance to correct my error.

Second match:  this one took a little longer.  Remember there are 3 periods in wrestling; in middle school the first period is 2 minutes, then 2nd and 3rd are one minute long.  In high school, matches are 3 2-minute periods; in college, it is 3-2-2-.

Second match: PIN! At 1 minute 31 seconds in the first period.

At least I got a really good photo…. the point of the match is to win.  A great way to win instantly and end the match is to pin the opponent’s shoulders to the mat.  That is why Eli is “T”‘d off on the kid on the bottom—you get the best leverage being chest-to-chest (Eli is a little far over) and at right angles–like a T–to the kid on the bottom.  The Ref is using the hand with the red band to smack the mat to show Eli (in red…the other kid has on the green ankle band on his rear leg, but it is hard to see because he’s wearing tights under the singlet) wins by fall (pin).

Next:  the championship round against a kid from Hermon, whom he had not wrestled during the season.  This boy was also–up until Saturday–undefeated, but had fewer matches than Eli.

Murphy's Law lives at wrestling meets. No matter WHERE in the gym the parent is, the ref is ALWAYS immediately blocking the parent's line of sight to their kid as here. By the way...we LOVE this ref. He is one of the best in Maine, and happens to head up the Ref's association. He is fair, compassionate, understands kids, and when ref-ing--even when the kids make mistakes--takes the time to instruct ant teach while making calls. He's "the bee's knees!"

Here is a few moments earlier in the match, but a better shot:

Eli nearly gets the Hermon boy in a "cradle" for a pin. Alas, the Hermon boy got Eli in an illegal headlock which the ref did not see, so Eli had a bit of work to get out of it. He did, but the match went into a second period. In the photo above he is just about 2 seconds away from pinning the boy 30 seconds into the second period.

Three matches.  Three wins.  Three pins.  Still undefeated.

The "Win" hands-up went up and down so fast I missed it, so here the refs are checking with the scorekeepers and Eli is running his bout sheet back to the head scoring table after the win.

Eli, as winner, gets to keep the bracket sheet which shows who wrestled in the weight class, with him as Champion:

Eli on the winner's stand! Alas, the camera was having trouble metering with the bright window behind and I missed the shot with the other 3 boys up there....

ALL the kids on the team wrestled their hearts out and did their coaches proud.  One other kid, Elvis B., won his weight class, so he and Eli will continue on to States on March 31.

L to R: Coach True Bragg, Elvis B. 124-lb Champion, Eli at 138-lb Champion, and Asst. Coach Paul Smith (aka dad); photo taken in the high school wrestling room.

The other great news came on Sunday with the results of the Western Regionals.  The winner was the boy from Bath, whom Eli has beaten in each of his three head-to-head matches with him.  So there is a chance for Eli to win states!   Paul reminds the kids that you are one move away from getting pinned by someone you have never heard of, though, so Eli will have to continue to keep his focus and determination.    Stay tuned for results next weekend.  No colds or injuries allowed between now and then!   The Bath kid will have hometown advantage, as the State Finals will be wrestled in Bath, but we know Eli will excel.  As a friend told Eli, TOTAL DOMINATION on the mat!

Or, Mama gets to brag on her kid!  (You are thereby forewarned LOL!)

Yesterday was the last regular meet of the Middle School Wrestling Season for the Pine Tree Wrestling League (PTWL — which covers about 75-80 percent of Maine).  Next Saturday will be Eastern Regionals, held here in Camden at the High School (16 teams…eeeek!), and the following Saturday will be States in Bath.  To say that Eli has done well in his 8th grade year is an understatement of epic proportions:  he has just finished an UNDEFEATED regular season (and you better believe Mama and Papa are shouting!).

Eli pacing before a match. He sometimes strides purposefully opposite the kid he's about to wrestle as a psych-out maneuver. Wrestling is at least as much a head-game as one of physical strength and skill.

The way it works is the kids (boys and girls) are divided into weight classes that are about 8 pounds apart.  Eli is wrestling 138,meaning he can’t go over 138.  Fortunately, he has had a couple of pounds leeway every week.  The good thing is that the league recognizes that kids grow, so every 2 weeks the weight limit goes up a pound…this coming Saturday if you weigh (for example) 140 or less, you can still wrestle in the 138 pound weight class.  This year in his weight class there has not been a lot of competition…not every school has a wrestler for each of the many weight classes…in fact MOST schools don’t fill all the slots.  But of the 23 scheduled pairings, Eli has wrestled about 13 matches.  The ones he didn’t wrestle he gets a “win by forfeit.”  So that means he “won” those 10 or so.  The ones he DID wrestle he won EVERY SINGLE ONE–two by points, all the others by pinning his opponent, most often in the first period! (There are three periods of two minutes, one minute and one minute.)  AND he had four exhibition matches…ones that don’t count toward the rankings for Regionals.  Two he wrestled a kid from the 131 weight class, two from the 145 weight class.  He won all four!  Amazing…

The two boys shake hands, crouch and wait for the ref to blow the whistle. Here she is signaling to the scoring table that she is about to begin.

As soon as the whistle blows the two start trying to gain an advantage

Eli begins to take the other boy down to the mat.

Eli is in red, on top. True Bragg, our coach, and DH Paul, Assistant Coach, are in red with their backs to the camera. The Ellsworth coaches are on the opposite side of the mat behind the ref.

Sat. March 17, 2012 at Ellsworth. It took Eli less than one minute to pin his first match on Saturday, against Ellsworth. Here the ref is checking to see that the Ellsworth boy's shoulders are on the mat for one second before calling Pinned!

Then…drum roll…

For once I got it on "film"..Arm raised for the win! I took the big heavy camera and set it on "burst" mode. It took about 12 shots but at least one of the was "hand up" for the win!

After the match, the boys shake hands, the ref raises the hand of the winner, then Eli goes to the opposing coaches to shake hands, the other boy comes to shake hands with our coaches, and the next match begins.

This picture of True (left) and Paul (seated) will make every Camden-Rockport parent chuckle... it is SO typical!

Eli also had an exhibition match…as it turns out, against a boy whom he knows from track and with whom he was chatting and having fun.  That kid wrestled at 131 and pretty much knew he was going to get whomped, but he tried gamely anyway.

Eli in the process of rolling his opponent (from Belfast) over by turning him with his arm/shoulder.

At one point, his buddy told Eli in a joking voice “gee you stink” …after the match he told Eli he was trying to make Eli laugh and lose his concentration.  Eli said his buddy *almost* succeeded but Eli didn’t give in and kept his concentration, as you can see in the next photo.

Pinned! Notice the blur to the right of the ref?

That blur to the right of the ref is his hand, as he slaps the mat to indicate that Eli has pinned his opponent.

Next:  Regionals.  As long as Eli stays on his game, which we expect, he has a VERY good chance at repeating as Eastern Regional PTWL Champion.  The most interesting thing that weekend will be to see who wins at 138 in the Western Region.  Eli has three times beat the kid from Bath who is in that region, and that boy’s coach said the only matches he has lost have been to Eli.  IF that boy wins Western Regionals…….. so we are eagerly, nervously, looking forward to the next two Saturdays!   Eli lost States in the last 20 seconds last year, so we’ll see what he can do this year.  No matter the outcome, he has done an outstanding job this year and we are proud!

One more warning:  You may here wild shouting if/when he wins next weekend…stay tuned for more Proud Parent photos….

So here was the really big change and paint job:   The basement has a long rectangular area in the center, with rooms off of it:  a utility room (housing the furnace, oil tank, etc), a wood room (to hold all the wood for the winter heating by woodstove), a workroom, a space they used as a family room (with NO windows and painted an icky dark green with drab taupe on the ceiling) and we use as storage), and what has become my studio.  This area was painted a “roasted pumpkin” color…think the color of pumpkin pie, but a tad more orange-y.  Not a bad color, but not on walls of an area with no windows!  The stairs down to the basement were the same color.

Stuff pushed to center, prior condition...unpainted drywall and some of that pumpkin color....

The other end, in pumpkin. Yes, that is a hot tub. In a windowless basement. ??? Never used. Time to sell it I think....

So last summer, I took a gallon of leftover sky blue (from the boys’ bathroom) and mixed it with a gallon of white to lighten it somewhat, and painted the walls in the center area.  First, it needed a primer though to cover up that dark pumpkin:

Looking better with the primer just on part of the walls

Hallelujah....lighter! brighter! What a welcome change!

Next, Blue:

primer on the wall on the left, blue (first coat) on the right

Looking toard my studio...isn't that BETTER?!!!!

The stairs down (see on the far left in the photo just above) was just as awful.   So I tackled that about two weeks ago:

I painted the ceiling, too, in the stairs. It had been smudged when the previous owners moved out, and was this gloomy color. The light fixture alters the color somewhat, but in this photo you can see how gray the ceiling is in the rest of the house/hallway, ad the warmer "gardenia" color I put on the stairway ceiling

And getting rid of the last of the pumpkin just this past month:

Stair landing, halfway done

A nice Sunrise yellow color replaced the pumpkin! Mo bettah!

This will be our seventh year attending middle school wrestling:  first three years with Joshua (they could begin in 6th grade then) and now four more years with Eli (by which time they could begin in 5th grade).  With occasional wrestling breaking out in the living room since he was barely as tall as the dearly-departed dog-beast, Eli has had a good bit of time to learn.  And learn he has!  Last year, devoted readers may recall, the boy was Eastern Maine Regional Champion and came in a close second in the state.  This year, Eli’s hoping to do at least as well if not better!  He’s off to a good start…

Yesterday marked his first meet of the season (he had the stomach flu for the first meet).  He had three regular matches and one “exhibition” match.  He won four matches.  In the first period.  ALL by pins.  Two of the four in 12 seconds or less.  Ahem.  Glad I’m not facing him on a wrestling mat!

For his first match of the season, Eli (in red, on the right) faced a boy from Bath. He let the kid grab his ankle/leg at the start, so it took a moment to get his bearings and decide to dominate.

The meet was….erg…. in the Western Region.  The Pine Tree Wrestling League (to the dismay of many parents) has decided to expand the regular season meets across regional lines to give the boys more experience.  That is good.  Driving on twisty turny two lane snowy roads, well…not so much fun. It was a good two hours each way to Dirigo from our home!  At least the nasty weather ended early enough for the roads to be mostly plowed/cleared.

The boys moved out of bounds, came back to the center, and Eli went after the win. Here, he is pinning the kid--the aim is to win. The best win (in terms of points for the team) is a "win by fall" or "pin" where you get the opponent's shoulders on the mat. The ref is down on the mat to get a straight-on view to make sure both shoulders are down before the welcome (if you are the one doing the pinning, and not the one being pinned) slap on the mat to indicate pin! Match over! Opposing coach is now looking glumly resigned. Mama-Smile!

At Eli’s mid-weight-range the competition tends to fall into two groups:  really good—really competitive, and rank beginners.  When your kids are young or somewhat plumpish, it is disconcerting (to say the least, for moms, kids, coaches), to see some very muscular and skilled 7th or 8th grader walk onto the mat looking determined. For those who aren’t intimately familiar with wrestling:  kids are grouped by age (in this case 5th-8th, next will be high school) and by weight class.  In our league, it is (in pounds)  75, 82, 89, 96, 103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 155, 170, 190, 210, 240.  And yes, there really are middle school boys in the 210 and 240 range.  So a 131-pounder can be lean and strong or small and plumpish.  Guess who wins, especially with experience.

This dear boy in blue didn't stand a chance. Took all of ten seconds for Eli to grab him, get him to the mat, onto his shoulders, and the win called by the ref. In a RARE event, I managed to get the ref holding up Eli's hand for the win.

And an even more rare photo, Eli with dad (asst. coach) and True Bragg, a Maine State Champion in high school and head coach:

Eli and coaches (dad on left, sitting, and True on right, teammates behind)

When teams meet up, there are often “defaults” where only one team has a kid in a given weight class.  At regular season meets there will often be “exhibition” matches to give the kids more  opportunities to wrestle.  These are good for learning and bragging rights, but don’t count toward the kids season-end standings as they go into regionals and states.  Eli wrestled Spencer Vaughn from Dirigo again…. he wrestled him last year at states and pinned him.  This year, Spencer is a weight class heavier than Eli, but since he, too, made States, it means he is a good wrestler. General rule of thumb is that it is harder to wrestle someone heavier as they have more muscle.  But not always. And skill counts.

The Dirigo boy is arched up trying to keep his shoulder blades off the mat and avoid getting pinned. He did not succeed. Again, the refs need good knees to get up and down from being on the mat to see what body part is where!

Eli pinned him again!  This photo was moments before the match was “win by Fall” for Eli!  I must say, I DO like it when Eli wraps up the win promptly and it doesn’t come down to the final seconds of the final/third period!  Next on the blogging list:  painting the house and (get ready….) quilting…yes, I ‘ve actually done some quilting!  Now Eli needs the laptop for homework, so those posts must wait.

Well, number two son Eli had a phenomenal end of season!  He won the Busline (local) League individual Championship, with his friend Ben coming in right behind him!

Eli wins the Busline League (midcoast Maine) Middle School Championships; friend Ben is not far behind

The boys team wins the Busline League as Undefeated Champions (second year in a row!)

The girls team wins the Busline League as Undefeated Champions (second year in a row!)

Happy Coach Morse and Happy kids!

Then they went to the Winthrop Invitational (thanks to a wonderful Coach, Jim Morse, who kept seeking more opportunities for the top runners), where Eli won with a new course record (!!!), and both teams won!

To our delight and surprise, Eli came charging up the final hill IN THE LEAD--and no one in sight behind him-- and won the Winthrop Invitational with a new course record!

Next was a larger invitational about 90 minutes north of here so the kids could experience a larger field.  Eli came in third, and both boys and girls teams won!

Aurora meet...Eli comes in third! and fourth is not even around the corner of the building....

While I was teaching at A Quilters’ Gathering in New Hampshire, there was a State-wide qualifying meet in Augusta.  Runners who placed high enough would get to compete in the USA Track and Field Association Junior Olympics Northeast Regional meet in Queensbury, NY.  Eli placed second in the STATE!

The last big event, the Sunday before Thanksgiving…get this!…. Seven of our runners went to the Junior Olympics Regionals!  A few more made it, but they were in 6th grade and the parents decided, maybe when they are older (smart!).  All of the kids raced, some ran their best times ever, and all came in somewhere in the middle of the pack.  Eli was the highest finishing middle schooler for Maine except for the kid who beat him at both Aurora and Augusta meets.  There were some older boys from Maine, Freshman, in the same age group, and they came in a bit ahead.  Eli was 63 of 116 which is pretty amazing since runners came from Maine, NH, Vermont, parts of NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. WOW!

Junior Olympics Northeast Regionals, age 13-14 boys; Maine kids are at the far right--taking off! As Eli put it, the leaders shot out, went into the woods, and weren't seen again!

Eli heads down the chute for the finish line at his first Junior Olympics race

Our Camden-Rockport kids standing under the finish line. It was great...we had kids in three or four separate races, and all the kids and all the parents stayed for all the races and finishes! We're so proud of ALL of them! Eli is the boy to the right, his friend from first grade on, Ben, is at the left.

It was a 6+ hour drive from Hope, Maine, to Queensbury, NY, so we drove  over Saturday for a midday race Sunday, then drove home after the race.  And slept in Monday–we told Eli he could go to school late!   While waiting to head over to the course on Sunday, I decided to sketch a bit…I’ll share more of this journaling later.

To pass the time on Sunday morning before the race, I decided to sketch Eli's tank.

It was a great season…we are so grateful to Jim Morse for his dedication to the kids, to the school for providing buses to all the meets and letting the kids wear their red uniforms for the after-season meets.

I have to comment the USATF and the volunteers in NY.  Over the course of the day there were some 2000 runners, and this was by far the best organized meet of this sort I’ve ever attended.  And best of all:  ALL the kids were enthused, learned from the reality dose from being the best of the best in Maine to among the best in New England, and ALL want to go back next year!