Wow, what a weekend!!! It was a very long, and exciting weekend. James and I just got back from the USA World Wrestling Team Trials in Council Bluffs, IA. The athletes who won in their weight class will be representing the US at the World Wrestling Championship in Herning, Denmark.
There were so many dedicated wrestlers at the event. It was wonderful to see the effort they have put into their sport. I enjoyed watching the wrestlers size up their opponents. You knew as a spectator that they were calculating every move.
The shear strength it took to take down these wrestlers was evident. Of course, anything over 50 lbs is heavy lifting, in my opinion.
This being my first wrestling event, outside of collegiate level, it took a little bit of time to orient myself. The rules for awarding points were much more strenuous outside of high school and college. After figuring out the order in which the matches were to take place, James and I had a plan of attack.
Lucky for us, we had at least two, sometimes three, opportunities to take pictures of the wrestlers. They would wrestle for the best out of three matches against the same opponent in the finals.
I also was able to see women’s freestyle wrestling for the first time. It was intense. I would not want to be out on the mat with these ladies.
There were many great takedowns. Sometimes even painful to watch.
Henry Cejudo, the gold medal winner, 121-pound freestyle wrestling, in the 2009 Olympics in Beijing was at the event to receive an award. His story was very touching and it was great to see him there. I didn’t realize how young he was until they mentioned that he was the youngest wrestler to win a gold medal, all that in a mere 21 years.
This, I guess, is James’ signature accessory, his ASU hat.
That is a picture of the press area, and there I am, at the bottom, doing my homework…yay school.
Les Sigman, a UNO wrestler, won his 120 kg match against Ryan Tomei. He placed 3rd at the trials.
This image was from the first day at the World Trials. I knew Travis Paulson would put on a good match, unfortunately it wasn’t his time to win. He lost his matches and ended in 2nd place.
Trent Paulson did not wrestle until Sunday but he was there in Travis’ corner, cheering on his brother.
It got pretty physical during Trent’s first match which had to be paused to clean up the blood from his lip. His opponent, Jared Frayer, didn’t fair so well either. His black eye was swelling more and more as the matches progressed.
After winning two matches in a row, Trent Paulson was named the winner and would represent the US in the 66 kg men’s freestyle. It was bittersweet for Trent, knowing that he had made the team while his brother did not.
Before talking with the media, he had a moment with UNL wrestling coach Manning. This was the picture that was published in the Lincoln Journal Star. You can really see the emotions of that day sinking in. Congratulations and good luck to all of the athletes who made the US team. To view more pictures of the US World Trials, please visit www.huskerwrestling.com.
Filed under: Exciting News, Husker Sports | Tagged: 2009, Boosters, boronis, brother, Cejeda, Cejudo, Championship, Club, Coaches, Council Bluffs, d300, Denmark, donuts, freestyle, Herning, IA, Iowa, les, Media, men, NE, Nebraska, nikon, olympian, Paulson, photographer, photography, Press, roman-greco, Ryan, Sigman, sports, Team, Teammates, Tomei, Travis, Trent, trials, twin, University of Nebraska, UNL, UNO, USA, Winner, women, world, Wrestling
