Pennsylvania Wrestling Club

Getting all tangled up at the Ocean State Wrestling Tournament. Suffered both a bruised rib and very mild concussion, but gave both of my opponents (both almost half a century younger than me) a run for their money.

Go figure! Accu Weather says it was supposed to rain all day Saturday for the Michigan State Games Beach Wrestling, so I opt for Sunday's Headlocks on the Hudson Wrestling Tournament. So what happens? It was sunny all day in Michigan, but rain and cold temperatures were so bad. Sunday in Troy, NY, my MD yanked me from the competition. All that time, expense and effort, and I never got onto the mat!@ #$!%

First time ever, all three of us placed Third (Bronze) in a Wrestling tournament. At the Fury on the Field (Ravena, NY) which is an outside event, the temperature dropped so fast that the mats were soaking wed. The Chief Referee yanked me from competition for safety reasons, thus I had to FF my first bout against Derek Lagassie (on the left). However, both he and Carlos Ross (on the right) FF their bout in the 2nd round (as the tournament was running behind time). I most likely would have lost to Lagassie (due to age and skeletal muscle mass), but I think I would have been competitive against Ross. Like all wrestlers, we love the sport, but there are times that Safety overrides competing. But since there were only three of us, we all placed....Third.

I had two opponents on Friday at the PA USAW State Championships at State College: Kenneth Rhodes and Zachary Clark. But our bouts had to be moved to Saturday, and neither showed up. Yeah, I got the Gold, but I really wanted to test myself against Rhodes, who is 30 years my junior. Because that's what Wrestling is all about.

For Paralympics, we're running against our own Pace. My pace was 15:53, finished 55 of 263 in the 65-69 age group, and 9801 of 31,165. For those of you watching the Broad Street Run on NBC 10, yes that was me crashing into the TV reporter at approx. 1:41:00 of the broadcast. Paralympics are to hug the right side of the road so that faster runners past on the left, for the safety of all of us. I crashed into two spectators who didn't stay on the sidewalk. But after an extremely disappointing USA Wrestling tournament, this run was uplifting. My MDs are particularly pleased. Thank you to both ACS Team Determination and the Philly Park & Rec.

My opponent went home before the competition began. Not the way I wanted to win the Gold to start the 2024 season, but it is still Gold.

Dislocated my left shoulder Christmas Eve while walking Dakota. My thanks to PFD Medics, and the Temple Hospital ER, but most importantly, all of the motorists who stopped and offered assistance. One even got out of his car and walked me and Dakota back home. There remain people who are good and believe in what is righteous. Godspeed to all of them.

Chugging along in this past Saturday's Reindeer Romp. This time, wasn't dead last, finished 251 of 317, 5th out of 8 in my age-group with a 10:46 Pace in 33.27.4 time, which was six minutes below my Garmin prediction. A Shout-Out to Josh Adams of Nolan Paints who served as my Paralympic Aide (it would be too much to ask Joseph Sorbanelli to come all the way down from Northern NJ for a 5K, but he would be proud that I wasn't bringing up the rear).

Need to gauge your interest in using a Center City wrestling facility. Currently, no wrestling mats accessible by SEPTA regional rail or subway. The Club has the opportunity to obtain a facility within the Suburban Station concourse which will provide space for 3-4 mats, plus full-service men's and women's locker room with sauna and steam room. There is also space for a beach wrestling pit. The mats would be accessible daily, using your USAW card for access. Both subways and all SEPTA trains are w/n short concourse walking distance. Please respond whether you would like us to pursue this.

The right way to weigh Wrestlers!

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Protecting All Wrestlers A paper for the University of Pennsylvania School of Liberal Professional Studies has developed a new way to weigh-in wrestlers. "Determining a Mathematically Accurate and Medically Sound Weight Classification for Wrestling" was written by the Honorable Peter J. Wirs, himself a competitive Masters D...

The Club's New Singlets!