Below Ben Smith, the current Head Assistant Coach at Hickman High School and next years new Head Coach at Battle High School (Columbia’s newest public high school), describes his experience with some of Missouri’s finest high school wrestler’s at the 2013 NHSCA Folkstyle Championships…thanks Coach Smith!
It was my great pleasure to travel to Virginia Beach last week for the NHSCA National tournament. I traveled with some great competitors including Logan Mudd (Blair Oaks) and his father Paul, Will Tindal (Father Tolton), Jaydin Clayton (Father Tolton) and his mother Heather, and a couple of boys from Hickman in Alex Shea and J’den Cox as well as Mike Eierman, who has coached all of these guys as youngsters and during off seasons over the years. These wrestlers competed their butts off and I couldn’t be prouder of them. Logan Mudd was 3-2 with a couple of pins, Will Tindal was an All-American placing 4th, Jaydin Clayton was a NATIONAL CHAMPION at the 126 pound weight class in the Sophomore division winning in dominant fashion with 2 pins, 2 techs, and a major, including a pin in the finals! (If you haven’t seen him wrestle yet, you have 2 more years! This is a special kid who is so fun to watch!) Alex Shea finished with a 3-2 record and beat a couple of state champs in the process. Finally J’den Cox dominated his bracket and was also a NATIONAL CHAMPION winning in the finals 10-1! J’den was also awarded the Adam Frey Memorial Award given to the athlete who shows the ability to overcome through any type of adversity.
What a great showing from a bunch of great kids! Quite possibly the thing I enjoyed most about this group, was how they all had so much fun wrestling and hanging out with each other. These wrestlers all showed so much passion for the sport we love and the results speak for themselves.
Congratulations to all of the Missouri wrestlers who attended. I was impressed with how many of the Missouri wrestlers were mat side for each other’s matches supporting each other throughout the tournament.
I know this was long winded but I wanted all of the kids I traveled with to be recognized for their achievements!
Sincerely,
Ben Smith
Greco-Roman