Rochester, MN

We’re back. People here are still very, very nice and still look at us as if we’re crazy to leave Hawaii (80 degrees) and come to Rochester (6 degrees, but warming) in the winter. Our flight over was uneventful and it was nice to see some familiar faces waiting for us at the airport. Chuck Siefert, tournament facility director, and our old new friend, Ray Kealoha were both there when we arrived.

The weather was a brisk 6, but it looks like it’ll be warming up a bit over the next couple of days. It’s supposed to snow a few inches this evening, but will be in the low teens tomorrow. Very cold by our standards but a lot better than the below-zero highs they’ve been having over the past week.

We took it easy for the rest of the day, heading out to the Pannekoeken restaurant for lunch after checking into the hotel. The boys rested after lunch, then went to the athletic complex for a quick workout. We grabbed sandwiches for dinner then returned to the hotel.

Tomorrow we’ll be going to the Rochester Athletic Club in the morning, then back to the hotel for study hall. The scrimmage we were trying to arrange for tomorrow afternoon fell through, so we’ll head back to the tournament venue for a late afternoon practice session.

It’s great to be back in Rochester and at The Clash. Besides the great hospitality, the community here is so supportive (and knowledgeable) about wrestling. The Post-Bulletin ran an article on us in today’s paper and the Minneapolis Star Tribune will be running an article on us on Friday (they’re featuring only two teams: Apple Valley, who is ranked #2 in the country, and us).

The boys are settling in nicely and we’re looking forward to the tournament!