Friday, March 29, 2024

The Clash 2011–Day 2

December 29, 2011 by  
Filed under News, The Clash 2011

We started the day bright & early with a 7:30am shuttle to the RCTC for an 8:00a workout. The tournament organizers already have the gym set up for the tournament and we got to practice on the mat we’ll be wrestling on tomorrow. Overall, a short but intense workout – just what we needed the day before competition.

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We returned to the hotel for a quick shower, then boarded a chartered trolley for an afternoon tour of the surrounding area. As we headed east, the city of Rochester quickly gives way to wide expanses of farmland. We drove through the Whitewater River Valley, and stopped for a bit at the nature center there.

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We continued our journey northeast, making a quick stop at Lark’s Toy Store, a large family-owned toy store that also features a hand-made carousel. After a few rides (and some home made fudge, for those wrestlers who could afford to eat), we headed towards the Mississippi river and over to the Wisconsin side to have lunch at Nelson’s Cheese Factory.

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After lunch, the trolley took us back to the Minnesota side of the Mississippi, over to the town of Wabasha, where we visited the Eagle Center. We got to hear a lecture on the Bald Eagles indiginous to the area, then got to see some of the eagles up close.

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On our way back to Rochester, we drove along the Mississippi and were able to see a couple dozen Bald Eagles in the wild.

The wrestlers were on their own for dinner, supervised by Mr. Beachey and Coach Arnie. Coach Oney and I went to the coaches’ dinner hosted by the tournament committee. The dinner speaker was 3x World Champion Lee Kemp and we got a great opportunity to talk to some of the other coaches in the tournament.

Bed check was at 10pm and we have a very early start tomorrow. We take a 6:30am shuttle for a 7:15 weigh-in. We’re scheduled to wrestle at 9:00a, 11:00a and 1:00p, with our first match of the tournament being against St. Edwards of Ohio, ranked #1 in the country by WIN Magazine. It’ll be as tough a battle as we’ve ever been in, but the boys look ready. Wish us luck!

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