My body has traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Fools

Since my sattelite radio is currently out, been listening to alot of local radio. Found some pretty cool new ones on the air locally and got back up to speed with Public Radio for the news.

This one from my teen years was on and it still cracks me up.

Kip Addata - Wet Dream
Not the best audio so listen closely because the words are killer





Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sad state of college admissions


You have no idea how true this is.

Friday, March 11, 2011

State wrestling



The largest High School tournament in the United States, 896 wrestlers over three days.

Sorry it's taken me a week to post results but it's been a tough weekend to put in persective.

Cole came back for his first quarterfinal match on Friday and had a tough opponent and a tough break.

Midway through the first period his opponent shot for a takedown, Cole stuffed it and dropped to spin around. His jaw caught on his opponents hip as he was coming up and it ended up dislocated.

Naturally he had to forfeit the match. No saying how it would have ended. He was holding his own but the guy did end up taking 2nd eventually (after giving one of Cole's friends a concussion).

Here at 1:27
http://www.mlive.com/sports/flint/index.ssf/2011/03/hollys_shawn_scott_wins_quarte.html

The sports Docs got it to go back in eventually and cleared him to wrestle later.

We all left it to him, no one would expect him to continue or expect any more from him.
His reply? "I have to".

Unbeleivably he came back just 3hrs later and wrestled very hard and very smart. The guy had a good takedown shot but Cole had great defense and strategy. I don't say this much but I'm not too thrilled with the refereeing either. Twice or more Cole had a takedown all but done and he stopped them as out. Another time he was finishing a takedown and the guy called break and gave the other guy a takedown. Not really.


He tied it up right at the end of the third round by getting the guy called for stalling.

Watching the overtime round I don't think he was 100% recovered from the dislocation and the guy snuck in a takedown and just like that, the weekend's wrestling is over and the HS wrestling career is over.

Loosing your third match in overtime, I don't think you can be any closer to medaling and yet not place.
Pretty tough pill to swollow after working so hard and enduring so much during the season.
one broken nose (two last year)
level one shoulder separation
minicus slipped 3 times in practice (it feels like a dislocation)
dislocated jaw
cauliflower ear (which we got drained Tuesday)
and probably more he never mentioned.

Final record 44-10, ranked as high as 5th in the state.


March of Champions at the beginning of tournament

But some others who have put it in perspective had some wisdom to share.
No one makes it to the State finals in just their third year of wrestling
('cept world champion stickfighters one former teammate mentioned, he wrestles in college on a scholarship now btw).
It just isn't done.
The good friend he made during the season who he beat pretty well twice this year had been wrestling for 14 years. You just don't make it to State in such a short time.
And the only wrestlers who wouldn't want to trade places with him (at State) are those who placed 1st through 8th. All the other guys who have been wrestling for years that didn't make it would love to have the opportunity just to be there.
So yeah, a pretty good senior season. Setting a goal a year ago and making it come true through everything that happened. Doing what it took and staying true to the goal when others gave up or took an easier road.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

State Wrestling championships

Just back from round one. Lasted from 2:15 to 8:30!!
Cole one his first match 3-2. Very tough match that ended with another broken nose.
But now he doesn't have to return until 11AM for the round 3 quarterfinals.

Teammate Brandt also won his first match in very dramatic overtime fashion.
Very well done.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

'cause I've got a golden ticket!



State Qualifiers from Hamilton - Cole and Brandt




Preferred ticket order forms


Three good matches today. Winning the first and 2nd and narrowly loosing the final championship match.
A bit frustrating for Cole because he feels he was the better wrestler. The guy just rode him for the 2nd and third round and never got called for stalling. A winner never likes to loose anything, ever. That's what gets them to the point of winning. To Cole, if the guy is better than you, know shame in loosing. Hey, he was better. But if he knows in his head and heart he was better and for a different application of the rules, ect.......



In the end? Whatever.

Going to State!!










Friday, February 18, 2011

Regionals tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Wrestling Regional finals, actually at home this time.
I've agreed to run a clock so time should pass quickly until I get a break and watch Cole Wrestle.

Michigan Grappler now has him ranked #5 in the state and predicts him to take first place!!
Hope it's not a jinx.

171

#5 Cole Van Harm (Hamilton) vs Dan Dykstra (Middleville TK)
#9 Chance Gorby (Allegan) vs Chase Challender (Charlotte)
#6 David McCormick (Forest Hills Northern) vs Wade Schlosser (Lowell)
#10 Derek Nietering (Coopersville) vs Blake Marsh (Eaton Rapids)

Outlook: All four placers from the Coopersville district should have a good chance to advance at this weight. After advancing from their tough district last week Van Harm, McCormick, Gorby and Nietering are all currently ranked top ten at their weight class. However Marsh and Challender are tough as well and should make this a very competitive weight class.

Predicted Finish: Van Harm, McCormick, Gorby, Marsh



Weds was team regionals but he faced two of the guys from tomorrow. The first was one he beat Saturday and the other was a strong, bulky guy predicted to take 3rd tomorrow.

Oh, he beat them both.


So, here's some action from Wed.



Sunday, February 13, 2011

Borrowed shoes - District Championship

Individual Wrestling District Championships were yesterday. Big day for wrestlers. It's the first cut to their quest to qualify and wrestle at the State level, every wrestler's dream.
Cole's started off rather bumpily. Someone stole his wrestling shoes Friday night.

I got stressed calls from him on the team bus ride to the meet asking if his shoes were at home, they weren't. So I did some running around trying to find them amidst dropping off food for them to have after the onsite weigh-in. No luck. So we brought his beat up shoes as back ups just in time by start time.
Fortunatley there's another wrestler on the team with size 12's as well. It was a little dicey time-wise as he was only two weights below Cole but it all worked out.

Huge thanks to him for being generous enough to lend them to Cole.

Cole started off the day seeded in second place due to his record of 36-7 and 1st through 4th seed get a bye in the first round.

Well, you can see things went pretty well.





All three matches wins, beating the #6 and #5 ranked guys in the state and he is now seeded first going into Regionals which will be held at home Saturday. There were only two Regional champions from his team yesterday and 4 others qualified as well (1st through 4th moves on).

Now at Regionals there will only be 8 per weight class and the top four move on to State. Needs to win at least two matches.

One step closer.....



these are the only vids I could upload as the rest were over 100mgs and blogger didn't like them


His second opponent had a rough day. Coming in he was seeded 4th but came in not feeling too well for the day. He and Cole have met before so it was anticipated to be a hot match.

But Cole said he himself was in the zone and really slicing time (thanks Mushtaq) and it was as if he could see everything in slowed motion.



Right after this one the opponent ran off to grab the garbage can (he did come back and wrestle well in his consolation 3rd place match so he recovered fine)

Quick feet, no?

He'd met his finals opponent earlier in the year and lost to 2-1. This time he came back very aggressivly and hooked up hard.

Cole was down 3-0 as a result when he stuck this reversal and wicked neck crank to go up 5-3.

Then kept that pace to end the match winning 8-6 - District Champion.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

20sec pin




Team district action last night.


Hamilton defeated Holland soundly and then Zeeland East to become division 2 district team champions.


Cole had the fastest pin of the night, 20seconds.








Sunday, February 6, 2011

Conference Champions

Saturday was the individual Conference championship. Points earned individually also add up to an overall team conference score. The hawkeyes have defeated every team in the conference dual meets but if one other team won the individual conference meet on individual points, it would be a co-championship. That's what happened last year.

But not this year.





The team pulled it out again and defeated the 2nd ranked team by one final team point, 241 to 240.



Italic


Cole also had no problem winning individual Conference at 171. He defeated all three of his oponents in the first round, by pin at an average elapsed time of one minute.



Record 34 and 7











Sunday, January 30, 2011

nother tournament

Another saturday tournament down.
12+ hours makes for a long day, specially when it's 9-5 in a bleacher.
Cole had yet another great day, going undeafeated again.
That's three undefeated tournaments out of four in January, his only loss to a Division 1 ranked team.
So the current record of wins-losses is 31-7, 21-1 in January.
One more Quad on Wednesday and then it's conference action next Saturday for which he should be seeded in first place.
Great to see him having such a great senior season.

nice article from last Saturday too.

http://allegannews.com/articles/2011/01/27/sports/4.txt

HOPKINS—Records are made to be broken and on Saturday, Jan. 22, Jake Arndt of Hopkins set a school record that he hopes is broken.

“My hope and desire is for someone else to break my record,” said the modest Arndt, who set the mark for most career wins in Hopkins. “That’s what records are all about.”

Arndt, who wrestled at 152 and 160 pounds, would like to see the Vikings’ wrestling program make some noise at the state level.

“We’re getting better and better,” Arndt said. “I would love to see wrestling become an elite program at our school like football.”

The Vikings, who finished a close second to Hamilton at their own invitational, are making great strides. “They’ve really gotten a lot better,” said veteran Hawkeyes’ coach Gregg Stoel. “(Hopkins coach) Joel (Eding) has done a great job with that program. We feel fortunate to get out of here with a win.”

Hamilton went 5-0 at the daylong tournament.


The Hawkeyes opened the invite with a 69-6 shellacking of Whitehall. They followed that with a 35-24 win over Edwardsburg, a 63-14 pasting of East Kentwood’s B team and a 40-28 victory over Three Rivers.

The Hawkeyes’ toughest match was a 36-30 decision over the Vikings in round 3.

“I thought we might get them,” Eding said. “We had a great shot.”

Eding was extra fired up for the bout.

“Joel really wanted it,” said his wife, Denise. “He didn’t eat when he left home this morning.”

Eding could almost taste his first triumph against his alma mater.



“This was the closest we’ve come to beating these guys,” Eding said. “A match here or there could have been the difference.”

Another factor might have been the coin toss.

“Winning the coin toss is always very important,” Stoel said. “For me it usually comes down to a match against a certain kid. They got what they wanted when they put up (Elijah) Mack against Cole VanHarn (in the final match).”

Hopkins laid all of its marbles on the floor when they sent out the muscular Mack against the equally well-built VanHarn at 171 pounds. VanHarn ended up winning arguably the day’s most exciting match with so much at stake, 3-1.“That was a great match,” Eding said. “It was a match that could have gone either way.”

This was the fifth time this season that VanHarn, who is ranked 10th in the state, has won a match in the last five seconds.

“I would much rather get it over as quickly as possible,” VanHarn said. “Winning at the end like that is not something I plan on.”
Also going 5-0 on the day for the Hawkeyes besides VanHarn were Collin Welcher (103 pounds), Brandt Welcher (130) and Joey Cullen (152).



“We knew this would be a tough tournament,” Stoel said. “We wrestled very well against some very good teams.”

Hopkins’ four team wins came over Three Rivers (48-21), Whitehall (65-18), Edwardsburg (41-31) and East Kentwood’s B unit (66-14).

“This was a fun day,” Arndt said. “It was fun to wrestle five matches.”

Several teams in the past have voided against Arndt, who raised his season record to a perfect 32-0. He has now won 141 career matches and broke Kinion Mack’s previous school mark of 137.

“I’m happy for Jake,” said the classy Mack, working at one of the tables. “He’s a good wrestler, who has good techniques.”

Stoel also had special words for Arndt.

“He’s a very solid wrestler,” Stoel said. “It’s easy to see he has worked hard to get to where he’s at.”

Arndt has another big goal in mind for himself and for the Vikings before the season comes to a close.

“I’d really like to see us win district,” Arndt said. “I believe we have the team to do it.”

Hopkins will host districts Thursday, Feb. 10.

“Ironically, Otsego, the team we last defeated for our lone district championship, is in our district along with Fennville,” Eding said.

Also finishing with 5-0 unbeaten marks for Hopkins along with Arndt were Kyle Cooper (215), Jimmy Renberg (145) and Paul Weber (119-125).

Monday, January 24, 2011

Jack LaLanne - RIP


Simply put, We're not worthy



•LaLanne's last public stunt was in 1994, when he celebrated his 80th birthday by getting handcuffed and shackled in order to fight strong winds and currents and swim 1.5 miles while towing 80 boats with 80 people from the Queensway Bay Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Wrestling action - undefeated tournament

Another hot tournament Saturday and yes, two more last second wins!


Cole went 5-0 undefeated (as did the team overall) and two of those were some pretty hottly contested matches on his part.

I was requested to put up a little of the action so here they are.



The first match wasn't too difficult but some interesting action.


Watch how good initial technique below allows him to maintain against the drag and complete the headlock throw.

The second match was another hot one with a pretty aggressive, hot opponent. A particularly nastily coached team that does whatever it takes to win.


He got a point against him for this unnecessary crossface that drew blood, that point would later prove to be crucial.

As you can see here, Cole sorta returned the bloody nose favor ('cept on Cole's part it wasn't due to wrestling "dirty"). He simply hit him with such a hard takedown that his head snapped down and hit Cole's knee (something that actually happened to Cole last year against one of their guys but that's another story).




Lots of headbutting (by the opponent) and hand-fighting.


ultimately this one went to an overtime round, first score wins.

Cole got the takedown at the buzzer.



Completly exhausted, he dropped into his seat after leaving the matt.

But more significantly, after the handshake at center, the other guy actually collapsed and crawled off the matt to lay against the wall for the next 1/2 hour.


The next match was against the host team, the team to beat to win the tournament.

Wouldn't you know it, Cole's was the final deciding match. Team score was 30-27. If he looses, the team score is tied and they'd loose on criteria. They'd moved their 160 guy up to 171 knowing that he was ranked as high as 6th in the state the previous year and had already beaten Cole last year.

A pretty aggressive strong opponent, a tactical match with little scoring going on, none in the first period.


Cole got an excape in second round, now 1-0



Then he got an excape in the 3rd, now 1-1

Once again, Cole scored the takedown at the buzzer, 3-1 final, team wins the match and goes bannanas.


Told him, you just proved you deserve to be state ranked.


The next two matches were somewhat anticlimactic but still some good action.


Watch how he keeps the leg tied up on the reversal. Most guys let it go.



His season record now stands at 25 and 7,

15 and 1 since xmas break


Monday, January 17, 2011

State Ranked

Directing your attention to the 171 rankings below.
Among high school wrestlers, being state ranked is a pretty big deal. There are something like 100 schools in each of the 4 divisions and you are ranked in the top 10 of all wrestlers at your weight and many schools have multiple guys at a given weight.
The intimidation factor alone is huge.

http://www.michigangrappler.com/files/High_School/HS1011/rankings/jan13_d2.html


Michigan Grappler's High School Rankings
Division 2 Individual Rankings
1/13/2011

103 lbs
1 Zac Hall (St Johns), Fr.
2 Dean Somers (Lapeer West), So.
3 Andrew Betke (Allegan), Sr.
4 Logan Crandall (South Lyon)
5 Tyler Baber (Niles), Sr.
6 Steven Bleise (Dexter), Fr.
7 Brandon Tresemer (Zeeland East), Fr.
8 Collin Welcher (Hamilton), So.
9 Dale Umlor (Coopersville)
10 Michael Schmidt (Greenville), So.
112 lbs
1 Jacob Schmitt (St. Johns), So.
2 Tyler Daniel (Lakeshore), Jr.
3 Joey Golani (Crestwood), Sr.
4 Ryan Carroll (Parma Western), Jr.
5 Tyler Foley (South Lyon East), Sr.
6 Mason Cleaver (Holly), So.
7 Alex Melinn (Coopersville), Jr.
8 Tyler Nietering (Spring Lake), Jr.
9 Adam Nichols (Lapeer West), So.
10 Chase Lewis (Tecumseh), Jr.
119 lbs
1 Conor Youtsey (Mason), Sr.
2 Anthony Gonzales (Holly), So.
3 Tim Lambert (Forest Hills Eastern), Jr.
4 Esteban Gonzales (Holly), Sr.
5 Tyler Frese (Lakeshore), Sr.
6 Brant Schafer (St. Johns), So.
7 Kyle Simaz (Allegan), Fr.
8 Chris Carroll (Riverview), Sr.
9 Collin Lesko (Tecumseh), Sr.
10 Andre Sanders (Farmington Hills Harrison), Sr.
125
1 Josh Pennell (St Johns), So.
2 Mike Shaw (Allegan), Sr.
3 Nikolas Leal (Holland), Jr.
4 Dan Graham (Sparta), Jr.
5 Brendan Cummins (Annapolis)
6 Taylor Trombley (Owosso), Sr.
7 Eric Stock (Orchard Lake St Mary), Sr.
8 Kyle Hurley (Sparta)
9 Joe Ferguson (New Boston Huron), Sr.
10 Cody Vanderhagen (Hazel Park)
130
1 Camryn Jackson (Lansing Eastern), Sr.
2 Nick Trimble (Sparta), Jr.
3 Jeff Jenkins (Tecumseh), Sr.
4 Sam Hanau (Stevensville Lakeshore), Sr.
5 Brandt Welcher (Hamilton), Sr.
6 Collin Burandt (Niles), Sr.
7 Harry Kriger (Spring Lake), Jr.
8 Zak Baumer (Byron Center), Jr.
9 Jake Livingston (Grand Rapids Northview), Sr.
10 Zack Jones (Holly), So.
135
1 Victor Vettese (Avondale), Sr.
2 Taylor Simaz (Allegan), Jr.
3 Joe Johnson (South Lyon), Sr.
4 Cody Stenberg (Muskegon Reeths Puffer), Jr.
5 Taylor Grenawalt (Haslett), So.
6 Jesse Armstrong (Gaylord), Sr.
7 Timothy Scott (Highland Park), Sr.
8 Austin Cottongim (Fowlerville)
9 Ronnie Bechtol (Tecumseh), Jr.
10 Travis Dragomer (Stevensville Lakeshore), Jr.
140
1 Gabe Morse (Lowell), Jr.
2 Payne Hayden (St. Johns), So.
3 Joe Preston (Grand Rapids Northview), Jr.
4 Dallas Blank (Linden), Sr.
5 Shawn Brewer (New Boston Huron)
6 James Roberts (Farmington Hills Harrison), Sr.
7 Chris Hebert (Ogemaw Hts), Sr.
8 Kyle Reinhart (Avondale), Sr.
9 Gabe Stepanovich (Forest Hills Northern), Jr.
10 Travis Kern (Fowlerville), Jr.
145
1 Andrew Morse (Lowell), Jr.
2 Travis Curley (St. Johns), Jr.
3 Nate Zick (Byron Center), Sr.
4 Nick Starzek (Mason), Jr.
5 Dean Vettese (Avondale), So.
6 CJ Tripp (Tecumseh), Sr.
7 Mike Waldon (Vicksburg), Sr.
8 Dakota Gordon (Fruitport), So.
9 Ben Klinkscale (Grand Rapids Northview), So.
10 Marcus Shephard (Farmington Hills Harrison)
152
1 Jordan Wohlfert (St. Johns), Sr.
2 Ryan Burl (Dewitt), Sr.
3 Tim Sims (Milan), Sr.
4 Isaac Joseph (Lapeer East), Sr.
5 Collin Ferguson (Hastings), Sr.
6 Garrett Johnston (Escanaba), Sr.
7 David Tucker (Coldwater), Sr.
8 Drew Barnes (Dexter), Jr.
9 Travis Dadow (Battle Creek Harper Creek), Sr.
10 Matt Galvan (Adrian), Sr.
160
1 Taylor Massa (St Johns), Jr.
2 Adam Bonner (Greenville), Sr.
3 Dan Fleet (Lowell), Sr.
4 Andrew Kelley (Allegan), Jr.
5 Cody Kline (Clio), Sr.
6 James Mondoux (Portage Northern), Sr.
7 RJ Gaskill (Milan), Sr.
8 Jake Stehley (Lowell), Jr.
9 Zach Gnass (Byron Center)
10 Dillon Hunt (Gaylord), Sr.
171
1 Jordan Thomas (Greenville), Jr.
2 Shawn Scott (Holly), Jr.
3 Chevez Ferris (Ferndale), So.
4 Tom Carney (Tecumseh), Sr.
5 David McCormick (Forest Hills Northern), Sr.
6 Derek Nietering (Coopersville), Sr.
7 Jake Haddad (South Lyon East)
8 Nate Knauf (Dewitt), Jr.
9 Eric Strickler (Lapeer East)
10 Cole VanHarn (Hamlton)
189
1 Gabe Dean (Lowell), Jr.
2 Kyle Fisher (Linden), Sr.
3 Paul Dunneback (Sparta), Sr.
4 Jackson Lewis (Madison Hts Lamphere), Sr.
5 Garrett Stehley (Lowell), Fr.
6 Conrado Dominguez (St Johns), Jr.
7 Andrew Hissom (Spring Lake), Jr.
8 Garrett Viehl (Greenville)
9 CJ Spencer (Lapeer East), Sr.
10 Jake Hampton (Haslett), Sr.
215
1 Adam Coon (Fowlerville), So.
2 Kyle Spear (Stevensville Lakeshore), Jr.
3 Matt Schultz (Milan), Sr.
4 Colton Marlette (Hastings), Sr.
5 Brock Neeson (Kenowa Hills), Sr.
5 Dillon Raymond (Hamilton), Sr.
7 Dallas Ratcliff (New Boston Huron), Jr.
8 Brian Moran (Fowlerville), So.
9 Steve Blank (Allegan), Sr.
10 Trey Sweeney (Ypsilanti)
285
1 Quean Smith (Highland Park), Sr.
2 Michael Hooper (Warren Lincoln), Sr.
3 Collin Teff (Portage Northern), Sr.
4 Adam Robinson (Mason), Jr.
5 Jake Lynema (Lowell), Jr.
6 Kyle Carlson (Stevensville Lakeshore)
7 Justin Zimmer (Greenville), Sr.
8 Martaz Churchfield (Highland Park), Jr.
9 Shawn Chamberlain (Dexter), Jr.
10 Deshaun Lee (Marysville), Sr.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

And again

Big conference meet with local rivals last night.

Cole did it again, winning in the last 10 seconds.

Here's the newspaper article.


http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x1958454907/Hamilton-wrestler-gets-tough-win-after-losing-grandfather

Also made 1st team, academic all state for football, it was just announced. Only 24 in the entire state.


http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x512656390/West-Ottawa-Hamilton-top-Academic-All-State-football-teams


The team also tied for 2nd in the state.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

My Personal Moto



You can search the database for your favorite stip here


http://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/

All life's questions can be answered in Calvin and Hobbs

Calvinball anyone?!?!?!



Monday, January 10, 2011

Wrestling goldness

Haven't given a wrestling update in a while. Season kicked back into full gear this week and Saturday was another all day individual tournament with 12 teams in attendance. They wrestle individually by weight class but also gather points for a team score.
Cole came in ranked 4th for seeding purposes and steadily worked his way through the competition. Wrestled his butt off in fairly aggressive fashion.

This guy was fairly strong he said but he finished him at just around one minute.


When he wrestled the #1 seed the guy was like 3" taller, a new experience because Cole is always the taller one.

The guy was known for a great top game so Cole got him to the ground

and basically manhandled him for three full rounds. Never really let him up.

The Championship round was pretty closely matched. The guy was strong and fairly crafty. He knew how to respond and what was coming. Going into the final 30 seconds of the final round cole was down by like 7 pts. He put hit trust in his take down and it paid of getting 4. In the final 11 seconds he was down by only 1point, needing a 2pt takedown to win.

Her ya go:


Currently sporting a 15-6 record and 5 of the 6 losses are to ranked guys at high level tournaments.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Frog under glass


Been some interesting weather here lately. One day all the way up to 53, melting most of the snow on New Years Eve (figures, the snowmobile trails open on Jan 1).
Then the next day dropped down to 22 degrees. 31 degree drop in less than 24 hours.

Made for some interesting formations on the surface of my koi pond caused by the pump I leave running to keep the surface open and gasses to escape.





But unfortunately for the frogs, I don't keep all of them open. The small ones out front I leave as much vegetation as possible in if they decide to hibernate there. The surface melted and then refroze leaving a clear view quite a way down.


Unfortunately, they either didn't go deep enough or it froze solid.


That's a clear block of ice there.












How many did you count? I got up to nine and some were quite large but not in a state of suspended animation unfortunately. I'm betting there are more farther down.