Here is another Awesome article about our team. We have the best group of wrestlers and coaches!
Thanks again to coachesaid.com.
http://www.coachesaid.com/Article/2010/1/6/Competition-in-room-driving-Chandler-to-new-heights
Competition in room driving Chandler to new heights
By: Jason P. Skoda • 1/6/2010
One athlete can lift an entire room.
It’s true.
Not literally, of course, but ask anyone who has stepped on the mat on a daily basis with a wrestler who has the background, desire and ability to be an elite competitor and they change the environment in the practice room.
Just take a look at a state program.
Whenever there is a name – Finch, McGough, or Goettl for example - that everyone checks the brackets to see when they are scheduled to compete, check the surrounding weight classes at the end of the tournament, too.
Nearly every time there will be one or two wrestlers on the awards stand from that same team the stud is on merely because they face one of the best every single day in practice
That level of drilling and live wrestling sets the tone in the practice room, lifting the level of intensity and expectations, and it can filter through the entire team.
Something similar appears to be happening in Chandler where 112-pounder Max Mejia, a Class 5A Division I state champion, and freshman 103-pounder Dalton Brady are pushing the Wolves to a new level.
“It’s awesome,” Brady said. “That’s why I am doing so well. I thought I could possibly do it, but it was going to be kind of rough. Drilling with Max makes it easier to believe and then the last two weeks showed me I am right in there.”
Chandler coach Vidal Mejia, Max’s father, said their effort in the room can be contagious.
“They are a couple of brawlers,” he said. “They have butted heads for years. They are year-round wrestlers that know how to work to get where they want to go and it is has caught on to some of other kids.”
Chandler, ranked No. 3 by CoachesAid.com, is one of the surprise teams of the early portion of wrestling season as the Wolves continue to finish high at tournaments, winning the McClintock tournament and finishing third at the Dave Work Memorial in Cottonwood.
“I hope we are still not surprising, but that doesn’t matter,” the elder Mejia said after the Mingus tournament. “We haven’t had much a recent history of being successful. We’ve shown glimpses. Right now, what we are doing is we are more consistent.
“This group of seniors we have now, we were excited about as freshman. What we lacked was mat time. Most of the kids we get have one year of junior high experience. When Max came in, and now Brady, they had four, five years experience so we didn’t have to spend as much time teaching the basics.”
The Wolves had five finalists, two champions, and two third-place finishers at Mingus without the younger Mejia missing the tournament with a neck injury. He was scheduled to see a specialist on Tuesday and the elder Mejia said he believed everything would be OK to have his son cleared.
In addition to Brady, who beat former state champion Chris Bostic in the finals, Alexander Buelna won the 152-pound title by beating Tut Khabuliani of Mesa 4-3.
Jacob Vega (135), Francisco Guiterrez (215) and William Poehls (HVY) were runners-up.
In the dual portion of the tournament Chandler went 4-1, losing 38-30 to champion Mingus, the top-ranked team in 4A II. Maybe Mejia’s presence in the lineup changes the team score although Mingus was without its 103-pounder Dalton Moran.
Frank Miranda (171) and Jacob Vega (189) took third place. In other words, there are few weak spots in the lineup.
The Wolves development will add another horse in the Flowing Wells Invitational field in what figures to be the most wide open team race the event has seen in a long time.
“We’ve made strides, but that is the toughest tournament in the state,” Mejia said. “We will see just how far we have come.”
Jason P. Skoda can be reached at jasonskoda@coachesaid.com with comments, story ideas and inquiries into his shirt size for any SWAG items that might be sent his way
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