Minutemen Youth Wrestling

1. Only certified officials may be used. Tournament directors are required to contact Brian Reardon (Officials Director) at least 4 weeks prior to your tournament. Brian’s phone number at home is (860) 584-9523 and his cell is 203-521-6304 or by e-mail coachbreardon@comcast.net. You’ll need at least one (1) more official than the number of wrestling surfaces that you will be using. Site: 2. Mats- no less than one-half mats is to be used at any time for any age category. The minimum mat size is recommended to be the equivalent of two (2) full-mats broken-up into three (3) mat surfaces. NEW: All Novice and Middle school wrestlers that are in a weight class of 115 pounds or more will be required to wrestle on Full Mats, this is not left to the tournament director’s discretion. 3. Sound system- adequate sound systems must be available in each area where wrestling matches are present 4. Emergency personnel- it is the responsibility of each tournament director to have on hand one of the following type of personnel (certified trainer, nurse, doctor, paramedic, EMT, fireman with medical training) Bracketing: We will be using the 5-man (Maryland Crab) round-robin format. 5. All wrestlers will be grouped by both age category and weight into 5-man brackets. Each wrestler will wrestle one-another giving each wrestler a total of 4 matches (round-robin format). There are many advantages to doing this. § Everyone gets 4 matches. When using 8-man brackets with only 7 listed wrestlers the #1 seeded wrestler will only get two (2) matches. Wrestlers with lesser experience tend to only get two (2) matches too. The round robin format automatically gives these wrestlers a 100% increase in the number of matches. § Wrestlers of equal caliber can be grouped together providing for more competitive matches. This should give everyone 4 competitive matches versus a #1 seed in an 8-man bracket who usually gets only one (1) competitive match. § It is a very easy format to operate. This will allow the tournaments to be operated more smoothly and in a timely fashion. § This is also a very easy format to understand. Everyone, coaches, wrestlers and parents alike should quickly understand the progression through the tournament of each and every wrestler. With only five (5) rounds the match-ups will be identical week in and week out. o Round 1- #1 vs #2 and #3 vs #4 with a bye to #5 o Round 2- #1 vs #3 and #2 vs #5 with a bye to #4 o Round 3- #1 vs #4 and #3 vs #5 with a bye to #3 o Round 4- #1 vs #5 and #3 vs #4 with a bye to #2 o Round 5- #2 vs #3 and #4 vs #5 with a bye to #1 § Parents will quickly understand the format and know when their child is finished wrestling for the day. § This format also allows each tournament director to pre-bracket their tournament. In the event of a no-show the bracket then becomes a 4-manCriteria are being developed to identify place winners in the event of some wrestlers having the same win-loss record. · When only two (2) wrestlers have the identical win-loss record the tiebreaker will be the one who won their match. · When three (3) wrestlers have identical win-loss records the following criteria, in order, will apply- o Match points- 3 points for regular decision (minor), less than 8 pt delta in the final match score; 4 points for a major decision where the match score delta is between 8 and 11 points; 5 points for a technical fall where the match score delta was more than 11 points; or 6 points for a fall, forfeit or injury default. o Scoring total- the wrestler who had scored more points in their 3 matches regardless of the type of decision, fall, forfeit or injury default. o The tournament registration form will be modified to allow each coach to identify those wrestlers who would typically place in the top three (3) of an 8-man bracket. Wrestlers will then be grouped by not only age and weight but their skill level as well. o A minimum of 20 minutes must be allowed between wrestlers matches.

On Sunday February 27, 2005 at Hillhouse High School in New Haven the younger Berlin Minutemen competed in the State Championship. The Bantams were represented by Andrew Zovich who lost his first match of the day before rolling off three straight wins for third place. Andrew's closest match came against Olivia Satti from Waterford who he squeaked out a 10-8 win. Next up was Sean Sullivan wrestling in the 62 pound bracket. Sean pinned his first opponent before being beaten in the final by Nicholas Hemm from Colchester. Sean then had to defeat Khamri Thomas from Enfield 10-3 to take 2nd place. The final Bantam at 65 pounds was Jeremy Eliades who placed first in all the tournaments he wrestled this winter. The State Tournament would be no different as he won by Technical Fall and then defeated Peter Elias 4-0 in the Championship for his second State title in as many years. The Midgets had five entries who all placed. Starting at 52 lbs. was Anthony Zovich who pinned his first opponent lost to Nikolas Stefanatos of New Milford and the beat Matthew Elias 6-4 to finish 2nd. The 65 pound class had Jacob Eliades who won by forfeit, before winning in overtime 6-4 against Zachary Tepper of Danbury. Jacob pinned Benjamin Reale in the final at 3:50. This was Jacobs second straight state title in a row. In the tough 66 weight class was Colin Cunningham. Each opponent he faced was taller but that didn't slow him down after dropping his first match 10-2 Colin won by Technical Fall over Sam Olsson before losing to Steven Persson by pin to settle for 4th place. Wrestling one of the best tournaments of his young career was Todd Koops in the 67 pound weight class. Todd won his first two matches on the day before being beaten by Will Rishell of Hebron. He then lost in the Consolation Final to Miguel Calixto of Windham to finish third. Nicholas Mangiafico wrestled in the 69 pound weight class wining his first two matches by 13-0 scores. In the next match he lost to Jake Gonzalez of South Windsor 13-4 and then beat David Colvin of Colchester 6-4. In this match Nicholas trailed by 4 points with 10 seconds to go in the match when he hit a five point move putting Colvin to his back to win the match 5-4 for 2nd place. Head Coach Roger Moss, said, "the young wrestler's did well and have shown great improvement over the course of this year." He added, "The future is bright for Berlin Wrestling if they keep improving at their current pace.

Thomas Edison Middle School Sunday November 21, 2004 USA Wrestling CT will be offering a Bronze Certification course on Sunday November 16 at the Thomas Edison Middle School in Meriden CT. Registration will begin at 10:30am, the course runs six hours. The cost of the course is $60. The Bronze Level Certification course is an outstanding way for coaches to further their knowledge and understanding of the sport of wrestling. Each year over one thousand coaches across the country achieve Bronze Certification. Completion of the Bronze Course allows participants to coach at state, regional, and national USA Wrestling events. To achieve certification coaches must attend a USA Wrestling sanctioned Bronze Clinic, complete self study of the USA Wrestling Coaches Guide to Excellence, and complete and return to the National Office a fifty question take home test. Participants must receive an 80% or better grade on the test to be Bronze Certified. The clinic will also feature a two hour technique session featuring Yale University head coach Brian Reardon. - Regarded as one of the most progressive coaches in the country, former coach of numerous successful High School and College Teams, Has produced All-Americans year after year at almost every age group level, 1994 Assistant Coach of the USA Cadet Greco-Roman World Team, (which included Cael Sanderson and Mike Zaddick) Head Coach of the Connecticut Junior Olympic and Cadet National Teams, 1994 Connecticut Wrestling Man-of-the-Year. As a Silver Certified USA Coach, he holds positions on the USAW-CT board, the NWCA (the National Wrestling Coaches Association), as well as the MWA (Metropolitan Wrestling Association) When coaches achieve Bronze Certification they receive the USA Wrestling billfold card to use when registering at USA Wrestling events, a Bronze Certificate suited for framing, the Course text valued at $30, and a USA Wrestling Bronze Certified Coaches' shirt. The National Coaches Education Program's Bronze Level serves as an important tool for coaches to learn more about the most up to date ways to successfully coach wrestling. The Bronze Level is the second step in the NCEP. Coaches can still attend a Bronze Course if they are not certified at the Copper Level. The Bronze Course is best suited for participants with past knowledge of the sport of wrestling or previous experience in coaching. The clinic will be limited to twenty five participants, to reserve your slot please contact Stephen Makein, Director of Coaching, at CoachMakein@cox.net or call (203) 440-2377. Make an active commitment to the sport of wrestling---Join USA Wrestling! Directions Martin Luther King, Jr. Circular Drive, 1355 North Broad Street, Meriden, CT 06450 From the North (Hartford) via Interstate 91: I-91 South to exit 18 (I-691 - West connector). Take the first exit (#8 - Broad Street)*. At the end of the ramp take a right onto Broad Street. Proceed through two traffic lights. At the fourth traffic signal, you will see Washington Middle School on the right. The Entrance to Thomas Edison Middle School is approximately 0.3 of a mile on the right. The main entrance is to the right of the school through the double pillars.

First I would like to thank everyone who attended the Town Council meeting. It is now time to get in and register. I have slated us to start on Wednesday, December 8th. the fee this year will be $75.00 per child. Here are a couple of other items: 1. The Competitive Edge Wrestling Day will take place on Sunday, December 12th at Southington High School (720 Pleasant St., Southington, CT 6489) from 9 a.m. - 12 Noon. This is a FREE CLINIC FOR ALL Youth Wrestlers, Parents and Coaches. Wrestlers will be placed in small groups and rotated to different teaching stations. We will teach technique, wrestling games, agility, drills, etc. The Competitive Edge Camp staff will be instructing. The goal of WRESTLING DAY is for kids to HAVE FUN and LEARN. I NEED YOUR HELP. This is the first year of this Wrestling Day and they need to get a better idea as to how many wrestlers and Coaches will attend. This will determine how many groups and instructors I need. If you plan to attend, please let me know by e-mail or phone no later than December 6th. 2. USA Cards and payment. I have cards for those who told me they wanted them at our meeting last month about the road race. If you have not paid me I need that payment ASAP. If you want to register for USA tournaments you need a card. 3. Our Tournament January 16th. We need to have a meeting to set up a committee for the tournament. Anyone willing to be on the committee please let me know. We need to run this well and make some money for our program. 4. Restlin' Run. I just got back and hope to work on the run finances. Seems the police are charging us the entire amount of their services instead of 1/2 like last year. I will be talking to Jack Banks about this. Hope all had a great Thanksgiving and we'll see you soon I hope. Roger

Here are ten tips from the NAYS for parents who take an active part in your children's athletics: 1. Remember that where teams practice and wrestle is like your kid's classroom--respect the classroom. 2. Make only positive, encouraging comments to the wrestlers on both teams. 3. Remember ...making mistakes is part of the learning process--don't criticize. 4. Discuss your concern away from the wrestlers and, in particular, away from your child. 5. Respect the officials. 6. Focus on enjoying the sport and participation rather than winning and losing. 7. Ask kid's if they had fun. Then ask why or why not? 8. Control your emotions. 9. Get interested in your child's wrestling career. 10. Learn the rules of the sport of wrestling before you criticize, ridicule or question a call. 11. Stay home if you can't control yourself or you get angry when kids don't wrestle perfectly. 12. Be a better role model to your kids. Kids look up to their parents and imitate them. 13. Don't nag your kids. 14. Commend your child for the good things they did no matter what the results of the match were. 15. If your kids' team wins, compliment the opponents. 16. If your kids' team loses, compliment the opponents. Don't frown! 17. Celebrate all matches, duals or tournaments, win or lose. Concentrate on effort. 18. Remember... it's their wrestling match, not yours. 19. Don't make sports all-important. There are many more things in life. 20. Love and support your kids AT ALL TIMES