Liberty Redhawk Wrestling: RW News

The 2012 Redhawk Rumble Freestyle Tournament will take place on April 21st at Liberty High School.  This is a Freestyle Only event on 6 mats with all age groups and weight classes.  For questions, please don't hesitate to email Coach Thurston at ThurstoJ@FriscoISD.org. 

The Liberty men’s wrestling team took the mats at the Heritage Coyote Classic this past Saturday.  With only 10 of 14 weight classes filled, the Redhawks placed 5 wrestlers in the finals en route to a third place team finish.

Senior Captain Bang “The Thai Terror” Thaphina pinned his first 2 opponents before securing a 13-3 Major Decision in the finals over number 1 seed Gage Reesor from Liberty Christian.  Bang continued to be aggressive on his feet securing takedowns with his speed and will be vying for the 113 pound district title in 2 weeks.

Junior Dillon “Triple-D” DeVolk broke through in the finals for his first tournament championship in dominating fashion.  Dillon secured 2 first period falls before pinning Heritage senior captain Spencer Shipman with a nearleg cradle in the finals.

Junior Beau Brittain used a 3^rd period pin over the number 2 seed at 126 pounds to qualify for his first varsity finals.  Sophomore Aidan Blong continues to improve at 138 pounds following a 8-7 victory in the semifinals in which he trailed 7-4 late in the match.

Senior Captain Tryler Crawford continues his road back from injury by qualifying for the finals with 2 dominating first period pins before falling in tough match in the finals.  Tyler is 12-3 on the year.

Junior Marcus Haskin secured his first varsity medal with a 3^rd place finish at 220 pounds.

Come out and support the Wrestling teams Friday as we host RL Turner for senior night here in the Nest.  Festivities kick off at 6pm with matches immediately to follow.

The Liberty wrestling team defeated Lone Star High School last night in the most exciting match of the year. Liberty had a three point lead going into the heavyweight match, so whoever wins that match wins the meet.

Following pins from Beau Brittain, Dillon Devolk, Nick Plasko, and Tyler Crawford, Senior Richard Smith bumped up a weight class to 182 and secured a pin in the 2nd period to give the Redhawks a 33-18 lead.

In the most exciting match of the night, nay the year, Ethan "the Avenger" Fabian stepped on the mat against a foe who had pinned him last weekend at the Cougar Classic. Trailing by three points with one minute left, Ethan tied the score with a takedown with two seconds remaining on the clock, and then secured a takedown in overtime to win the meet for Liberty, 36-30. 

Sophmore Aidan Blong earned a tough 12-6 decision at 138 to round out the scoring.  Rookies Hayden Vest, Deontae Hill, and David Essien continued to improve with just 2 weeks to go until the District meet.

The team will be taking it easy today as they rushed the mat and tried to lift the joyous Ethan. No small task.

The Men's team will head to the Coyote Classic on Saturday at Heritage High School.

The Liberty Men's wrestling team travelled to Plano High School for the Taylor Webb Classic.  Liberty placed 8th out of 16 teams with strong performances from Bang Thaphina, Dillon Devolk, and Ethan Fabian

Senior Captain Bang Thaphina, in his first individual tournament of the season used a wide variety of takedowns to work his way into the finals at 120 pounds.  Bang led 4-2 in the final period of a match that was not as close as the score before giving up the fall to take a silver medal.

Junior Dillon Devolk used his athletic ability to pin his Plano opponent in the semifinals before dropping a barn-burner match 7-5 in the finals at 132.

Senior Heavyweight Ethan Fabian used his experience to garner the first varsity medal of his career as he pinned 4 opponents to take 3rd place.

The boys will travel to Wylie this weekend to participate in the inaugural Wylie Invitational, before competing at the Texas Outlaw tournament at Allen High School next week.

The Liberty women's wrestling team competed in the Texas Ladies Classic
this weekend. 25 teams from North Texas, El Paso, Amarillo and Austin
went to war at Frisco High School.

The Redhawks fought their way to a fifth place finish. Junior Amanda
Allen, the top seed in her weight, lived up to her top billing, pinning
all five of her opponents on her way to claiming the championship.
Amanda improved her overall season record to 15 and 0.

Fellow Junior Isis Lewis-Edmunds lost a close first round match and then
had to wrestle six matches to claim third place. Isis displayed perhaps
the best mental toughness in the program's history, pinning five of six
of her opponents to claim third place, improving her season mark to
15-4. Way to go Isis.

Sophomore Aleysha Duran competed in easily the toughest weight class in
the tournament, including six returning state qualifiers. Aleysha
displayed a fire that was noticed by everyone, including wrestlers from
other teams. One wrestler from Frisco High School commented "man, she
really is a fighter." Aleysha displayed skills rare for a first year
wrestler and fought her way to a sixth place finish.

Every varsity wrestler from Liberty won a match and contributed points
to Liberty's 98 point fifth place finish.

The common verb used to describe the Redhawks effort is fight. Fight
they did. Coaches can ask no more.

The Boys JV wrestling team traveled to Heritage Friday night to take on the Ki-O-Tees and dominated the evening, taking home victories in 42 of the 56 matches.  Standouts for your Redhawks included Jared and Nick Lebrun, Nick Plasko, Josh Begay, Brandon Biavaschi, and Marcus Haskins.  Come out Thursday evening as they duel the Mckinney Boyd Broncos here at The Liberty High School.

The Liberty Women's Wrestling team earned 5th place at the Coppell Cowgirl Classic on Saturday despite not scoring points from its 3 most veteran wrestlers.  All wrestlers wrestled with heart and experimented with new technique to improve as the later parts of the season gets closer.

First year sophomore Aleysha Duran continues to improve as she earned victories over her first 2 opponents to reach the finals while wrestling up a weight.  As Aleysha drops to 95 pounds, she will be a force in the area.

Junior Captain Alexandra Pebworth went 4-1 on the day to take a bronze medal at 110 lbs, while Yasmine Secrist (128) and junior Isis Lewis (148) each took 4th.

As the women's team continues to get healthy and to their proper weight, look for some big things out of these young ladies this season.

Prior to the scrimmage starting, we will have a short parent meeting to introduce the coaching staff, have a short tutorial on how to use the website, and watch the "Wrestling 101" video to give parents a basis of the rules and what they are about to see.  Veteran parents, as well as those new to the sport and program are both asked to attend in order to begin building a network for those new to the sport to lean on.

The approximate schedule is as follows:

4:15 - Gym Set-up

5:00 - Weigh-ins

6:00 - Parent Meeting begins

6:15 - Wrestling 101 in the Auditorium

6:15 - Black team warm-up

6:22 - Red team warm-up

6:29 - National Anthem

6:30 - Face-off (line-ups announced and wrestlers shake hands)

6:35 - Wrestling begins

During the evening, we will have a table set out for the booster club to discuss events and participation in the program.  We have several very committed members, but with our numbers expected to top 60 athletes this year, we are always looking for people to share the burden.  Our booster club has been instrumental in supporting the Liberty wrestlers as the program continues to grow.  We would love for you to be a part of "Building the Tradition"

The Liberty Wrestling team will be volunteering at the "Taste of Collin County" fundraiser for the second consecutive year on Monday October 10th.  40 area restaurants offer samplings of food to attendees.  All proceedsd benefit Habitat for Humanity.  More information is available at http://www.tasteofcollincounty.com

A bus will be departing Liberty at 4:0pm on Monday to take wrestlers over to the event.  We will be volunteering our time to move chairs, bus tables, etc.  After our shift is completed at 7:30, the wrestlers are able to participate in the "Taste" event and sample food from the local businesses.  The cost for volunteers is $10.  We expect to return at approximately 8:30.

A participant waiver is required by Habitat for all volunteers and is attached below this article.  The form needs to be turned in to Coach Thurston prior to Monday.

Please contact Coach Thurston if you have any questions. 

 

Ambre Reed and Hannah Peters loaded up and headed for Oklahoma City last Thursday to take their respective shots at placing in the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle Nationals.  USA Wrestling is the national governing body for the sport of wrestling in the United States, and selects the national champions for each style of wrestling as well as world and olympic team members. 

Ambre, originally slated to compete at the 105 pound Junior Division (15-18 year olds) bumped to 112 and finished in 4th place.  Ambre opened her tournament by besting Toshia Possemato of NY 9-5, and 2-time Florida State Champion Tori Degginger 9-3 in the quarterfinals before falling to Cassie Harkleman of Iowa in the semis.  Ambre finished her tournament with a 3-2 record including another win over Possemato to earn her first All-American honors. She will continue her career next season wrestling for King College in Bristol, TN

Hannah entered the 124 pound Cadet Division (15-16 year olds) having finished her season with school records of 48 wins and 40 pins in only her second year of wrestling.  Hannah pinned McKenna Placious of Michigan early in the second period in the consolation semis before falling to Jackie Paul of Illinois in a tough match, 6-0.  Nationals offer the opportunity to challenge for "true second", making Hannah's 2 losses in the tournament to the runner-up and now 2-time National Champion Becka Leathers of Oklahoma.  This is also Hannah's first All-American honors.

These 2 young ladies took the challenge to compete against the best wrestlers from around the nation and came away as All-Americans at very tough weights.  Congratulations Ladies.

Link to Article on USA Wrestling's website:

http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=23396

The Liberty Girls wrestling team went to Austin this past weekend to participate in the State Wrestling Championships.  In wrestling there is only one state championship with no distinction between 3A, 4A and 5A. 

Senior Ambre Reed became the first Redhawk to make the State finals.  Her total domination of her semi-final opponent was a thing of beauty.  In the finals she faced Hilary Cordero, the 3-time defending state champion from Amarillo Caprock.  Undaunted by her opponent, Ambre fought with a fire determination that has become her trademark.   Trailing by a point with one minute to go, Ambre pushed the action earning a stalling call against Cordero, but when the final whistle blew, she had lost a tough decision 5 to 4.  With the win, Cordero was awarded the outstanding wrestler of the meet.

In just her second year of wrestling Ambre accomplished something  that few wrestlers with far more experience ever dream of.  Ambre leaves behind a legacy that is extremely rare:  setting an impossible goal and not being satisfied with anything less.  Her performance was noticed by everyone in attendance, in fact College coaches were all over her after the meet.  Her leadership, determination and overall competiveness may never be equaled.   Her effect of future Liberty teams is immense.  She smashed whatever barriers were in the way and showed everyone what is possible if you want something bad enough.

Sophomores Hannah Peters and Amanda Allen wrestled extremely well in their first trip to the state meet.  Each won a match before being eliminated.    Hanna and Amanda each lost to eventual state placers but gained valuable insight into what it takes to compete at the State level.

The girls placed 14^th out of the 255 teams represented in the meet.    With a solid core of freshmen and sophomores, the teams’ expectations  are now clearly on winning a state title.

Ambre's State Finals Match can be viewed here:

http://www.flowrestling.org/videos/wrestling_match/play/469960-102-lbs-finals-hilary-cordero-vs-ambre-reed

The Liberty JV Wrestling team captured the district JV Championship at Lone Star High School.

Five redhawks claimed 1st place in the meet. Amaan Baig, Vaj Vemulapalli, David Gurevich, Kyle Odom, and Nick Cerf. Cameron "guns of steel" Vargas reached the finals before falling to his teammate Aaman.

Also wrestling well for the redhawks were third place finishers Aidan Blong, AB Cheung, and Richard Smith while Travis Wendt, Conner Johnson, and Nick Plasco took fourth.

The team wrestled extremely well and demonstrated the meaning of heart and team spirit.

We will be holding JV practices from 410 to 525 on Monday and Tuesday, Feb 14,15th.  The JV District Tournament will be Wednesday night with weigh-ins starting at 4pm and wrestling beginning at 5pm

Practices for our 3 State Qualifiers will be held Tuesday-Friday of this week, and Mon-Wed next week during 1st period.

The State Qualifiers will be leaving Thursday, Feb 24th at 9am following a send-off from Liberty High School.  We will hold practice at the Austin ISD-Delco Center that evening, and return to the hotel afterward.  The Tournament Schedule is below.  We will stay Saturday night following the finals and return Sunday afternoon at approximately 3pm. 

UIL State Tournament Schedule

Ticket Prices

Hotel Information

To all,

   I apologize for the late notice on this, the weather situations these past weeks have compressed 2 weeks worth of information into about 5 days.  We have been approved to stay the night tomorrow night at the Regional Tournament.

    I was able to book a hotel in Arlington at the Courtyard by Marriott Dallas Arlington South.  All Saturday qualifiers will be staying the night to avoid a late return/early leave time for such an important tournament.  If a wrestler does not qualify for Saturday, Coach Gonzales and Coach McLaughlin will be bringing those wrestlers back to school on Friday night.

   Coach Thurston and Coach Brennan will be staying the night at the hotel, with Mrs. Thurston acting as the girls chaperone for the tournament

    Again, please excuse the late notice, and email me with any questions you may have.

Frisco ISD has just cancelled all after school activities for today - there will be no practices today.

As of now, the Region II tournament is still set for Friday/Saturday.  Coach Thurston and Coach Brennan will be at the seeding meeting all day Thursday rain or shine (or ice, snow, etc).  We will post any information as we receive it.

If we have school tomorrow, we will have practice after school for all wrestlers. 

Weigh Allowance for Regions - no school tomorrow = Growth +2 Friday... school tomorrow = Growth only.

Boy’s Schedule: 

Friday February 11th

7:00am                  Weigh-in

9:00am                  SESSION I - 1^st round & quarterfinals 1^st round consolation                                        

5:00pm                  SESSION II - Semifinals & 2 rounds of Consolations 

Saturday February 12th: 

8:00am                  Weigh-in

9:30am                  SESSION III - 2 rounds consolations 

1:00pm                 SESSION IV - Championship and Consolation finals,  *Challenge matches (if necessary)  

Girl’s Schedule: 

Friday February 11^th

12:00pm               Weigh-in 

2:00pm                 SESSION I  - 1^st round and quarterfinals 1^st round consolation 

7:00pm                  SESSION II - Semifinals and 2 rounds of Consolations 

Saturday February 12^th:

8:00am                  Weigh-in

9:30am                  SESSION III - 3 rounds of consolations  

1:00pm                  SESSION IV - Championship and Consolation finals, *Challenge matches (if necessary)

Ticket Prices:                          

Adults-  $9.00per day             Students- $5.00per day

We will practice today, Saturday, February 5th from 4:30-5:30 in the mat room (Varsity only)

Weigh-ins for Monday's District Tournament will be Growth +2, but we need to get in and get some of the rust off.

See you at 430

The District tournament has been cancelled for Saturday.  Most, if not all, District tournaments in the area are currently being cancelled, and we wanted to be the first in order to get quality officials for Monday.

The tournament schedule is as follows

• Mat room open at 7am
• Tape Mats at 8am 
• Weigh-in at 9am
• Wrestle at 10am until conclusion.

There is the possibility of hitting the 5-match rule, at which point, we will have to carry over those select matches to Tuesday morning (same times).  If a 6th match occurs in the consolation finals, the championship finals will also be held over until Tuesday.  Should a 6th match occur in the challenge matches, only those 2 athletes will need to return. 

Weight will be GROWTH +2.  (i.e. - 103 becomes 107) for both days of the tournament, so be careful at Super Bowl parties!

Coaches often talk about overcoming adversity as the key to success.  I truly believe this year's district tournaments will be won by the team that can keep their focus and their resolve through all of the obstacles.  The team with the most heart will win, and I like our odds in that game.

Stay warm, stay healthy, and have a great weekend.

We are working on a scenario where the District Tournament will be held at 10am (weigh-ins at 9) on Saturday, Feb 5th at Liberty HS.

All facilities are currently set up for the District Tournament.  At this point, the only obstacle (outside of the weather!!) is getting officials for the tournament.  Currently, the Officials Chapter is working diligently to shuffle officials from around DFW to accomodate the 3 district tournaments that had to be moved from tomorrow to Saturday.

Fred Battiste is working on the contingency plans for concessions, and Glynis Chester is working hard to stay on top of the Hospitality room.  If you can offer any assistance at either area during the tournament, please contact these folks.  A very big thank you to Fred and Glynis, as well as Eddie Smith for his work on keeping communication open for everyone.

I will continue to post any information as I receive it. 

District Tournament Offically cancelled THURSDAY.

The current plan is to wrestle a one day tournament on Friday.  Weigh-ins currently scheduled for 9:00AM with wrestling to begin at 10:00AM.  ALL Divisions will receive a GROWTH plus 2 allowance.  The five-match rule may come into play and we are exploring several options on how to deal with this.  The UIL and District Executive Committee will make those decisions and I will post any information as I receive it. 

Should we have a two hour delay, the current plan is to continue wrestling as planned, however times may change again.  I will post as soon as I know anything.

Coach Thurston and Coach Brennan are currently driving the scale around to varsity wrestlers to help with weight management.

I apologize for the lack of concrete information, however the weather is leading to late minute decisions.  We are doing everything we can to avoid wrestling both the District Tournament and Regional Tournament in the same week.  If you have any questions, please email me at ThurstoJ@friscoisd.org, as my phone has been ringing off the hook and I may not receive your call.   

As I am sure everyone knows by now, school has been cancelled for Thursday.  A decision will be announced by noon tomorrow on the status of the after school events.  At this time, we are moving forward with planning a 1-day event for Friday only, with the expectation that wrestling will not continue tomorrow.

Several important items to note.  If we must run a 1-day tournament, we open ourselves up to the possibility of a 5-match rule coming into play.  I am working right now with the District Coaches, and Athletic Directors for possible scenarios to deal with this.  There is the possibility that we are wrestling late at night Friday night (Saturday am) in order to alleviate the 5-match rule.  I have a meeting with Coach K and the UIL tomorrow morning at 9am to discuss these possibilities.  Saturday is not currently an option, as we do not have officials available to referee a Saturday tournament.  The final option is a Monday/Tuesday tournament (though we will cross that bridge only if we have to!!!)

Currently, moving forward with a Friday only tournament, weigh ins will remain at 9am, with wrestlng beginning at 10.  All wrestlers, Men and Women, will have a Growth +2 allowance for Friday (i.e. 119 becomes 123).

The coaching staff will be at school tomorrow setting up the tournament, afterwhich, Coach Brennan and Coach Thurston are planning to drive the scales around to several houses for interested wrestlers to check their weight.  Please don't hesitate to email/call with any questions you may have.  Thanks for checking the website, and I will continue to post anything that I come up with

Frisco ISD has cancelled classes and after school activities for Wednesday, February, 2nd. 

JV Districts will be rescheduled for early next week at Lone Star HS.  More information to follow.

Varsity Districts is still scheduled for Thursday/Friday.  Due to school closings, the Men's tournament will be held Thursday night with a Growth +2 allowance (i.e. 125 becomes 129), with Friday also being a Growth +2 (you cannot exceed +2 for any reason).  Assuming we have school Thursday, the Women's tournament, by rule, remains Growth allowance ONLY for Friday (Thursday school closings would alter the girls weigh-in)

The entire District coaching staffs will be meeting at noon on Wednesday to seed the varsity tournament, and discuss any further changes to the tournament.

Coach Thurston will post information as soon as it becomes available.

Frisco ISD has cancelled classes for Today, February 1st due to icy road conditions. 

All school related activities are cancelled as well.  There will be no weight checks, or open mat today.

Again, more information will be posted as soon as it becomes available.  Stay warm and safe.

This season the Texas High School Coaches Association, the largest such organization in the country, began honoring Academic All-State student-athletes in the sport of wrestling.  Senior student-athletes must meet several requirements, the most important being a minimum GPA of 92 on a 100 point scale. 

Congratulations to these 5 Liberty senior wrestlers who have worked hard in the classroom.

The Boys team took fourth place at the Heritage Invitational.  The Redhawks put 10 wrestlers in the semi-finals with only Senior Wali Yaqubi advancing to the finals.   Wali wrestled an excellent match in the finals before falling to an excellent wrestler from Frisco High School. 

It’s often said that the measure of a man is determined by how well he handles adversity.   Showing a grit and determination to fight back, the Redhawks advanced 9 wrestlers to the consolation finals for third and fourth place.  Taking third for the Redhawks were Bang Thaphina, Andy Lin, Tyler Crawford, Richard Smith, Christian Knebel, and Jordan Chester, while Ben Battiste, Aidan Blong and Ethan Fabian place fourth. 

In JV action, the Redhawks dominated the field.   Liberty placed 10 wrestlers in the finals and came away with four 1^st place finishes.  Alex Masucci dominated his weight class in his first action of the season before he takes the mat for the district tournament.  Sophomore Amaan Baig, Juniors David Gurevich and Kyle Odom also won their weight classes.   Finishing in second place were Cameron Vargus, Vaj Vemulapalli , Alec Cheung, and Justin McVeigh.     It was the best finish ever for the Liberty JV.

The Liberty girls wrestling team had a breakthrough performance at the Titan Invitational this weekend.  A years worth of hard work paid of with their best performance of the year. 

The team was led, as usual by Senior Ambre Reed who defeated state ranked Stephanie Morgan of Amarillo Tascosa, 11-3 to win first place in the meet.  Ambre displayed the fire and determination that has become her trademark. 

Sophomore  Hannah Peters had the best tournament of her young career.  Hannah pinned all four of her opponents , and in fact did not give up a single point all day.  Her finals opponent was state ranked Alexis Morgan, also from Amarillo Tascosa.  Hannah won with a first period pin to win her first tournament.  Hannah took a giant step this weekend in gaining notoriety across the state. 

Sophomore Amanda Allen overcame a first round loss to the eventual tournament champion and fought her way back to fourth place.  The rest of the team fought with a grit and determination that is rare for a bunch of first year wrestlers.  Most everyone won at least one match and scored valuable team points for Liberty.  Freshman Gabby Pernice wrestled her heart out. 

The team was 1/2 point away from taking third place in the 23 team field.  A remarkable day for the Redhawks.

The girls state duals tournament is down to 6 teams with multiple teams backing out.  This is beneficial in the long run for us as we now have a 5-dual round robin format which will allow our girls to see multiple wrestlers from around the state.  The hotel information and tournament schedules are listed below.

Comfort Suites – University Drive

907 E. University Drive

College Station, TX 77840

979-268-5500

Pool Groupings-GIRLS

1.     Hereford

2.     Morton Ranch

3.     Cy Ridge

4.     Chapin

5.     Langham Creek

6.     Liberty

The District XVI coaches took a late vote to add JV matches to the annual District Duals competition slate.  Coach Eaton at Centennial will pair wrestlers into 3-man, round-robin brackets for saturday competition.  Each wrestler will have 2, 1-1-1 matches on Saturday.

While it is late notice, any opportunity we get to find matches for our JV guys is an opportunity for them to improve, and we will usually take it.  This will also give our JV guys an opportunity to see where they stand for the year-end JV District Tournament to be held at Lone Star HS on Feb 2nd.

Please let us know if you have any questions, or if your son cannot attend due to the late addition.

It was a great weekend to be a Redhawk Wrestler.

All three teams were in action and resulted in landmark moments to the team.

In girls action the team participated in the largest tournament of the season at Frisco High School.  The Texas Ladies classic attracts the best teams from all over the state, resulting in some weight classes that have 32 participants.

Senior Ambre Reed continues to amaze.  In a weight class that included the three time defending state champion, the 2010 state runner up and six state qualifiers, Ambre displayed no nerves and reached the finals.  In the semis, she destroyed last years’ State runner up 17-4, and then met Hilary Cordero, the three time defending state champion from Amarillo Caprock.  In what was perhaps the greatest match ever wrestled by a Liberty wrestler, Ambre fought through three periods not the least be awed by her opponent.  With the score tied 3-3 with ten seconds left, Cordero shot and got the takedown for a 5-3 win.  The entire gym was cheering for Ambre as she earned the respect  of the entire crowd.

Sophomores Alexandra Pebworth and Hannah Peters wrestled extremely well and took home fourth place honors.

In boys action, the Redhawks earned their first individual tournament placing ever by placing third at the RL Turner Christmas Classic. 

Led by Champion Chris Turner, the Redhawks placed 9 wrestlers in the top six, and 7 in the top four in the 29 team tournament.

Senior Christian Knebel pinned his way to the finals before falling to his Creekview opponent .    Fellow seniors Anthony Richardson, Ryan McGregor and Junior Tyler Crawford took third place.  Seniors Wali Yaqubi and Andy Lin finished out the scoring with fourth place honors.

In JV action, the Redhawks crowned three champions:  David Gurevich, Jordan Chester, and Cloise Townsend while freshman Cameron Vargas finished second.

The heart ward for the weekend goes to Ambre Reed and Andy Lin.  Ambre wrestled the toughest competition and wrestled with a confidence that is unprecedented for a girl in her second year of wrestling.  Andy fought his way to a fourth place finish, winning three tough matches on Saturday with a cracked rib.  These two exemplified the meaning of heart

The Liberty Wrestling team will hold its third annual Red/Black scrimmage on Wednesday night with face-offs scheduled to begin at approximately 7:00pm.

The evening gives all wrestlers a chance to go through actual Dual Meet weigh-ins, warm-ups, matches, etc.  A certified official will be on hand to referee matches, as well as conduct weigh-ins prior to the evening.  New wrestlers will have an opportunity to experience the first match jitters in a coachable environment, similar to scrimmages in other sports.  This will also give parents new to the sport a chance to ask questions, and learn the ins and outs of the sport a bit more quickly.

Prior to the scrimmage starting, we will have a short parent meeting with snacks provided to introduce the coaching staff, have a short tutorial on how to use the website, and watch the "Wrestling 101" video to give parents a basis of the rules and what they are about to see.  Veteran parents, as well as those new to the sport and program are both asked to attend in order to begin building a network for those new to the sport to lean on.

With our Liberty Redhawk Football team entering the playoffs with an impressive 10-0 record (a first in FISD history), the Red/Black scrimmage will be missing several of its veteran wrestlers, as well as the 2 new members of the coaching staff.

The approximate schedule is as follows:

5:30 - Gym set-up

6:00 - Weigh-ins

6:30 - Parent Meeting begins

6:40- Black team warm-up

6:48 - Red team warm-up

6:56 - National Anthem

7:00 - Face-off (line-ups announced and wrestlers shake hands)

7:35 - Wrestling begins

During the evening, we will have a table set out for the booster club to discuss events and participation in the program.  We have several very committed members, but with our numbers expected to top 60 athletes this year, we are always looking for people to share the burden.  Our booster club has been instrumental in supporting the Liberty wrestlers as the program continues to grow.  We would love for you to be a part of "Building the Tradition"

The Liberty Wrestling team's choice for charitable organization for this year is Habitat for Humanity.  Habitat is an organization that works to provide affordable housing to families in need.  They do this through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials.  You can learn more about Habitat via their website at www.Habitat.org

A Habitat volunteer coordinator from the McKinney office will be coming to school next week during the athletic period to help our wrestlers go through the orientation.  This orientation, along with a waiver form, are needed in order for the volunteers to be allowed on a "build"

Additionally, we will be volunteering at the "Taste of Collin County" fundraiser on Monday September 14th.  40 area restaurants offer samplings of food to attendees.  All proceedsd benefit Habitat.  More information is available at http://www.tasteofcollincounty.com/

A bus will be departing Liberty at 4:30 on Monday to take wrestlers over to the event.  We will be volunteering our time to move chairs, bus tables, etc.  Wrestlers can also bring 10 dollars to participate in the "Taste" event.  Please contact Coach Thurston if you have any questions.

Save the date: 

There will be a parent meeting held at Liberty High School's lecture hall on September 16th at 7pm.  More information to follow.

We have added the 2010-2011 Liberty Wrestilng Team Pack to the "forms" page of the website.  Wrestlers are able to purchase discounted shoes and other equipment via the team pack.  These items are not mandatory to purchase via Plano Sports Center. 

Wrestlers will be required to wear Liberty Wrestling gear at all practices and athletic periods.  This is not limited to just this year's gear (shirts and shorts from previous years are ok)

Thank you to everyone that worked the 3rd annual Redhawk Rumble Freestyle Tournament this past weekend.  We held the largest freestyle only event (289 entries!) ever in Texas and were finished earlier than most tournaments!

The kids did a great job manning stations and our table and concessions workers; Eddie and Melissa Smith, Scott McVeigh, Glynis Chester, Fred and Cindee Battiste, Dorothy Kelley, Jim Fabian, Kurt and Carlene Knebel did a great job.

Thanks to Jackie Martin, Rebecca Sheer, Tracey and Jim Curtiss, Coach May and his wife, and Coach Stevens for running the head table; and Kat Balch and Alexis Thurston for the announcers table.

Lastly, Thank you to Shannon and Ron Gunia for working so hard behind the scenes to organize everyone, and taking care of the little things that arise during the course of the tournament. 

The grand total for the day came to a profit of $2537.30 for our program.  This will help fund scholarships, our banquet, and various items for the program.

The Redhawk Wrestling team will be hosting a parent meeting at 7pm in the LHS Lecture hall. 

Several items are on the agenda.

• We will be voting in the 2010-2011 RWBC booster club officers.  We currently have nominations available.  Please contact Shannon Gunia if you would be interested in serving.
• We will be discussing the Redhawk Rumble Freestyle Tournament on April 24th.  This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and goes to help purchase spirit wear, scholarships, the banquet, and various other items to help support the team.
• We will also be discussing summer activities for the kids.  Items such as the 1st annual Redhawk Wrestling Camp for incoming 7th - 9th graders and OSU team camp.  We would also like to discuss team building activities and get any ideas/suggestions for those.

As always, if you have any questions.  Please don't hesitate to contact Coach Thurston.

2010 Redhawk Wrestling Banquet:

If you have not received your invitation to the 2010 Banquet, please contact Glynis Chester at glynis@chesterfamily.net. Please note that responses and payments are due by March 31^st. The Country Club must have an exact count for this event and extra plates will not be available to wrestlers or guests who have not RSVPd and paid in advance. This banquet is to celebrate our team and we hope everyone will be able to attend. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Chester. Thank you!

The Liberty Wrestling Coaching staff would like to host a barbecue for the wrestlers (and any parents wishing to join them) to watch the NCAA wrestling championships on ESPN. We will be doing this Saturday, March 20th from 6:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at The Gunias' Home.

We will provide the hamburgers and chips and the coaches will provide the drinks. We are asking those who attend to bring either a side or a dessert. If your wrestler's last name begins with letters A-O, please bring a side dish (i.e. baked beans, potato salad, fruit salad, etc). If your wrestler's last name begins with P-Z, please bring a dessert. Also, please mark all serving utensils, bowls, and platters with your wrestler's name so we make sure you get it back!

Our address is: 14638 Pensham Drive, Frisco, TX 75035. We are near Liberty High.

PLEASE RSVP to me via email no later than Thursday, March 18th! We need to know how much food to make.

Thanks so much and have a great spring break!

Shannon Gunia
Redhawk Wrestling Booster Club

The Liberty Wrestling team is happy to announce its first annual wrestling camp.  The camp is for incoming 7th, 8th, and 9th graders and will take place monday - thursday, July 7-17th from 5:30-7:00pm.

The cost is 96 dollars and will include wrestling socks and a camp t-shirt.  Camp will conclude with a tournament on July 17th in the Liberty HS Gymnasium.

If you have any questions, please contact Coach Thurston at ThurstoJ@FriscoISD.org

Please click on the thumbnail image for the camp flyer

Oklahoma City University is hosting the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle Nationals on March 26-28.  The event links is listed below.  Any wrestlers interested should speak with Coach Thurston or Coach Brennan.

http://www.themat.com/events/default.php?page=schedule&EventID=21926

We've had a couple questions about team camp that we'd like to answer for all to see.

How will the athletes get to/from Stillwater, OK?  We are looking into the possibility of taking a bus from LHS to Stillwater, and should know soon if that is an option.  Should that fall through, we will try to set up a carpool among families, though we will attempt to finalize that closer to the end of May when all wrestlers who are going have registered.  We have looked into the option of renting vans, but it was severely cost prohibitive.

Is the camp open for both girls and boys?  Yes.  While most of the campers are male, Coach Perry at OSU confirmed that he does have several girls attend camp each year.  Additionally, several girls from Liberty have already expressed interest

Will Liberty wrestlers be rooming with each other?  Yes.  Coach Perry has asked us to call in early June to finalize our list of wrestlers for room assignments.  This is a common practice for teams attending technique camp together.

Will Liberty coaches be present?  Yes.  Coach Brennan and Coach Thurston are both attending camp this summer.

Are we attending "Team Camp" or "Technique Camp"?  We are attending Technique Camp from July 11-15 as a team.  Team camp is geared more toward dual meets and competition, whereas technique camp focuses more on inproving each wrestler's ability. 

What is the registration deadline?  ASAP.  There is no formal deadline for the camp.  However, OSU is a top 5 wrestling university and the John Smith camps fill up fast.  The sooner you can register, the better.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact Coach Thurston at ThurstoJ@FriscoISD.org . 

The Frisco East Freestyle Club, formerly known as the Redhawk Wrestling Freestyle club will begin practice the week after Spring Break.  Practices will be on Tuesday and Thursday from 4:10 to 5:30 in the Liberty High School Mat Room.  This year Hertitage and Liberty will workout together and will include both boys and girls.

1. The first freestyle tournament is April 3^rd followed by the Frisco meet on April 10^th.  The season will finish up with the State Freestyle meet in May. The full schedule is available on the website under "schedules"

1. The price for joining the team is $99.  (checks payable to RW Booster Club)  This includes the cost of each wrestlers' USA wrestling card ($40), a reversible singlet, and the basic club charter fee ($15).  The USA wrestling card provides insurance for your child, as well as membership in the group.

The only incremental costs will be each wrestlers entry fees for the tournaments they chose to participate in ($12 per meet).

Freestyle is fun.  We focus on learning basic moves and developing skills that will benefit the wrestlers during their season next year.  This is all about instilling pride and helping them with their overall skill development.  Freestyle will make them much better on their feet, and will help them develop a mat sense that will allow them control their opponents.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

JASON THURSTON                     KYLE STEVENS                            TIM BRENNAN

LIBERTY HEAD COACH            HERITAGE HEAD COACH          ASST. WRESTLING COACH

469-633-5847                                   469-633-5946                                   (469) 633-5888

Thurstoj@fisd.org                           stevenky@friscoisd.org            brennant@friscoisd.org

The LHS wrestling team traveled to Austin to participate in the 2010 State Wrestling tournament.

The team was led by Senior Stacy Martin who earned Liberty’s highest finish ever with a third place finish. Stacy pinned three of her opponents and finished her career with 105 wins and 75 pins.

Junior Ambre Reed won two matches and made the top eight before losing in the consolation quaterfinals. In her first year of competition, she came within one match of placing in the State Tournament, a huge accomplishment for anyone.

The girls finished in 17th place out of the more than two hundred teams represented, their highest finish ever.

Junior Chris Turner and Senior David Spicer wrestled well but failed to make the medal round. Chris finished the year with 40 wins, an LHS boys record.

The Redhawks got a glimpse of what it takes to succeed at the state level and should be primed for the 2011 season.

The Liberty coaching staff has selected Oklahoma State for this year's team camp.  We will attend the technique camp from July 11-15 in Stillwater, OK.  Cost for the 15-session, 1 week camp is $365.

Oklahoma State enjoys the richest tradition in the history of collegiate wrestling, having won 34 team titles, and crowned 133 individual national champions.  The style of wrestling taught and used by Oklahoma State wrestlers fully complements the Liberty style taught here in our mat room. 

Attending camp together in the summer will not only improve wrestling skills, and add valuable competition, but most importantly - it will continue to build the team atmosphere we are striving to reach.  Wrestlers will stay in the dorms, eat at the athlete's cafeterias, and be coached by Oklahoma State wrestlers and past Olympic and NCAA champions.

All information, including on-line registration, is available here on the OSU Wrestling Camps website.

http://www.osuwrestlingcamps.com/index.php

After reading Coach Smith's introduction, please click the "Technique Camps" link on the right hand side.

The Liberty wrestling teams had a historic showing at the Region 2 wrestling meet at Arlington Martin.

The Redhawks placed four wrestlers in the finals and came away with two Regional Champions and four state qualifiers. 

Junior Ambre Reed pinned three oponents on the way to the finals and finished in second place in just her first full year of wrestling. 

Senior Stacy Martin pinned all of her oponents in winning her second consecutive regional championship. Her 56 second pin in the finals was her 100th career win and 39th of the year.  Her overall performance earned her the Region 2 Most Outstanding Wrestler award, a huge honor for her and for Liberty.

Junior Kelsey Gunia finished in fifth place and qualified for State as an alternate, while Senior Xoliswa Lewis finished in sixth place.    The girls finished in 6th place with their best showing ever.

The boys were led by 130 pound Regional champ Chris Turner who lived up to his number one ranking and became Liberty's first boys Regional champion.  Chris wrestled an amazing tournament and improved his overall record to 39-6, earning a tough 2-1 decision in the finals.

Senior David Spicer had his best finish ever.  On his way to the finals, he destroyed two wrestlers with a combined 76-2 record.  David lost in the finals to Keller Central, the meet's outstanding wrestler and the  number one ranked wrestler in the state.  David later celebrated by eating a small cow at the Texas Roadhouse!

Senior Aaron Green fought his way through the consolations and came away with a sixth place finish in the final meet of his long career.

The boys also had their highest finish ever by placing 13th out of the 60+ teams in the meet. 

Seven out of our eight qualifiers placed in the meet.  Not too shabby.  Great job Liberty and good luck at the State meet next week.

~ Monday ~
9:00am – Boys Session I (prelims, quarterfinals, 1^st round of consolation)

2:00pm – Girls Session I (prelims, quarterfinals, 1^st round of consolation)

5:00pm – Boys Session II (semifinals, 2 rounds of consolation)

A power outage at Arlington - Martin HS has prompted the Region II tournament to be delayed again.  The tournament will be wrestled at the original times, but has been moved back to Monday / Tuesday. 

The coaching staff has decided to give wrestlers the day off on Saturday.  All Qualifiers should have a hearty meal on Friday night and restart their normal tournament preparation on Saturday.  It is the wrestler that does whatever he/she can to take care of their bodies this weekend that will advance to the state tournament.

No decision has been made regarding the weight allowance for Monday and Tuesday. 

Our boys will depart for the Residence Inn - Arlington at 5pm.  Coaches will be at school no later than 4pm for those parents that need to drop off wrestlers. 

Fan Bus - any wrestlers wanting to go to the tournament on Monday will be able to ride the girls bus to the tournament.  The bus is tentatively scheduled to depart LHS at 9am (we could move this back to 10am if weather is good).  The bus will return on Monday after competition is over. 

Please let Coach Thurston know if you have any questions

We have received the ok to practice today (Friday) and will hold practice from 4pm until 5pm.  Practice is a must for all qualifiers, and anyone else that can attend, is asked to.

Due to the chance for ice tomorrow morning, Arlington ISD may call off the tournament on Saturday and move us to a Mon / Tues tournament schedule.  Again, we will post information here as soon as it is available.  The decision is expected around 5pm tonight. 

The weight allowances for Saturday AND Monday are growth +2 (i.e. 110 = 114).  Should the tournament shift to Mon / Tues, we will reverify the weight allowances.

Frisco ISD has cancelled school for Friday, February 12th. 

We plan to practice tomorrow, but will wait to determine times based on the roadways and FISD directives.  Our qualifiers need to practice for weight management and to keep sharp, so all teammates are asked to attend practice.

The boys leave directly after practice to stay at the Residence Inn - Arlington Friday night for the early morning weigh-in (7am) on Saturday.

The girls will depart LHS at 9am Saturday morning for a 12noon weigh-in

All 2nd day qualifiers will stay at the Residence Inn - Arlington on Sunday night.  The bus will depart LHS at 5pm Sunday night for the hotel.

As always, should you have any questions... please contact Coach Thurston

Arlington ISD has cancelled classes for Friday.  As such, the Region II tournament will be held Saturday - Monday.  Weigh-in and session times will follow the same schedule as outlined below. 

Weights for Saturday will be growth plus 2 (i.e. 110 = 114).  The UIL has not provided a ruling for Monday's weigh-in

Due to the chance of inclement weather on Friday morning, the coaching staff has altered the itinerary for the regional tournament.  Coach Dunn of Arlington - Martin HS (region II director) contacted the UIL on Wednesday regarding possible postponment of the tournament and was informed that he should continue as planned, without exception. 

With this information in mind, and for the safety of the kids, our boys competitors will be staying Thursday night with Coach Thurston and Coach Brennan at the Residence Inn - Arlington.  We will depart LHS after practice on Thursday night.

The girls team will leave an hour earlier on Friday (9am), to allow for a slower and safer commute to Arlington Martin. 

Both the boys and girls teams will be staying at the Residence Inn - Arlington on Friday night.  Coach Thurston, Coach Brennan, and Coach Cavazos (girls chaperone / trainer) will also be staying at the hotel.  Coach Cleaver and Coach Gonzales will return Friday night to Frisco with any wrestlers that have not qualified for Saturday's competition.  They will return Saturday (leaving LHS at 7:30) for the tournament.

Any additional changes will be noted here on the website, so please continue to check back here.

Coach Dunn has announced the session schedule for the Region II tournament this weekend at Arlington Martin HS. 

Additionally, we will have a fan bus that will depart Liberty HS at 7:30am for all wrestlers that want to attend the championships.  We will go out for a team dinner at a local restaurant (Chili's, Applebee's, etc) before we head home following the finals.  Any wrestler riding the team bus should bring money for dinner (lunch will be provided out of the team cooler)

If you have any questions, please contact Coach Thurston

~ Friday ~
9:00am – Boys Session I (prelims, quarterfinals, 1^st round of consolation)

2:00pm – Girls Session I (prelims, quarterfinals, 1^st round of consolation)

5:00pm – Boys Session II (semifinals, 2 rounds of consolation)

Coppell has contacted Coach Thurston regarding times for Friday night.  Weigh-ins will be at 5pm, with a JV boys dual at 6.  Senior night festivities for Coppell will take place shortly after the JV boys are finished, with Varsity Girls and Varsity boys following in order.

 Additionally, due to a great week of practice, the varsity team has been given saturday off.  The JV boys will be in action at McKinney on Saturday 1/30.

The coaching staff sat down and discussed the upcoming schedule heading into the district tournament.  We contacted Paschal and Dunbar and all were in agreement that the match needed to be cancelled. 

Additionally, the wrestlers have been given monday night off from practice to be away and mentally prepare for the upcoming push to state.  We will come back with practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

The Redhawk wrestlers will again be in action against Coppell as we participate in their senior night on Friday.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact Coach Thurston.

The Redhawk Wrestling Booster Club has voted to award 2 scholarships this year.  In order for a senior to be eligible for this, or any other scholarship administered by the Frisco Education Foundation, the student must fill out an application on the FEF website.  Below is a short message from Corey Miller regarding the application process.

Frisco Education Foundation

469-633-6860

millerco@friscoisd.org

I want to let you know about our upcoming parent meeting next Tuesday, January 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the Liberty H.S. lecture hall. This meeting is important and the coaches are asking that each wrestler have at least one family member in attendance if at all possible. The doors by the mat room will be open for the meeting. The lecture hall is past the rotunda and just before the south staircase.

The coaches are also asking every parent to send in $10/wrestler so that we can purchase sandwich supplies, fruit, and granola bars for all of the wrestlers for the remaining tournaments (this does not include weeknight events, only tournaments). It is imperative that every wrestler donates so that we remain within UIL guidelines! Please send in your money ASAP to Coach Thurston.

Please note that Tuesday, January 19th is senior night at Liberty. ALL senior wrestlers AND their parents will be recognized that evening during the meet. We would like to pack the stands that night so please plan on attending! More details on this will be provided at next week's meeting, but if you have a senior, please make sure they have a parent or guardian there to escort them in.

Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Shannon Gunia
Redhawk Wrestling Booster Club

FISD has cancelled school for January 7th, additionally Liberty High School has cancelled practice for all sports as well.  We will still be attending District Duals and the Lamar Lollapalooza on Friday January 8th.  It is imperative that wrestlers are conscious of their weights for District Duals this weekend. 

Please call Coach Thurston if you have any questions. 

The Liberty coaching staff and girls team decided to withdraw from the state dual qualifier at Allen High School on January 2nd.  Several team absences combined with the timing of the event forced the decision on Tuesday morning. 

Next action for the boys will be SLC and Marcus at home on January 2nd, with the girls travelling to the Lamar Lollapalooza on Friday the 8th. 

Please contact Coach Thurston if you have any questions.

The Redhawk Wrestling Banquet will be held at Stonebriar Country Club (same location as last year) in Frisco on April 9th.  The time is TBA.  We will have more details (cost, time, etc) as we near the date. 

The website's schedule has been updated with all new information.  Please note 2 things specifically.

Coach Thurston has confirmed with Dallas - Kimball that they are bringing both their boys and girls teams.  As such, we have designated January 19th as our Senior Night.  We would like to have all members of the Redhawk Wrestling family there to celebrate and honor all that the class of 2010 and their families have done to build the Liberty Wrestling program

 The girls schedule has been updated to show our entry to the Lamar Lady Lollapalooza on January 8th.  We have added this 1 day tournament to the schedule to help round out the girls schedule for January as we are light on girls midweek duals throughout the month.

 If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact Coach Thurston at thurstoj@friscoisd.org

Due to coaching shortages with our Redhawk Football team making the area round of the playoffs, the JV wrestling team has been rescheduled from the Hebron JV tournament to the Bishop Lynch JV Toughman this Saturday.

This will allow all wrestlers in the program to be coached by a member of the coaching staff as Coach Brennan will accompany the Girls to Sam Houston, and Coach Thurston will have the Varsity and JV boys at Bishop Lynch.

The Sam Houston Duals tournament for girls has been changed from a 2-day Friday/Saturday tournament to a 1 day tournament starting on Saturday, 11/21, at 8:30am

The bus will leave at 6:00am in order to make the 7:30am weigh-in

The Liberty Wrestling team traveled to Arlington this past weekend while the cross country team was creating school history in Austin.  You've got to give them credit.

The wrestlers created a little history of their own.  Chris Turner became the first member of the Redhawk boys’ team to win this prestigious tournament.  Chris defeated his final opponent from Dallas Jesuit, avenging two losses to him last year.  Stacy Martin destroyed her completion pinning all four of her opponents to also earn 1st place.  CJ Gonzales wrestled well and took third place in the meet.

In the JV meet Liberty unveiled their dynamic freshman duo of Alex "Bam Bam" Pebworth and Hannah "the Hammer" Peters.  Alex earned a third place finish while Hannah made the finals before finishing in second place.  Ambre Reed let everyone know that she is someone to reckon with as she finished in second place.

On the boys side of the house three wrestlers earned honors.  Ethan "the beast" Fabian earned a first place finish with some fine moves and a refusal to wilt under pressure.  Chris Criswell wrestled extremely well and finished in third place.

All in all a great start to the season.  Thr Redhawks take on Dallas Molina and Fort Worth OD Wyatt this Wednesday in the Nest at 5:30.  Come on out and see the show.

The team's schedule for the Arlington tournament is as follows:

Girls

Bus will leave at 10am on Friday 11/13, weigh-ins will be at noon, with wrestling to follow starting at 2pm and concluding with girls finals Friday night

Boys Varsity

Bus will depart at 2pm on Friday 11/13, weigh-ins will be at 4pm, with wrestling to follow starting at 6pm (we will wrestle 2 rounds of championships bracket)

Qualified wrestlers will depart with the JV at 530am on Saturday morning 11/14, with weigh-ins at 8am, and wrestling to begin at 10am

Boys JV

Bus will depart at 5:30am on Saturday morning 11/14, with weigh-ins at 7am, and wrestling to begin at 9am.

The Liberty Wrestling team will hold its second annual Red/Black scrimmage on Wednesday night with face-offs scheduled to begin at approximately 5:30pm.

The evening gives all wrestlers a chance to go through actual Dual Meet weigh-ins, warm-ups, matches, etc.  A certified official will be on hand to referee matches, as well as conduct weigh-ins prior to the evening.  New wrestlers will have an opportunity to experience the first match jitters in a coachable environment, similar to scrimmages in other sports.  This will also give parents new to the sport a chance to ask questions, and learn the ins and outs of the sport a bit more quickly. 

With our Liberty Redhawk Football team making the playoffs for the first time in school history, the Red/Black scrimmage will be missing several of its veteran wrestlers, as well as the 2 new members of the coaching staff. 

The approximate schedule is as follows:

4:30 - Gym set-up

4:50 - Weigh-ins

5:10 - Black team warm-up

5:18 - Red team warm-up

5:26 - National Anthem

5:30 - Face-off (line-ups announced and wrestlers shake hands)

5:35 - Wrestling begins

Immediately following the final match, parents, friends and family are invited to attend a Kickoff BBQ (pizza) in the mat room.  We will have a short parent meeting where we will introduce the coaching staff, talk briefly about the upcoming season, and have a short tutorial on how to use the website. 

We will also hold a vote for the 2009-2010 booster club at this time.  If any parent is interested in holding a position on the board, please contact Coach Thurston at thurstoj@friscoisd.org.  Our booster club has been phenomenal in supporting the Liberty wrestlers as the program continues to grow.  We would love for you to be a part of "Building the Tradition"

Photos have been posted on the Photo page of the website.  Due to a contract problem with Eteamz and Shutterfly, we have only posted the website to each album.  Eteamz will soon be rolling out a new feature for albums on the site. 

 Thanks to Shannon and Ron Gunia, as well as Eddie Smith for the photos so far.

If any parents are interested in taking photos, the coaching staff will use them for technique instruction, as well as post them on the website for others to view.

Thanks a bunch, and Go Redhawks!

Ms. Merrill's journalism classes have begun the "Potty Press" this year as a weekly newsletter that highlights different events and students going on around campus.  The Liberty Wrestling 2000 Club was featured in the October 25th sheet distributed around campus. 

 The 2000 club is Liberty's version of a gut check.  Wrestlers are required to complete 60 percent over 5 days, but many try to make it all the way.  Members are required to have completed 2000 pushups, 2000 situps, 2000 paratroopers, 1000 pullups/overhead slams, and run 25 miles over the course of 7 days.  This event always takes place 2 weeks priior to the start of the season.  In last seasons first innaugural 2000 club, 17 wrestlers completed the task.  This year, that number jumped to 20 total wrestlers.