Some Sage Advice from Our Veterans

On Wednesday, January 8th the Bullet Mat Club (K-6th grades) came out in force to cheer the high school team to victory against the Kutztown Cougars.  Over 25 kids attended the match and when lined up along side the mat during introductions, there was barely enough room for them to stand.  The crowd encouraged their participation in the sport with a resounding round of applause.

In spite of the few open spots in the line-up, there was plenty for these youth to learn from their elder wrestlers.  Dan Schmeck retained his undefeated record.  Dan's technique is solid.  His goal is always to get a 5 point move and he did not disappoint us on Wednesday night.  Zach Session showed amazing courage and confidence when he faced his opponent, giving up at least 20 pounds.  Zach went on to beat his opponent 11-4. And Trevor Gimbor show-cased his amazing speed.  He wrestled with great intensity and earned another 6 points.  Much learning to be done from all the wrestlers competing that night.

And hopefully, all 25 of those kids pictured themselves wrestling in the spot light in front of family and friends one day. One day we hope to see them putting on the "clinic" for the next generation of youth BMC wrestlers!

As the youth came out to support our high school team, the high school wrestlers returned the favor and offered some advice for the weekend...Keep trying, be motivated, try your best, and stick with it.  What other advice do they need to become the next generation of Bullet Wrestlers?  Go Bullets Go!

 



 

Sam's Sneak Preview

Is there anyone in Berks County that has been to more County Wrestling Tournaments than our coach, Sam Lovello?  OK, well maybe Freddie Richardson.  This weekend Sam will be making his 17th trip to the tournament so let's just say he has perspective on the subject.  In this short video, Sam not only gives us a sneak preview on how the team will fare this weekend but also talks about how the caliber of the wrestling has changed over the years.  The County tournament starts on Friday night and continues into Saturday.  For those of you who can't make it to Reading High School, radio station WEEU 830AM will be broadcasting the finals starting at 6pm.   See if Sam's predictions come true.

2013 Year in Review

2013 was a great year for Bullet Wrestling.  Missing from the list below are the personal stories of friendship, determination, and courage.  The stories of how victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat or sometimes visa versa.  Watching Bullet Wrestlers do the unexpected is always thrilling. Unfortunately, some of these stories don't always make it beyond the locker room.  Regardless, the list is still long and replete with accomplishment.  The program has much to be proud of.

• Added almost 300 new fans to our Bullet Wrestling Facebook page.
• Coach Oswald joins Bullet Wrestling from Oley.
• 6 Berks County medalists including two champions. Bullets earn 5th place in team standings.
• Gimbor wins Counties as a freshman.
• Sam turned 36 yrs old again.
• Coach Lovello celebrated his 500th win at Twin Valley.
• Mackie continues to thrill us with the big moves and pins.
• Over 50 alumni return to celebrate 50 years of Bullet Wrestling.
• Mauer snubs Renda.
• Wrestling voted out of the Olympics.
• 7 wrestlers qualify for Districts.
• Mackie, Renda and Schmeck qualify for Regionals.
• The two seniors qualify for States.
• 2 State medalists 
• 1 State champion
• Lovello inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
• Wrestling voted back into Olympics.
• 300 boxes of blueberries sold to fund another year of Strength Training and MS singlets.
• Coach Oswald leaves Bullet Wrestling for head coach position at Daniel Boone
• @Bullet Wrestling Tweets started appearing
• Schmeck and Conrad take Gold at the Bullet Invitational.  4 others earn medals.
• Fenstermacher and Caskie take Gold at Governor Mifflin JV tourney.
• 5 Medalists at the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament.

Bullet Wrestling has great momentum heading into 2014.  This year we had two Bullet Invitational Champions...same as previous year.  This year we had 5 medalists at the Governor Mifflin Tournament, one more than last year.  Last year we had 6 Bullet Wrestlers earn medals at Counties.  What can happen this year?  Can Gimbor repeat as a County champion?  Can we bring home 6 medals?

Sure 2013 was a great year but what are the possibilities for 2014?  

Coach Lovello's Induction into Hall of Fame.  

Mackie with a pin over Lousieau

Finally!

Alumni Event with some Bullet Hall of Famers!

Lovello's 500 Win Celebration

Promoting Our Wrestlers

Last year, in an effort to recognize and promote the hard work and accomplishments of the Bullet Wrestling team, a Bullet Wrestling facebook and this blog were started.  We are continuing those efforts and expanding into some new areas.

As a member of the Bullet Wrestling community, you also play a significant role in promoting our Bullet Wrestling team and the sport of wrestling.  Here is how you can help:

• Check the blog for frequent updates.  http://thematslap.blogspot.com/ .  The blog generally contains more in-depth information and/or analysis. Mark it as a favorite in your Internet Browser.   Information about our schedule, sponsors and rosters also get posted here.  Please share the link with friends and family.  Guest writers are welcome.

• Follow Bullet Wrestling on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BrandywineHeightsWrestling Like and Share the facebook posts with your friends.  Encourage your friends to Like the Bullet Wrestling Facebook page.   Facebook posts are generally short in nature and we try to include video and photographs here. 

• Follow @BulletWrestling on Twitter. https://twitter.com/bulletwrestling  Encourage your friends to follow us.  Retweet Bullet Wrestling tweets.   Twitter is popular with high school and college students.  It is also an easy way to provide live scoring updates if you can’t make a match.

• Our Instagram account is probably the least developed but it is very popular with high school kids.  http://instagram.com/bulletwrestling

The ultimate goal is to pack the gym at home tournaments and matches and attract youth wrestlers to the sport.  Wrestlers work hard!  Wrestlers are performers! They deserve this recognition in the school and in the community.

Thanks for your help.

Rippey's Challenge

Besides looking forward to the Bullet Invitational, you know it is wrestling season when you look forward to Brian Rippey's predictions in the Reading Eagle.  Just like rules, predictions by Rippey are made to be broken.  This year Rippey comments on how the power in Berks wrestling is shifting to the big schools.  Since 2011 it seems that either Governor Mifflin or Wilson has won the Berks title.  These large schools definitely have opportunities that a smaller school wouldn't have, mainly a lot of kids to fill the 14 weight class slots and a football program to help feed the upper weights. However, this might be considered an excuse by some since the five years prior to 2011, the Berks title was shared by either the Bullets of BHHS or the Panthers of Schuylkill Valley. And in reality, you only need 14 wrestlers, not entire offensive and defensive lines.

Did Rippey just openly challenge the smaller schools in Berks county?

Early this week, Coach Sam Lovello indicated we might have two forfeits in the line-up.  Even Sam admitted that this will hurt the Bullet's chances, especially against a "Wilson" who has 4 returning Berks champions and took 4th place at the District 3 tournament last year.  How does a program fight off their back in this situation?  Unfortunately, there are no quick answers to two open weight classes.  

This kind of problem requires a "system" approach.  It requires all levels (elementary, middle school and high school) to be working together to address the needs of the wrestlers.  It needs the support and understanding from school administrators, the community and the alumni wrestlers. The good news is that our Bullet Wrestling program understands this and are already working on solutions to keep at least 14 wrestlers on the mat every season.   

Anyone who knows a good wrestler, knows that he is an extremely competitive person.  They are scrappers and rarely back down from a challenge.  They find ways to win.  Good wrestling programs, just like that wrestler, are competitive too. I guarantee Bullet Wrestling will not be backing down from Rippey's challenge to take back the wrestling power in Berks.     

Click here for the full preview <<<< Rippey's Preview - Berks Wrestling

The Bullet Invitational

On Saturday, December 7, the Bullets will be hosting 11 other teams at the Bullet Invitational.  Wrestling is slated to begin at 9:30 am and it is guaranteed there will be some hard fought matches.  After all, there is only one chance to have a perfect record and it all starts at these early season tournaments.  Over the years, many Bullet Wrestlers have found themselves standing on the top podium.  Our own Coach Adam was a 3X champion himself.  Last year seven of our wrestlers earned medals.

In an interview with Coach Adam this week, he remembered back to when he wrestled in this tournament.  His memories and comments help describe what makes the sport of wrestling and this program so special.  21 years later, Coach Adam is still remembering how his team made it possible for another team to compete at the tournament by hosting them at their homes.  More than likely, some of those wrestlers might have had to compete against each other the following day.  It is not like a wrestlers to take the easy way out of things.  They would rather compete than take a bye.  

Come out on Saturday and help support another generation of wrestlers.  We are hoping that a few of them come away undefeated, more come away with medals and all of them come away with a memory that will last at least 21 years.

Lovello's Encore

Last year Coach Lovello reached 500 career wins, coached a PIAA State Champion and was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame.  Watch the video to learn how the team is shaping up this season and how he is planning to top last year! Go Bullets Go.

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Is It Too Soon to Be Excited?

When is it too soon to get started thinking about the 2013-2014 High School Wrestling Season?  Do we have to wait until Halloween?  Not this blogger.  College wrestling has already started their official practices and they are counting down the days to the first competition in November.  High school wrestling starts up almost a month later but thinking about how the Bullet Wrestlers will fair this year is top of mind...especially after seeing this YouTube video by our strength trainer extraordinaire, Dane Miller.  The video features Bullet Wrestler Dan Schmeck.  Dan has been working hard on summer, lifting consistently at "the Garage".  I think when you watch the video, you will agree that his hard work is paying off.  Most Sundays, Dan can also be found in the Lehigh University wrestling room.  He has also been wrestling some pre-season tournaments with Steel Mat Club and went 4-1 a few weeks ago.  This Bullet Wrestler is not afraid of hard work.

See the YouTube video here>>> Schmeck Doing Work 

Does Clothing Make the Wrestler?

Considering the long history of wrestling, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the singlet is a relatively modern invention.  Statues and drawings from ancient times show the wrestlers only scantily clad, if that.  Thankfully, somewhere between the ancient times and the 1920 wrestlers started to wear clothes.  By the 30’s most amateur wrestlers sported full length tights and something called an outside supporter called a "black tom".

The next evolution took place between the mid 30’s through WWII.  The outside supporter was replaced with trunks.  Shirts were still optional, mostly depending upon where you were wrestling.  Most east coast teams, donned the shirt while the mid-west teams like Oklahoma State, went shirtless.  For dual meets where an east coast team would be wrestling against a mid-west team, it was the home team who got to determine if it was skins or shirts.  It wasn’t until 1966 that the NCAA actually required the 3 piece uniform which included the trunk, tights and shirts.  No more shirt-less dual meets.  (Is this when our attendance started to drop?  And we blame Title IX.)

US amateur wrestlers were introduced to the one-piece wrestling singlet at the Rome Olympics in 1960 however the singlet didn’t hit collegiate and high school wrestling rooms until the 70’s.  Bullet wrestlers first started wearing the one-piece singlet over tights in the 1974 yearbook.  It wasn’t until the 1986 yearbook that the tights totally disappeared from the pictures and we were left with the current look. 

While singlet styles change slightly from year to year, there have not been any big changes for almost 30 years.  Is there a need for a change and what would we change it to?  Are there any advantages to changing the singlet from the fan or the wrestlers’ perspective?  Would it help us grow wrestling?

Take our poll.  Leave a comment.  Looking to hear some comments on this one.

What Are You Going to Do?

The beauty of wrestling and one of the reasons some find it a bit tough to consider participating in is that each match is an extremely intense one-on-one battle. It’s a, sometimes brutal, relentless, back and forth, physically demanding, seemingly life or death struggle. While lasting only minutes it demands all you have. One wrong decision or faltering might lead to disaster. Pinned…counting ceiling tiles! No points for your team, SIX for theirs! Total devastation! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! Hours of practice culminating in failure. There is no one to point the finger at. No one dropped your perfectly thrown pass or made the error on the throw to home plate. It was you…score or scored on, won or lost. What are you going to do? Blame your coach? (He should have taken Top!) Blame the ref? (That was 2!!) Call your mom? Complain about needing better partners in the wrestling room? In the end it’s all on YOU! So, what are you gonna do? Cry about it or get to work?

The smart wrestler who has learned to take the right lessons from each practice, drill, match, coach’s or parent’s sermon always should come to the conclusion that there is no one to blame…even himself. Blame is beside the point. Blame has nothing to do with it. The answer must be found though. The question is what needs to be changed and how will I do it? Figure that out, get to work and improve. Very simple. This is what can be learned from wrestling, incremental improvement through practice. The smart wrestler, win or lose, walks off the mat wiser and better for the experience. Continuous improvement…there’s always more to learn.

A focused and coachable wrestler will also learn that a coach, parent, teammate or even a videotape can be the key objective view needed to help analyze and find that next area to work on. The thing about wrestling is there will always be something more to improve, some aspect of the sport to understand better, a strategy or tactic to master. One thing for sure is there will be plenty of people to help but at the match when you hit the mat, it is all on you.

So, what are you going to do?

What Can We Learn From Wrestling?

Is it possible that a sport with armbars, cradles and double legs can teach us anything about life? Is there anything to be learned counting down the seconds in a neck bridge while your opponent is trying to capture the pin in the last seconds? Some might use the thought of a neck bridge as a reason to avoid the sport of wrestling, others know that there are valuable life lessons to be learned on the mat.

Mike Riordan, an ex-college wrestler, HS coach and sports writer for the Bloody Elbow and Intermat, recently wrote about how wrestling teaches us perseverance. Here is an excerpt:

The beauty of wrestling lies in the precious lessons it teaches us about life. In wrestling we learn to deal with extreme pain and heartbreak, and to keep on going. When I was coaching, I remember a conversation I had with an athlete I coached after he quit at the end of a match to get eliminated at a big tournament. I asked him why he gave up.  He said, "I didn't want to give up Coach, but he kept punching me in the nuts, you and the ref couldn't see."

I responded, "I understand, and he shouldn't have done that, but remember, one day life is going to punch you in the nuts a million times harder than that kid, and you won't have the option of lying there on the mat."

Using this moment to impart one of wrestling’s greatest lessons was pure coaching genius!

While no one likes to see their favorite wrestler loose a match, everyone wants them to succeed off the mat, where it really counts. Surviving a cradle or holding off a pin in the final seconds can help prepare us for real life trials and challenges.

Why Wrestle? Part 1

When the sport of wrestling was put in “wrestling purgatory” last February, many former and current wrestlers and coaches attempted to articulate why the sport should be saved by the International Olympic Committee. Some of these posts were humorous, others more introspective. All of them have been thought provoking. Regardless of your own experience with the sport, these pieces provide a good framework to introduce our sport to others, including the parents of potential wrestlers.

There is a piece on the FILA website written by Alexander Karelin. The name was not a familiar one but his picture next to his piece showed that he must have been one beast of a wrestler. Some of you might know Alexander better by his nickname “the Russian Bear.” Come to find out, the Russian Bear does have a few credentials…he went undefeated in international competitions for thirteen years, winning twelve European, nine World Championships, and three Olympic Games. The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles named Karelin the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century. Pretty tough guy, right?

Looking at this monumental 6-feet-4-inches tall man, one might think he’s always been a wrestler, though he took up the sport relatively late – at the age of 13 – and didn’t enjoy it at first. At 15, when Alexander competed in a junior tournament in his native city of Novosibirsk, his right leg snapped. “My mother cried,” Karelin recalled. “She burned my wrestling uniform and insisted I quit. But as I recovered, I felt that I couldn’t leave the sport to which I’d ‘given’ my leg. Wrestling made me self-sufficient,” he said.

Wrestlers sometimes have unfairly gotten the reputation of being a bunch of thugs or knuckleheads, of being more brawn than brains.  Looking at Karelin’s profile picture the same might be said about him. But reading his piece, you definitely see another side of Karelin. He references classic literature and poetry. He is eloquent and articulate, albeit, brief. He talks about how wrestling give purpose and confidence to teen-agers, how it helps them set goals, teaches them to respect others and demand more of themselves. Character traits all parents hope their children will develop to carry them happily through life.

Mostly though, Karelin shows us that the wrestler cannot be gauged by his outward appearance. It’s what is in his heart and mind that make a true wrestling champion.

Please read his entire piece on the FILA website.

http://www.fila-official.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1059%3Aa-rhetorical-question--why-wrestling&catid=60%3Aactualite&Itemid=100235&lang=en

Note: This will be an on-going series. Email bulletmatclub@gmail.com if you would like to be a guest blogger and write a piece about the benefits of wrestling.

Ready To Go

The Bullet Mat Slap has awakened and is ready to go for the 2013-2014 Season.

Bullet Wrestling has had a lot to celebrate since the last post on March 6, 2013. Three days later Bullet Wrestling had its second state champ, Peter Renda and Adam Mackie, having lost a close semi-final match, brought home 3rd. These achievements had both the school and community beaming with pride. Following up his 500th win earlier in the season, Coach Sam Lovello was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in April, 2013. Bullet Wrestling, having added several more entries to its fine history, appears to have no interest in living on its laurels. As we head toward the start of the 2013-14 season we look forward to the accomplishments of present and future Bullet wrestlers.

On September 8, 2013 the wrestling community celebrated the IOC’s vote to keep wrestling in the Olympics through 2024. It was a bitter sweet victory but there is a bigger lesson here that the Bullet Wrestling community should reflect upon.

Much has been written about the arrogance of FILA and how it may have led to the February decision to eliminate wrestling as a core sport. The new FILA president, Nenad Lalovic said, “I don't blame the IOC. The guilt is only ours.” The Serb said it became clear that FILA had failed to modernize the sport and had fallen out of touch with the IOC. "That was the best shock therapy,'' Lalovic said. “When you fall into such a crisis, you either die or you recover. We recovered.''

In the end, wrestling not only recovered but is stronger than before. FILA revamped its structure, giving women and athletes a role in decision making. It added two weight classes for women. It adopted rule changes to make the sport easier to understand and more fun to watch, and to reward more aggressive wrestling. During this campaign FILA made a monumental effort to promote their sport through social media (Save Olympic Wrestling and Take A Stance campaigns). Join 100,000 FILA facebook fans and follow the newly created World Wrestling Rankings. You’ll be beaming with USA pride when you see Jordan Borroughs at the top.

Today, with only 64 days until the first day of high school wrestling, it is hard to imagine the Bullet Wrestling tradition not continuing. I am sure FILA thought the same prior to February. In an age of dwindling high school funds, let’s not assume all is well. We need constant and increased support for our high school wrestlers. More fans and more funds are needed to sustain our storied history. Everyone can help. Mark this website as a favorite. Be a guest sports writer here to help define what makes wrestling different than other sports. Like the Bullet Wrestling fan page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Come to Bullet Wrestling matches. Tell our school board how wrestling has made a difference in your life. Most of all, when you see a Bullet Wrestler, whether young or old, welcome them into the Bullet Wrestling Community.

Re-Match Possibility?

Adam Mackie had a memorable pin in the Regional tournament final against Steve Loiseau.  We were lucky that team photographer, Shawn Sterner caught it on record!  He is definitely pinned!  Any re-match between the pair will be in the finals at the State Tournament since they are seeded in opposite sides of the bracket.  Loiseau will have to get past undefeated Dakota DesLauriers before he can have his chance at Mackie again.

Let's all try to figure out how to pronounce these names before the Tournament starts.  Why can't everyone have easy names to pronounce like Renda and Mackie?

The Beginning of the End

Today Mackie and Renda drilled with the Johnson's duo (Marcus and Jan) at Governor Mifflin.  Bullet Wrestlers are heading out to Hershey tonight to avoid any snow-related issues.  They will get a chance to drill tomorrow at the Giant Center and then the tournament begins at 9am on Thursday.  If you can't make it out to Hershey, there are a few sites you might be able to get updates.  If you have a twitter account, try following @BulletAthletics.  This is the twitter account for the school and hopefully our AD will be providing updates along the way.  Another possibility is PennLive (http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com). They were updating brackets last week fairly quickly.  Flowrestling may have live video coverage but  you will probably have to pay to watch.  Best idea is to come out to Hershey and see it live!  Let's enjoy the last of Pete and Adam's high school matches.

Best of Luck to both wrestlers!

Bullets Get Some Good Press

Congrats to Adam and Pete.  Getting a lot of well-deserved press this week.

From the Reading Eagle

From the Patriot News

From the Kutztown Patriot

From Channel 69

Did They Tie the Record?

According to the unofficial history of Bullet Wrestling, the most Regional Champions we ever crowned was two, back when Joey Lovello and Anthony Corpora were both champs. The Regional Tournament was started in 1999.  Prior to that wrestlers went straight from Districts to States.

So Pete and Adam make it into the history books by tying the record.  Looking for them to create more Bullet history this week.  Good Luck men.

Gotta Love These Bullets

Bullet Wrestlers after the tournament and ready to head home. Great grit, determination and sportsmanship shown by all this weekend. Bullets move forward no matter win or loose. Go Bullets Go.

Sectional Pictures

Some intense expressions in these pictures. We need Bullet Wrestlers to bring this same drive, intensity and motivation to the three weekends of wrestling.  Looking forward to it all.

It's Not About Where You Have Been

A video for and about our 7 District Qualifiers.  Hope it gets everyone excited for great possibilities this weekend.  Enjoy.