Young wrestlers become double arm bar assassins

Long ago in a far-away galaxy I dragged a son to the Young Rough Riders wrestling tournament at Caesar Rodney. I was overwhelmingly impressed with how quickly young boys learned to be tough and not cry when they didn’t get what they wanted, like a win.

There were 10-year-olds who were skilled and focused double arm bar assassins. Wrestling is all about mastery: body awareness and lean muscle mass, work harder and get better, each match is its own unfolding drama. Last Saturday, Feb. 19, I sat and snapped photos in the new Smyrna double-deck gym at the Henlopen Wrestling Championships, moving among four mats during semifinals and wrestle-back competitions. Cape had seven in the semifinals; three of those matches went to double overtime. It can all turn on a single move, an unanticipated predicament; at other times, due to sheer exhaustion, the body is just spent and lacking energy. And through all this some of these athletes are underfed teenage boys capable of eating four sandwiches quicker than you can say, “Who ate all the lunchmeat?”

Ambition and condition - Delaware freshman Rebecca Pepper played field hockey, then decided to try indoor track. She was too late but not too slow; she went club side, strutted her distance stuff and was put on the university team. At the famed Jadwin Gym on the campus of Princeton University Saturday, Feb. 19, Rebecca bested a field of 20 runners and won the mile at the Princeton Invitational in a time of 5:09.3. When contacted through the social medium of Facebook, Rebecca responded, “When did I friend you?” also writing, “I read my fortune today while in anthropology (in the Fortune Telling Book of Names) and it was ‘Your ambition will exhaust you but keep you from complacency’ - how accurate!”

A side note: Anthropology is the study of the origin, behavior and physical, social and cultural development of humans. I have a degree in anthropology; most degree holders are far more academically oriented than I am but far less funny.

Caution to the win - I sit and watch the Daytona 500 every February, then I am gone from auto racing until the next year. This year because of so many caution flags and that stupid bump-de-bump strategy, which gave the entire race an amateur appearance, I kept switching to the Ohio State at Perdue basketball game. Drivers and announcers have all drunk the Kool-Aid and they need to wake up. Marginal people like me sit back and see too much randomness and great drivers getting knocked out of the race. It would be like watching the Super Bowl and having many of the best players leave the game after getting clipped on punt coverage. Trevor Bane, in his first Daytona and second Sprint Cup start a day after turning 20, wins the race. Some say a great story, others sing, “Where have you gone, Richard Petty?”

Lady bug - Last week Tranesha “Lady Bug” Savage, a 1994 Cape grad, celebrated a birthday. Lady Bug was an indoor state champion in the 400 meters in 1994, running 60.3. Siblings Willie, Taiwan, Princess and Janelle also won individual track championships while at Cape. That’s five from one family, a record certain to never be broken. Sister Chemire did not win a state title but went on to become a teacher, and her students are the champions because that girl is just awesome.

Snippets - Spring sports practices begin Tuesday, March 1. There are 10 sports, all equally worthy of attention. If you have a boosters club, then why not designate a savvy person as media liaison?

The fredman email is davefredman@comcast.net. If your email has a large group of media people as addressees, I most likely won’t read it. I am strictly an exclusive guy, just my earned arrogance after so many and some would say too many years covering sports teams. Swim parents can stop cannonballing my rep just because I promised expanded results and didn’t deliver - maybe there were extenuating circumstances beyond my control, then again maybe not.

Go on now, git!