“It was a lightbulb moment,” Broadus Head Wrestling Coach Frankie Schoonover described the moment when Senior Hawk Wrestler Colton Playle learned his capabilities during a match at the fabled Cowboy Invitational Wrestling Tournament, last Friday and Saturday in Miles City.
34 teams competed at the annual event, including 8 wrestlers from Broadus. Playle was wrestling in the JV Tournament on Friday when he was nearly pinned, and as Scho-onover described the scene, something just seemed to change in the young man. Schoonover said: “Colton just decided from that point he wasn’t going to lose. He reversed and pinned the kid, and never lost another match the entire weekend. It was great to see as a coach when things come together for one of your wrestlers.”
Playle, along with the rest of the Broadus team, did not bring home any shiny new metal hardware from the Cowboy. Despite the end results on paper, the members of the Broadus team learned lessons of their own at the Cowboy – some due to losses, others due to the difficulties in making weight for the tournament. The difficulties associated with cutting weight were best seen with Riggin Schaffer, who cut down to 145 lbs for the tournament. “We could see Riggin had the strength advantage over the kids who were naturally wrestling 145, but Riggin had some difficulties making weight and he was out of energy, which showed up with some mistakes on the mat as he tired out.”
Schoonover described his thoughts on cutting down on weight: “Our wrestlers choose on their own what weight they want to wrestle at. I give them the tools to work with if they want to cut down, but cutting weight is the toughest part of this sport. It takes mental toughness, determination, and self denial. It’s a lot of accountability to oneself. It’s tough.”
Wrestlers struggling to make weight will have an extra challenge this week as they weigh-in three times – at Baker on Tuesday, at the home-meet on Thursday, and against in Moorcroft on Friday for the third tournament of the week.
Alex Edwards returned to the tournament mats in Miles City after a hiatus due to injury. AJ Schoenbeck, an 8th grader, won two matches at the tournament while giving up nearly ten lbs in weight to his competitors in the 103 lbs bracket. Reuben Kinzer, wrestling at 205, has become a student of the game according to his coach, studying film and bettering himself every competition. Collin Weatherall, an 8th grader, is currently wrestling at 160 lbs, and Schoonover says he will likely see some success if Collin’s goal of cutting to 152 lbs plays out.
Jon Wood, wrestling at 205, was much the same story – at his current weight he’s seeing difficulties, but in trying to cut to his goal weight of 182 he may see more success.
Kordell Schonenbach, wrest-ling as a heavyweight, wrestled in his first tournament, and was among the list of players named by Schoonover as learning a considerable amount and bettering themselves in Miles City.
“Our team has a positive attitude and they are looking to better themselves every day in practice,” Frankie said, as he noted that this week the team will only have two practices due to the number of tournaments.
Following the high school wrestling in Miles City on Friday and Saturday, an AAU Tournament on Sunday pitted some of Broadus’ up and coming wrestlers up against competition, and Schoonover was pleased with what he saw. “The AAU Coaches and parents are doing a phenomenal job with those kids. I really enjoyed watching the AAU tournament – the amount of energy in that room was phenomenal.”
High School wrestling energy will be on display this Thursday as the Hawks host their home mixer, with two sets of mats ready to entertain the crowd. Action begins at 4 pm.
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