Wrestling has history
Talk about a sport that has old, old history, and you're talking about wrestling. Talk about a sport that really tries to level the playing field - to the point where the competitors even weigh the same amount - and you're talking about wrestling. And no local team is wrestling better right now than the Flathead Braves.
Wrestling's history goes back at least as far as the Egyptians in 3400 B.C. and it spread to every corner of the world. The Greeks excelled in "kato pale" or ground wrestling, and when it became combined with the Roman "orthia pale" or upright method, we had something similar to what we know as wrestling today. The Asian countries were involved in non-weapon combat as well, with the Japanese "sumo" style, and variations in China and India. Turkey and Iran have been famous for their styles of wrestling in the Middle East. The British Isles had "strong arm fighting" events, there was "Glima" in Iceland, and "Schwingen" in Switzerland. The "Highland Games" were as popular in ancient Scotland as they are today, and all of these examples were some variation of wrestling.
Start with strength and athleticism, mix in a healthy dose of agility and quickness, and top off with a patient recognition of what is happening at the moment and what can happen next, and you have a wrestler.
The recent dual matches with Missoula Big Sky and Libby were the first opportunity for the Braves to prove their No. 1 ranking in front of family and fans in their own gym. And they did, with a drubbing of Big Sky and a solid victory over the Loggers.
The first thing that I noticed about the lighter and medium weight classes was the quickness with which they could explode into their matches. Brian Ham had two pins; the one I witnessed in 17 seconds. When matches last longer, and the wrestlers are expending energy over a period of time, it's like watching the juice meter on a battery charger dropping bit by bit. T.C. Decker had to summon his inner strength in a tough match with the Eagles' Mike Pfaff, and Ricky Janes had everything he could handle before decisioning Big Sky's Nick Ramsey 5-2.
Mikey Kuehne upped his record to 17-1 for the season with a pair of decisions. David Lau used his quickness to tally 23 points in his first match, and Josiah Nelson also pinned his first opponent quickly - in 41 seconds.
As the matches advanced to the heavier weights, the most impressive thing you might notice about the Braves is the size of their legs. They're like small trees. Levi Holt had his headgear ripped off several times in his first match, and his slippery opponent escaped several near pins before Holt prevailed 17-2. Chris Thompson pinned the Eagles' Schrantz in the 189-pound match in less than one minute, and Garrett Woodson went back and forth and back and forth with his opponent before using his leg power to pin Alex Storud after 5:02 of the six-minute match.
Another guy with a pretty big pair of pegs is heavyweight Brandon Hoffenbacker, and he lost no time in pinning his opponent in less than a minute also.
I'm not sure how these kids can be twisted like pretzels, how half their body parts appear to be going one direction while the other half is going the opposite way, but these are the anatomical mysteries of wrestling. My muscles loosened up just watching them. The Braves are back in action at home Jan. 27.
Alice Ritzman is a pro golfer from Kalispell and head coach of the Flathead High School golf program. She can be reached by email at ritzman@dailyinterlake.com