Thanks from Braxton & The Amos Family

[timamos]

Long post form a very grateful family. Apologize for my ramblings.

Last week was the best week of my son's life. He and I talked about realistic goals in the months leading up to this tournament. As a first year cadet (the youngest of the young) he has had three Greco practices, so maybe he could use Greco as a way of getting the nerves under control, maybe win a couple of matches, and get some experience the hard way. The real goal was to try to All American in Freestyle (probably 6th-8th places). Alongside the other Team WV kids, he worked his butt off in hopes that with a favorable bracket, he might reach these goals. Never did we talk about winning either style. I didn't drink enough to even contemplate winning both. He's responsible for the ultimate outcome of the matches but he and I know that there is long list of people who were instrumental and deserve much more than this thank you for his week.

Miron. Miron has been his primary coach since the age of 8 when many of his practice partners moved on to Jr High. He was teaching Abkhazian influenced freestyle cloaked as American folk style. Miron's coaching style isn't for everyone. He's not good at patting your head and telling you how good you are. He is very good at hurting your feelings and pushing you beyond what you thought was possible. While I am stunned that Braxton even sniffed the podium at Fargo, I fully expect that in our next trip to Columbus Miron will kick his butt for getting scored on. Goes without saying that Coaches like Randy DeAngelo, Jed Moore, & Russian Nick were instrumental in Braxton’s training at Miron in the months leading up to Fargo. Guys like AJ (headed to Kent State next week!), Robbie, Noah, and Nathan toughened Braxton up on every trip to Columbus.

Dave Jeffrey. Success is like a puzzle, you have to fit pieces together. Things outside of the wreslting room oftentimes determine the results on the mat. Dave pushed Braxton in the weight room, which in turn supplied Braxton with the confidence to walk onto the mat, see guys who were obviously older (did you see some of the beards?) and more physically gifted, and know that this wasn't a bodybuilding contest and the stronger looking guy wasn't always the stronger wrestler.

Chris Way. Chris loves Freestyle wrestling. Talk to him about it for 5 minutes and you'll see the fire in his eyes. He's watching Flo, he's watching random matches for techniques, and he’s incorporating it all into his freestyle practices. He talked to Braxton about being patient, if someone scores on you, don’t freak out and make it worse, you’re going to score a lot of points and can come back. That advice was vital in the freestyle finals when Braxton found himself in a 0-3 hole at the start of the match. Over the course of this summer Chris forced Braxton to toughen up on bottom, and get nasty on top. In one of Braxton’s matches, you can hear the announcer say, “My Lord, I would not want Braxton Amos to gut wrench me.” That’s a product of floating rib abuse courtesy of Chris Way. It would be easy for Chris to say no to Braxton or to give a quid pro quo recruiting pitch, but that didn’t happen. Chris is in this for all of the right reasons and if kids are not using him every spare second to learn about freestyle then they are missing out on an opportunity.

Shaun Smith and Andy Church. I can’t speak for past years at Parkersburg South. I know that watching the kids who participated this year, there was a concerted effort to learn, teach, and improve the Olympic styles. Encouraging kids to go to Ohio qualifiers, regional qualifiers, and Fargo exposed what needed work and as the work progressed it gave all of the wrestlers a great measuring stick. The South wrestlers that I saw at Fargo were not the same guys who wrestled the qualifier at Canton, they all improved significantly and that doesn’t happen without good coaching.

Bobby Morris & Dave Koreski. These guys were a phone call away when in the months leading up to Fargo Braxton needed a live go or a hard drill. There were times that their wives had to wonder what possessed them to do these things to themselves for a kid who was likely to get his butt kicked in Fargo anyway. I fully expect you to make Braxton return the favor when Ayden and Dawson are getting ready for Fargo.

Dr Dustin Wright. Freestyle and Greco will knock the heck out of you. Dustin has been there every time, trying to put the pieces back together so that Braxton could head off to another practice or camp and do it again.

Dr Jason Barton/ Dr Orton Armstrong/Tracy Dilliner. They did everything from skin checks to talking me down when it looked like Braxton was injured and may miss Fargo/freshman year. Blessed to have trusted medical professionals who are wrestler friendly.

Louden Haga. Louden is Braxton’s best friend and was his drilling partner. Sometimes that doesn’t make for the best partner because to get things accomplished, they can’t be best friends for an hour or two. Louden physically got Braxton out of bed the day after Greco, when Braxton was too sore to put on his own shoes. When Braxton won Freestyle, I honestly believe that Louden was happier for him than I was.

Team WV wrestlers. Many of these guys knew each other but many of them didn’t. It was cool to watch them bond over the course of the week. A lot of different personalities, rooting for each other. I hope those relationships extend beyond the summer.

WVU guys: Nick Marable & Tony DeAngelo. Nick is a great teacher. Was quick to correct technique and mindset issues. Tony is a guy I’ve known for years (old Miron camps). He stood over Braxton and made him push past what he thought was his breaking point. Thank God he did because things got a little scary in the freestyle round of 16 against a very good Minnesota opponent.

Robbie Archer. Administratively this can’t be an easy thing to organize. Many different personalities and issues. Logistical nightmare at times no doubt. He needs help and I hope that WV coaches can find a way to work together and give him a hand. While I don’t know that Coach Archer and I will exchange Christmas cards, I am forever grateful to him for sticking up for my son and pulling Mr. Santoli aside to let him know what West Virginia thought of his tactics.

Steve Riner and Kyle Symons. These guys needed roller skates. Running from mat to mat coaching kids from all over the state. They were so busy that I didn’t get to know them as well as I had hoped but appreciate their dedication to the kids.

Mr. Jeffers for filming Braxton’s upcoming opponent. I know we were a pain in your rear but you always said yes and the film always came out perfect.

All of my friends who texted, tweeted, and listened to me during the crazy week. Gator, Frank, Bearhugger, Hartx2, John Roberts, etc

FloWrestling. I’ve known Kyle for a while. Getting to know Ryan over the past year has been a pleasure. The entire Flo organization is first class. They care about wrestling. They care about kids. If you don’t have an annual membership, pass on McDonalds, or Marlboro, or Budweiser for a month and buy yourself an annual pass. It’s not expensive and it supports people who support wrestling. Good stuff and great people. They had Braxton’s back publicly and privately when Santoli targeted him.

Team Ohio (wrestlers, coaches, and administration) & USA Wrestling. These guys had nothing to gain by accepting Braxton and Louden when Mr. Santoli pulled his stunt. They did it because it was the right thing to do. They went out of pocket to help the boys and didn’t ask for a thing in return. They brushed it off as a small gesture but without them, Braxton and Louden would have missed out on this experience. Without them we would have always wondered what if, and be forced to assume that because Reeves beat him in the past he would have lost again.

Last but certainly not least, Coach John Dempsey. John is a walking example of putting a kid before himself. He spent a lot of time talking strategy with Braxton, preparing for upcoming matches, keeping Braxton’s mind right. After the chairperson from New Jersey did a despicable thing, the adults from Ohio and West Virginia saved the day. For the Greco finals, the Ohio coaches recognized that Dempsey was Braxton’s coach and formed a line behind him so that he could coach in Braxton’s corner. I know several of those guys and Santoli couldn’t have stumbled through their line to disrupt the moment no matter how many times he refilled that cup he seems to carry around. USA Wrestling plays entrance music before every finals match. The kids don’t pick the music. While other finalists were coming out of the tunnel to something from Dip Dizzy Wizzle or some other famous rapper, John walked to the USA head table and made a special request for Braxton’s match. When John Denver’s Country Roads started, the stress lifted from Braxton, the folks in the Fargodome who knew the story went crazy and as a dad, I knew that even though Reeves had pinned Braxton the month before, he was in trouble that afternoon. When Braxton came out of the tunnel for freestyle, the music was from someone I didn’t know but the second he got up from finishing the tech, Country Roads cued up and the WV and OH kids broke out their cell phone lights (which is better than the old days when we had lighters at concerts). The champion of each weight class gets to name their coach who will stand at the podium and hand out awards, Braxton wanted Coach Dempsey and fittingly Ohio deputized him to do the honors (both times). The announcer from USA Wrestling and the guys on Flo had a good time making light of the situation jabbing Santoli at every turn.

When I started writing this and talking to Braxton about the people to thank, I realized it was going to be a long post. The fact is that I probably forgot some people and for that I am sorry. It takes a lot of people to make for a successful week out there and even with all of those people pulling in the same direction, there are no guarantees of success.

[Bucktail]

To the Amos family, simply awesome.

[abettnman]

I know that you have no clue who my son and I are, but we watched every match on FLO of Braxton's as well as the other WV team members, but when the finals came and FLO explained the situation and then Country Road's began to play I looked at my son (who is 11) and he had a look on his face as if he was wrestling the match, and let out the biggest holler when Braxton won.

From then on, we didn't miss a match and became a fan. Braxton deserved both of those titles, he has put in the work, and it don't hurt to have those partners, and coaches that you mentioned.

CONGRATS BRAXTON

[aaacoach9]

'The Attitude of Gratitude' says it all!
That is why he is a TRUE CHAMPION!!
Congratulations!

[Gator]

Well done Braxton and well said Tim.

[forthekids]

Class Act!

[shaggy71]

Well said Tim!!!

Cant wait to see your son compete this season!

[george]

Congratulations, what a Great Accomplishment! I've heard nothing but positive things about Braxton since he was very young!

[masonbailey]

How awesome! Congrats again!