We held our team awards banquet on Sunday. Tommy Owen did a great job organizing and running the event. We held the banquet in our team meeting room (aka a large trailer behind the field house). All in all, I thought it went well but we did get a few laughs out of our choice of venues.
We were able to honor every guy on the team with a wooden plaque that had the team photo prominently displayed. I hope the guys like the award and display them in their home or office. They should be proud of their efforts. It is not easy being a wrestler, especially at the D1 level.
We gave out 5 individual awards. We honored our top freshman and upperclassman who carry the highest GPA. DJ Dwyer and Seth Robertson are doing quite well in the classroom. In the end, the education guys get from Mason is what will serve them well throughout their life. I want the team academic awards to be coveted and sought after awards by the guys on the team.
Denny Herndon received our Leadership award. He will be missed. This year he did a great job rallying the team. He led by example by giving his best effort. He also gave freely of his time and knowledge to help his teammates and the program grow.
Our two national qualifiers received the outstanding wrestler awards. Vince Rodriguez won the freshman outstanding wrestler award. Bagana Tovuujav won the team outstanding wrestler award. These guys definitely earned the recognition.
As crazy as it feels, the school year is almost over. We will have no more mandatory workouts or meetings. The guys will focus on finishing the well in their classes. Guys will have the freedom to train when they can. I want the stress level from structured training to be less. Nevertheless, I still want them to get their training done.
I am hopeful we will have a bunch of guys prepared to compete at the University Greco-Roman and Freestyle Nationals May 31-June 2. I think having a competition in the horizon helps guys train with more focus and resolve.
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