WHS Wrestlers in 2 Places at Once (WHS Orange & Black)

Sports Section
Written By: Matt Rider

Hey students, did you know that on Wednesday, January 26, 2005, the WHS wrestlers participated in two invites all in one night. JV Varsity wrestlers Matt Rider (112) and Anthony Griffin (119) went to the Junior Varsity "Mid-Week" Invite at Northfield High School, with the help of Mr. Bryan Bartoo fulfilling the role of coach in the absence of Coach O'Neill and Coach Blocher. The rest of the WHS Varsity wrestlers traveled all the way to Elwood High School to participate in CIC. The WHS Varsity wrestlers had to leave the school at 3:45 p.m. to get to Elwood High School ino order to start wrestling at 4:30 p.m. The JV wrestlers had to leave the school at 4:30 p.m. to get to Northfield High School in order to start wrestling at 6:00 p.m.

You wonder how this came about? Well originally CIC was supposed to be held at Frankton High School on Saturday, January 23, 2005 but was postponed due to threatening weather conditions. So they rescheduled CIC to Wednesday, January 26, 2005. There were a lot of teams that participated in both CIC at Elwood and the JV Invite at Northfield.

Each of the two WHS JV wrestlers wrestled a total of three times at the JV Invite at Northfield High School. The WHS JV wrestlers didn't do too bad at their invite. Combined the two WHS JV wrestlers went 1-6 but showed a lot of improvement.

Anthony Griffin, wrestling at 119 pounds for the Apaches, posted a pin against Peru High School's 119-pound wrestler in his JV match. Matt Rider, wrestling at 112 for the Apaches, narrowly missed a pin against Southern Well's 112-pound wrestler. Both of the WHS JV wrestlers look to improve next year.

Coach O'Neill and Mr. Bryan Bartoo spoke a few times between matches updating each other on how each event was going and how each wrestler (JV and Varsity) was doing.

Mr. Bryan Bartoo was a big help to the team for going and coaching the JV wrestlers in the "Mid-Week" Invite at Northfield High School and also taking time to even stop for dinner at McDonald's after the JV "Mid-Week" Invite at Northfield High School.

What a busy day for all the WHS wrestlers, (JV and Varsity) and even for all the mat maids, fans, and coaches. By the way, both of the WHS JV wrestlers and volunteer coach Mr. Bryan Bartoo arrived in Wabash at about 9:00 p.m. after their Invite at Northfield High School. All the rest of the WHS Varsity wrestlers and coaches arrived back at the school at 11:40 p.m.