A month ago, I received a text from Ty just before his lunch time....
I was shocked. He had talked about wrestling a couple of years ago,
but never really did anything about it.
He had no clue how to wrestle, what the rules really were or anything.
Mikey Metcalfe let Ty borrow a pair of wrestling shoes,
and before I knew it.....
we were sitting in the bleachers, watching Ty wrestle in his first meet.
He wrestled JV that day vs. West Point.
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 - 3:15 @ SJH.
We could see in him that he was nervous and unsure, but....
Ty beat that kid 15-1!!!
He had to go all 3 rounds and looked absolutely exhausted afterward....
but so awesome!
Trav and I were laughing a little.....
this wasn't like any other sport we had seen or supported our kids in.
The germaphobe in me just about couldn't handle it at all.
I even sent Ty to school with his own can of Lysol to keep everything sprayed down!
Luckily, Ty had the weekend to rest and had a BYE vs. Legacy that following Tuesday,
before he'd have to meet up against Sunset that Thursday, March 3rd @ SJH.
Ty Pinned the Sunset kid and was so excited about that!
(Ty and his buddy Laithe Anderson on his football team.
Laithe was a huge supporter of Ty during wrestling!)
Laithe was a huge supporter of Ty during wrestling!)
The next day in practice......
Ty had a challenge vs. Cache Kelley, the Varsity kid in his weight division.
Ty beat him and took his Varsity spot.
Because they can only hold challenges every two weeks, and because North End
Championships were coming up, that was the last challenge for the season.....
meaning, Ty was the new Varsity wrestler in the 162-175 weight division!
He was so excited, but that also meant he would
start to meet up with tougher competition!
Which he did.
His very first Varsity wrestling match was vs. North Davis -
Tues. March 8th @ North Davis.
Ty fought a hard and tough match and was up the majority of the time.
However, in the last 5 or so seconds of the last round,
Ty made a little mistake and that allowed for that kid to pin Ty
Ty made a little mistake and that allowed for that kid to pin Ty
and win in the last few seconds.
That did not sit well with Ty.
He was frustrated where he was SO close and only lost by a margin.
The next day, Trav was talking to Paul Taylor at work.
Paul was an amazing wrestler in High School and loves the sport!
Trav had shown him Ty's videos and while Paul was impressed,
He agreed to come to our home and help teach Ty some basic wrestling moves,
that would help him improve greatly!
So, that night around 8:30, Paul came to our house and spent over an hour
with Ty helping him learn some sweet moves.
Ty was able to test them out on Paul and Trav!
Ty was so grateful for the help and proved it on the mat the next day...
Thursday, March 10th @ North Layton.
He pinned the North Layton kid within about 45 seconds!
Paul even came to watch and Ty immediately came up to talk to him after the match.
Paul gave him a few more pointers and we took him some cookies later that night!
Next match was vs. Central Davis Jr. High -
Tues. March 15, 2016 - @ SJH.
Ty pinned that kid pretty quick too!
That poor kid laid on the mat for a bit before getting up to shake Ty's hand!
The last match before North End was held
Thursday, March 17th at Fairfield Jr. High.
Ty won with a pin!
I loved watching this wrestling team....
when it came time to load the busses, the whole team of boys would form
two lines.....one on each side of the door of the bus,
and they would not load until all of the cheerleaders or any other girls
were on the bus and seated!
I missed a picture of them lined up.....but I got on the bus and took some inside!
Ty and Mikey Metcalfe!
Ty qualified for North End, which is where all of the Jr. High's in the North End
of the District compete to qualify for District.
There were about 6-7 Jr. High's involved in North End.
It was held, Mon-Tues, March 21st and 22nd at North Ridge High School.
Monday went from 10 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. or so.
Tues. started at 3 p.m. and lasted til about 9:45 p.m. with the awards ceremony.
Trav had to be in North Dakota for work,
so I went and stayed both days and sent him video.
Ty had a BYE the first round at No. End, which made it nice for me to not have to be there
til the afternoon that first day and wouldn't have to keep Austy occupied as long!
He was so good though.....just played on the Ipad and ate snacks!
Ty did awesome at North End!
With the first round being a Bye, his second was vs. North Davis.
He beat that kid 8-2 in the 3rd round. 
The next day of North End, Ty had to wrestle against West Point.
That was a tough match for Ty.
He was up the entire time point wise and had the match right until the very end.
Again, he just made a little mistake that allowed that kid to pin him in the last
few seconds of the match.
Ty was so angry at that loss! So angry!
He is extremely competitive and was livid that he lost that match,
where he had it the whole time!
He would not talk to me for about 45 minutes.
He paced the gym, put his t-shirt on and then off and then on again,
and spent some time under the bleachers.
His next match was within that hour after his loss and when I saw him
on the sidelines for his next match.....I knew the poor kid he was about to wrestle
from North Layton
was in for the match of his life! Ha ha!
Ty pinned that kid within 35 seconds!! It was so awesome!
After that match, he was feeling better about things.
I had been giving him some space to cool off....
so he immediately came and found me and gave me a big hug!
After that match, he was feeling better about things.
I had been giving him some space to cool off....
so he immediately came and found me and gave me a big hug!
His next match came later in the evening vs. North Davis.
Ty pinned that kid with 1 minute left in the 3rd round!!
Winning that, put Ty at 3rd place for North End!!!!
Cache Kelley took 2nd!
Ty with Coach Penrod (on the right) with Coach Penrod's son, Jake, on the left
Ty and his buddy Cache Kelley
All of the wrestlers from SJH that placed at No. End
(Coach Penrod, Caden, Cache, Ty, Zach, Jake Penrod)
Ty and his biggest Cheerleader!!!
I was SO proud of him!!
And.....we couldn't get the videos to Trav fast enough!
He hated missing it, but knew if he didn't go early, he'd miss District too!
The night before District, Kobe Rusch and Bridger Hamblin
both brought Ty some treats and drinks to wish him good luck.
Hamblin's came to North End to support Ty and Cache as well!
District Championships were held Thursday, March 24th at Viewmont High School at Noon.
Ty's first match was vs. Farmington.
Ty pinned him in the first minute of the match!
It was awesome!!!
Winning that first round meant that Ty would wrestle
Cache and that would determine who would continue on and have a chance at placing.
I was so nervous for that match.
The only time they had wrestled was when Ty took Cache's Varsity spot.
Cache is a good wrestler, so I was worried that it would be tough....
not to mention, they are Hamblin's cousins and we are close to them!
I sat on the mat next to Cache's mom Noelle!
We had determined we would remain close friends regardless of the outcome of that match!
Ha ha!
It was really too bad they had to meet up so early at District.....
but on the same hand, almost better to get it over with, than to meet further in the competition!
It was a tough fought match.
Ty made some mistakes with his hand positions, and consequently, gave Cache a lot of points.
Cache was up point wise, but in the 3rd round, Ty pinned him and won the match!
Cache and Noelle were so awesome and supportive of Ty.
Cache was out after his next match, but they chose to stay for the rest of the night
to support and cheer on Ty.
That really touched me and meant a lot to Ty.
Cache gave Ty some pointers and cheered from the sidelines for his next matches!
Ty met his match of the season the very next round!
Ty wasn't sure what hit him!
That kid from South Davis was an amazing wrestler!
He ended up taking first in the District and rightfully so....
he pinned Ty in the first minute of their match!
Even Ty was very humble and impressed at that kid! Ha ha!
Losing that match meant Ty was now fighting for 3rd.
He would have to wrestle 2 more times, making the final match his 5th of the day!
His next match was vs. Centennial.
Ty got on the mat with that kid, shook hands and as soon as the ref blew his whistle,
the kid smacked Ty upside the head.
The look on Ty's face said "Game On!"
Ty tackled that kid and had him pinned within 30 seconds of the 2nd round!
They took up 2 of the mats and had just 2 going from then on.
Those fighting for 1st and 2nd were on one, and 3rd and 4th were on the other.
They lined up the kids, who were competing for a placement,
on the sides of the mats and called out their names
one by one to honor them before their final match.
Ty's last match was vs. a kid from Centennial.
Ty was exhausted.
He put up a good fight and did all of the work in the match,
but made a mistake and the kid pinned him towards the end of the 3rd round.
Ty took 4th place at District!
(Coach Jake Penrod, Caden, Grant, Ty, Coach Penrod)
Coach Penrod was so supportive and complimentary of Ty.
Such a great Coach!
Driving home that night, Ty said "Coach Penrod is the kind of Coach
I want to do everything right for.....I never want to disappoint him!"
That speaks volumes to us about the kind of coach he has been for Ty.
We are grateful!
There was a videographer who followed our team around the entire season,
documenting the matches and interviewing the kids after.
He is going to sell his documentary to Netflix and will be inviting our wrestlers
to a private viewing of the documentary before hand this fall.
Trav got talking to the guy and he said he was planning on using
Ty and his story a lot in the documentary.
He loved that Ty had never wrestled a day in his life,
and after only 3 weeks of wrestling he took 3rd in North End
and 4th in District!
That will be so awesome if that all comes to life!
He was extremely complimentary and supportive of Ty as well.
We are so incredibly proud of Ty.
He has so much heart and fought as hard as he could to be the best wrestler he could
be in such a short amount of time!
3 weeks ago, we laughed a little at this sport!
Today, we respect it!
It's amazing the strength and determination these kids all have.
I'm so grateful for the incredible support Ty received from coaches, teammates and friends.
They cheered him on and helped him excel like he did.
A huge thanks to Coach Penrod for believing in Ty!
Congratulations Ty!
We love you So much!
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