Michele Weldon | July 5, 2011
See for yourself in this video why being on this team with this coach is an extraordinary experience for the young men on the team, including all three of my sons. Coach Powell talks about the coaches, the Oak Park-River Forest High School Huskies wrestling team, recent 2010 grad Charlie Johnson, and how any man can be extraordinary. Listen to senior Brian Toldeo talk about how wrestling changed his life. Watch Chris Ellis embrace Coach Powell. And maybe you can understand why it is about much more than wrestling.
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Michele Weldon | June 12, 2011
It’s Saturday night and I have the rare opportunity to do whatever I want. My three sons are all young adults and elsewhere at this point in their lives. You might think I’d pull out that romance novel I’ve been looking forward to (yes, I know they are trashy, but I love them) or put on a chick flick I haven’t been able to watch.
But no, I have a better guilty pleasure in mind, wrestling.
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Michele Weldon | April 12, 2011
It’s all fine and dandy and true-feeling from the bad coaches and kids who are horrible in practice to the skinny kid, Stemler, who is terrified of wrestling, to the entire team on the bus en route to their own pinning crucifixions. We also loved the brief scene with all the wrestlers piling up the stairs and out of the Flaherty basement in a blur of muscular adolescence. And Kyle’s tatoos. A lot of wrestlers have tattoos.
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Michele Weldon | February 6, 2011
You would think that good sportsmanship is a given, that as parents we are old enough to know better than to boo a young wrestler, a coach or a team. We want to teach our kids to be respectful, play fair, respect the referees and the opponents. After all, every match begins with a handshake between the opponents. And it is supposed to end with a handshake to the opposing team’s coach. It doesn’t always work the way it should. So here are 10 Commandments for Wrestling Moms (and Dads) to help you be a better fan.
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Michele Weldon | April 15, 2010
Brock Friesen graduates in June after four years on the OPRFHS wrestling team. He talks about learning from a coach –Mike Powell– who is more than just talk.
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Michele Weldon | January 12, 2010
He’s proud of his wrestling career in high school and briefly in college. He’s also proud of the “ear” he earned. Weldon Rogers talks about Coach Powell and his own transformation as an athlete and a young man. Now a college junior, Weldon claims he went from being “garbage” as a youth wrestler to placing fourth in Illinois in 2007 at the IHSA Class AA individual state tournament for 140 pounds.
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