S7s: Closing January

1) Last week was a sort of Winter Break for students of Henderson County Public Schools. They were out Monday-Wednesday. I went into work each day and was somewhat productive. Much of my time revolved around getting our wrestling match scheduled. On Thursday, we had a two hour delay. Friday was a regular schedule. It was sort of weird and difficult, since this was the first full day with my second semester students.

Speaking of which: so far, so good. Really nice group of kids. Also, smaller class numbers than last semester, which makes for slightly easier management and more opportunities to collaborate and do discussions. I am really looking forward to this group, though I'll apologize in advance for February. Hosting the Regional Wrestling and then going to the State tournament means I don't get to be in the classroom and miss out on some instruction.

2) The snow made me miss Pompey. The Mazda doesn't have the clearance of the Nissan (not that the Maxima had that much more clearance). Backed into a snow bank, which turned out to be an ice bank. Small paint scratch beneath the rear bumper. I also liked having manual transmission in the snow and ice. Really, the car handled fine in the snow.

3) 62 people are valued as much as 3.6 billion.

The wealthiest 62 people worth more than the poorest half of the world. I know the right screams of the dangers of socialism, but the widening wage gap, struggles of the middle class and the cost of health care worry me more than the dangers of socialism. I'm not advocating that the United States go welfare state in the European model, but I'll go on record that the system is broken. Costs have risen while wages have been stagnant, making the American dream difficult to achieve. Not impossible, but exceptional. And if you get to a safe place financially, you're one major injury or cancer diagnosis from having to declare bankruptcy. In the meantime, the profits and net value of the wealthiest individuals and corporations have skyrocketed comparatively. Middle class income has barely changed in the last two decades. It's a gamed system that is rigged to benefit the top of society and make it difficult for the everyone else.

4) Photo of the week, I still need to go to Iceland:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA-RXa4AKPy/

5) While I hate that someone died, I'm hoping that the standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is coming to an end. I biked through Burns, Oregon when I went coast to coast in 2010. I had fond memories there. I stayed at a hotel to get out of the sun and ate at the Meat Hook. Ran into Charlie, who ended up rescuing a lost sock monkey a few days later. 

These guys who led the occupation are not patriots. They claim to love America but then disregard the laws and authority. Anyone else would be labeled threats or terrorists, but we let these guys persist because there are so many like them. Their interest is self serving and not community or national. They were never welcomed by the community they were holding siege. If change is what they wanted to invoke, what a pathetic effort they gave. In the end, nothing changed, they looked foolish and one person is unnecessarily dead.

6) Best Meme of the Week:

That said, tomorrow will be interesting and fun to watch as Iowa kicks of primary season. My prediction is that the Republican winner in Iowa, whoever it is, does not win the nomination. I think Clinton wins in Iowa with Sanders putting up a good fight.

7) So, we were not able to practice on Monday or Tuesday. That's after having to cancel practice Friday. We wrestled our last match against Tuscola on Wednesday. The match was supposed to be at Tuscola, but we moved it to Brevard. Brevard had matches against Tuscola and East Henderson left. We were able to get the win and finish and undefeated conference season. 7-0 and Conference Champions!

We carried that momentum into Saturday. We took 10 kids into the finals and had 7 champions. We also had two third place wrestlers, a fourth and a sixth. We were able to win the tournament, the first sweep of the conference and the tournament for us since 2001. We've won the tournament a few times but finished 2nd in the regular season. But I'm really proud of an great group of guys. They work hard, are good students and care for one another. 

We wrestle Tuesday in the first round of the Dual Team Playoffs. 

The Regionals

The Regional Wrestling tournament is one of the most exciting and heartbreaking events for me each year. The top 4 individuals in each weight class advance to the state tournament the next week. For the rest of the wrestlers, their season is over. For some, it's the end of their careers.

This year, we had 3 wrestlers advance to the State Tournament. I'm very excited for them, especially since they all have legitimate shots at placing in Greensboro. But I am deeply saddened for my non-qualifiers. I had 4 seniors fall short. Two of them were eliminated in the last round, the consolation semifinals. Win in that round and you're in the top 4.

You know, I like to win. I like to win a lot. But this job is special because of the relationships I build with these guys. Putting my arm around these guys to console them is the hardest thing I do in coaching.

Sure, it's just a match but you haven't met Ley Kicklighter. Ley was the worse athlete we had four years ago. Soft, uncoordinated, and not strong. But he connected with wrestling and each year got a little better. This year, he was solid. Not great, but solid. A kid who I wasn't sure could fight out of a wet paper bag when he was a freshman was about 2 seconds away from qualifying for state. Oh if only he could have held that cradle...

Or Robert Sprude. He left us for a year to attend the NC School for Science and Math. Then he got kicked out for academics. We have a phrase, "Sprude Rule", that means if a coach says it you must stop talking because Robert talks so much. Robert is cerebral and awkward as a wrestler. But he finds ways to win. He will never intimate you with his looks. He is actually the goofiest looking kid, not athletic but rather dorky. He was two points away from qualifying.

These guys are the reasons I coach and the reason, over 24 hours later, my heart is still broken. Brant Harris and Duncan Wilkie were two wins from making it. Their four years were not in vain because I believe wrestling teaches great lessons for young men. They've matured, been challenged and overcome obstacles. They've been a family. They'll be fine. I know it. But it still doesn't make it any easier for their coach to see them leave.

State Track

Track season concluded this past weekend. Wow, what a year it has been. The Knights were very young and we kept getting better as the season progressed. We took 5 to the state track meet in Greensboro. Catie finished 6th in the state in the 800, running a season best. The 4x800 team of Mathis, Hill, Traister and Cutshaw finished 10th and ran their best time of the season. Great stuff.

One fun tradition that we have is that the girls dress up in a theme the night before. I am never allowed to know what they are doing. In the past, it's been Western, hip-hop, injured athlete. This year: Secret Agents:

North Knight Wrestling

Well, wrestling season ended this past weekend. We went to Greensboro with 4 wrestlers and one of our goals was to have four state placers. We finished with only one: Enrique Vera finished 3rd at 135 pounds. The other guys had their opportunities. Hopefully they will learn and use it for motivation to get better.

Congratulations to Enrique for finishing his career in a strong manner and fighting back after a disappointing 1 point loss in the quarterfinals. A lesser person might have quit there. Enrique fought through and won 4 tough matches to capture the consolation championship.

Enrique (second from left) on the podium

Knights coaches and wrestlers

Wrestling Updates

North Henderson Wrestling has a new website:

North Henderson Wrestling

Check it out. Become a member and stay updated with information about the team. Check back occasionally and see what we've been up to.

So far, season has been challenging. We are trying to break in some new guys while still getting the most out of our veterans. We started off our dual season with two losses by a total of 8 points. Then we won our next two matches, outscoring our opponents 149-3 to bring our record to 2-2. In the quad match we hosted on Thursday, we went 3-0 against pretty good TC Roberson and Polk County teams to climb to 5-2.

Other events include:

Reading at Edneyville Elementary-





Rachel Willingham/Cancer Awareness Night on Thursday. We donated $1.00 from every ticket sold to help Rachel. Also made cool "Fight Like a Knight" shirt (a play off "Fight Like a Girl") that we wore and sold to the student body.

Here's the Times-News article: Knights get three wins on Willingham Night

And here is the video Dean Hensley, sports reporter for the Times-News, made of the evening (I get interviewed halfway through):

We are Knight's Wrestling

I noticed that my last blog update was on November 9. Not that I have a huge cadre of followers, but I want to keep updating my blog so that people check every once and a while. But I do not want to blog so much that it bores people. It's quite a delicate balancing act that I have been neglecting recently.

Why?
I attribute it to the "Hole".

The "Hole" is wrestling season. If it sounds like I abhor wrestling season, that could not be further from the truth. I adore the opportunity I get to coach and be a part of a special sport and the role I play in lives of a couple dozen young men each year. I don't know how to do it right without committing lots of time and energy. College and Pro football coaches are notorious for coming into the office at 4:00 in the morning or just sleeping at their facilities because that is how hard they prepare for the next game. I feel like I do that on a smaller scale. My friends all know that I sort of fall off the face of the earth during wrestling. That's the "Hole".

As of now, we are carrying 30 wrestlers on our roster. It's a mixed bunch consisting of diverse backgrounds, talents and abilities. As a group, I really like my team. My assistant, John Williams, and I had, over the course of the last 8 months, monthly dinner meetings with our five rising seniors to build relationships and better model leadership. The hope is that they will responsibly assume leadership roles within the team.Our roster is quite different from the last few years. We lost a few returning starters to various things (academics, choices, NC School of Science and Math) but still have a strong nucleus. Our success will depend a lot on whether our young guys take to the coaching and how quickly they mature as wrestlers.

So far the season is off to a great start. We placed 6th at the Old Appalachian Invitational in Boone and finished 3rd yesterday at our own North Knight Invitational. We've been working hard to get them in shape and teaching technique. We've still got a long way to go, but we are getting tougher, better and closer as a team. We are Knights Wrestling!

Go Catie!

North Henderson High School has it's newest State Champion. Coming off a 5th place finish as a freshman last year and a 3rd place finish in the 800 at the state track meet, sophomore Catie Byrd ran 19:43.74 at Tanglewood to barely edge out Zatha Loewen from Topsail.

Here's the article:
North Henderson's Catie Byrd wins 2-A state title

Observations and Reflections

School has started. Great first week. I think I am going to have great classes (again!). Here's how I know I've been teaching for a very long time:

I have my 4th Diaz sibling (there's like 9 of them).
I have my 4th Vera sibling (out of 4).
I have my 3rd (and last) Harris brother.
I am also teaching another Anders, Campbell, Dalton, Kampfen, Maciejewski, Sims, and Yoo.

And dear Jessica is taking my class for the 3rd time. She also took it at least once, maybe twice, with other World History teachers.

North football is 2-0 for the first time since 2003. Volleyball is 5-0. Soccer is 4-1, I think. Catie Byrd won the Invite Race at the WNC Cross Country Carnival, with a time of 20:41.06 on a course that's tough to run fast on (though 3 girls did break 19:10 in the Championship Race and 3 boys went under 16:00).

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"We should be ministers of righteousness, ministers of hope,
ministers of something other than condemnation."

Josiah Bancroft, from his sermon this morning at Grace.
Sermon topic: relationships.

------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm at church this morning, just doing my thing and I look down and see:




Does the above picture mean:

A) Heang needs to separate his Salomons.
B) Heang has too many Salomons.
C) Heang should wake up earlier so he does not have to rush to church.
D) Heang is quite the trendsetter.

Have a great week, friends. Be sure to check your feet before you head out the door...

Sunday Observations - Feb 22

- Wrestling Season is over. It's always bittersweet. Relieved to have the grind of the season over, but sad because I do love coaching and l miss the fellowship with the boys.

- We fell short of some of our goals. No state placers. The kid with the best shot lost two tough ones: 2-0 to the eventual state champ and a 5-4 decision to the kid who takes 3rd. We were close.

- I see God in the most random places and times. When I least expect it, He is there.

- I would recommend the Marriott Courtyard University in Winston-Salem. Nice place to stay and friendly staff.

- My dilemma of the week: I alternate between wanting to live in a city for access to culture and arts, people and diversity. Other times, I want to move to rural Oregon, SW Colorado, Montana, Nova Scotia or somewhere in British Columbia and be totally isolated among great scenery. This week, I flipped flopped about 20 times in 2 days.

Crush of the Week:
When I think of high school wrestling in North Carolina over the last 15 years, the programs that jump out for sustained success are in the order: Cary, Orange, Morehead, Alleghany and Ragsdale.

Bobby Shriner, the head coach at Orange High School is someone I consider a coaching mentor and friend. His team won both the Dual Team and Individual State tournaments this year and won with dominance and class. He coaches winners. He coaches champions.
Coach Shriner, besides being a great coach is just a great man. Unless we end up at the same camp, I really only see him twice a year (at the State Tournament in Feb and the Coaching Clinic in July). When I do see him, I always get a warm hug and positive encouragement. When I was at Elon and doing a practicum, he allowed me into his wrestling room to watch. When I was seeking coaching advice early in my career, he let me into his office and chatted with me one day. Some teams that dominate develop a reputation of arrogance and others like to pull against them. Orange is one of those exceptions. People just like Orange. People like Bobby Shriner.

Sunday Observations - Feb 15

- My last week was consumed with the Regional Wrestling Tournament at North Henderson. We ran a pretty good tournament and debuted our new mat lamp. The Knight finished tied for 4th and qualified 4 wrestlers to the 1A-2A State Tournament in Winston-Salem. Here are some links:

WLOS Video
Hendersonville News Video
Hendersonville News Article 1
Hendersonville News Article 2
Citizen-Times Article

- Here's a great picture from the tournament that the Citizen-Times took.

Wrestlers are warriors, but they often display some of the greatest class. Seth Stewart from Owen was the heavy favorite, losing only once this season to an out of state wrestler. Brevard's Trey Hemphill is a good wrestler, who barely placed at the conference tournament but fought his way into the finals at the Regionals. Stewart took the early lead and almost had Hemphill pinned before Trey miraculously turned Stewart onto his back and pinned him. The two shared this long embrace after shaking hands. Classy. Nice.

- And it shows how cool our mat looks under the lights.

- If you want to know how busy I have been: These are the times I LEFT the school this week:
Monday- 7:00PM; Tuesday (we were hanging the mat lamp) - 11:00PM; Wednesday (seeding meeting) - 9:00PM; Thursday (pre-tournament) -10:00PM; Friday (Regionals- Day 1) - 11:00PM; Saturday (Regionals- Day 2) - 11:30PM.

- Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the State of Oregon. Hooray for the Beaver State.

- I went snowtubing with the Grace Youth today. It looked like this:

Crush of the Week:
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue arrived in the mail sometime this week. I haven't even looked at it. Seriously. It's still sitting on the kitchen table among some unopened mail and unread issues of Time, Sports Illustrated, Bike and a few catalogues. This week's crush my favorite SI Swimsuit model, Stacey Williams. Stacey was featured in Sports Illustrated from 1991-1998.

Sunday Observations - Feb 8

- Knights wrestling lost in first round of dual team playoffs. That completed our dual season. Now individual regionals and state.

- I stayed home on Wednesday for our snow day. I always go in because I have to try to sort practice and schedules for wrestling and I have stuff to do. Well, I was planning on giving the guys Wednesday off since we lost on Tuesday and don't compete again for another 10 days. Also, I stayed late on Monday and caught up on my grading. So, I had no reason to go in on an optional workday. Nice!

- Everything regarding a bailout scares me. If there are holes in my backyard, that's just where I buried my money in mason jars. Doh! I wasn't supposed to tell anybody...

- Nice weekend. No wrestling tournament and mid 60s. I actually pulled the motorcycle out of the basement and rode Saturday and Sunday. And played frisbee today. It was marvelous. Rode up 276 because I wanted to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway past Graveyard Fields and Devil's Courthouse and back through Balsam Grove. Alas, they had closed the Parkway, but beautiful ride through the Pisgah National Forest still.


Crush of the Week:
As a Track and Field coach, I have learned to appreciate the art that is the sport. Watching a perfectly excuted handoff in the 4x100, a smooth glide in the shot or the proper approach, plant and takeoff in the high jump is thrilling in the same way as seeing a Matisse, Degas or Dali. You just know it's special.

The events I love watching the most are, ironically, events I did not participate in: the 4x400 and Pole Vault. The 4x400 is the last event in a typical meet and, to me, the most exciting. The Pole Vault is fun because it is such a technical event and so difficult to do. It takes a lot of practice. In many things, athleticism will carry you and you can get by with flawed technique. In the pole vault, flawed technique hurts.
This week's crush is Jen Stuczynski, the 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist who this past week at the Millrose Games in Boston, set the new American record in Women's Pole Vault at 15' 9 3/4". Go ahead and try it. Take a fiberglass pole, and 7 stride approach at full speed, plant into a 60cm wide, 20cm deep hole in the ground and get the pole to bend and trust it to sling you safely 15 feet into the air. It's hard, which is why my vaulters cannot practice without a coach present.

Sunday Observations - Dec 7

1. Today is Pearl Harbor Day. Kinda overshadowed with the economy, Christmas season and various other distractions, but please don't forget what happened 67 years ago today.

2. Knights Wrestling had a tough week. Took a beating at Madison (46-27) and didn't meet expectations at Falcon Frenzy. After some early success, maybe the rough week was what we needed.

3. With OJ Simpson now going to jail, does that mean he will "go away"? If I had gone through what he went through with the murder trial, I would have avoided the spotlight.

4. Why do musicians feel like it's okay to hijack Christmas music? I was driving to church and there was this version of "Joy to the World" that I just abhorred. It's like they think, "Oh, I have no more creative energy, let me ruin this great hymn." I bet everyone can think of examples of otherwise good Christmas songs ruined by some artist looking for a paycheck.

However, one of my favorites is Barenaked Ladies and Sarah MacLachlan's version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings".


5) Please don't bailout the Detroit Big Three. I know that an estimated 3 million jobs lost if Detroit fails, but I believe that bailing out inefficient and bloated corporations is not the answer. The minimum 15 billion that the GM, Chrysler and Ford are asking for can be better used to help the people displaced by jobs lost if the industry shutters rather than assist companies that have thumbed their noses at fuel efficiency, ignored the futures market and offers too many okay and good cars but not enough great cars.

6) I haven't done any Christmas shopping. I resolve not to. I am going to sit at the computer and bring everything to my house.

7) I am at the age where the Holidays have changed for me. I don't look forward to presents. Matter of fact, I would be fine if I didn't receive any; I am blessed beyond what I deserve already. I do look forward to the Holidays and not just for the break from school (as the wrestling coach, I don't really get much of one anyway). But I do get to see friends who, though close in heart, are not close in proximity. I am looking forward to visiting with Emily, Paul, Ryan, Jeff, Karen and the rest of my friends from out of town. See you soon guys!

Crush of the Week:
I read a nice article by ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski on Greg Maddux's retirement. I barely remember this week's announcement of one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history. Granted, I am not much of a baseball fan anymore, but I am a SPORTS fan. When one of the all-time greats leaves a sport, it's a big deal. And there was barely a commotion when Maddux retired outside of a small press release. Maddux wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

He wasn't built like a tank, he was dorky and skinny. Despite 355 wins (8th all-time), 10th on the career strikeout list, 4 Cy Young awards as the best pitcher and a record 18 Gold Gloves for fielding, Maddux never quite got the press of Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez or even his teammates in Atlanta, John Smoltz or Tom Glavine. And he was okay with it. This SI cover was printed 13 years ago (in 1995) and the article by the great Tom Verducci basically is a preview for the retirement commentary by Wojciechowski. Maddux hasn't changed, he's still unassuming, job oriented, blue collar.
In an age of "LOOK AT ME", Maddux is a refreshing change of pace. There will be no one else like him who can pitch, field, hit garner all sorts of awards and go around unnoticed. Greg Maddux: one of my favorite baseball players of all time (with Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken, Jr) and this week's crush.

Sunday Observations - Nov 22

1) Wrestling season kicked off for the Knights. We travelled to Boone for the Old Appalachian Invitational at Watauga High School. Knights finished 15th, but I was really proud of the effort by my young kids. We were missing a few key individuals, so when we get to full strength, I'll be really excited.


2) Did anyone see Georgia Tech annihilate Miami on Thursday night? What an amazing display of offense. Over 500 yards total offense and we only passed 7 times! Jonathan Dwyer (#21 below, on his 58 yard TD run) ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on only one half of play. 9 Jackets had carries, the top 4 were Dwyer, QB Josh Nesbitt (93 yds), RB Roddy Jones (97) and RB Lucas Cox (78). Even the backup QB had 45 yards rushing.
The only way we can get to the ACC Championship game is for Virginia to lose (thanks Clemson), North Carolina to lose (I love NC State!) and Virginia Tech to lose (come on, Duke). Needless to say, I'll be cheering for the Cavaliers against the Hokies on Saturday.

3) Today was the 2nd Annual Turkey Bowl. The frisbee crew that I play with gets together and plays flag football right before Thanksgiving. It was good times. The final score was 44-44. Really, it ended in a tie! Good times! Jennifer Pharr Davis, to go with her Person of the Year Award, was also selected Turkey Bowl MVP and gets to keep the sweet trophy until next year.


4) One of the most overlooked parts of football is the extra point/field goal. In the Turkey Bowl, we kicked PATs with no rush and made less than half the attempts. The idea of kicking the football through the uprights with the game on the line has new meaning and respect. The snap, catch, hold and kick have to be perfect... all with 11 very large and angry guys trying to block it. Next time you see that in a football game, have respect. It's hard.

Crush of the Week: Josh Nesbitt, QB Georgia Tech. Dwyer ran for all the yards and he's the best running back in the ACC, but Nesbitt is the catalyst that makes the triple option work. And he's a warrior. The guy always falls forward when he gets hit, plays injured and displays a tremendous amount of heart. He just guts and wills his way to yards. His legs defeated Boston College and almost beat Virginia Tech. Look up warrior in the dictionary and there's a picture of Nesbitt.

Boot Camp 2008

Wrestling season has begun.

The North Henderson Knights come into the season as a young group with high expectations. Yesterday was our 2nd Annual North Henderson Wrestling Boot Camp at Camp Arrowhead in Tuxedo. Thank you, Jeremy, Matt and Jeff for having us out there and allowing us to us you facilities. Here are some photos from yesterday's team building activity.

More photos at: flickr

North Henderson Senior Athletic Awards

149/366 - 29 May [Senior Awards]
Originally uploaded by heanguy

Tonight I got to present two special awards during our annual recognition of Senior Athletes. These were special presentations because these two kids are so extremely special to me. It's crazy to think that just a few years ago, they were freshmen in my World History class and on my wrestling and track teams. Now they are adults, ready to head off to Campbell (Luke) and Western Carolina (Fe).

Luke received the Knight Courage Award. Two years ago, Luke had surgery to fuse vertebrae in his lower back. Contact sports were out. Unfortunately, Luke loved wrestling. He made it his goal to return. Defying doctor's expectations, parental concern and coach's better judgement; Luke returned to wrestling his senior year. Despite a lot of pain, Luke was an amazing leader and earned All-Conference honors. He got the Courage Award because he faced adversity and overcame it. He did things that no one thought he should do and did them courageously in the face of difficulty.

Fe was the Most Valuable Senior Athlete for females. 2 State Championships, 5 school records, great student, wonderful person to coach and I could go on and on. For more on Fe, there is another post on her further down. She's just phenomenal!

These two are truly like my own children. I will miss their presence and leadership; but I have been proud to be a part of their maturing and growth over the past four years.