Story from the KC Stampede

We just got back Sunday night from the KC Stampede tournament. I was sitting in the stands on Saturday and saw some of our guys talking to this big guy along the fence. He was dressed in silver and blue so at first I thought he might be a St Louis Ram player but we were too far from St Louis for that. The guys he was talking to were Alabama fans so I thought it might be a former Alabama player that was in KC for some reason. It turns out the kid was 6'-7" 280lb FRESHMAN in HS from some school in OK. Needless to say he won the Heavy Weight title and I expect he will be the third ever 4 time Stampede champion if his team decided to return for the next 3 years. They crowned the second only 4 time Stampede champ on Saturday, I think it was Freddy Stroker from Bettendorf, IA. It was a heck of a tournament. 40 teams from 12 states, 28 of the teams finished in top 4 in their state last year. 150 returning state medalist and several Fargo All Americans. The coolest thing is they wrestle back to 32nd place so you get a ton of matches. Archer, GA won it for the second year in a row. Teams from Georgia have won it 3 out of 9 years so I guess Southern wrestling can stack up with the Midwest pretty well. Thompson finished 14th, better than last year and the second highest ranked Southern team. Baylor, TN was 18th, Jesuit, LA was 26th and Collins Hill, GA was 31st. Off to Nashville tomorrow for a Quad Match at Father Ryan. Merry Christmas!