Now that a little time has passed since the last victor’s hand was raised in the last match of the last tournament of the season, let us take a moment to review this remarkable year.
If last year‘s 3-2 conference record represented a return to respectability from the 2016-17 season’s 1-4 ‘doormat’ performance, this year’s 4-1 record signified an ascent reminiscent of the glory years, when ASIJ was consistently competing for conference and Far East championships. The Kanto Plain conference heavyweights since the turn of the decade have been Kinnick and St. Mary’s. Last year ASIJ Mustangs got bullied against the two powerhouses, winning just 8 of 39 total contests across three dual meets. Only one weight class, 215, went undefeated in the three dual meets, and Noah graduated in 2018. On the other hand, 8 weight classes went 0-3, with a 9th, heavyweight, only missing the 3rd loss because St. Mary’s didn’t have one either. It’s technically possible to win a dual meet while losing 8 matches, but not if any of the losses are forfeits, pins, or tech falls, and not without 5 pins or forfeits on the other side of the ledger. Short version: ASIJ was not close to winning against the big boys, and the outlook was not good, as the only 3-0 performer was lost to graduation. The wins for the Mustangs in conference last season included show-up-and-you-win contests against former fellow doormat Zama and a mini-CAJ team decimated by graduation. The dual meet against Yokota saw the Mustangs give up 5 forfeits (25 points) before winning 7 of 8 to eke out a 32-29 win. With that better-but-not-yet-great backdrop from a year ago, let’s take a look at how this season played out. In dual meets against conference foes Zama, CAJ, and Yokota, the Mustangs racked up an unbelievable 226 team points while only allowing an equally unbelievable 19 team points en route to a 4-0 record against them. You’d be hard-pressed to win a single dual meet scoring 19 points, let alone spreading those across 4 contests. Winning the expected ones, however, was not the defining moment of the season. ASIJ went toe-to-toe with Kinnick and St. Mary’s, compiling a combined 2-2 record against the most challenging competitors in the conference. In those four contests, ASIJ went 26-23 in individual matches leading to a combined team score of 117-105. Both of the losses were slim margins where an upset avoided or some other ‘what-if’ would have changed the L to a W. Victories over the two dominant teams in the most dominant conference in the Far East were complemented by near-victory team finishes in the Kanto Plain and Far East tournaments. In many cases where ASIJ did not take 1st in a weight class, the Mustang beat their nemesis at some other point in the season; and the Far East top three teams were all literally one match away from winning it all. To repeat, ASIJ was one match away from being crowned the top team in the entire Far East for the first time since 1995! What made this season so incredibly successful? There is no question that the work put in during the off-season and all the push-ups, running, and drilling during the season was the proximate cause. As for the root cause, there are two main drivers. First, returning wrestlers – good, medium, and bad – all got better. For example, Rin, who lost a team-low 3 times last year, was untouchable this year: in his 22 wins (against no losses) none of his opponents could score within 10 points of the team MVP. Zenon, a 10-8 wrestler last year, won 31 times (including nine exhibition wins against mostly varsity opponents) versus only one loss, a 2-2 tie decided by criteria (my opinion: have overtime until someone wins…but them‘s the rules) in his 7th(!) match against the #2 wrestler in the weight class who was otherwise undefeated. Dani, who went a fairly standard 3-14 in his first year as a wrestler last year, improved to 10-8, was undefeated in conference, and tied for fifth on the Most Pins list. There are several other examples, but I think these suffice to illustrate the point: the returning wrestlers got better. Besides the impressive increase in quality of the returning wrestlers, there was also an important influx of new blood that made up for losses due to graduation, moves, etc. over the summer. Remember that this is a sport with 13 weight classes. 11(!) Mustangs who were not on the team last year contributed at least one varsity win. That contribution cannot be overstated. There were several holes in last year's lineup. Filling in those holes turned formerly close wins into blowouts and formerly hopeless battles into winnable contests. More Mustangs at tournaments meant more wins that put rival wrestlers out and put ASIJ on the winners podium. These wrestlers won a lot of hardware. Counting individual medals and team wins is easily quantifiable. On the other hand, the boost they provided to the rest of the team, for example during practice (do you think Dani’s record would have improved that much without Masa to go against every day?), provided a less quantifiable but incredibly valuable injection to the team that is impossible to overlook. More and better, that was the secret to ASIJ’s success this year. The commitment and contribution of the coaches, managers, parents, boosters, and each individual wrestler made this the best season ASIJ has seen in their lifetime. To have been part of something so amazing is an experience that can be a well of strength and confidence that both departing and returning mustangs will be able to draw on next season and for the rest of their lives.
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Brian Kelley, Director of Activities & Athletics, emceed the Recognition Assembly in the ASIJ theater filled with winter sports athletes and parents who had taken time off from work and other commitments to cheer on their children. After introducing award winners in basketball, cheer, field hockey, soccer, and swimming, he gave an extended introduction for wrestling. In his extemporaneous commentary on the wrestling team's success this year he said, "This is the best season in the eight years I've been here."
Award winners for the 2018-19 season are as follows: Most Valuable Player: Rin -- 22-0 varsity, 26-0 overall; Far East & Kanto Champ, 1st in Takedown & CAJ tournaments; never been pinned; most tech fall wins - 18, fewest points allowed - 0.7 per match; Far East & Kanto Most Outstanding Wrestler Most Improved: Kieran -- last year 7-10, this year 12-5 overall; last year was 6th at Far East, this year was Runner-Up at Kanto, CAJ, & Takedown tournaments + 6th at Far East despite injury forfeit in last three matches; team captain Sportsmanship: Ira -- can't show this with numbers, but goes without saying if you've ever been around him or seen him interacting with other wrestlers; top five in record 16-6, pins - 8, and takedowns - 43 Coach's Award: Zenon -- Coach Carlson: This is a combination of all three awards; 22-1 varsity, 31-1 overall (10-8 last year); 35-match winning streak; never been pinned; most takedowns - 60, top five pins - 7; Far East & Kanto Champ, 1st in Takedown & CAJ tournaments; team captain JV MVP: Shawn -- no prior experience; 7-3 JV, 7-5 overall; never been pinned; most pins - 5, top five takedowns - 11; sought out opportunities to wrestle [CAJ & Yokota], most matches [tie w/Luke] - 12 JV Most Improved: Reuben -- no prior experience; won wrestle-off and 2 subsequent varsity matches in addition to 2 JV wins; never been pinned; scored more back exposures than allowed JV Sportsmanship: Leila -- natural leader of the underclassmen; attended matches and tournaments to support team even when injured, sick, not wrestling; 6-3 JV, 6-5 overall; most takedowns [tie w/Josh] - 14, top five pins - 3; sought out opportunities to wrestle [CAJ & Zama], 2nd most matches [tie w/Josh] - 11 ASIJ competed against the Humphreys Blackhawks in the 3rd place match of the Division I dual meet tournament in front of a raucous crowd with many parents and supporters to round out the third and final day of the Far East Wrestling Tournament at Kinnick on Saturday.
ASIJ and Humphreys battled back and forth with ASIJ falling into an early 4-0 hole before pulling ahead 14-4. The Blackhawks clawed back to tie it at 14-14, the Mustangs scored 9 straight, then allowed 5 for a very close 23-19 lead, with a 5-point forfeit at heavyweight looming for the Korean team. The remaining three contested matches saw all the Mustangs end their seasons on a high note as ASIJ swept them to take the win 35-24. The awards ceremony highlighted the razor-thin margin between the top 3 teams in the individual tournament: Kubasaki, SMIS, and ASIJ. St. Mary's reversed the order for the dual meet tournament, but the top three remained the same: SMIS, Kubasaki, ASIJ. Edgren took the D-II individual and team crowns, as Yokota just missed out on a 4-peat. The quickest pin went to a kid from Kubasaki with an unbelievable 0:09. Steve Schrock was the Kadena coach for a long time. He started the wrestling program there, brought the team to respectability, and was well liked by all. The Team Sportsmanship award is named after him. The coaches from each school vote on the team they believe best exemplifies the principles espoused by the award's namesake. They voted for (drum roll, please)...The American School in Japan! That was not a surprise to anyone who knows the team, but it's nice to see all the other schools in the Far East recognize their individual grace in victory and defeat, their friendly and magnanimous interaction with fellow competitors, and their humble and grateful attitude towards other coaches and tournament staff. The good name these wrestlers give the school is in keeping with the values of the team and school's current leadership and the legacy left by their forebears. The most outstanding wrestler in the Far East didn't go to Kojiro VanHoose (3-time Far East Champion from Osan) or Marshall China (2-time Far East Champ from MC Perry), both of whom were in consideration over all the other excellent performances from several other Far East Champions who had also dominated their competition at the tournament and gone undefeated throughout the season. The most outstanding wrestler at this year's Far East, as voted on by the 14 head coaches, is from ASIJ: Rin Zoot! - 2 Champions and 3 runner-up Mustangs complimented by 3 taking 4th and 2 finishing 6th - 3rd place individual freestyle team - 3rd place D-1 dual meet team - Most Outstanding Wrestler: Rin Zoot - Steve Schrock Team Sportsmanship Award That's a lot of hardware! This is an amazing team!! The contributions from each wrestler (at each weight class - including JV - and coaches, managers, parents, and school officials) were invaluable in creating this tremendous success. - 10 Mustangs earned points for ASIJ by placing 6th or higher--10!!!
- ASIJ placed 3rd/14 teams; was neck and neck with #1 Kubasaki and #2 St. Mary's throughout the day; a whisker away from winning it all - Dual meet tournament: -- beat Kadena like a drum -- almost beat St. Mary's twice in one season - Firsts of the season: -- Michiru and Rin took their first forfeit victory (Take, Egan, and Kieran have yet to win by walkover) -- Zenon took his first loss (2-2 decision) after an otherworldly streak of 35 straight wins, going back to last season -- Take beat his St. Mary's nemesis (and newly crowned Far East champ) for the first time in six meetings - Fastest pins so far (wish we could've wrestled against Yokota in a dual meet...): 0:22 - Michiru over Yokota 0:25 - Dani over Yokota 0:28 - Egan over Kadena Nine, I repeat NINE(!) ASIJ wrestlers made it to the semi-finals today including (in opposite weight order): Dani, Zenon, Kieran, Rin, Egan, Michiru, Ira, Take, and Katsumi.
Ricky pinned his first foe from Seoul American before falling by tech and 14-9 decision to St. Marys and Kadena, respectively. Masa was on the short end of a tech against Edgren and got upset by Zama in the consolation bracket. Kyle didn't make the semifinals but weaved his way through the consolation bracket to survive until Day 2 where he'll join Dani, Michiru, and Katsumi in the running for 3rd. Kieran beat a favorite in his weight class from St. Mary's with a huge, huge takedown to win the 6-6 match via criteria but was injured in the semifinal match against Edgren and is out for the rest of the tournament. Going for Far East Champ tomorrow are Zenon, Rin, Egan, Ira, and Take. Head of School Jim Hardin and High School Principal Jon Herzenberg oversaw the ASIJ Mustangs wrestling at the Kanto Finals On Tuesday. The tournament, representing the culmination of conference play, was rescheduled from Saturday and saw full participation from all six KPASS league teams (Zama had a scheduling error that would have prevented them from wrestling on Saturday).
ASIJ had Mustangs wrestling for 3rd or 1st in all 12 weight classes competed (no heavyweight), and came away with 3 champions, 4 silvers, 3 consolation bracket champions (3rds), and the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award. The plethora of placewinners led to a close 2nd place finish in the team standings, a whisker away from the team championship, too. Without going through the record books, this has to be the first time ASIJ has had this many competing for and reaching the winners podium since 1994. By virtue of his #1 seed in the 122 weight class, Ira had a bye his first round. His semifinal opponent from Zama withdrew as an injury forfeit (or maybe just didn't want to go against Ira again, having been pinned and tech'ed in his two previous bouts against the ASIJ star), putting Ira in the finals without lifting a finger. Yokota made it to the finals on the other side of the bracket. History nearly repeated itself as Ira, who had tech'ed Yokota in two prior meetings, went up 10-2 before pinning him in the first period to be the first Kanto Champion from ASIJ. Not to be outdone, Rin, wrestling up a weight at 158, took down and turned his Kinnick semifinal foe twice before throwing him for 4 more points to advance to the finals after a first round bye. Going against St. Mary's for first, Rin completely dominated the otherwise fearsome opponent, taking him down and turning him multiple times for an 11-0 win. Rin was also recognized by the conference coaches as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, the first ASIJ has produced in recent memory. Like the two juniors, senior Zenon was the #1 seed, having gone undefeated in the conference regular season. In the semifinals, he had a rematch against last week's Kinnick opponent. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse before eating him alive as Zenon took him down 4 times before finishing him off with another big move ending in a pin. The finals pitted him against St. Mary's. The fifth time was definitely not the charm for the challenger as Zenon traded takedowns and then scored 10 straight for the technical fall to become the third ASIJ Kanto Plain champion at 168. At 115 Take faced the #3 seed from CAJ in the semifinals after his first round bye. He got a nice throw and followed that up with multiple takedowns, the third leading to a pin and advancement to the finals. He met his nemesis from St. Mary's for the fourth time this season (winners keep meeting each other as they advance in tournaments). He wasn't able to solve him this time, either, as he got as close as 4-2 and 8-5 before getting taken down and turned multiple times to place second. One indicator that Egan is growing old is that he's slower than he used to be. As evidence, he took almost 3% longer to pin his first round opponent from Zama than in the regular season dual meet against him (36 seconds then...37 seconds this time) to move on to the semifinals. There he was in for a re-re-match against Kinnick. The first two had been decisions, but Egan took the rubber match in dominating fashion with an 11-0 tech fall that put him in the finals. Against another nemesis from St. Mary's he needed just a little more as he fell 11-8 for the second silver for ASIJ at 141. Also taking a first round bye was Kieran at 148. His semifinal opponent was another rematch from the Kinnick dual meet. Kieran got a really nice, big takedown for 4 points to start the scoring. He gave up a pushout for 1 and a takedown for 2, but nothing further to squeeze out the 4-3 victory to move to the finals. There he wrestled tough against a St. Mary's foe but he fell into a cow catcher that wrenched him over for a pin and the third 2nd for ASIJ. At 215 Dani also took a bye the first round and met Yokota in the semifinals. He made it look far easier than it's supposed to be, getting a takedown and pin in less than 20 seconds. In the finals it was yet another rematch against Kinnick. This time the foe would only allow one takedown as he reversed the regular season result for a pin, with the good guys placing 2nd for the fourth time in the tournament. Kyle started with a bye at 101 and then went against his nemesis from St. Mary's in the semifinals. It looked good for a while, but ended with a tech fall and ASIJ moving to the consolation bracket. The other 101 wrestlers (who he would have likely beaten anyway) turned into byes, giving Kyle the easy path to ASIJ's first 3rd place finish. Katsumi took a bye only to face last year's Far East champ from Yokota in the semifinals. He scored multiple times but eventually got caught in a pin move that sent him to the consolation bracket. Going against Kinnick for the consolation championship, he took a nice shot that led to a massive takedown that led to a pin, all within 18 seconds to secure 3rd for the Mustangs at 108. Another first round bye at 129 pitted Michiru against his nemesis from Kinnick in the semifinals. He couldn't pull any rabbits out of any hats and was sent to the consolation bracket via pin. He dominated the left-hand side of the bracket; in his first match against Zama, he took him down, and pinned him without argument to advance. In his last match against CAJ, he repeated his Zama performance with slight variation - one more takedown, faster pin - for the second ASIJ 3rd place finish and a personal best tournament placement for the freshman. The first match for the Mustangs at 135 pitted #2 Kinnick vs #3 Ricky. The seeds played out true to form as Ricky fell by tech fall in the semifinals. He went against CAJ in the consolation bracket, advancing to the 3rd place match by way of a first period pin. In the consolation champ match, he faced another nemesis, Riki from Zama, but couldn't get much going in a tech fall loss for 4th place. Masa started his bracket at 180 against the eventual runner-up from Yokota with a major takedown for 4 points. When the foe regained his bearings, he took the Mustang down and sent him to the consolation bracket via pin. On his way to the 3rd place match, Masa faced Kinnick and dispatched him with a powerful, 30 second takedown-pin combo. Going for 3rd, he faced a Zama foe he'd beaten easily twice before. The third time was not the charm, however, as he got caught in a throw and couldn't get out of the pin to take 4th. The tournament was planned to be the culmination of the season's worth of practice and improvement for the JV team, but they were unfortunately unable to wrestle against the JV teams of all the other schools in the conference due to a bureaucratic snafu. At the end of the successful tournament, Dr. Herzenberg said regarding the Mustang wrestlers, "I'm super proud of how they competed and showed sportsmanship. I'm proud to be their principal with the way they support each other. They are amazing." Added Mr. Hardin, "Tremendous character and hard work - I'm incredibly impressed with how they competed and how they represented the school today. I'm so proud to be the Head of School for these really, really tremendous students." The JV season is now complete. The varsity wrestlers will kick it into high gear in practice as they prepare to go against the best of the Far East at the end of season tournament running February 21-23 at Kinnick High School in the Yokosuka Navy Base. Instead of a report on tomorrow's snowed out Kanto Finals, here are a few fun facts to think about while making snow angels, snow forts, snowmen, yellow snow*, and so forth (stats as of 5 Feb 2019):
2 - dual meet wins over St. Mary's and Kinnick Infinity - years since ASIJ has beaten those two teams in consecutive dual meets 3 - wins that ASIJ would have lost without freshmen and first year wrestlers 6 - number of Mustangs who have a better record in varsity than JV 7 - different ways to score (not including penalty points awarded); Michiru is the only Mustang who has scored on opponents in every way possible 11.2 - Rin averages more than the 10 points required for a tech fall every time he steps on the mat 0.9 - Rin allows less than a point per match (secret recipe for victory revealed: score an insane amount and don't let them score) 8 - number of different Mustangs who have placed at tournaments (there are only 13 weight classes, and ASIJ fields wrestlers in 12) 10 - most points scored per JV match--Ricky 0.0 - least points allowed per JV match--Ricky, Rin, Zenon (that's right, ZERO average...recipe works in JV, too; they're a combined 14-0) 21 - number of ASIJ wrestlers who have pinned at least one opponent 24 - Zenon has the most overall matches 24 - Zenon has the most overall wins (for the mathematically impaired, that's a 100% winning percentage) 170 - more team points ASIJ has scored than allowed in conference dual meets (238-68, next closest differential was 30 points less)--ASIJ is more dominant in victory than any other team in the conference. Sky - the limit for this team if they double down on their conditioning, technique, and grit in practice and wrestle near their max potential through the end of the season *#yellowsnow is a joke - don't actually make it. However, if you grew up snow-less, ask a snow-knowing friend about the ins and outs of doing it. It's pretty fun and easy to make, and it might be trending in Tokyo if you read this on Saturday. The electricity pulsing through the crowd in the gym was palpable. The music blaring from the loudspeakers seemed to portend the outcome of the pending battle between conference heavyweights, as well as provide a poetic commentary on the season: Tonight We are young So let’s set the world on fire We can burn brighter than the sun The evening was more Apollo than Icarus as the Mustangs thundered their way to a 42-20 victory over the Kinnick Red Devils. With the first dual meet win over Kinnick in forever, ASIJ finished the conference regular season in second place. The 4–1 record represents an exact opposite of the team’s 1–4 (5th) record two years ago, and an improvement over last year‘s “return to respectability“ season and it’s overachieving 3–2 (3rd) record. A ceremony for the seniors provided a moment to reflect on their contributions to the team, the school, and the sport as well as their growth, both on and off the mat, as they enter the final stretch of their high school wrestling journey. Including the Kinnick seniors was a nice touch of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Saloni, Masa, Kieran, Josh, Egan, Liona, and Zenon received a single, elegant rose and a Mustangs T-shirt with a quote from the most successful wrestler in modern history, Dan Gable: once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy. Like the Beatles opening for Brenda Lee (top-charting female female vocalist of the 1960's, for the young'uns), the JV Mustangs set the mood for the main event against JV wrestlers from Kinnick, winning three of five matches. Isak was within striking distance, trailing 4-2 before getting caught in a big takedown followed by a couple exposures for a loss. Josh wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled some more. With the score tied 8-8, he gave up 2 takedowns and looked like he was fading but – maybe it was the rose…or the Dan Gable quote…or the partisan crowd cheering him on – he scored the last eight points of the match to pull out an 18-14 victory. Shawn got taken down in short order, but he didn’t go over as he then took a shot and eventually turned a tough spot into a pin of the Red Devil. Liam was all business as he took down and pinned his Kinnick foe in 28 seconds in a dominating performance. Yo rounded out the JV wrestling in a 5-3 loss that, like Isak‘s match, showed lots of good ingredients that just need a little more mixing on their way to becoming a cake in a five-star restaurant. In the main event against the reigning Far East champions, ASIJ was in a quick hole with an injury forfeit at 101. However, Katsumi road roughshod over his opponent at 108 for his first varsity pin to pull the Mustangs even at 5-5. Take’s 15-second pin at 115 was almost as fast as Ira’s forfeit at 122 that put ASIJ up 15-5. Michiru keeps wrestling beyond his years; he wrestled tough and smart against a powerful Red Devil, going up 2-1, 4-3, and 6-5, but he needed one more angel on his side as the Mustang eventually got corralled and pinned in the second period. Kai H stepped up to the varsity plate to fill an injury hole in the lineup at 135. His nice looking takedown was almost textbook, but it somehow ended in a Kinnick takedown and pin to even the score at 15 a piece. Wrestling at 141 for the first time this season, Rin ensured ASIJ got max points by doubling his pin total for the season against a clearly overmatched opponent. Egan, going at a personal high 148, went against a Red Devil who led him along the path to loss earlier in the season. Once he got a big 4-point takedown, however, he knew he could overcome the temptation to play it safe this time and wrestled possibly the best match of his career, giving a firm “get thee hence” to the Red Devil en route to a near-tech 14-5 win and an ASIJ 23-15 lead. Kieran continued the contest against another kid from Kinnick who is used to winning at 158. After keeping it close with big moves while allowing 2-point takedowns and 1-point push outs, Kieran got a takedown, kept Kinnick’s legs crossed, and rolled him for exposure after exposure after exposure (x6) to secure a tech fall victory. Zenon followed that up with an alpha male performance at 168, asserting his dominance with a 4-point takedown-to-pin combo that pushed ASIJ’s lead to 32-15 With only 3 weight classes left, The Mustang victory was assured; anything Masa and Dani provided at 180 and 215 would be icing on the cake. Masa donned a bakers hat and iced that cake, scoring at will to go up 9-0 before twisting his foe into the most unorthodox pretzel shape you’ve ever seen until the ref slapped the mat. Not to be outdone, Dani added a big dollop on top in an exciting come-from-behind-to-pin victory that, after a forfeit to Kinnick at heavyweight, made the final score 42-20.
With the conference regular season now complete, the Mustangs look to finish even higher (i.e. 1st) at the end of season conference tournament on Saturday at St. Mary’s. It will be the last time to see the JV wrestlers as Mustangs this season.
Wow, what a weekend! The ASIJ Mustangs beat the St. Mary's Titans for the first time in a decade and went to tiebreaker criteria to determine a barn burner vs the Edgren Eagles en route to a 3rd place finish at the Zama dual meet tournament on Saturday. The tournament featured two pools of four teams each in a round-robin series of dual meets against the other three teams in the pool. The top teams from each pool were then paired against each other for 1st, the 2nd place pool teams paired against each other for 3rd, 3rd place pool teams for 5th, and 4th place pool teams for 7th. ASIJ was in Pool B with Matthew C. Perry, who had marched up from the Marine Corps base in Iwakuni, the Robert D. Edgren Eagles, who soared down from Misawa Air Base, and the Christian Academy of Japan Knights, who jousted across town to join the fray. The Mustangs left MC Perry looking for a few good men, taking 10 out of 13 weight classes to kick off pool play. Kyle and Katsumi won max points without a fight and Take pinned his opponent in 1:23 without allowing a point. Ira went up 6-1 before the upset bug (aka loss of endurance) struck and he fell 17-6 for an ASIJ lead of 15-4 that was never relinquished. ASIJ went on another run of seven straight from 129 to 180 before giving up a pin at 215 and forfeit at heavyweight. Michiru and Egan pinned their opponents in the first period, Masa and Ricky took forfeits, and Rin, Kieran and Zenon racked up a combined 30-0 for three straight technical falls. Dani went up 5-0 before getting caught in a 4-point takedown that led to a pin. MC Perry's heavyweight got a forfeit to get them into respectable double digit territory in the 47-14 ASIJ win. CAJ skewered the Mustangs a couple years ago, but the tables have clearly turned as ASIJ gnashed the knights 54-5 in the second round of pool play. Besides freshman Katsumi's loss vs an experienced senior at 108 and an Michiru's finish-in-a-flash tech fall for 4 points at 129, the Mustangs muscled the max five team points at every weight class from 101 to 215, with HWT going uncontested. Despite taking just 1:13 for Ira to pin his opponent, that was still more than the combined time that Take and Ricky took to get their pins at 24 and 26 seconds, respectively. The third round against Edgren was filled with excitement as the dual meet featured several lead changes and ended in a tie at 30-30. The tiebreakers went against ASIJ for the first non-conference dual meet loss of the season. Kyle took a forfeit at 101 to stake ASIJ out to a 5-0 lead. Katsumi got thrown and pinned at 108 to even it out at 5-5. Take breezed to a 10-0 tech fall victory and Ira got the pin to put ASIJ up 14-5. Edgren got two pins in a row over Michiru and Ricky at 129 and 135 to claim a 15-14 advantage. Egan got an awesome pin at 141 for a crucial 5 points. Rin had a strange phantom point awarded to both him and his opponent on the way to a 11-1 win at 148 for 4 team points. Kieran had all he could handle at 158 but pulled out a gutsy and smart 8-2 decision for another 3 points. Zenon's opponent wouldn't go down easily, but he still beat him 10-0 to put ASIJ up 30-15. The upper three weights saw the Eagles claw their way back to a 30-30 tie. Masa went up early before getting put on his back for a pin with four seconds left in the period at 180. Dani's opponent looked like someone skewed the aspect ratio of his picture by stretching it out sidewise and, despite a valiant effort that included a score, the match ended in a pin. With ASIJ's forfeit at HWT, Edgren got another 5 to even the team score. In the end, ASIJ had taken 7 of 13 weight classes, but because Edgren had six pins or forfeits to three for the Mustangs, the win went to Edgren, putting ASIJ at #2 in Pool B. The silver lining is that St. Mary's ended as the #2 team in Pool A, so the Edgren dual meet loss actually provided the opportunity for a rematch of the league dual meet vs the Titans. This time the Mustangs would leave nothing to chance. After providing ASIJ with the max 15 team points in the first three dual meets, Kyle met his nemesis, going head to head for a while before succumbing via tech fall at 101. Katsumi quickly righted the ship by taking a forfeit at 108 to kick of a scoring spree by ASIJ. Take took down the Titan he faced at 115, and did it again on his way to a tech fall win. Ira picked up a forfeit at 122 (I wouldn't have wanted to go against Ira either considering the outcome the last time they faced off). Michiru rounded out ASIJ's run of victories by wrestling the best match I've seen all season. A couple years ago Shota dug down deep to score for the win in a lionhearted match against a same-level opponent at the Yokota tournament that left both of them crumpled in heap from their efforts. Last year Zenon was fearless and disciplined in a 6-4 decision over the newly crowned Far East champion, who had won all three of their previous meetings that season. These are the type of matches that are etched into your mind forever as examples of the pinnacle of human effort and triumph in untenable circumstances. The 11-7 score and 3 team points for ASIJ don't come close to telling the story of the match that left both wrestlers an empty husk, their physical bodies collapsed on the ground after barely being able to shake hands and walk off the mat. It was truly something to behold. Unfortunately, that was followed by Ricky getting unceremoniously tech'ed at 135 and Egan getting pinned at 141 to pull St. Mary's within 17-13. Rin gave the Mustangs some breathing room with a now-standard Rin-style tech at 148. The Titans returned the favor at 158 but, knowing they needed the extra point the team gets from a pin for a chance at the win, kept the match going. Kieran did not allow a pin and instead scored on his opponent as the time wound down to zero to keep the Mustangs ahead 21-17. Zenon's opponent put up his best match of the season but still couldn't manage a victory against the undefeated senior captain, losing 4-3 and putting ASIJ up 24-17. Masa and Dani slammed the door on any hope of a comeback with a pin over an improving opponent and a forfeit, respectively, to lead to a final 34-17 score and 3rd place at the tournament. ASIJ wrestlers went 6-4 in exhibition matches with some nice wrestling throughout the day. Leila continues to set the pace for the JV wrestlers as she secured two takedowns on the way to a pin of MC Perry before getting pinned by Kinnick. Kai H split his two matches, losing by pin after a huge takedown of Edgren followed by a 13-0 tech fall win over CAJ, featuring two more 4-point takedowns to put him within striking distance of Leila for the most JV takedowns. As the biggest freshman on the team, Shawn won his lone match by pin against Kinnick to keep atop the JV leaderboard with Leila. Several part or full-time varsity wrestlers got some exhibition matches in as well. Josh kept it close at 6-4 before losing steam and falling 14-4 to Kinnick. Reuben went up 2-0 before giving up a big move and the pin to SMIS. Liam had an "I'm back!" performance with a 10-0 dismantling of Kinnick. Zenon provided an opportunity for his SMIS opponent to go against the best but didn't allow him to do anything in his 10-0 win. Dani got the pin in under a minute against Yokota; he'll be a monster on varsity when he transfers his JV success (3-0) to the big leagues. It's hard to tell when a trend has started. Is the housing market taking off, or are this month's numbers just a blip due to a one-time factor? Is there a major shift in the electorate, or is the latest election an anomaly that is counter to the basic fundamentals, which remain unchanged? You hear experts debate those types of questions all the time. Here's one to think about: Are the Mustangs for real? Is ASIJ becoming the team to beat in the Kanto Plain conference...and in the entire Far East? Consider the following indicators: The first Mustangs win over St. Mary's in probably a decade. ASIJ winning a majority of the weight classes in all four dual meets against respectable and heretofore dominant opponents. Memorable individual efforts that combine heart with brains. These form an unmistakable trend that - if the team continues to improve - can ensconce ASIJ as the King of the Hill.
The next chance for the Mustangs to solidify the trend towards paramountcy comes in a dual meet against Kinnick, who's sailing up from the Navy base at Yokosuka on Tuesday. The winner will be 4-1 in the regular season and secure 2nd place in the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools standings for the 2018-19 season. That would be a major turnaround from the 1-4, 5th place finish two years ago. It will also be seniors night, and the last chance to see the Mustangs at ASIJ this season. The 25th edition of the annual Beast of the East tournament was attended by all the DODEA Japan and KPASS league schools, as well as two teams from Korea and a Japanese military school. The ASIJ squad surpassed last year's performance, placing 5th out of 13 teams, despite missing its standard varsity wrestlers at three of the 13 weight classes, leaving two of them uncontested in addition to the heavyweight class that has gone vacant for several years. The Stars and Stripes must have had their B-team working the tournament as their reporting contained several uncharacteristic errors. The actual team results were as follows: Shonan-63, St. Mary's-59, Kubasaki-42, Kinnick-39, ASIJ-33, Edgren-22, MC Perry-18, Yokota-14, Humphreys-12, CAJ-10, Kadena-5, Zama-5, Seoul American-3. Kyle kicked things off at 101 for the Mustangs against Kinnick, and then Kadena, putting one of his opponents on his back, before succumbing by tech fall and fall, respectively. This bracket featured the first ever female Beast champion, from Shonan (everyone in this weight class is glad they won't see her again this season!), followed by Kyle's two opponents at 2nd and 3rd. Had the random seed and byes favored Kyle instead of pitting him against the toughest ones first, he would almost certainly have placed 4th. At the Beast. As a freshman. In his first year of wrestling. The next freshman, Katsumi at 108, exposed the back of his first opponent from Shonan to the mat on two separate occasions, but he couldn't quite keep him there long enough for a pin. He eventually came out on the short end of a 10-4 decision. In his next match, his foe from Matthew C. Perry brought the black ship to the Katsumi Shogunate as he was subjugated by fall in the continuance of a tech fall. Since neither of them are in the Kanto Plain conference, he's got a real shot at a winners podium finish at the league in a couple weeks. Take, wrestling at 115, started his match against Kubasaki with a huge 4-point takedown and didn't stop the takedown party until the ref raised his hand for a tech fall victory. He also blocked Kinnick from getting any points at this weight class by pinning his next guy from there (in a continuance of a tech fall). In the finals, Shonan showed their strength with a pin. In the "true 2nd" format of the tournament, the 3rd place winner from SMIS, who had only lost to Shonan, was afforded the opportunity to wrestle back for 2nd. Take went into the second period up 4-0 but fell by pin with less than a minute left in the match. These two will surely keep seeing each other in the finals. Oh, and Take's a freshman, too. Talk about bright future for the Mustangs. It looked like the random seeding had placed the top two wrestlers at 122 against each other in the first round as Ira went against a sturdy kid from Kubasaki. He got the first takedown but, as the match wore on, you could see his Ultraman light blinking; he couldn't pull out a special beam to save the day and got pinned. Going against league rivals from Zama, CAJ, and Yokota, Ira went tech, pin (21 seconds), and tech on his way to the 3rd place match against St. Mary's, a rematch of his upset loss in the league dual meet. Even after the refs stopped the match due to whimpering while Ira had him in a tight pin position (just incredible, probably the most egregious reffing error I've ever witnessed...in wrestling), Ira simply took him down and pinned him again to win his first top-3 finish at the Beast. After wrestling at 135 his last three matches, Ricky went back down to 129 to fill the hole opened by illness there. It clearly suited him because, after a first round bye, he put away his quarterfinal opponent from MC Perry, staking out a 4-2 lead and never looking back for a final 8-2 decision. In the semifinals it was strong guy vs. strong guy, and he took down the eventual champion from St. Mary's before he gave way to a tech fall, getting something tweaked while avoiding a pin. Without that, he had a real shot getting to the 3rd place match. Oh, he's also a first year wrestler. Have I mentioned anything about the future and brightness yet? Egan got a first round bye at 141 and quickly moved on to the semifinals with a made-it-look-easy pin over CAJ to show the newbies how it's done. He wasn't able to get anything going in his first time against a St. Mary's stalwart, and lost by tech fall to the eventual champion. In his next match, he reopened his wrestling clinic with magnificent 5-point move that saw his Kubasaki foe's feet fly in a rainbow arc over his head enroute to a tech fall win. Somewhere along the way he got something dinged up, so he injury-forfeited 3rd place to MC Perry, who was very happy to avoid get schooled by Egan, to match his 4th place finish at last year's Beast. The seeding put Rin in a wrestle-in match at 148 against MC Perry where he slashed the Samurai in a 10-0 match that was not as close as the score would seem to indicate. He reproduced that result in the next round in a blink-and-you-missed-it match against CAJ. In his semifinal versus Kubasaki, it was immediately evident that his opponent was for real as he scored the first offensive takedown Rin has allowed all year...and then repeated that feat. Rising to the challenge, Rin racked up throws, takedowns, and exposures to triumph via tech over the toughest kid he's faced yet. The final was almost anticlimactic as he tech'ed his opponent from Humphreys, scoring so fast it was 12-0 before the refs could stop it. The first place finish represents a successful defense of last year's Beast championship. Tei answered the call at 158 to fill in from the JV ranks at the biggest tournament of the season to date. The first year wrestler's first match against MC Perry, after a fortunate first round bye, ended the way you'd expect against an experienced wrestler: tech fall loss for the good guys. Going against Kadena in the consolation bracket, he started off strong with a 4-point Tei-kdown, and finished strong to notch his first varsity victory via tech fall. His next opponent was from Kubasaki. After having wrestled two long, strong matches and streaking out to a 8-2 lead over the foe (who was dispatched quickly in his only other match), you could see that so much wrestling with the big boys was emptying the tank quickly. The running score tells the story: 8-6, 9-8, 11-12, 11-14, 11-16, pin. I'm convinced that if these two had the opposite initial seeding, this match would have had the opposite result and ASIJ would have gotten 4th instead. The 168 bracket was a little smaller than the lighter ones, but it was filled with quality wrestlers. Zenon faced Edgren in the first round and promptly got thrown for 4 points. He also gave up his first back exposure points in his toughest match of the season so far. The takedown deluge that followed washed away any doubt about the outcome as Zenon "only" beat him by 9. In the semifinal against a familiar Kinnick foe, Zenon got a familiar outcome, pinning him after his fourth takedown. The finals also provided a matchup we could see as many as four more times at this weight this season: ASIJ vs St. Mary's. How did it end? Let's just say that you know you're dominating the other wrestler when they're overjoyed that they didn't lose by tech or pin this time. The championship for ASIJ ensures Zenon's picture will be added to the other Mustang greats that grace the wrestling room. Masa's first match pitted him against a SMIS wrestler who hadn't lost since the final of last year's Far East. He made a go of it, but those long legs got tangled in a takedown, enabling the foe to roll him for a quick tech fall. Advancing through the consolation bracket, Masa executed some nice front rolls, a couple takedowns and exposed the back of the MC Perry wrestler to win by tech fall and put him out of the bracket. Being tall, good looking, strong, smart, nice, and somewhat funny, you may look at Masa and wonder if there's anything he can't do. Well, he can't hold a lead against tough opposition. Just like at the CAJ Invitational, he was up against Edgren today before getting pinned by the eventual 3rd place winner. He is clearly well positioned for a podium finish at the conference tournament in a couple weeks. Having gone through the facts and results, let's now travel together for a moment to the land of what-ifs and consider the following: if the three standard varsity wrestlers didn't get the flu, etc., if Kyle or Tei had drawn a slightly different placement in their brackets, if Ricky or Egan hadn't gotten pushed/pulled the wrong way and instead been able to finish out their brackets, or, in a less luck-driven category, if Take or Masa's last matches had ended when they had the lead - if any two of those nine what-ifs had gone our way, we would have beaten Kubasaki and Kinnick and been knocking on St. Mary's door for 2nd. We don't have a big margin of error, but if we get things to fall our way instead of how they fell today...let's just say we're on the cusp, about to break through the barrier between "good" and "great."
The Mustangs now proceed to the Zama Invitational on February 2 at Zama American Middle-High School for a series of dual meets. ASIJ will face MC Perry (Iwakuni), Edgren (Misawa), and CAJ in Pool B, with the winning team facing off against the winner of Pool A. The following week will see the last league dual meets of the season. St. Mary's (5-0) has wrapped up first, so Tuesday's winner between Kinnick (3-1) and ASIJ (2-1) will take second in the conference regular season. |
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March 2019
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