The American School in Japan wrestled St. Mary's International School for the team 3rd place at Far East today. ASIJ WON 28-22! The win put ASIJ in 3rd place and dropped SMIS to 4th in the Far East team tournament. The winners of the two awards voted on by the coaches from each of the teams (can't vote for yourself) were: Team Sportsmanship Award: ASIJ - This is the 2nd year in a row that ASIJ won the award. The ASIJ parents received many comments from other teams and parents praising the sportsmanship of ASIJ wrestlers. This can be directly attributed to the coaches and the team captains inculcating the boys with the best values that ASIJ espouses. Most Outstanding Wrestler: Marshall China (Matthew C. Perry), 3x Far East Champ - All the champs were great, but there's no question that it should have been Rin, who outscored his opponents 50-0. He was so dominating that all five of his matches combined took just 5:15 (and the 6th was a forfeit because the other team was afraid to put someone against him). The winner did have a closely contested match, complete with controversial calls and a picture perfect finish against the hometown favorite. Dual Meet vs St. Mary's: Kaisei wrestled probably his best match of the year at 101 and pinned his opponent (who he hadn't beaten in 3 previous attempts). Far East Champion Bryce won a decision against a 108-pounder determined not to lose. Katsumi was back to his aggressive ways at 115, but it wasn't enough as he was tech'ed; but SMIS, looking for the extra team point that comes from a pin, opted to continue the match and, unfortunately, their bet paid off, leaving the score at ASIJ 8 SMIS 5. Ira made mince meat of his opponent at 122, tech-ing him in the first period. Take took three takedowns from his former nemesis (now duly subjugated) during a 7-2 win at 129. Kai went against his guy at 135 for the 5th time this season, and it showed as they fought to a 1-1 tie through the first 5 minutes. In the last minute, he got caught and pinned, however, putting SMIS within striking distance at 15-10. Using a little strategery (if a president has used it, it's a word - look it up), ASIJ gave up a forfeit at 141 and bumped the next three up a weight class. Ricky, going 148, took on a motor-doesn't-stop wrestler, falling just shy of winning a decision. SMIS gave Rin their forfeit at 158 (wise move; anyone they could have put out there would have gotten crushed). Shawn, going at 168, took on their best wrestler and made a go of it until getting tech'ed. Going for another continuation with about 4 minutes of match time remaining, he thwarted their plans letting the score go up but not letting his shoulders hit the mat. The team score at this point was SMIS 22 ASIJ 20. Neither team had a heavyweight going, so there were only two contested matches left. If SMIS got a victory in either of them, even a victory by pin for us would have left us losing the dual on a tie breaker in the best case scenario. Knowing this, Liam battled hard in a back and forth match at 180, going up 2-0, down 4-2, up 6-4, and tied 6-6. With the tie breaker not in his favor, he needed a score to win and keep ASIJ's chances alive. He got a takedown with 0:01 left on the clock, setting the stage for Dani. At 215, Dani decided to test everyone's heart by going to his back against an overmatched foe, fighting through it to come out on top, turning him over and pinning him, all in 30 seconds to seal the victory over St. Mary's. This was the second year in a row that ASIJ beat both SMIS and Kinnick in dual meets, finishing this season 2-1 against the best of Kanto (both took 2nd at Far East, SMIS in individual, Kinnick in dual meet).
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March 2020
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