Fresh faces and grizzled veterans gathered with their coaches at the ASIJ theater to celebrate the most valuable, most improved, and sportmanship award winners in each of the winter season sports on Tuesday, Feb 15.
The wrestling team awards, presented by Adam Carlson (coach) and Rei Suzuki (assistant coach), were followed by a team gathering, where the coaches could work some final magic on the team. Award winners were: Most Valuable Player: Michiru Most Improved Player: Connor Sportsmanship: Take Coach's Award: Shawn In a typical year, there are a few obvious candidates for each award (e.g. Rin or Zennon for MVP?), but this year the depth was so great that, for example, Bryce was not an award winner. He led the team in wins (6), techs (5), takedowns (24), and total points scored (65), took 1st in the Azabu Open, and was never threatened, even in his match against a returning Far East champion. And, he's just one of several examples of individuals with great numbers (we had an unbelievable 12 ////TWELVE//// wrestlers who ended the season undefeated!). Instead of listing them all here, suffice it to say, there was an incredibly deep pool of candidates for each award. We'll go through a few stats for each of the big award winners, but those alone do not capture what was happening in the practice room, in the wrestlers' group chat, and in all the other places they could exhibit leadership, growth, and the other intangibles that fill in the blanks between the numbers. After the stats section, you can hear it straight from the horse's mouth in the form of a video of Coach Carlson talking about their choices. Most Valuable: Michiru - team captain, 3-0 (1.000) record, #1 in points allowed (0), #5 in takedowns (10) despite only wrestling three matches, #1 in percent of wins ending in tech fall or pin (100%), leader in all aspects of the sport, if there were a "lifetime achievement award" (i.e. not only for this season), he'd be a shoe-in Sportsmanship: Take Z - team captain, 5-0 (1.000) record (including wins over likely DODEA champ and returning Far East champ), #1 in pins (2), #1 in 4-pt takedowns (8), , #1 in percent of wins ending in tech fall or pin (100%), #2 in total takedowns (15), 1st at Azabu Open Most Improved: Connor - 3-0 (1.000) dual meet record, 4-2 (.667) overall record (only losses to likely Far East champ in normal season from Kubasaki and St. Mary's alum), #1 in 2-pt reversals (1), #2 in most matches wrestled (6), #3 in total takedowns (14), 5th at Azabu Open Coach's Award: Shawn - team captain, 4-1 (.800) record (including wins over likely DODEA placewinners from multiple schools, only loss by 1 pt to college wrestler/Osan grad), allowed zero points in matches against current high school wrestlers, #1 in pins (2), #1 in percent of wins ending in pin (50%), #2 in 2-pt back exposures (5 - see: most pins, pin %), 2nd at Azabu Open https://youtu.be/25E1jv2elUY (video cuts off at the end b/c my phone's memory ran out, you'll need to copy this address and paste it in your web browser yourself...can't figure out how to put a link in here) Team captains spoke to their teammates. Take: https://youtu.be/RcCa2GcSRvM Mich: https://youtu.be/IkOp4W2h6BY Shawn: https://youtu.be/-6UXwiLeBV0 Besides celebrating the 2021-22 season, the coaches also had words of wisdom for the returning wrestlers. Here's assistant coach Rei Suzuki: https://youtu.be/Frq9uMOCfSo The coaches also recognized the team mom and parents for their tremendous support, communication, and all around help in straightening out a zig-zaggety season. They expressed gratitude for the managers, who cleaned up the blood and all the other unheralded tasks that kept things up and running. They mentioned a parent who had taken overly detailed stats, provided wrestlers some "back in the day" semi-inspirational stories and quasi-coaching, and faithfully attended ASIJ competitions for seven years. Here's one more from coach Adam Carlson: https://youtu.be/NOBAUiisIbU The team mom, Angie Curtis, eloquently represented the parents' thoughts about the coaches as she presented them with thank-you gifts. They fought with everything they had to overcome every hurdle placed in front of them to ensure the team actually had a season, and that the boys maintained a positive attitude despite seeing peers in the US and Japanese high schools (and even in some DODEA schools) enjoying normal seasons. Besides all the great wrestling work they did with the boys, the coaches also provided, through spoken word and through demonstrated example, critical non-wrestling skills and attributes that form a firm foundation upon which the young men can build to be a positive contributor in almost any endeavor throughout their lives.
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