Three Take Home First at Madison Invite
Austin Burrell putting his opponent in a cradle
by: Jayson P. Wade
from Sports Journalism
At the Madison Invite the Madison wrestlers started to get their hearts pumping by playing the notorious game of duck duck goose.
There is always a large turnout for tournament including 17 schools from all over Idaho. The teams that come bring their greatest wrestlers creating great competition and excitement for everyone.
Madison wrestlers came out tough with several pins. Samuel Davenport started the tournament with a swift pin in 55 seconds.
This year Madison ended the tournament with 14 wrestlers who placed–including three wrestlers who took home first place.
The wrestlers who took first were Austin Burrell (varsity 145lbs), Gilbert Mendoza (Jr varsity 220lbs), and Tyson Clark (Jr varsity 132lbs).
Austin Burrell wrestled hard throughout the Madison Invite. During his first match Austin was having chest pains and shortness of breath, but he pushed through and pinned his opponent.
“Going out there and winning is every little boy’s dream,” said Burrell.
Gilbert Mendoza did not pin a single the whole tournament. That doesn’t mean that he could not. The coaches had a different plan for Mendoza. They wanted him to work on his takedowns.
Gilbert went out and would shoot, take down his opponents, and then let them back up. He then would repeat this process throughout all of his matches.
“I now feel more confident with shooting and scoring,” says Mendoza.
There is one thing you can always expect to see from the Madison wrestlers and that is the love and support they have for each other. Throughout weekend you would almost always see the Madison team sitting just off to the side of the yelling and cheering on their fellow wrestler.
Even after the matches they would each congratulate the wrestler for the victory or tell them good job you’ll get them next time.
The team that took first was Mountain Home High School, and Madison took seventh overall.
