Hello Patriot Wrestling Parents, This email is well overdue for what I would have liked; but, I always seem to underestimate just how hectic the beginning of the season will be. There are many points that I would like to mention so to not draw this out too long I will resort to bullet points: 1) First are foremost I would like to say that I am very happy with the group of wrestlers we have this year. I have seen more effort, focus and attention from this young team than I have seen from more senior groups in the past. I am very confident that will build a solid team over the course of the season and years to come. 2) So far this year we are 2-4 as a team with a tough loss to Porter Ridge in conference last week. And at the two individual tournaments we have gone to Alex Solares took a 3rd, Raekwaon Armstead took a 4th and Alex Jordan placed 4th at both.
3) Upcoming: This weekend we have another individual tournament at Olympic that (if you haven't heard from your wrestler already) is now Saturday only. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 9AM and wrestlers will report to school at 6:40AM to catch the bus over (only starters need to come to individual tournaments but all are welcome). Then next week we face two more conference opponents on the same night, East Meck and Garinger on Wednesday Dec. 16th. We will need some parent volunteers to help with running the concession stand that night, so please help if you can. 4) Papers: I handed out several papers yesterday to the wrestlers at the end of practice; one was a wrestler info sheet that has apparel order forms at the bottom of the page (I need the top part filled out by everyone and anyone ordering wrestling gear to fill out the bottom as soon as possible so we can get orders in), second was information about our annual fundraiser (last year we raised $1500, I want to surpass that this yer with your help), and the third was a discount offer for high school athletes that CrossFit Stallings is offering since I am a coach there as well. I have attached each of these in case your wrestler did not receive one or lost it. 5) Please let me know (preferably through email) if you will be around over the break. Especially starting wrestlers so I can best prepare our line ups for the two individual tournaments that we have over the break.
6) I know that wrestling takes a lot of time and commitment, it is tough and wearing and I appreciate your help in all that we do. From simply allowing your child to participate on the team to helping with fundraising to supporting our tournament and running concessions; thank you for your support in every way and I hope to see you all at events through the season. If you have any questions or comments that you would like to share please feel free to email me. I know many of you are learning the sport and how things work just as much as your child. Hope all is going well as we draw near to the winter break. Okay, so I drew it out pretty long anyway. I plan to send these more frequently now that I have an email list to go off of so they can be kept a bit more brief. Philip Davis Head Wrestling Coach Math Teacher AFM Lead Independence HS