The Takedown * November 13, 2009

The
Takedown
W e s l a c o H i g h S c h o o l
Panther Wrestling Newsletter
11.13.08 Volume 01- Issue 01

Wrestling Season Set To Start! Coach/ Parent Meeting Sets Tone. November 13, 2008 – 7:00 P.M. Saw a lot of new faces tonight, welcome! We need everyone at the meetings in order to help make this another successful year. We will be contacting you soon to attend our Takedown Booster Club meetings and setting goals for the upcoming wrestling year.

New Wrestling Coach: Coach Mark Pederson, the new Weslaco High School wrestling coach, introduced himself at the annual parent/coach meeting. Pederson works at the WISD Guidance Center besides his new role as the wrestling coach. Pederson stated that he is originally from North Dakota, is 50+ years old, has taught school for 22 years and served in the military for 25 years (five years of active duty and 20 years in the Texas, North Dakota, and Minnesota National Guards), during 2004/2005 he served in Iraq, has traveled the world three times, and lost both a “student and a friend” in our own Tomas Garces. Pederson said he does not have a sense of humor, that he lost it before heading to Iraq, and that he does not have a sense of humor at work either.

Coaching Style: Coach Pederson stated that the returning wrestlers are used to the old coach, Coach Glapa. He went on to state that Glapa is an excellent coach and an excellent man. However, Pederson has different ways of doing things. Noting that Glapa will be with the team through the end of November, Pederson said that Glapa is his mentor; that he is learning from him, just as the kids are learning from Pederson. What Coach Pederson says – goes. Practice sessions are not for playing around. Pederson stated that he has a short fuse. “I respect them (student wrestlers) for who they are, they need to respect me (Coach Pederson) for whom I am.”

Revised Wrestling Schedule: The 2008-2009 schedule is as follows: November 15, 2008: Hydration Test – to be held at Weslaco East High School. Wrestlers need to be dropped-off at WEHS by 9:00 a.m. Parents are to pick-up their wrestler by 12 Noon. WISD will pay the $5 fee. Should the wrestler fail the test, his/her family will need to pay $10 for a retest (30 days later). Wrestlers are to be drinking plenty of water in the days leading to this test.
Saturday, November 22, 2008: WHS @ PSJA Memorial – Dual Meet
Thursday, December 4, 2008: WHS @ San Benito – Dual Meet
Saturday, December 6, 2008: WHS @ San Benito Team Duals
Friday/Saturday, December 12/13 2008: WHS @ Weslaco East Classic
Thursday, December 18, 2008: PSJA Memorial @ WHS – Dual Meet
Saturday, January 3, 2009: Tomas Garces Tournament @ WHS – Team Duals
Monday, January 5, 2009: Weslaco East @ WHS – Dual Meet
Thursday, January 8, 2009: WHS @ Rio Hondo – Dual Meet
Saturday, January 10, 2009: WHS @ Sharyland Tournament
Thursday, January 15, 2009: WHS @ PSJA North – Dual Meet
Saturday, January 17, 2009: WHS @ PSJA North – Quad Meet
Thursday, January 22, 2009: PSJA @ WHS – Dual Meet
Friday, January 30, 2009: JV District Tournament at Weslaco High School
Thursday, February 5, 2009: District Championship @ San Benito High School
Friday/Saturday, February 13/14, 2009: Region IV Championship Tournament – San Antonio
Friday/Saturday, February 27/28, 2009: State Tournament – Austin

No Out-of-Valley Tournaments This Year: When informed that WISD Athletic Director Oscar Riojas had commented that the athletic department would pay the fees for an out-of-valley tournament, to wrestling boosters at a meeting in early October, Coach Pederson stated that he had decided against attending such a tournament. He said that he will not embarrass the wrestling team, and that going with half a team would not be fair to the wrestlers. He went on to say that he is brand new at this; that he is still learning about all the paperwork. Case closed.

Coaching Vacancies: Coach Pederson said that Coach Glapa will be leaving the team at the end of November. He went on to say that a search is underway for an assistant coach and for a female coach, but that the positions have yet to be filled. Pederson said one concern of his is that should a wrestler get injured at a meet and require medical attention, there will be no one left at the meet to coach the team as he would need to attend to the injured wrestler.

No Pass/No Play Rule: Coach Pederson said that as of the second six weeks period the WHS Wrestling Team is short handed. Of the 45 student wrestlers, only 12 passed all of their classes. (10 boys and 2 girls.) The UIL and Coach Pederson have the same policy – if you don’t pass your academic classes, you don’t wrestle. Stating that those that failed are out of meets or tournaments for at least three weeks, Pederson noted that those not passing the 3rd Six Week period will miss the entire wrestling season. Students who failed the 2nd Six Week Period and are still failing at the time the 3rd Six Week Period Progress Reports are issued, will not wrestle during this time, even if they eventually pass the 3rd Six Week Period. Students who pass – wrestle. Students need to get their grades up.

Coach Pederson’s policy is that students who do not pass their academic courses: will not be allowed on the team bus, will not be allowed to attend meets/tournaments outside of Weslaco ISD – even apart from the team. If a wrestler who has failed his/her classes attends a meet/tournament held at Weslaco High School, the wrestler is to stay away from the team and sit at the top of the bleachers furthest away from the team. “The wrestler who fails to pass his/her classes fails the team, not Coach Pederson.”

Pederson said that the wrestlers who have failed an academic class are to attend after school tutoring at least three times per week before attending wrestling practice. Pederson went on to state that student wrestlers are not to get agitated with their teachers as he does not like to hear from his colleagues regarding wrestlers who blow-up at them.

Rules for Wrestlers: Coach Pederson said that he will allow cell phones and IPods on the team bus, but that once the team arrives at a gym/locker-room, they are to be turned-off for the duration of the meet/tournament as the wrestler should be concentrating on his/her match(es). Saying his rules are simple, Pederson said that all it takes is for one wrestler to break the rules and cause the entire team to lose this privilege.

Pederson said that he expects wrestlers to be on time for his practices. On-time means being ready-to-go at least 15 minutes before the designated practice time. Parents will be able to take their child home, and their child only, in their personal vehicle after a meet, only if the parent verbally clears it with Coach Pederson beforehand.

Turmoil with Wrestling Parents! Pederson said he had been told of turmoil with the wrestling parents. Saying that he is coming in at the bottom of the totem pole, Pederson said that wrestling parents do not get any respect.

Status of Equipment: Coach Pederson stated that he has an order in for wrestling shoes along with new uniforms and hopes to have them in-hand within two to three weeks. Coach was complementary towards the athletic department secretary, whom he said has been working hard to get the order done; noting that there is only so much she can do.

Shared Practice Facilities: Being that our wrestlers share the gym with other sports, Pederson informed that parents that he was unable to hold practice in the gym today due to a girl’s basketball tournament taking place at Sepulveda Gym at the WHS campus. Pederson shifted the practice and “took it outside.”

The Takedown Wrestling Booster Club: Coach Pederson said he had been told of efforts to organize a parent booster club. He stated that this was acceptable to the WISD Athletic Department as long as the club follows UIL and WISD policies. Any fundraising monies are to be turned-over to the WISD General Fund and not placed in a booster club bank account. Following WISD’s chain-of-command structure was stressed to the parents. Pederson said he will not attend booster meetings but asked that he and the WISD Athletic Director, Oscar Riojas be kept informed.

Booster Club Goals: With a current history of eight straight district championships and seven dual meet championships, numerous individual district champions, regional and state qualifiers, the WHS Wrestling Team has earned its place as a respected athletic force in the valley and the state. As parents and boosters we all want our kids to excel and it is our goal to help them achieve their dreams. It is our intent to provide the team with the following (pending approval by our boosters):
• Our Mission is to support the Weslaco High School Wrestling Team by:
• Attending wrestling events and supporting our team, working to increase attendance at meets.
• Encouraging academic excellence, set-up tutoring and study sessions throughout the year.
• Awarding college scholarships to our senior wrestlers.
• Hosting the Tomas Garces Duals Invitational Tournament, expanding the tournament format to include additional teams and making the tournament experience like no other.
• Hosting the 32-5A Junior Varsity – January 30, 2009, making it the best JV tournament yet.
• Hosting a “Parent’s Night” and an “Alumni Homecoming”, a reunion of our wrestling family.
• Hosting the annual wrestling banquet/bar-b-que for our teams.
• Establish Panther Cub groups at Garza Middle School & Central Middle School that will feed into our WHS program, inviting these students to attend out meets/tournaments.
• Fundraising to support team activities – producing a team program to sell at home dual meets, selling ads for the program, producing a team/wrestler poster to provide revenue (the WHS Panther Corps had posters made of each band member, sold two posters of the student for ten dollars to their parents, with the student selling the posters to businesses for $50 dollars each, with each student bringing in $100 total. At 45 wrestlers this could give us a working budget of $4,500.00.); team/fan t-shirts, and Tomas Garces tournament t-shirts.
• Wrestling Facility that accommodates the needs of an established, championship wrestling team. As we all know, our kids practice behind the bleachers on the mezzanine level of the gym. The width of the space is one third the size needed for a basic training space. We are looking at several options to present Weslaco ISD in order to get placed on a facilities waiting list.