September 27, 1998
Scott wrestled in the Delaware Fall Classic at Newark, DE today. He started the day as the #2 seed and finished 2nd. It was a nervous day for him for a number of reasons. First, it was his first tournament with David Boger as his official coach. Second, his aunt, uncle and four cousins came to watch him wrestle. Third, a former teammate from Calvert High School came up to wrestle and to see Scott. Thinking that he had to impress him (so a positive report would go back to Calvert) made Scott nervous. But the biggest reason was that Lawrence Fasick, a USA Wrestling Magazine state editor, was there to see him and take photographs. Mr. Fasick has been an avid follower (via this web page) and this was the first time that he actually met Scott and watched him wrestle. All of this combined to make a young man very nervous.
He won his first match by the score of 13-3 over the eventual 3rd place finisher. He went out there with a lot of butterflies and ended up giving up the first takedown. From that point forward the match was his by scoring 13 unanswered points (the other point for his opponent was a given escape). Scott seemed to be stuck in Freestyle mode as he was attempting to expose his opponents back with various tilts especially when defending that first leg shot. His semi-final match was low scoring but totally dominated by Scott, 6-0. Again, he was still thinking Freestyle. I watched the video and rescored it using Freestyle rules: 19-0.
His finals match was against a top notch wrestler from New Jersey named Dennis Whitby. Scott and Dennis had wrestled twice before, last fall. The first time Dennis pinned him at the 1997 Maryland Fall Classic. Their second match, at the 1997 State College Thanksgiving Classic, was not a pin but Dennis still handled Scott rather easily by the score of 12-3. This time, it appeared that Scott is closing the gap between them as the score ended up 6-2. These two really went at it with both of them displaying their speed, skill and intensity. Dennis' father and I both wished they could be workout partners.
All in all, David and I were both pleased with Scott's performance. The best thing was Scott's attitude. I was concerned that he would be dejected about his loss to Dennis but instead, he was upbeat. He said that it was fun and he thought that he and Dennis both gave the crowd a good show. This was music to my ears.
October 6, 1998
Scott is coming home to stay! Scott learned tonight that he will be moving back to Prince Frederick and re-enrolling in Calvert High School for the remainder or the 1998/99 school year. The reason: We could not get a guarantee of eligibility within the PIAA at Annville/Cleona High School. At the start of all this, his case had been reviewed by the PIAA District III Eligibility Board and he had been ruled eligible. The move was made, he settled in and he even played football, as a starting middle linebacker, to help set a prescedent of eligibility.
However, about two weeks ago, the board sent a letter to the school principal which basically stated that Scott would remain eligible only if there were no formal protest filed against him. Should that occur, they had decided that the ruling would have to be against him. Of course, there was always the possiblity that no one would protest but we were not willing to take that chance. Due to this, we had no choice but to bring him home.
Scott is disappointed as are we. He had grown very fond of the small Pennsylvania town, the school, the people and, of course, the Boger family. He made many new friends and was looking forward to his chance to win a Pennsylvania state title. However, there is also excitement. Scott is excited about returning to the only wrestling team he has ever known... at Calvert High School. Rejoining his friends and teammates will help make the return a happy one. We are sad, on one hand, that our son was not able to follow through on his adventure but, at the same time, we are very happy to be getting our son back. It was a difficult time for us and a part of us is glad it's over.
He will finish out the grading period and re-enroll in Calvert to start the second grading period on October 29, 1998. This will also return him well before the official start of the wrestling season which holds so much promise for him. Calvert is going to have an awesome team this year and Scott is very glad to, once again, have a chance to be a part of it. The SMAC Conference Tournament is being hosted by Calvert for 1999 so Scott will get a chance to defend his title on his home mat. Also, the team has two new coaches this year... both of them with Pennsylvania backgrounds (as does the head coach). One of the new coaches is a former Lockhaven University wrestler who is only in his mid-twenties. And, he just happens to be the same size as Scott so there will be a wonderful opportunity for Scott to work with an experienced adult who is his size that can, hopefully, push him to new limits.
Yes, in the end, it looks as if it will all turn out for the best. Scott will still have the memories of 1/4 of a school year in Pennsylvania along with all of the new friends he made while also having the opportunity to graduate with his friends and classmates here at Calvert. And, he can return to visit Annville and the Boger's any weekend he wants, to just visit or to further his training with Mr. Boger. In fact, we are already planning that after Scott graduates, he will very likely move back in with the Boger's and begin his Freestyle and Greco-Roman training for 1999 nationals.
Oh, and the McAdoo's are not moving to Minnesota after all. We could not come to terms that were acceptable to us and so, we will remain here in Prince Frederick and enjoy our son's glory year together. Please, wish him luck.
October 23, 1998
Scott is home. He has returned to Maryland from Pennsylvania and will start school at Calvert High School on Tuesday October 27, 1998. Welcome back, we missed you!
October 24, 1998
Scott wrestled in Howell Predator Graveyard Classic in Howell, NJ and it really was the tournament from Hell. The reason: we got there at 8:00 AM, after nearly a four hour drive, and Scott didn't wrestle his first match until 4:00 PM. That's right, because he had a first round bye, we waited eight hours for him to wrestle. It was both ridiculous and frustrating.
Scott was the number one seed in the 171 pound weight class (he weighed in at 164). He won his first match easily (despite being tired, bored, hungry, etc.) by the score of 13-3. We then went to the concessions stand to get him some lunch and found out that they had closed at 4:00 PM. So, now in addition to being tired, bored and hungry... Scott is mad.
His second match was the semi-finals against a true 171 pounder from Camden Catholic High School. Scott lost a tough one, 8-6 in overtime.
Then, as if they were trying to make up for making him wait so long to wrestle, they call him for his consolations match before he even collects all of his stuff off the mat from the semi-finals match. Ordinarily, we would have insisted on having a break. But the combination of being upset about the tournament in general, upset about losing his semi-final match and the fact that we had a four hour drive ahead of us... Scott wrestled right away. He shouldn't have. Not only was he tired, but his heart wasn't in it and he lost to an inferior opponent by the score of 8-4.
October 31, 1998
Finally, a close tournament. An open tournament was held at Marshall High School in Falls Church, Va. Scott had three matches. He won the first two very easily. Six takedowns and an escape led to a 13-4 score in his first match. The second match was about the same with five takedowns and a reversal before he pinned his opponent.
The finals was a little tougher with Scott wrestling a young man who, Scott says, was the strongest guy he had ever wrestled. Scott won 6-2 and collected his first place award... a gold medal, no, a bag of candy (seems the tournament director forgot to buy medals). Oh well, it was Halloween.
November 1, 1998
The 1998 Maryland Fall Classic was held at Rising Sun High School in Rising Sun, MD. There was no seeding and the weight classes were done by the Madison system. Scott ended up in the 163 pound class.
He won his first match easily, pinning Shane Farmer after building a 7-1 lead. His second match was against a freshman from New Jersey by the name of Keith O'Donnell. This kid was good. Scott had watched him lose to Dennis Whitby in overtime in his first match and I think this psyched Scott out a little bit. The kid was tough and Scott lost 3-0.
In Scott's third, and final, match. He wrestled Dennis Whitby again. I really thought that Scott was closing the gap on Dennis, but not today. Scott opened things up a bit in an effort to try and beat Dennis (rather than just trying to keep it close) and Dennis made him pay for it... 13-0! Dennis looked really good all day as he wrestled in both the high school and open divisions (defeating college wrestlers) and losing only once. I wish we lived closer to him so I could watch him wrestle in the upcoming season as he is very exciting to watch.
Anyway, Scott was out of the tournament with his 1-2 record. Actually, I am kind of glad as it should serve as a slap in the face and maybe it will be a great motivation for him to work hard.
November 8, 1998
Scott double entered in both the high school and the open divisions at the 1998 Maryland Fall Open at Damascus, MD on Sunday November 8th. He did not place in the high school division with his record of 1-2 but he took third in the open division with a record of 3-2.
Scott weighed in at 167 and ended up being the lightest wrestler in the high school 172 pound class. He was ahead 10-1 before pinning his first opponent (Keith Jackson from Mount St. Joseph's High School). His second match of the day was against Marty Margolis in the open division. Margolis is a 24 year old former three time MD high school state champion and former NCAA Division I wrestler from the University of Maryland. Margolis was just too much for Scott as he won easily by the score of 9-1. Scott did score a legitimate escape (wasn't cut) and he hit a really nice ankle pick that would have scored a takedown but his knee was on the line. Scott left the mat quite sore after enduring a fantastic pinning hold by Margolis for nearly the entire last minute of the first period.
Scott's third match of the day was back in the high school division against Tony Howard, a 1998 MD high school state champion from Magruder. Scott was tentative and got caught in a cement job early in the match. Howard scored a fall at 1:01 before Scott ever really got started. Scott won his next match in the open division by the score of 10-1 over Steve Lindsay. Lindsay is one of those "older" wrestlers who shows up at all the tournaments (my hat's off to him) but seldom wins many matches.
In what turned out to be Scott's last match in the high school division, he wrestled Jared Myers who was a 1998 MD high school state runner-up from Williamsport. It was a tight match with the score tied at 0-0 in the third period. Suddenly, with about thirty seconds left, Meyers escaped from Scott and Scott just gave up. He let Meyers take him down, went straight to his back and was pinned. He didn't even try to stop him. I was sooooooo angry that I yelled and yelled at Scott on the sideline. I said many things that I probably shouldn't have (and didn't really mean). I left the building to calm down and thought for sure that he was in there taking his shoes off and quitting for the rest of the day. But when I came back in, he was getting ready for his next open division match.
Poor Ryan Randall... my words had apparently affected Scott and he really went after this guy. I don't know anything about him except that he was 20 years old (Scott asked him). What I do know is that Scott was ahead of him 7-1 when he pinned him with a stud cradle at the 2:29 mark. Scott was very intense and aggresive and it paid off. His next match was a forfeit from Carl Martin (too bad, Martin was a former National High School Prep champion and I would have loved to see Scott wrestle him).
Scott's final match of the day was for second place in the open division against Seth Cook from Towson State University. Cook had also lost to Margolis but only by the score of 6-3. Scott did well, losing 4-0 from two different times that Cook countered Scott's offensive attack from the neutral position. Scott was very agressive and was all offense with Cook, being entirely defensive, never shooting once in the whole match. Scott rode him for the entire second period and then took neutral for the third. It was a good match, losing 4-0 to an older, college wrestler.
So, despite Scott's pitiful performance in the high school division, he still managed to salvage some of the day by taking third in the open division.
November 14, 1998
Scott's final tournament of the 1998 "off-season" was the Ohio Tournament Of Champions in Columbus, Ohio. On the drive there, I talked with him about his performance the previous weekend and reminded him how well he did once he wrestled with aggresiveness and intensity. Well, the 450 mile drive was worth it as Scott went 5-0 for first place. He won his first match 7-0 and then had two pins and a tech-fall before winning a tight 4-3 match in the finals. His finals match was against a 1998 Ohio state tournament qualifier and Scott was very cautious. He scored two takedowns and then basically defended against his opponents attacks for the entire third period. I really think that Scott could have beaten him easily but 4-3 was good enough.
And so, Scott has completed a long, hard off-season. He is now ready to start six day a week practices with his high school team as he gets ready for his last shot at a high school state title.
Scott completed his 1998 off-season wrestling with a match total of 116 in 30 tournaments (10 of these where national level events). His off-season record is as follows:
Open Greco-Roman: 2-1
Scott's 1998 Spring/Summer/Fall Off-Season Statistics:
Open Freestyle: 3-4
Open Folkstyle: 3-2
High School Greco-Roman: 11-8
High School Freestyle: 33-15
High School Folkstyle: 22-12
Open Record: 8-7
High School: 66-35
Total Record: 74-42
Please check Scott's Future Tournaments page to see what lies ahead.
rmcadoo@chesapeake.net
74 Terrace Drive
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
United States