That's right. The Buckeyes. That is a representation of who is writing this post. I took a picture of my hat, which, as you can see, is an Ohio State hat. I got this hat last March at the Ohio High School State Wrestling Tournament.
I was never really into high school wrestling until I met Kristy and her family. I don't even think I went to a match when I was in high school. I was too busy with either football or track practice. But roughly 8-9 years ago I attended my first wrestling match and began to develop somewhat of a passion for it. Then my "Brother from another Mother," Corey, wrestled his sophomore year after taking a year off during the 9th grade. This is when I really began to follow it. I wanted to know what was going out on the mats when Corey was wrestling.
Then we went to the State Tournament. A tradition that has been in the Graham family for probably over 30 years, I was now apart of. What tradition? Well since my Father-in-Law Ralph Graham is a Hall of Fame coach (in Ohio), they have attended the tournament each and every year, getting a hotel room and staying in Columbus (or Dayton for a short time) for the entire weekend (Thur-Sat). Three days of non-stop wrestling and eating out at the various Columbus restaurants.
I began attending the State Tourney in 2003. This year will be my 7th visit (we missed one year due to Kelly being prego with Mackenzie). With the help of Corey, I began to read up on the Brakeman Report, a ranking and analysis of each weight class for all three divisions with predictions, so that we could have a game to play while watching these wrestlers. We each take a bracket and pick who we think will be the winner of that weight class, then use a point system we make up to see who, at the end, had the most picks.
We also eat a large amount of Dippin' Dots, averaging 3 bowls of them per day.
We used to go to the Hooter's in Columbus, but they closed one of their locations 2 years ago, so we switched to going to the Olive Garden. However, we have found that the Hooter's has a new local in C-Bus closer to campus.
The hotel is also a fun thing to look forward too. There is usually other people we know there, so we can play card games or spoons while putting back a few beers late at night.
I kinda went on a rave about the wrestling tourney from a pic of my Ohio State hat, which I forgot why now. Looking back, I see that I mentioned I bought it at the tourney last year. That is also one thing I do year after year, make a purchase at the OSU team shop located in the arena.
This year we are taking Morgan and Rylee. This will be Rylee's first and Morgan's second, while Mackenzie (my niece) will also accompany us for her first time. I am excited for Morgan to go there because over the past year, after teaching her of course, she seems to be a big Ohio State fan, recognizing Brutus or the OSU decal whenever she sees it.
Well, being yelled at to "wrap it up chatty Kathy," so I will close out by sayin, "Go Bucks!"
No comments:
Post a Comment