Middle School News

12-21-07

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I am finishing up the arrangements for our CRMS Duals on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at the Coon Rapids High School Field House.

Now I am emailing all of you to see who will help out as volunteers at our tournament. The day will require lots of workers and the more we get the easier it is for everyone involved!

We have many individuals who have helped in previous years, so even if you do not know anything about tournaments, you can help, they will teach you!

The set up starts at 9:00 AM, the wrestlers do the mats and other items go pretty quick. The teams arrive at about 10:30, so I’d like to have the concessions open then. The coaches room with treats/lunch will need to be ready at 12:00 Noon. I’d like to have at least one adult in there at all times this year, as in the past there have been many problems. Wrestling Starts at 1:00 PM. We were done cleaning up by 7:00 PM last year.

So, If you can help us out in one of the following areas- let me know! Every hour you can put in will help! You do not have to miss your son wrestling, we will work to let everyone know who is wrestling in advance so you can leave to see the matches. Table workers get matside seats!

Tournament Jobs
9:00 – 11:00 Set up
10:30 – 6:30 Security (Walking the hallways and checking the locker rooms for problem behaviors)
10:30 – 6:30 Concessions
11:00 - ?      Weigh-ins
11:00 – 5:00 Tickets
11:30 – 6:00 Coaches Room Supervision
12:30 – 6:00 Table Workers/Scorekeepers( if you have experience doing this please volunteer!)
1:00 – 6:00   Runners/Tappers (This could be young people too)
10:00 – 6:00 Announcer (Harold Schuldt?)

If you can not help out with time, we ask that you help us stock the coaches room. We have hot dogs for them, so salads, chips desserts, etc. make this the coaches favorite tournament!

Thanks in advance for all your help and support of Coon Rapids Wrestling!

Mark Kuntz
Art Teacher/Coach Room 162
Coon Rapids Middle School
11600 Raven St NW
Coon Rapids, MN 55433-3096
Work Voice Mail 763-506-4854
Fax: 763-506-4803
Home Phone: 763-576-0490

The preseason is now over, the regular season starts on Monday 11/26.  We have been making sure the kids get all the needed forms in to start the season. Practice has been going fairly well, we have been spending a lot of time getting equipment out, paper work in and just general organization all together.   Thank Steve for all the organizational work he does with this team.  Without Steve we would be in chaos! The wrestlers have been doing great, we have a great group of kids this year that I am very excited to part of.  
 
Preseason Results:
We had one tournament and one dual meet during the preseason.  We had two teams at Henry Sibley MS tournament.  Team 2 took 5th place with a 2 and 2 record and could have been higher if they had a full line up.  Team 1 took first place with a 4 and 0 record.
 
Team 2 Results:
CR 2 VS Totino Grace Won 42 - 27
CR 2 Vs Henry Sibley Lost 30 - 36
CR 2 Vs Roseville Won 54 - 39
CR 2 Vs Park of Cottage Grove Lost 54 - 39
 
Team 1 Results:
CR 1 Vs Park of Cottage Grove 55 - 37
CR 1 Vs Chisago Lakes 96 - 6
CR 1 Vs Henry Sibley 66 - 27
CR 1 Vs Centennial 70 - 31
 
Between the two teams we had nine wrestlers go 4 - 0 during the tournament.  They are as follows:
Stephen Coughlin, Michael Coughlin, Joe Anderson, Cooper Anderson, Justin Robillard, Jared Paden, Jaime Cuate, John Schuldt, and Brandt Halseth.  Great job by all the wrestlers.  Some great battles were fought, the kids wrestled with heart.  Saw kids trying some of the things they have learned, that is a great feeling as a coach. Thanks parents for all your help in chaperoning the kids. The kids behaved great and were rewarded with a pizza party at CR Billiards paid for by the CR Mat Bandits booster club.   
 
We had a dual with St. Francis that we won by a close score of 54 - 51.  This is the first year in three years that we have beat them.  Congratulations to all the wrestlers for their hard work.  We still have much to learn. The improvement you will see in some of the wrestlers, especially some of the new ones, will amaze you.
 
Speaking of the Mat Bandits, since you have a kid wrestling at the MS I encourage you to become an active member of the Mat Bandits Booster Club.  It is a great club that does a lot for our program.  The CR Mat Bandits Booster club paid for all the kids to get a shirt and shorts, pays for all the busing for the tournaments and non district meets, tournament entry fees, pizza parties, will be reimbursing all parents the signup fee if your son misses less than four practices during the regular season, and pays to have two extra coaches.   It is a great club that not only does a lot for Coon Rapids wrestling put also a lot for Coon Rapids High School and other worthy causes in the community.   I highly recommend that you attend the meetings and get aquatinted with the board and if nothing else give them a thanks for all they do for our MS wrestling team.  
 
 
Schedule:
Some of the parents have been asking for a December Schedule.  We still do not have one finalized.  The district matches are scheduled by the Community Education Department.  They are in the process of getting a schedule finalized.  Soon as December is finalized we will get the kids a copy of the schedule.  What events we do know with concrete dates are as follows:
 
Dec 7th: Wrestle Apple Valley MS prior to the HS match at 6:00 at Coon Rapids HS.  This should be a great dual.  After our dual stay and watch the number 1 rated team in the state (Apple Valley) wrestle the number 2 rated team in the state our very own Coon Rapids Cardinals.  This should also be a great dual.  
 
Dec 8th: Wayzata MS Tournament.  This is the toughest MS tournament in the state with 24 of the best MS teams in the state attending.  Last year we were third and the year before we won it.  We are looking to step up from our third place finish.  During the next two weeks we will be working very hard to get ready for the tournament.  
 
Dec 12th: Forest Lake at Home.  We will honor all 8th graders during this match.  This is going to be another great dual.  They like St. Francis and Apple Valley have very solid MS programs.  We try to get some of the best teams on our schedule to measure where we are at.  
 
Jan 11th: Maple Grove MS at Maple Grove prior to the HS match at 6:00.   Maple Grove has a small program so we will only be taking 10 to 15 wrestlers on this trip.  
 
Jan 19th: Coon Rapids Middle School Tournament.  We will need all parents to volunteer.  
 
Jan 24, 25, 26: To Lansing Michigan to wrestle Lowel Michigan Middle School at 4:00 on January 25th prior to the Michigan State Vs Minnesota College match.  Michigan State vs. Minnesota Match is going to be on the Big Ten sports network.  We are hoping some of the highlights from our match will be played during action breaks of the Michigan State/Minnesota dual.  On the 26th we will be in a eight team tournament.  The site of the tournament has not been finalized as it is being arranged by Lowel Middle School.  We have already talked with the kids about the criteria for going on this trip.  Basically it is as follows in this order.  Parent approval, School (no academic issues, no attendance issues, no behavioral issues), Wrestling (team one or team two starter at time of trip, no attendance issues, no behavioral issues).   I think every kid that works hard and attends all practices and does well in school will be able to go even if they are not on team one or team two.  As we get closer to trip date I will have more information.  This trip is being paid for by the Coon Rapids Mat Bandits wrestling club.  Please thank the board members for allowing this to happen.    
 
We are still looking for one or two additional tournaments to bring our kids to.  We would like to find an individual tournament for the kids.  Will let you know if we find additional tournaments that meet our needs and schedule.
 
Once I know bus times and start times of the matches I will get the information out to your wrestler.  Shortly, we should have our new Coon Rapids wrestling web site up and running.  There will be a section for our Middle School that will have our schedule, results, pictures, etc.  Once it is running I will get the email address out to all of you.  
 
Please encourage you son to eat well, (no junk food, no pop), get plenty of sleep and to get their home work and studying done.  Most importantly, please encourage them to work hard and to let them know that hard work will achieve results (on the mat and in the class room)!