Saturday was a fine day of wrestling as for the 5th year in a row an Alba was wrestling in the South Suburban Conference in Lakeville, MN.
Last year both Gage, Kobe and Antwoine wrestled in the tournament and it was a busy day going between matches. This year we had only one wrestler in the race, but a lot of Kobe's teammates to follow.
Kobe was placed in the 145 pound Silver Division and was the first match of the day. He drew a wrestler from Farmington and he took control of the match right away. Kobe was once again aggressive as he took an early lead, but was never able to fall his opponent. After three periods Kobe won by major decision 10-0.
Kobe's second match was against a wrestler from Bloomington Kennedy that earned a draw the first round. Kobe took no time in taking him down and won by fall within :16 seconds. This win moved Kobe to the Championship round.
Kobe last round match was against a young wrestler from Apple Valley. Apple Valley has a nationally recognized program and the Apple Valley wrestler had a win in the first round 12-5 over an Eastview wrestler and a fall in the second round at 1:45 against another Eastview wrestler.
Kobe got off to a fast start scoring first with a take down, but his opponent was able to escape and then score a take down of his own. Kobe struggled on the bottom the rest of the first period, but didn't allow any points. Kobe started in neutral position the second round and came up short on an attempt of a double leg shot. His opponent was able to scramble around and convert this to a take down. Once again Kobe had difficulty getting to a neutral position as his opponent was very active on top. Kobe was able to thwart his offense, but was not able to get neutral. The last period is where filming picked up.
Unfortunately Kobe lost the match 2-7, but he did earn second place in the Silver Division. Was a great time. Here are a few pictures from the awards.