G-A wrestling coach Sam Blyveis is pictured on the shoulders of his wrestling team after G-A won the team district championship over Climax-Scotts 48-30 at Bellevue February 11 for G-A’s first team district championship since 2001.
By Bruce Rolfe
After the Galesburg-Augusta wrestling team defeated Climax-Scotts 48-30 in the team district championship match February 11 at Bellevue for G-A’s first team district championship since 2001, the team first lifted G-A coach Sam Blyveis on their shoulders as he hoisted the team district championship trophy. That euphoric moment was followed by a team picture with the trophy, bringing more laughs and smiles.
G-A defeated Vermontville Maple Valley 42-36 in the semifinals before ending Climax-Scotts’ string of four straight team district championships as part of a co-op with Martin
Blyveis said after learning of some recent struggles on the wrestling mat at G-A, watching his team with smiles on their faces as they celebrated a postseason trophy meant a lot.
“It’s not me, it’s getting to see the kids like this. Because you don’t see a whole lot of that in recent history with G-A which is unfortunate,” said Blyveis, as his team celebrated with the team district championship trophy.
Senor Jonah Ranes and junior Jaxsen Ray recalled some challenges the wrestling program went through when they were younger, making the team district championship very special. Especially since the last team district championship trophy G-A won was in 2001.
“We used to come into every single meet hoping that we would win with one kid, and now we won districts and are going on to the regionals. It’s big for us. It’s fun, I like it a lot,” said Ranes, who won his semifinal match by a forfeit and his district championship match against C-S by a pin.
“It means everything to me. The history for Galesburg. We’ve been struggling these past couple of years and Sam (coach Sam Blyveis) comes out and helps the team, and we really built a good team this year. I’m just proud of everybody,” adds Ray, who won both his matches at the team districts by forfeits.
While Blyveis and his team shifted their focus on the team regionals the Rams participated in February 18 at Schoolcraft, the first year G-A coach hopes last week’s team district championship will give a positive jolt to the program.
“I believe that the District win starts to set the bar. I have a saying that I came up with about a year ago, which is, “Mediocrity is a choice.” Everyone has the ability to become exceptional, if they are up to the challenge and willing to do the work. We set the bar yesterday (February 11). This weekend (at individual districts), hopefully we set new individual bars. Success breeds success. When the wrestling program is getting noticed, more eyes are on it. The more eyes that are on it, the more people want to be a part of it.
And so on. We have a good crop of young wrestlers coming up. In the past, many lost interest and simply quit. The successes make people want to join in on the success,” said
Blyveis.
After the Galesburg-Augusta wrestling team defeated Climax-Scotts 48-30 in the team district championship match February 11 at Bellevue for G-A’s first team district championship since 2001, the team first lifted G-A coach Sam Blyveis on their shoulders as he hoisted the team district championship trophy. That euphoric moment was followed by a team picture with the trophy, bringing more laughs and smiles.
G-A defeated Vermontville Maple Valley 42-36 in the semifinals before ending Climax-Scotts’ string of four straight team district championships as part of a co-op with Martin
Blyveis said after learning of some recent struggles on the wrestling mat at G-A, watching his team with smiles on their faces as they celebrated a postseason trophy meant a lot.
“It’s not me, it’s getting to see the kids like this. Because you don’t see a whole lot of that in recent history with G-A which is unfortunate,” said Blyveis, as his team celebrated with the team district championship trophy.
Senor Jonah Ranes and junior Jaxsen Ray recalled some challenges the wrestling program went through when they were younger, making the team district championship very special. Especially since the last team district championship trophy G-A won was in 2001.
“We used to come into every single meet hoping that we would win with one kid, and now we won districts and are going on to the regionals. It’s big for us. It’s fun, I like it a lot,” said Ranes, who won his semifinal match by a forfeit and his district championship match against C-S by a pin.
“It means everything to me. The history for Galesburg. We’ve been struggling these past couple of years and Sam (coach Sam Blyveis) comes out and helps the team, and we really built a good team this year. I’m just proud of everybody,” adds Ray, who won both his matches at the team districts by forfeits.
While Blyveis and his team shifted their focus on the team regionals the Rams participated in February 18 at Schoolcraft, the first year G-A coach hopes last week’s team district championship will give a positive jolt to the program.
“I believe that the District win starts to set the bar. I have a saying that I came up with about a year ago, which is, “Mediocrity is a choice.” Everyone has the ability to become exceptional, if they are up to the challenge and willing to do the work. We set the bar yesterday (February 11). This weekend (at individual districts), hopefully we set new individual bars. Success breeds success. When the wrestling program is getting noticed, more eyes are on it. The more eyes that are on it, the more people want to be a part of it.
And so on. We have a good crop of young wrestlers coming up. In the past, many lost interest and simply quit. The successes make people want to join in on the success,” said
Blyveis.
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