Column by Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
The State Championship match is coming up soon. How would you prepare for it?
Goals such as these are within grasp, and there's no way anyone should let it slip
away. Because of this, athletes prepare with a little more focus and intensity. There's a
different mindset going into such a critical event.
Newman and Stillman Valley's wrestling teams needed to prepare for their battle for the
Class 1A championship at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington on Saturday. Normally,
things would be very serious right about now.
Glenbard North and Minooka, soon to wrestle each other on the other side of the
arena, prepared intensely for their Class 3A title match. Minooka was trying to win back-
to-back titles. On the next mat over, in Class 2A, the same intense preparation
atmosphere could be seen out of Lombard Montini and Crystal Lake Central. Montini
looked to defend its championship from last year, while Central was trying just as hard
to get that elusive team goal that the Broncos denied them of in last year's
championship match.
One mat over, there seemed to be an absence of adrenaline pumping. Sure, it was
there, but it was hard to find.
Hard to find underneath the way Newman and Stillman Valley prepared for their match.
Together.
Newman and Stillman Valley faced each other once in the regular season. They
wrestled at the same team sectional at Morrison the Tuesday prior to Team State. They
wrestled as individuals at the Oregon Sectional.
They know each other.
Intense preparation, the same as the mat over, wasn't seen as the two teams came to
their mat for warmups. Instead, the two teams sat around and talked for a while.
This wasn't seen on the other two mats. This wasn't even seen on the consolation mats
– including the Class 1A third-place mat, where Prairie Central and LeRoy were
preparing for their dual.
Newman (located in Sterling) and Stillman Valley are only 40 miles away from each
other. In the one-off offseason events, there is sure to be wrestlers from both teams
honing their skills.
It's this kind of familiarity that made this championship match special.
“It's a great friendship,” said Stillman Valley's Nick Harrison. “We've wrestled with these
kids since we were in junior high. All through high school we've messed around. It's
great friendship, and it's just great competition. That's the thing I love about it – there's
no better team to wrestle than Sterling Newman for the state finals, because they are a
great group of kids.”
Newman assistant coach Quentin Smith yells out drills intended for his wrestlers. The
wrestlers stand up from laying or sitting on the mats, and the friendly chit-chat is over
with.
Or is it?
“Roll!”
Newman's wrestlers tumble forward onto the ground. So do a few Stillman Valley
wrestlers.
“Shot!”
Newman's wrestlers lunge forward in attacking mode. So do a few Stillman Valley
wrestlers.
“Roll!”
“Shot!”
Very unlikely before a match is are there opposing teams working together to prepare
for one. Especially when this match is for a state championship.
“We're really good friends on and off the mat with a lot of respect for each other,”
Newman's Jonathan Ortman said. “They're a great group of guys, and fun to hang out
with. So it's great that we're the two best teams in the state, really good friends.”
Eventually the closeness is set aside for the team gatherings near their edges of the
mat. Then came the pre-match toss to decide, among other things, who is red and who
is green. The referees tell the team's coaches and captains to shake hands after the
meeting is over.
Shake hands? The Newman and Stillman Valley wrestlers did much more than that.
Miah Shearer even jumped onto Newman coach Steve Davis for a hug. Nearly half-an-
hour later Shearer was to do battle with Jake Snow, Newman's state champion at 112
pounds.
“We first really came together with Newman my freshman year,” Shearer said. “They
had a lot of seniors that graduated a year or two ago, and we were good friends with
them since IK(WF). So we already knew each other, and it's just like a bond.”
The last time Snow and Shearer tangled, the eventual state champ scored a technical
fall with nine seconds left in the bout. This win avenged an earlier loss from when the
two teams met at their triangular at Rock Falls. Shearer won a 3-2 decision from Snow
then.
Snow, a freshman, has many more matches left in his career. This was Shearer's last.
Neither could muster a takedown of the other. The only point of the bout came as
Shearer let Snow up to neutral for a second-period point.
Normally a senior would feel disappointed on this grand stage, falling in his final match.
However, when the post-bout handshake concluded, the two embraced at the center of
the circle before Snow's hand was raised by the referee.
“They're like brothers in a way,” Shearer said. “Every year we look forward to this and
State just to hang out with them and have a good time. It's real fun.”
The 2011 Class 1A State Wrestling Championship dual puts a whole new meaning to
the phrase “friendly rivals as members of opposing teams.” When interest of high
school sports sometimes hinges on the meetings between archrivals, it goes to show
that any hate can be put aside even in the most important of times.
Both Newman and Stillman Valley deserve larger IHSA “Do What's Right!”
sportsmanship banners than any other team that competed on Saturday.
Cody Cutter is Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
The State Championship match is coming up soon. How would you prepare for it?
Goals such as these are within grasp, and there's no way anyone should let it slip
away. Because of this, athletes prepare with a little more focus and intensity. There's a
different mindset going into such a critical event.
Newman and Stillman Valley's wrestling teams needed to prepare for their battle for the
Class 1A championship at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington on Saturday. Normally,
things would be very serious right about now.
Glenbard North and Minooka, soon to wrestle each other on the other side of the
arena, prepared intensely for their Class 3A title match. Minooka was trying to win back-
to-back titles. On the next mat over, in Class 2A, the same intense preparation
atmosphere could be seen out of Lombard Montini and Crystal Lake Central. Montini
looked to defend its championship from last year, while Central was trying just as hard
to get that elusive team goal that the Broncos denied them of in last year's
championship match.
One mat over, there seemed to be an absence of adrenaline pumping. Sure, it was
there, but it was hard to find.
Hard to find underneath the way Newman and Stillman Valley prepared for their match.
Together.
Newman and Stillman Valley faced each other once in the regular season. They
wrestled at the same team sectional at Morrison the Tuesday prior to Team State. They
wrestled as individuals at the Oregon Sectional.
They know each other.
Intense preparation, the same as the mat over, wasn't seen as the two teams came to
their mat for warmups. Instead, the two teams sat around and talked for a while.
This wasn't seen on the other two mats. This wasn't even seen on the consolation mats
– including the Class 1A third-place mat, where Prairie Central and LeRoy were
preparing for their dual.
Newman (located in Sterling) and Stillman Valley are only 40 miles away from each
other. In the one-off offseason events, there is sure to be wrestlers from both teams
honing their skills.
It's this kind of familiarity that made this championship match special.
“It's a great friendship,” said Stillman Valley's Nick Harrison. “We've wrestled with these
kids since we were in junior high. All through high school we've messed around. It's
great friendship, and it's just great competition. That's the thing I love about it – there's
no better team to wrestle than Sterling Newman for the state finals, because they are a
great group of kids.”
Newman assistant coach Quentin Smith yells out drills intended for his wrestlers. The
wrestlers stand up from laying or sitting on the mats, and the friendly chit-chat is over
with.
Or is it?
“Roll!”
Newman's wrestlers tumble forward onto the ground. So do a few Stillman Valley
wrestlers.
“Shot!”
Newman's wrestlers lunge forward in attacking mode. So do a few Stillman Valley
wrestlers.
“Roll!”
“Shot!”
Very unlikely before a match is are there opposing teams working together to prepare
for one. Especially when this match is for a state championship.
“We're really good friends on and off the mat with a lot of respect for each other,”
Newman's Jonathan Ortman said. “They're a great group of guys, and fun to hang out
with. So it's great that we're the two best teams in the state, really good friends.”
Eventually the closeness is set aside for the team gatherings near their edges of the
mat. Then came the pre-match toss to decide, among other things, who is red and who
is green. The referees tell the team's coaches and captains to shake hands after the
meeting is over.
Shake hands? The Newman and Stillman Valley wrestlers did much more than that.
Miah Shearer even jumped onto Newman coach Steve Davis for a hug. Nearly half-an-
hour later Shearer was to do battle with Jake Snow, Newman's state champion at 112
pounds.
“We first really came together with Newman my freshman year,” Shearer said. “They
had a lot of seniors that graduated a year or two ago, and we were good friends with
them since IK(WF). So we already knew each other, and it's just like a bond.”
The last time Snow and Shearer tangled, the eventual state champ scored a technical
fall with nine seconds left in the bout. This win avenged an earlier loss from when the
two teams met at their triangular at Rock Falls. Shearer won a 3-2 decision from Snow
then.
Snow, a freshman, has many more matches left in his career. This was Shearer's last.
Neither could muster a takedown of the other. The only point of the bout came as
Shearer let Snow up to neutral for a second-period point.
Normally a senior would feel disappointed on this grand stage, falling in his final match.
However, when the post-bout handshake concluded, the two embraced at the center of
the circle before Snow's hand was raised by the referee.
“They're like brothers in a way,” Shearer said. “Every year we look forward to this and
State just to hang out with them and have a good time. It's real fun.”
The 2011 Class 1A State Wrestling Championship dual puts a whole new meaning to
the phrase “friendly rivals as members of opposing teams.” When interest of high
school sports sometimes hinges on the meetings between archrivals, it goes to show
that any hate can be put aside even in the most important of times.
Both Newman and Stillman Valley deserve larger IHSA “Do What's Right!”
sportsmanship banners than any other team that competed on Saturday.
Cody Cutter is Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
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Friendly Rivals as Members of
Opposing Teams
Opposing Teams
Newman, Stillman Valley Wrestling Teams Prepared for Title Match a Little Differently ...
Photo by Cody Cutter
Newman and Stillman Valley wrestlers shat with each other prior to wrestling each other for the
Class 1A State Championship last Saturday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.
Newman and Stillman Valley wrestlers shat with each other prior to wrestling each other for the
Class 1A State Championship last Saturday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.