Day: February 17, 2025

Part # 4 of 6 : Carroll County High School Wrestling Coach was in need of a date to take to Salem this weekend and he found it in Samuel Collins !

Those who know hard working West Long has a beautiful Bride 👰 and an adorable daughter but he desperately needed a date to take to the Salem Civic Center for the State Tournament slated for February 21st and 22nd ( weather permitting).

Long is finishing up his second season in his 18 year plan and he has worked nonstop over the past 12 months. The vision in place is next level and I’m as on board with him as I can get. From writing ✍ to sponsorship to hosting his Senior Night just recently, I am all in on the West Long Express. Having at least one wrestler qualify for State would be such a shot in the arm for the foundation that is being built on The Hill.

Virginia has 14 High School 🏫 Weight Classes and 10 Cavaliers earned the right to ride the bus 🚌 up to Staunton River High School on Saturday morning. One young Lady and 9 young Men made Weight after surviving the rain 🌧 soaked trip.

Four of the Ten wrestled their way into the Consolation Semi-final, meaning that they were one more victory from the Promise Land of HS Wrestling.

First up was Amelia Dalton and the two of us have a History, going back to her Freshman season at the Regional tournament. Please take a look back at her profile from that day to get a greater understanding of what this young Lady is made of. Next season the hope is that Virginia will catchup with the rest of the United States by making Girls Wrestling an official sport but Miss Dalton didn’t wait for it. She was willing to wrestle the Boys.

Amelia came up just short in her efforts down the stretch but my take away from the day will be with me for quite some time. The combination of her desire and her Father’s Love was something worthy of an After School special.

Next up was Samuel Collins and anyone who knows this young Man knows he loves life and is trying hard to enjoy his home stretch on The Hill.

Senior Night 🌙

Collins, who for the sake of my appreciation for Junior Varsity is the older brother of Judah Collins. Judah plays Basketball 🏀 for Jason Stockner.

Collins won his match and couldn’t wait to celebrate with his nearby family and teammates. He was well aware of his accomplishment and he knew how hard he worked to get there. Collins did fall short in his next match, leaving him in the #4 spot and he will be one of 16 in his weight class in Salem.

The next two competitors now share a similar story. Both Fisher Myers and Louis Marshall lost their next match before winning their final one.

The significance of their finishes places both of the friendly as can be Student Athletes in a unique position. They finished 5th, which is the first alternate for Salem. We can go back two years ago when one of our Alternates ended up in Salem.

This gets tricky because after months of trying hard to make weight, when the season ends one wants to eat everything that was a no-no over the past months. I remember that our Wrestler was running through the streets of Salem that morning at 5am in hopes of making weight.

West Long also has a way cool Father-in-law, an amazing Assistant Coach and both Myers and Dalton coming back. He’s got me trying hard to beat the Drum for the program and now he has a Date for State !

The long term goal is to have the team qualified for State and while this might be seen as a Baby 👶 step, trust me, its so much more !

Puzzles can be Fun somedays, others can be a bit of a challenge. Next few days are going to get interesting…

It’s 1 pm on Monday and here’s what the next 24 hours look like.

The clip above shows that the JV Girls 👧 and Varsity Girls 👧 will be playing tonight for if not the final time then close to the final time. They are attempting to make up the Non-District games at Christiansburg tonight beginning at 5:30.

Linda has a 7:00 am ✈️✈✈️ out of Roanoke in the morning, meaning getting there at 5:30.

We are supposed to host a College baseball⚾️ game tomorrow at Noon in Beckley, WV and that has two words attached to it – weather permitting.

There are still three stories to write ✍ from the weekend and each will require more time than normal.

I have a treatment down in Mount Airy here in 90 minutes that will take a while and can’t be pushed.

From there Lin has a 5pm Appointment in Galax that has been moved once already and needs to happen before her flight ✈️.

Duke at Virginia is at 8pm so there’s that for Lin.

We know that today will be the final time our Junior Varsity Girls will play so whether its in person or on the Network, there needs to be time for that!

Tomorrow night the JV Boys 👦 Basketball team will play their final home 🏡 game so that’s pretty important. The Varsity plays as well but they are guaranteed to return home at least once.

Serious Family 👪 matter taking place in Tennessee on Wednesday and then let’s not forget the pending Storm that is heading our way for Wednesday and Thursday.

  Puzzle is this, when is the correct time to take Lin to Roanoke ahead of her business trip that will have her gone until right before the Banquet.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to plug in time to continue to work on the Banquet….

Throwing something overboard is never an option so the cost of Caring about others is wear and tear.

Stories on Wrestling, Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 and Swimming 🏊‍♂️ are the three in the Hopper.

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Update – Story #4 (Wrestling) of 6 was written during my treatment !

Squeezed in stops ✋ at Ron Cochran (Omega) and the Tax office 🏢 and still made it to Lin’s 5pm Appointment !

Volleyball 🏐🏐🏐🏐 in Blacksburg on March 2nd is going to be a Big Deal for our Friend Cindy Edwards so its time to acknowledge her today so she can focus on the future of our VB Program.

Coach Edwards with Madison Stockner and Kalee Bunn.

Thank you to Patti Goins and Marion Harris for helping me understand even more about the weekend competition that will be taking place at Virginia Tech opposite our Banquet.

Last year the travel teams were playing down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee so there was zero chance of  any crossover attendance. The reality is that now that I understand much more about the day and the four teams that will be competing under the Carroll County umbrella 🌂, there shouldn’t be any this year either.

  Having just experienced four different ” Day Long ” events this past weekend, the last thing I want to do is add to the plate 🍽 of someone who gives of herself for so many as Coach Edwards does.

We will still honor 🎖 our Friend who fights the good fight everyday 👏 and we will tell her about it after the fact.

Patti Goins, Kevin DeHaven, Travis Osborne and Coach Edwards have a busy, busy weekend up at VT. I hope that everything goes smoothly and our four teams 🙏 compete and represent in the manner Coach Edwards desires !

We Love 💘 You , Coach !

I will take a break from writing ✍ long enough to share the thoughts of Chris Graham ahead of tonights Duke at UVA Men’s Basketball 🏀 game.

Chris and I go back two decades or so and we share a link in we are in possession of a University of Virginia degree. Chris earned his and I funded mine as our youngest of five 🎓 graduated from The Grounds.

Tonight should be a fun night inside JPJ!

https://augustafreepress.com/news/uva-basketball-do-the-hoos-have-a-chance-with-3-duke-on-big-monday/

Part 3 of 6 – Our Elijah Cox was back in the Neighborhood on Saturday (Averette) and Sunday (Ferrum) and our former Cavalier is becoming a 3-point rifleman !

Randolph (Lynchburg) was busy this weekend with a regular season game in Danville and a third try to play their game at Ferrum.

The Randolph College Wildcats ended up on the short end of the scoreboard one time and winning one but the games were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Let’s begin with Saturday – The Wildcats held on for a edge of your seat 💺, double overtime Victory, 97-95

Cox, last time I talked with him mentioned the possibility of playing Basketball 🏀 overseas after this year. When you are 6’5 in High School you are considered HUGE, when you are 6’5 in college you might be considered Big but in the World 🌎 of professional Basketball, 6’5 is just 6’5.

Take a look at the scoring line for our Sophomore in the win on Saturday. 11 points and one rebound on 3 of 10 shooting from behind the 3-point line. Those numbers are shooting guard numbers, a position that Cox will need to be able to play if he chooses to continue to chase his Dream. The difference between 3 of 10 and 4 of 10 from deep is a fine line between being good and being great in regards to percentages.

Cox and his team might have been a little worn out from 2 overtimes as less than 24 hours later they were up at Ferrum for what they call back to back games.

The Wildcats were limited to just 65 points in the lopsided setback but Cox netted 11 points and four rebounds on the day. 3 of 8 from 3 (.375%) and 4 of 10 overall was the breakdown.

Six of 18 (.333%) over a weekend is clearly a sign of a few things, the first being a Coach with confidence in your game to play the #2 and #3 spots on the floor. ➕ it shows that Cox has been working on his shooters mentality since I saw him last.

The Wildcats have two home games remaining in the regular season and then we will see how the ODAC tournament plays out.

Don’t forget that Mother Nature is multi talented and she might have something to say about the coming week.

Normally we would say that our little player is growing up right in front of our eyes 👀 but in the case of Mr Cox, he is shrinking into a role that might just extend his career.