The season has finally come to an end.  State tournaments have come to a close and the Cyclones had great success on the podium.  At the MNUSA tournament we had Bryce Siem take 2nd in his first state tournament at the 10U level.  George Stevensen took 3rd in his first MNUSA state tournament.  Zander Montelongo took 4th in his first MNUSA tournament.

For NYWA we took a whopping 14 wrestlers to Sioux Falls, SD.  On the Podium was Liam Freeman took first.  Carson Besel took 2nd (in a Cyclone battle with Liam at 61 pounds).  George Stevensen took 2nd.  Bryce Siem took third.  Kaylor Eckstrom took 6th.  Knox Barrett took 7th. 

Each and all of the wrestlers have worked very hard this season and their improvements are great.  We had our end of the year party and we thank everyone that helped put that on for the club.

Looking toward the summer, we will have Freestyle practices beginning soon.  A summer beginner wrestling program for new athletes.  And some other great activities and opportunities for our club.  Keep an eye out for announcements of new things happening.
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Saint James held it's first preK-6 Duals this past weekend and it was a huge success.  New Ulm Rolling Thunder came in great numbers and the day went well.  We had great wrestling, good sportsmanship, fans in the stands.  The matches were streamed on the Facebook page, which was a first for us, and many other clubs.  We learned a lot and plan on continuing this for the next time we host (it will continue to get better as we work through the kinks).  We had wins and pins, and heartbreaking losses, but that is what is so great about the sport.

A lot of what you don't see in wrestling is what goes on to make it all work smoothly during the season.  This year has been very challenging for youth sports, with postponement of start dates, to a pause in the season, to the uncertainty of what practices to tournaments will even look like.  Still with all of this, the backbone of the organization has not stalled in planning, organizing, and coming up with solutions to all of our changing circumstances.

Our special team of coaches, and parents never cease to amaze me with how great they are and how committed they are to this sport that we all love.  We still may not know just how much of a season we will have, or if there will be any tournaments (duals or individuals) available in Minnesota, this group has tried to make sure that all of our wrestlers (and even athletes from other clubs) have avenues to stay connected with the team.  From the birth of this website, to the clubs Facebook page, daily virtual challenges, the updates on the Heja app, the phone calls and communications with schools and government officials, the financial planning, the school district personnel and administration, and even to a group who made special holiday gifts for everyone, these people have put in time each and every day for the Cyclone Wrestling club.

Thank you to all of those people who work so hard to keep the club moving forward.

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THROWBACK THURSDAY 12/17
Worth 1 escape point

Cary Kolat vs Mark Ironsides 1996
https://youtu.be/cJbJEx1mLhI 

Kyle Snyder vs Connor Medberry 2017
https://youtu.be/BlUnSZkajNk 

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MUSCLE MONDAY 12/14
worth 2 takedown points

The video today has some added equipment. If you don’t have weights and bands at home- no problem. Use cans of food or anything that’s 1-3 pounds and easily held in the hands (nothing too big), use a jump rope or even a belt to simulate the motion of the band exercises.
And you can do all of these exercises with no equipment at all.
https://youtu.be/YCsAO5u7m_A 

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