PB Monster had his first wrestling matches today.  He started wrestling practice in February. The wrestling match was in Wenatchee, WA.

 For us, it started at 8:30 with weigh-in, which was really simple.  PB Monster stood on a bathroom scale; they wrote his weight and age on his arm in permanent marker.  PB's eyes went round at an adult writing on a body part with marker.  After that, we found PB Monster's team in the stands.  The tourney was slated to start at 10:00.  The youngest wrestlers, 5-6 year-olds, wrestle first.  At 10:45, the announcer mentions that the tournament will start in 15 minutes.  An hour later, they finally start the first matches.  Apparently, there was a computer glitch.  The computer glitch haunted us for the rest of the day.  The first hour we waited, PB was in what's called the pairing room with his coaches.  All the kids from the age group on deck to wrestle are gathered in the pairing room (without parents), and the officials and coaches pair kids with the opponent for the round.  For the second hour of waiting, PB Monster was sitting in the stands.  Thank you to all the parents' who packed various mobile video game consoles.  PB watched video games, rough housed, and begged to go home before dark.

PB Monsters finally was called for his first match.  Matches have three bouts, and each bout lasts for one minute.  PB Monster spent a lot of time on the bottom his first bout.  He did a really good job of rolling to his stomach, staying off his back, and even won a few points for escapes.  The second bout, PB Monster was pinned in what I'd guess was the first fifteen or twenty seconds.  I'm not sure that he even realized that he'd lost

After another, nearly three hour delay, PB Monster had his second bout.  In Washington's little guy league, if you lose twice, you're out.  After sitting for 6 hours to watch a minute and half of PB Monster wrestling, I was OK with the possibility of him losing, so we could start the drive home. PB Monster's second opponent was nothing like his first opponent.

The little guy that PB was wrestling started crying during the first bout.  PB Monster instantly backed off, and started looking around to see who was going to get him in trouble for making another kid cry.  In between bouts, Coach Bret tried to remind PB Monster to stay on his opponent, go for legs, and pin the other kid.  PB Monster had at least two pins in the second bout, but the ref didn't call them.  The other little kid was crying and laying on his back.  PB Monster felt bad for the other kid; PB kept trying to reassure the other kid that everything was OK.  I think, if Coach Bret hadn't been encouraging PB Monster, that PB Monster would have rolled over on his back to make the other kid stop crying.  The ref finally called a pin and named PB Monster the winner near the end of the third bout.  Even with being upset by the other guys crying, PB Monster had managed to score some points, and used some of the moves from practice.

By winning the match, PB Monster advanced to the next round, but, with a four drive, we left anyway.  Maybe next time, the match will run on time, and PB Monster will be able to stay for the entire tourney with shot at a medal.