Report from Coach Colin Gay

The boys and I had a great time on our New York trip. They represented Woodberry and your families well. I would first like to thank Mr. Kadick for setting up the trip. It was a great experience for our program and the boys. I would also like to thank Mr. Middleditch for offering to be a driver on the trip. Mr. Kadick had two individuals who helped make the trip happen. John Dougherty who is a member of the NYAC and Alex Porter who is a Woodberry alumnus and also a member of the NYAC. John Dougherty set up the match at the NYAC, arranged for the technique sessions with the NCAA finalists, worked with the boys on technique himself, and paid for the buffet dinner after the match on Friday. He also made the trip to the New York Stock Exchange possible. Alex Porter helped make the match at the NYAC happen and picked up the bill for the rooms at the NYAC and our dinners at the tap room. The boys and I wrote thank you letters to Mr. Kadick, Mr. Dougherty , and Mr. Porter expressing our gratitude for all that they did for us. I have included a summary of our trip below.

We departed from Woodberry at 10:00 on Thursday morning and arrived in New York at about 4:30. The New York Athletic Club was quite a nice place to stay. We practiced at the NYAC at about 6:00 on Thursday night with a number of NCAA finalists. For dinner that evening we ate at the Tap Room at the NYAC. Many of the boys enjoyed steak while others had to watch their weight a little more due to the Friday morning weigh-in. We rose bright and early for a 7:00 am. weigh-in on Friday. The boys then went to Astro a local diner for breakfast. At 9:00 Mr. Kadick arranged for a tour bus and a guide to drive us around New York to see the sights. We had a very interesting tour guide who I am confident that your sons will tell you about. Since many of the boys had never been to New York it was a great way to see the sights. We saw Ground Zero, Time Square, The Chrysler Building and many other sights. At 12:00 we actually went into the Stock Exchange which is now closed to the public however Mr. Kadick was able to get us a sponsor who was very gracious in showing us around and explaining how everything worked. The boys then traveled back to the NYAC to set up for the match. The match against St. Benedicts was the first high school match to be wrestled at the NYAC. We are very lucky that John Dougherty and Alex Porter worked so hard to get this match to happen. The match took place at 5:00 in the main gym at the NYAC in front of a fairly large crowd of parents, alumni, and NYAC Members. Woodberry wrestled tough against a very strong St. Benedicts team who took 6th at The National Prep Tournament last year. The score of the match was lopsided in favor of St. benedicts but the boys fought hard. Highlights of the match included a nice win by Drew Middleditch, close losses by Jack Laub and Tom Flaherty. Jake Marcey had the most exciting match where he lost a very tough match in the last seconds. I was proud of the way that the boys fought hard despite the loss. The match was followed by a buffet dinner at the NYAC which was very nice. After the dinner Mr. Middleditch took some of the boys to see Times Square. On Saturday the boys were up at 7:30 for practice preparing for the next match. We departed NYC at 10:00 traveling back to Woodberry for practice and a movie in Charlottesville. On Sunday the boys continued their quest for excellence with two practices before the rest of Woodberry returned from break. The practices that we had on Saturday and Sunday we the best that we have had all year. The trip was great. The commitment that the boys showed by giving up part of their break and working so hard in practice bodes well for the future of Woodberry Wrestling.