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Last week Dodgeville wrestled River Valley in a SWC match, but Brady
Wetter didn't wrestle his 220 lb. opponent in the dual. Instead he wrestled
another opponent. Here's what was printed on Channel 15 News about the
match Wetter had. (see above photo of referee Harry Hellen raising Sean's
arm in victory.)
"It's a true definition of a winner. Brady Wetter is one of the top wrestlers
in the state; however on Tuesday night, he met his match. He took on another
outstanding athlete - who has Down Syndrome - from wrestling power house
River Valley High School.
Wetter opponent, Sean Nolan, has wrestled for four years. The Blackhawk
senior sometimes struggles to find someone to face off with on the mat.
"[Sean] is super energetic. He's really funny. He's a good kid to be around,"
said Wetter.
Because of that he wanted to give him a chance. Wetter said, "I wanted him
to be happy, be excited, have a smile on his face. But I didn't want to just
give it to him. I wanted to make him work a little bit."
After three periods of work, Nolan pinned Wetter. It's something very few
have done. While Nolan is a man of few words, his face said it all. "I was
happy," said Nolan.
Many would say Nolan is the lucky one; however, Coach Curtis Fiedler
thinks otherwise. "It's a testament to the character of Brady and the character
of all those kids that have come before Brady and after Brady that are lucky
enough to match with Sean and vise versa."
Wetter said, "It was definitely a win for me seeing him get excited like that
and smile and just let him enjoy that."
*****
The UW Badgers men's basketball team, under the direction of Cobb's own
Greg Gard, lost another heartbreaker to a ranked team. They have now lost
by one point, in the Big 10, to a tough Indiana team and #3 Maryland. Earlier
they lost a tight one to #17 Purdue. They are real close, but not quite there
yet. They don't need moral wins - they need wins over some of these ranked
opponents. It will come. I have complete faith in Gard and his coaching!
*****
We have hit our first cold snap of the winter season. We were really spoiled
in December and now on January 10 we got our first below zero temperature.
The wind on Sunday made it feel even colder. But, each day gets us one day
closer to spring - as one person reminded me!
*****
Three of the 4 Amigos went to Spring Green - General Store - Saturday
morning for breakfast. It's always a great breakfast - the pancakes are to die
for (even though I don't want to die!) We always see Sharon Nicolas
(Dodgeville artisan) there and have a good talk with her. She's the same age
as Terry Carrol, Dewey Christoph and myself. In fact, her birthday is the day
after Terry's, whose birthday is inbetween Dewey's and mine!
*****
The Green Bay Packers came alive Sunday and looked like "the Packers
of old" when they took down the Washington Redskins. It was about time
we saw them come together on both offense and defense. It was also nice to
see smiles on the faces of Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy and a lot of
the rest of the players. Even former UW Badger Jared Abbrederis got into
the action, catching a few passes and making a catch on a two point conversion.
He played against Dodgeville back during his Wautoma High School
days!