Photos & Videos--Just for Uncle Mick

Happy New Year 2010

Well, the last few months have been crazy! Marx is doing well in school. He has one class that he is struggling in, but not for a lack of trying. His teacher is new and has expectations that most college students couldn't achieve. The class average is a low C and the teacher has yet to adjust so that more students are successful. Marx is giving A effort for a C and that is a struggle to watch and further more, motivate him to continue to work that hard.

In October, Marx went right from football into wrestling. He is still working with the trainer, primarily on conditioning and strength training and also working with his Talon coaches. He is a hard worker and a go getter. High School wrestling officially started in November and his new coaches are great. His head coach is Lanny Bryant, who is a long time wrestling coach at the high school and college levels. Cody Bryant is an assistant coach who was a 3x state champ for Hellgate. Glenn Jarrett is one of Marx's Little Guy coaches and a great coach who really likes Marx's motivation on the mat. Dave Morrison is another coach who was also one of the football coaches that we liked and Mike Merrit is also coaching too. Marx loves how intense Lanny runs the practices--there is no time for goofing off which was one of his frustrations when he practiced last year with the high school team.

Our first Dual was in Helena--Marx made the JV team right out of the shoot, but at the last minute was moved to Varsity because the Varsity 135 pounder didn't make weight. 10 minutes before the first match and we get the news. Marx's response was classic--big eyes and a sweaty brow. We had to wrestle Capital High first and as I watch Marx walk out of the mat, I am about ready to have a meltdown. JV I was prepared for--but Varsity as a freshman??? Not so much. He walks on the mat, the ref walks up to him and up goes his hand. Marx won by forfeit--6 team points and no match. Talk about build up and let down. Next he wrestled Anaconda and lost by pin in the second round. He actually had the kid in a pinning combination but was too high on the chest and got flipped--it was a bummer since he was ahead in points. I knew it would be crazy when the wrestler from Anaconda had more tats than a felon. Next up was Dillon and again another pin loss. Still, Marx scored points and was wrestling really well. Finally, Noah Rivers from Helena High--a triple crown winner that Marx has wrestled a few times. The kid is an excellent wrestler. He pinned Marx in a questionable pin combo, but Marx realized that he put himself in that position. I was worried that Marx would be discouraged--1-3, and 3 by pins. He wasn't. He felt that he made the mistakes that caused him to lose and that those mistakes were the result of less experience--he was wrestling mostly seniors.

Next Dual was against Hamilton. Hamilton didn't have enough wrestlers for a full JV squad so he had a intersquad match. He won, but it meant beating a teammate. We then had a last minute Dual in Anaconda. Again, Marx was bumped up to Varsity at the last minute. Marx pulled another senior and had him pinned, but just not quite long enough. The kid managed to push Marx over--super strong kid, and next thing we know Marx was staring at the ceiling.

Next tournament was in Hamilton. We were told that it was a JV tournament, but when we got there we realized it was a Varsity tournament with only a 3 JV teams entered. The level of competition was amazing. Marx had the most success of the entire JV squad. He was on the championship side of the bracket the longest and scored the most team points. His first two matches went the entire 3 rounds and if it wasn't for his work with the training, he would have gassed out in both. He did wonderful, except he kept trying the head and arms rather than take downs. Something the coaches need to work with--Marx doesn't like to get crossfaced because of his nose, so he doesn't like to shoot. He got pinned in the third round and was really bummed--"I gave it to him mom". The last match was a dud on the ref side. Marx was cradled, but only 1 shoulder down and was kicking loose--not even close to a pin, but the ref called it. Marx's coaches tried to argue but to no avail. Marx's response was great though and it shows how much he is learning and growing--"shouldn't have gotten stuck in the cradle to begin with."

The next tournament was the Holiday Classic in Great Falls. 37 teams attend the tournament from around the state and it is the toughest tournament our wrestlers will be in. Marx challenged and won his varsity spot this time. He lost out right away, but each of his matches he "should" have won. His wrestling is at a stage where he knows enough to be dangerous. Usually, the excitement gets him into a little trouble and the only thing to fix that is more wrestling. The great thing about big tournaments is they usually run a connected tournament on Saturday for those that lose out on Friday. Marx went 2-2 at this tournament. This was the first time this year that Marx felt his last loss was a result of a better wrestler beating him rather than him beating himself. Marx also had to wrestle a blind wrestler from Poplar. That was interesting as Marx had to maintain contact at all times and had a list of takedowns that he couldn't do. The wrestler was strong and once they were down on the mat, you couldn't really tell he was blind. It was amazing to watch this. Marx tried the head and arms twice and about got stuck each time. I was a little upset that he tried that since you feel the head and arms coming, which the Poplar kid did. While Marx never underestimated the kid, it was a great learning experience for him. His options were limited and what he could do he isn't comfortable with so he walked away with things to work on.

Marx entered a poem he wrote in a school contest. Writers had to use 10 words, couldn't rhyme and another list of do's and don'ts so it was interesting to see the results. His English teacher thought he had a great chance of winning. Here is the poem. I italicized the words he had to use

The Dim Corridor, by Marx Kemmer

The hall folded

as the light dimmed

in the corridor

I put in the key

I felt a slight breath

a point of light

braided on the wall

The light spread in half

like the roots of a tree

A scream echoed in the night

On December 26th, a tragedy hit. 4 friends of Marx's, two he has known since Kindergarden, were hit by a drunk driver as they were walking along the road waiting for a ride. Taylor and Ashlee were killed instantly, Teal was injured, and poor Hailey witnessed it all. To make matters worse, Marx was texting Ashlee at the time it happened, but we didn't know what happened until we heard the news and realized the timeline. Taylor was Marx's first "girlfriend" in the 3rd grade. They have been good friends since day one and were only 2 days apart in age. Taylor was also the only girl to date who has been invited to his birthday parties and Marx endured being the only boy at a couple of hers--make up, fingernail polish and all. Ashlee was also a good friend. It has been a difficult time for Marx and his friends. Boys don't seem to know how to deal with this and Marx was trying to be strong for everyone else. I also think he didn't want to upset me by displaying any emotion, but our house has been pretty quiet since this happened. These types of situations are always difficult, especially since they are completely preventable.