When you get a chance to look at a season schedule, you always pay extra special attention to those events you know are going to bring excitement. The fireworks. The great wrestling. And in what seems to be a growing – or glowing trend in CA – the neon thunder sticks.
Anyway, there’s always the familiar faces: Doc B, “The Big One” (Clovis Buchanan Dual), The Garlic City Rumble, Temecula Valley and 5 Counties. And starting last season, Buchanan vs Poway.
The distinction with that last one is that it’s an intersectional dual. The Central Section’s best (who also happens to be the state’s best) against the San Diego Section power who consistently finds itself in the top 2-5 in the state. And it is this dual, Poway hosting Buchanan tomorrow 1/28 that we’ll be breaking down and previewing here.
Of course I wanted this to be a little different. I talked to both head coaches and they shared some thoughts with me.
(It should be noted that the conversation to follow is a fictionalized version of those real conversations. The main difference is that I spoke to them separately)
Jesse Smith – me – a world-renowned journalist (see totally fake) recently sat down with John Meyers and Troy Tirapelle, the head coaches of Poway and Buchanan respectively. We discussed the upcoming dual, how it came together and what each team is looking for toward the end of the season.
Jesse: Alright ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to be joined by two very familiar names among CA high school wrestling fans, John Meyers and Troy Tirapelle. Now, let me start with the basics, start from the beginning at the top of the list (I like to incorporate rap lyrics whenever possible) so how does a dual like this, intersectional, powerhouse programs come together?
Meyers: Well, we might be seen as one of the best in the state but they (nods toward Troy) are the standard and currently where we want to be. But to get there we have to get a sense for what it takes, and no better experience than firsthand and we welcome the challenge. So basically I was sitting in class one day it just hit me. Let me call Buchanan real quick and see what we can do. Coach [Gabe] Flores put me through to Troy and they were all for it so I said we’ll come up there, they said they’ll return the favor next year and here we are.
Jesse: Troy is that how you remember it?
Tirapelle: Pretty much. I mean we have always had the belief that you wrestle. We’re not here to protect a record or a streak but to continue pushing and if people want to compete we’re here for that. We weren’t always in this spot either. We were chasing Clovis at one time so now we’re the ones teams are gunning for and we say welcome it.
Jesse: So what are you looking to get out of the dual? Like John, you know Buchanan is pretty much expected to win whatever dual they participate in — but what do you think it’ll take to pull it off? Do you strategize and manipulate the line up to ‘steal points’? Do you just tell your guys to get out there and scrap and let the chips fall where they may? I mean you have some pretty bonafide hammers in your own right.
Meyers: Yeah I’m really just looking for how hard they compete. They’re going to face some adversity maybe they haven’t faced yet. That’s why we do this. That’s what we love. So this is a really good chance heading into the postseason for our guys to see what the need to fine-tune and what they’re going to be tested with at the end of February. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not going in not trying to win, we want to win everything we do. It’s just more about the opportunity to battle in another high stakes environment, and what can we take away from it.
Jesse: And Troy, not so much what it will take to win but also what you’re looking forward to seeing from your team this weekend?
Troy: Just to see some of the young guys continue to improve, even though they’re already competing at a high level now, I think there’s even more for them to tap into. I think that coming off the big Clovis rivalry, this gives us a test, to come right back on the road, in a new environment against a team we’re not as familiar with and get some great quality matches in this late in January.
Jesse: Ok so this one is for Troy, you mentioned once upon a time you were in a position of hunting Clovis and now you’ve turned into the hunted. Have you noticed that shift within the program like say with kids coming in who now just expect to put on the B and win? How do you fight against complacency, I guess is the question, and sustain this?
Tirapelle: Well you said it. It’s a constant fight to stay hungry. How do you that when the fridge is full? Sometimes you have to create some tension, some conflict. You have to manufacture the adversity a little bit. Maybe there’s something someone said that we can say “you see they don’t believe in you anymore.” It’s like what Michael Jordan said about being slighted at a pregame shoot around and he took it personally and the guy had no idea. And in this sport there’s always work to do, there’s no rest, and I think our group of kids generally knows that.
Jesse: So back to John, when we talk about that hunter vs hunted role, there is sometimes an advantage to being the one chasing. But you don’t go hunting Cape Buffalo because you shot a couple pheasants in a calm meadow. You have to work up to it, sharpen your skills, and then go after the real prize. Do you look at the experience earlier this season at the HOF duals, and some of those teams who are among the top in the country as that preparation?
Meyers: Absolutely. I’m not saying we scheduled that because we also had Buchanan later but we’re in San Diego. Everyone knows the epicenter for wrestling in CA is the Central Valley. When I saw what they were putting together there at the HOF, and the teams, I jumped on that. It was a great experience for us with team building, the travel had issues so it gave us some of those life lessons that are always important. Things to fight through. And of course the wrestling was high caliber and I think gave us an early taste of what we can become and what we need to do to get there.
Jesse: So this goes to both of you. Anybody that stands out as either surprising or maybe flying under the radar that folks don’t know enough about because others are getting the shine?
Meyers: I’ll go first here. We definitely are excited for what we’re seeing from Jalen [Concepcion]. He’s always had the talent but he’s also always been involved in a lot of other things but now he’s focused on wrestling and I think he’s ready to take off. You saw it at Temecula and I think you’ll continue to see even more from him.
Tirapelle: Obviously our freshmen have come in and really kept us rolling along but the guys like Reggie Raiz, Kannon Campbell, Devin Alexander. They’ve been here. They’ve been putting in the work. Maybe they’re replacing a state finalist or a state champion. People think we’ll see a drop off and they show how great they also are. I’m happy for them and it’s also possible, just maybe talk of our demise was a little premature.
Jesse: It definitely seems that way. I just want to close with your guys’ final thoughts on this particular match up, duals in general, I’m a firm believer that the sport needs more duals. So this is great as simply a fan of the sport.
Tirapelle: I totally agree with you. Duals make sense, they’re easy to follow, and they don’t take up your whole day as a parent or fan watching. We’re looking forward to this trip and glad to be a part of more and more events like this and hope if people are able to watch it they tune in because it doesn’t get better than this at this level.
Meyers: I’m in complete agreement. You see what Clovis and Buchanan do for their dual and we feel we can learn from that and use events like this to promote the school and get the community involved. I’m excited for it and just happy that we’re able to get this level of competition into our gym, let the youth coming up see what we’re doing. It’s what this is all about.
Well thank you gentlemen for taking the time and good luck to each of your teams this weekend and for the rest of the season.
Both: Thank you.
So let’s get into some weights and predictions..
Final Thoughts: The thing that makes Buchanan so tough is that they are good everywhere and then elite in some places. This generally means that 1) they have their own favorites to win matches. 2) They present toss-ups for your best guys who usually get bonus for you and will get a decision at best. And 3) Have the ability to swing an upset or two of their own.
This means that – just as an example – if Poway wins 8 weights and Buchanan wins 6, Poway is looking at 24 points (3 points each) and Buchanan might still get falls in up to 3 of those 6. That would give Buchanan a 27-24 win – even with losing 8-6 on the match count. And that’s a hypothetical giving every single toss up to Poway. So that means, they will need one of the bigger upsets to come through. Or to limit the Buchanan bonus. Like I said for the Clovis dual, these aren’t impossible tasks, and some day someone in the state will come out with the win, it’s just an uphill climb.
I am really excited for this one though. Check out either team’s Instragam accounts for the link to stream it.
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Based in Western PA. Right in the heart of WPIAL country, Todd brings an insider’s view from the country’s epicenter of wrestling. He’s excited to build on the TKDWN tradition of starting with the story first. The athletes, the coaches, their families and supporters, there is no shortage of stories to tell. And Todd will bring his unique perspective to help us continue to deliver top notch content for the world’s greatest sport!
