History
February - 2003
Wrestler of the Month
Michael Marable - Christian Brothers High School
Michael Marable a junior at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis is ranked #1 at 171 lbs. in Division II. His record for the season is 32-1. He won the Kenwood, Father Ryan, CBHS and Bolton Tournaments this year and was the runner-up at the McCallie Tournament, where he lost to Josh Flinn of Ringgold, GA 1-0 in the Finals. Michael currently holds the school's single season takedown record with 142 (2001-2002). He finished 3rd in Greco-Roman and 4th at 189 lbs. in Freestyle at the Southeast Regional in New Orleans. Finished 6th at 189 lbs. in the NHSCA National Open in Virginia in July and was a State runner-up in DII at 160 lbs. last year.
Coach of the Month
Reid Ratliff - Daniel Boone High School
The following unedited email says it all -
To: tennwrestling@mindspring.com Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 8:58
PM Subject: Coach of the Month
To whom it may concern,
Hi, my name is Jacob Whitson; I wrestle at 103 lbs. for Daniel Boone
High School. I'm not real sure how you decide on the coach of the month,
but I would like to tell you about my coach. His name is Reid Ratliff.
He came to our school 4 years ago. He was a former wrestler at Grundy
High School in Virginia (I'm sure you've heard of Grundy).But anyway, he
moved into our town, drove by the school, and noticed on our billboard
that we were having a match. He came to the match and asked our coach
(Stan Kinnett) if he would let him help. Stan didn't mind to let him
help. Since then he has helped out our team tremendously. He is now our
head coach. He takes us to much more competitive tournaments than we
were used to. At first no one really seemed to like him, because
everywhere he would take us, we kept getting mauled. He kept telling us
that "To be the best you have to wrestle with the best."
Our team has greatly improved since he has joined with us. We now are
able to compete, despite our low numbers. We have a very small team,
consisting of only 10 guys. We don't win many dual matches because of
the forfeits we are forced to give up. But he still sticks with us. He
is always encouraging us to try hard and never give up. He is always on
the mat with us at practice, sparring and drilling with us, doing
everything he can to make us better. He never gives up on us. He has
helped Matt Wells, Ryan McGrew, and myself to become very good
wrestlers. All three of us now have a pretty good chance of placing at
the state tournament. He helped us out when we were cutting weight,
always staying after with us to get in some extra practice or running.
He isn't a teacher at our school, and coaches on his own time. He always
seems to make time for us, no matter what. Any time that we are down or
mad because we have a bad match, he is there the next day to help us
realize our mistakes and make us better. He is always doing things to
help out the team in our money ordeal. The school does not give us very
much funding because no one really cares about wrestling, except for the
few dedicated guys who wrestle.
There is so much I could tell you about our coach, but it would take a
while. I hope that you will strongly consider him for coach of the
month. It is just one small way I can give back to him for all the
dedication he has given to our team.
Thanks, Jacob Whitson, 103 lbs.