Long time no see as most people would say. It’s been a very successful year of blogging, sports updates, injuries etc. And I’m thankful for being able to share my life stories with people who relate to me.

Freshman year if you asked me where would I see myself in 4 years Id tell you living with one of my family members working. But with all the hard work I’ve put in and out of the classroom has paid off, just being able to have the opportunity of plying football at the second best level in NCAA history is great for me and my family.

Growing up I hadn’t had the best life, moving house to house, town to town, family member to family member, I wasn’t really in a stable home. So new schools were not something new to me. After my freshman year of high school I move away from my family to start something new in Lincoln. It really was the best choice I could have made, a nicer school, great teachers. Until I was hit with the cops being at my house early AM to evict us on Christmas eve. It sucked but it was what we had to.

Moving up to Lincoln with no one but my dad and a few friends, we stayed with my friend who was helpful enough to us in for awhile. Life hadn’t really “gone our way” with the amount of struggles we had, but we kept pushing to live a better life.

Fast forward to Senior Year, I’m doing good, adulting on my own dang near is very hard. I’ve managed to be the first person to graduate and finish high school from my immediate family. Which makes me really proud of myself because the hard work I put in that no one else sees is coming together. I’m very proud in myself for pushing through all the adversities I was put through as a child. As well as not following the paths of family members. I’ve managed to receive a scholarship to a great school to play my favorite sport at the highest level.

So again If you asked me 4 years ago where I’d be after high school, I probably wouldn’t have told you that, but I’m very happy to see myself be the first successful person in my family to come out of high school.

peace out high school……….

4 long years, of hard work and sacrifice is over. Lincoln wrestling will always serve a purpose in me and my future families lives. The guys I came up with treat each other as brothers and would do anything for them.

Regionals were a few weeks ago and I don’t know how to feel, I didn’t get the opportunity to wrestle at the varsity spot this year. I haven’t been the healthiest either but it’s all good… I pushed myself harder than I ever had though, being hurt and watching my teammates wrestle and have fun upset me. Sitting on the sideline watching is all I could do for the next 3 weeks.

Issac wrestles his first match @ the State Farm Center, His first match against a kid who’s been dominating. Wrestling at the 160 class, the whole year while decks been in the 152 class. All he could do was try and fight off his strength. The kid dominated and won by decision.

Seeing my teammates be happy is such a great experience for all of us. It allows us to see what it has to take to make it to Champaign. But also gives some kids a lesson they will hold onto forever. Never stop wrestling, stay motivated, and stay moving as Dan Gable would say.

My final goodbyes to Lincoln High School are going to be rough, considering I’m not from here. I rarely know my class so to move all the way to Lincoln so suddenly and having to make new friends was definitely a curve for me being socially nervous. I will miss my hometown but I was welcomed when I came here, I became one of everyone else and started to get recognition for the hard work I put in.

With that being said I’ve had an extremely long conversation with both my family and coaches, but for the next 4 years I plan to attend Mckendree University to major in Business Administration as well as play football… ROLL CATS

New Year, new me they say. But realistically it’s not, you still have to put up with everything in life. This season I’ve been out for much of the season, I’ve had a pretty bad skin condition that kept spreading on my body. But today, January 6, 2023 I get to come back and be in my natural habitat. Being on the sideline sucked, not being able to compete for a month.

Tomorrow is a HUGE tournament to really see where I’m at with my skill level. I’ve loved wrestling since the day i stepped on the mat. Something about the rush you get while out there. Just you, all eyes on you is a great feeling personally. We travel to Morton, IL with a few tough teams, it should be great competition.

This season really hasn’t started off on the right path. I lost my first match of the year, which really put me down. But I still pushed myself. Wrestling is the toughest sport mentally,physically,and emotionally. In wrestling you have to be mentally stable or ready for anything your opponent throws at you. Physically you are using all of your body pressure against one guy for 6 mins. Physically you have to be in shape to wrestle good, to wrestle great you have to put pain aside and except the fact you’re in pain but you have to push yourself past your own limit.

A few weeks away from Regional’s, everyone’s favorite time of year. All of us are very anxious because we know our potential. And any false move, bad positioning, could cost us a trip to the state tournament. But at the same time trying to focus up. And get prepared for regions.

If you don’t hear from me in the next few weeks. Good luck to you and your teams in your sport.

As the 2022 IHSA football season comes to an end, we welcome another sport for me and for us. This year will be my fourth year wrestling, my third here in Lincoln. I love the sport, it brings out the side of you you’ve never seen/felt. It makes you push your body harder than you would normally. You cannot except failure as an option, because unlike most sports. Wrestling is an individual sport, which means no one can control the outcome besides you. It really makes you think at times, whether or not this is a good fit for you. But in the end it’s benefiting your body more than you think.

The factors or key points of wrestling is your weight. In wrestling we have many different weight classes depending on your size. If you’re smaller, then there’s a chance of you having to cut weight. Meaning you could wrestle at the 138 pound class, and weigh 140 pounds. Cutting is dropping weight or cutting something out of your diet to make the eight you wrestle at.

For me I’m not fat, I’m just big boned so I wrestle at the heaviest weight we have 285. My weight class starts from 220.1 all the way to 285.0. If you weigh any more, it’s not like you can bump up a weight class, you wouldn’t be able to wrestle because you are overweight.

You may ask, well if I’m 160 how do I maintain my weight without being over? Many coaches encourage us players to treat your body right. Eat foods that are still “alive” or fresh because they are healthier for you. Drink drinks that have very few sugars,no carbonation,and no caffeine because it takes longer for your body to break those sugars down. As well as eating healthy, being active also keeps you in shape and allows you to burn the food you just ate off.

As a new season begins I’m very excited to bring you all along with me. To document these goals of not just bettering myself at the sport but to teach everyone and show everyone the importance of the sport. As well as living a healthier lifestyle.

In the first half, Mohamet Seymour forces our offense to punt the ball away. On a bad kick, I try and break up the field for the tackle and out of nowhere. Number two comes from behind and cold clocks me. Resulting in a concussion and a bruised wrist. Our trainer ruled me out for the rest of the game.

With a very tough loss last week on our homecoming, and me coming up with an injury. I haven’t had the best of luck throughout my high school career. But this week we have a better chance to change everything and come out on top this week. Hitting the road to Mt. Zion where we will try to rail our way with a dub.

Despite our efforts to play smarter than they did, it ultimately wasn’t enough to win. they beat us badly on our homecoming 63-14. But this week is OUR week to prove to our stakeholders as well as our community, we are a playoff worthy team. We have done a lot of preparation to stop their start player number 11 a 6’7 freshman.

This is my second time in two years that I’ve broken/hurt my hand. This week my role is the sideline, to be there for my team. Run waters to them, as well as encourage them to be 100% every play. It sucks not being able to play any games because it’s my senior year. With that being said See ya tonight folks roll Railers!

The Jerseyville Panthers, biggest dawgs in the west. This Friday @ Handlin field we get the chance to hit guys as hard as we want for 48 minuetes and NOT get in trouble for it. Last year we went to them, and played an okay game. But in all we played bad and lost the game. They could run the ball. I mean every play 15, 20 yards and we wernt doing nothing about it. This year, they’re coming home to the dog house.

Practice this week has been by far the hardest. Just with them being able to run alot, we’ve been slanting more on defense now. Coaches in practice push us as hard as we can to make us better. We practice everyday after school, I hate it because I’m always so tired when I get home but it’s alright. Last week I had to take a big role of to play on offense for an injured teammate. So this week he’s back and better than ever, coach les me back on defense so were kind of just going to judge off of what they line up in we can get ourselves in the best position to win the game.

Tomorrow is the day, the day we get to play the game we love. Its a big game for us, to see ow far we can push ourselves through adversities. To come out on top in end would be the best but its something we’re going to have to work for.

Today is the day, we show everyone in our town who we are. Tonight @7 vs Jerseyville. Lets see who’s the baddest in the state.