EudoraNews.com

Sometimes things are out of your hands. Like it or not, you've got to roll with it and make the best of whatever situation you're in.

That's the philosophy coach Bill DeWitt is employing after inclement weather prevented the Eudora Cardinal wrestlers from competing Saturday in the Emporia Winter Classic.

The tournament proceeded without teams that could not make the trip. Eudora plans to make up those matches Jan. 16, when they'll take part in a recently formed tournament between a few of the teams that could not make it. The date is set, but the site is not. DeWitt expects it to either take place at Lansing or Turner.

"It affects us greatly because I have no idea where we're at," DeWitt said. "I can watch kids in practice, but I can't tell where we're at and what we need to work on until I see them wrestle some other people."

Using history as a guide, it's easy to see why DeWitt hated to miss Saturday's tournament. After finishing second at Eudora's Tournament of Champions a year ago, the team went to Emporia and wrestled well, finishing second again in a tournament made up of predominantly Class 5A and 6A schools.

"Then we came back a little complacent," DeWitt said, "and didn't work as hard as we should have and didn't start off the new year very good."

Also adding to the uncertainty is the fact that certain kids on the team have to go home for the holidays. DeWitt has kids that must go to different parts of the state to celebrate Christmas with their families.

And with it being the holidays, another concern is that kids will not arrive back to practice in the same condition and at the same weight at which they were wrestling before.

"Hopefully, they're disciplined enough to not let their weights get away from them," DeWitt said. "But they are teenagers."

When the Cardinals do return, they will have stiff competition awaiting them. On Jan. 3, they travel to Ottawa to face Gardner in a dual, a team that carried a preseason ranking of fifth in 5A.

"They might put it to us," DeWitt said. "If we don't make any mistakes we'll be in it, but if we do stupid stuff they'll take advantage."

As for the focus between now and then, the Cardinal wrestlers will, for the most part, concentrate on polishing techniques and moves they already know. Once the kids who are leaving split for break, the remaining kids will continue to practice, but DeWitt said he has to do his best to mix it up, change the routine to try to keep kids enthused to practice.

"In my experience in wrestling, practice is not fun," he said. "It's intense, condition based, drilling, and your body is going 100 percent all the time."

DeWitt has only three or four wrestlers who are serious about wrestling in college, so the importance of keeping it fun is greater than it would be if most of the kids were out to earn scholarships.

"But I wouldn't trade this group," he said. "We're not world beaters, but they work hard and they're fun to be around."