- Weekend tournament notes:

        - We are going to split the team and participate in two separate tournaments this weekend.  Coach Mullen is taking the varsity 
wrestlers to the Lynnwood tournament, and coaches Kaneko and Brakke are taking the jv wrestlers to Foss. If your wrestler has any doubt as to which tournament he should plan on, please have him touch base with the coaches. By now the logistics of getting your wrestler through a long weekend tournament should be familiar. Plan on having 
your wrestler make scratch weight for either tournament (no additional allowance).

        - Lynnwood tournament:
                - Bus leaves at 6:50 am, weigh in is 7:30, wrestling starts at 10 am.
                - Format is individual weight class bracket elimination, so it will likely run somewhat longer than the dual meet format tournaments.  Figure on maybe a 6 or 7 pm finish.
                - Other teams participating are:  Blanchett, Granite Falls, Meadowdale, Mercer Island, Bremerton, Meridian and Lynnwood.

        - Foss tournament:
                - Bus leaves at 6:30 am, weigh in is 7:30, wrestling starts at 9:30 am.
                - Format is a pool, guaranteed number of matches format, so this 
tournament will likely end sometime around 5:30 or so.  Don't know who the other schools are.
                - As you've no doubt observed, matches for the jv wrestlers can be hard to come by, as a lot of the kingco schools bring thin lineups to the dual meets. If your son is jv and you want to watch him wrestle, 
this is your chance.  Each wrestler is guaranteed 3 matches, and this represents a rare opportunity for some of our jv wrestlers to 
experience real competition from other schools.
                - Foss can be tricky to find, so I recommend doing a little map planning before heading out (it's close to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma).

- Upcoming events:

        - We've agreed to help set up and take down the gymnastics gear and mats for their home competition tonight.  This will involve most of our kids right after practice, and at least some of our kids after the gymnastics meet.  Coach Mullen has negotiated a pretty good deal for us with the gymnastics people (we share the mats with them) so 
it's important for us to do our part and help them get their equipment set up.

        - Next Tuesday is a home dual meet vs. Bothell

        - Next Wednesday is our annual alumni match, also at home

- Misc. Notes:

        - This is a good opportunity to re-emphasize skin hygiene for our wrestlers.  This is VERY important:
                - Have your wrestler go straight to the shower the minute he gets home.  Don't watch tv, don't do homework, don't get on the internet, etc. first.  Shower right away, scrub down thoroughly with plenty of soap and hot water and rinse well.  This is our first line of defense against skin outbreaks.
                - Practice gear should be washed every day, so a wrestler doesn't appear at practice with soiled and potentially infected gear. Use hot water and bleach if the practice gear can tolerate hot water, cold water and bleach if it can't. Clean off headgear as well.
                - Keep on eye on your own wrestler's skin.  If you see something you're not used to, please have the wrestler point it out to the coach.

        - The cost of the van to Moses Lake was prohibitive, so we're back to Plan A, which is a parent carpool.  I think we have the drivers 
lined up and will start assigning seats shortly.  I've never done carpool seat assignments before and I can see where it might be 
Mission Impossible to keep everybody happy, so I welcome any suggestions.  Coach Mullen is still working on the Moses Lake lineup.