IHSAA Wrestling State Finals

Here are a few photos from the IHSAA Individual State Wrestling Championships at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday. I shot a lot of photos and video at the event, and I intend to post more content when time allows. I'll be shooting the State Team Finals this Saturday at Center Grove High School and the Boys State Swimming Finals at the IU Natatorium this weekend.





I decided to try some slow shutter speeds on these photos to get the blurred action. A little use of this technique goes a long way, but it can lead to some interesting photos.





Bellmont's Matt Irwin won the 135-pound State Title over Hobart's Brennan Cosgrove by a 12-5 score. Irwin was thrown in the second period and landed on his head. No points were awarded because the throw was ruled a dangerous technique as Cosgrove had left his feet and didn't maintain control completeing the technique. Irwin gave up the only offensive points to any opponent of the season late in the third period on a takedown by Cosgrove, but held on for his first title in three State tournament attempts.



Columbia City's Bryan Deutsch finished in second place after Bloomington South's Paul Young took control of their 162- pound match in the third period. Deutsch led 3-2 in the second, but didn't seem to fully recover from a takedown by Young in which Deutsch's face was slammed to the wood floor outside the mat area. After an injury timeout, Deutsch continued the match and was able to get things going, but later in the match it appeared that he hit his head one again. At that point, young took over and completed his second consecutive State Title run winning 9-4.

Recent Photos

Here are a couple of photos that I liked from the last week.



Members of the Fort Wayne Police Department's Emergency Response Team (ERT) were called to the 4600 block of Fairfield Avenue Thursday to search a house where a suspect believed to have fired multiple gunshots in the area was thought to be hiding in the attic. Officers found no one in the attic but said the person had been there.


Jonathan Goodwin is tripped by Motor City's Matt Smith and goalie Bill Ruggiero in the third period of the Komets' 7-3 win over the Mechanics Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.


A Fort Wayne firefighter checks for burning embers in the first floor ceiling and walls of a house at 2821 Lafayette St. after crews extinguished a fire at the residence Monday night.

I'm Lucky

My friend Ellen recently asked me a question I frankly didn't have an answer for. "How did you get your wife?" she said. With strong emphasis on the "you." As Ellen knows, it would take someone quite special to endure my unfavorable personality traits and there are a few. All I can say is that I am lucky.

Every married couple has its issues, and people in long-term relationships tend to take one another for granted. But today is Valentine's Day, and I would like to acknowledge and thank my wife for supporting me, helping me persist in finishing my college education, and most importantly, being a wonderful mother to my son. She is truly a gem, and I love her.

If that wasn't enough, she lets me make lots of pictures of her. From someone who was previously not keen on celebrating it, Happy Valentine's Day.

Missed Opportunities

The score of tonight's Komet game could have been 9-1, but the K's gave coach Greg Puhalski his 500th win with a 4-1 victory over the Port Huron Flags. The Komets hit the post at least two times that I remember, and had open net shots that went wide at least three times. Port Huron goalie Scott May gave up four goals, but he did what he could to keep his team in the game. The Komets outshot the Flags 27-2 in the second period and 53-25 in the game.


Matt Hunter watches as his shot glides down the goal line but not over it.



Colin Chaulk's shot misses an open net.



David Hukalo couldn't get a handle on the puck to put it in an open net.



Matt Hunter hits the post with a wrist-shot in the third period.

Random items

So, I'm sitting in the press box at Memorial Coliseum waiting for the Komets and Port Huron Flags to gracefully skate around each other in an attempt to avioid contact at all costs. Well, I hope that isn't the way the game plays out, but as we all know and are frequently reminded, hockey isn't what it used to be. Some of my earliest memories of hockey include some hard-hitting games with Steve Salvucci and later with Jim Burton, Steve fletcher, and a host of others. It seemed there was a couple of bench-clearing brawls each year with the despised Toledo Blades and after that with the Indianapolis Ice. So everyone says hockey is different now. Maybe so, but a guy whose favorite football team just won the Super Bowl can still dream, can't he?

Yes, it's true. I am a Steelers fan. I know what you are thinking; the articles on this blog never brought that fact to light. Though I did write several stories about the black and gold on this blog, I also remained fair giving equal game coverage to the Steelers' playoff victims. The stories just happened to come about during the Steelers' playoff run in which they won 8 must-win games. I have to say, though, I did have a tiny space in my heart for the Colts this year. I would like to see Peyton Manning get the big-game loser tag off his back. That, and my mom loves the Colts. I still haven't heard the end of the arguments about the '95 AFC Championship when Jim Harbaugh nearly threw the game-winning pass at the end of the game. The dispute continues about whether or not Kordell Stewart was out of bounds. No one needs to guess where I stand on that one.

The Seyferts zamboni is circling the Coliseum ice, and fans are trickling in. There are a lot of empty seats tonight with just six minutes until the puck is dropped. As the pre-game clock winds down, I realize I should get down to ice level. Look for photos after the game.

Chad

Painting with Light

I have been working on a light painting assignment during the last few days. The assignment stipulates that the only source of light to be used is a flashlight. I put together a few images and the two on this post are my favorite so far.After seeing some possibilities with flash light, my wife asked if I would want to make a picture of her, and of course, I did. She especially liked the warm skin tones the flash light created. I liked the warmth of the light and I think the picture worked out nicely.



I thought of the baseball idea because of the publicity surrounding the new World Baseball Classic. I have to imagine the U.S. Team is the favorite to win the tournament; however, I'm not sure how motivated the players are considering they are not making their Major League salaries and possible injury could jeapordize their pro seasons.




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