After getting a good night’s sleep following the festivities at the NCAA Division III Championships, I awoke Sunday, packed up and left my digs at the Cedar Rapids Marriott and headed north.

Between the Division II and III tournaments, I’m working remotely from Minnesota, getting a chance to get some more meetings and wedding planning stuff taken care of. Before leaving Cedar Rapids, I checked the boards and saw they were still rather “tame” when the volume of college wrestling going on was booming.

This would change in a matter of hours.

I got in my trusty Chevy Trailblazer (which now has over 40,000 miles on it – I bought it last January with 6,700) and started to drive up I-35. Before I got on the road, I called Iowa City Press-Citizen wrestling beat writer Andy Hamilton to find out what Iowa-based radio stations were in Ann Arbor broadcasting the Big Ten Championships.

He told me to check AM 800 KXIC. I dialed in, diverting my radio from it’s normal “90’s on 9” on XM Radio and found the signal with Steven Grace and Mark Ironside.

I have never listened to an Iowa radio broadcast, other than sitting behind Ironside in Carver-Hawkeye a few times last season. Living in Minnesota last year and Colorado now, it’s not like I can just tune in and listen.

But with the drive mounting, I was hoping I’d get enough time to listen. Grace was the first voice I heard, as Ironside was, “chillin’” during the break before the finals and consolation finals.

I must say, even though I’m not an Iowa fan (and really not a “fan” of any team when I put on my media hat, although I openly admit, in my spare time, I follow my alma mater and wrestlers I know pretty well from various schools), the broadcast was quite good.

If you’re listening from an Iowa perspective (which I’m not), it seemed to fill in everything you’d want to know as a Hawkeye fan. If you were listening from my perspective, one looking for all the results and what was going on in the finals, you were also very satisfied.

Andy had told me I’d probably get the signal for about an hour or so. I figured I’d lose it around Cedar Falls/Waterloo, which is the same spot I lost my old Blazer last year, when I played chicken with a concrete barrier on Highway 218. The concrete won.

Anyway, I was pleased to keep a strong signal all the way up to Clear Lake, just before hopping on I-35/Avenue of the Saints to get back to the Twin Cities. I listened all the way through the finale of the 184 pound match before the buzz got to be too much. I was also following Craig Sesker’s twitter updates on the USA Wrestling Twitter page, so I was covered on all aspects.

Now, expecting an Iowa-heavy broadcast, I was pleasantly surprised to hear how “even” things went during the Brent Metcalf-Lance Palmer 149-pound final. While Grace did sound somewhat surprised when Metcalf got hit for stalling in the second period, Ironside backed up the call, explaining the rule and essentially coming off unsurprised by the call.

When the flurry of action occurred, I could picture it in my head. I went back and watched it on YouTube on Monday, and the descriptions given by Grace and Ironside were dead on close to what I’d pictured in my mind. Solid broadcasting by the two.

Now, when Palmer put Metcalf to his back, I, and I’m sure a ton of other wrestling fans,let out a collective “Oh .” Why? It had nothing to do with either wrestler, but I’d know I’d have some heavy surgery to perform on the message boards in about two hours, since that’s roughly how far away I was from a computer when the result happened. I probably broke a few traffic laws by perusing the boards on my iPhone, but I knew the boards would erupt.

Before I go into the board issues, and how much I was NOT looking forward to going through the threads, Grace and Ironside’s commentary was foreign to me, yet, exactly what I’d expected.

When you grow up and live in areas where you don’t hear wrestling on the radio, especially not with the presence and push that KXIC gives the fans in Southeastern Iowa, you really come to appreciate the ability to follow one of the best wrestling tournaments in the nation while driving through the land of windmills and corn.

Because of KXIC, I was able to keep tabs with the Big Ten and not spend time averting my eyes from the road to my iPhone (at least not as much as I would have). Grace and Ironside’s passion, not just for Iowa wrestling, but for good wrestling in general shines. It’s unfortunate that I won’t have a chance to listen to those guys again for some time, but it made half of the 4 ½ hour drive back to Minnesota just fly by.

Now, as it relates to the message boards. I think I’ve combined 15-16 Metcalf ONLY related topics into one on the boards. We’re still seeing good topics pushed back 2-3 pages because people are harping about one match. But I could honestly care less about the winner or loser of the match, because it made my Sunday less than enjoyable after the fact!

I did, however, have time to go to Kinko’s and make copies of wedding directions, etc., so thankfully for my fiancée’s sake, I wasn’t stuck on a computer the entire night. We do live 1,000 miles apart right now, so wrestling gets in the way sometimes, but it won’t too much this week – until I leave for Omaha.

So this week, it’s Minnesota, with the NCAA brackets coming out in two days, and I’m sure I’ll have more forum fun come then.

A great weekend in D3’s, followed by a great drive north (the sun came out just as I got to Owatonna), and now a week of preparation for D2’s and D1’s.

Wrestling tournaments seem to always have banquets or socials associated with them. Division III is no different. On Thursday night on the top floor at the Crowne Plaza in Cedar Falls, LeRoy Gardner, Steve Gliva, Dave Mitchell, Don Montgomery and K. Donald Shelbourne were honored.

With the temperature in the room rising every minute, three of the five honorees were in attendance. Because many wrestling fans focus on just one team or division, it’s nice to be around humble coaches and wrestlers as they are rewarded for their past achievements.

After rolling into Cedar Rapids in the afternoon and checking into my hotel, I met wrestling fan and blogger extreme Jim Brown in the lobby of the Marriott. Jim typically hosts a small gathering of Division III wrestling fans at the facility. Well, tonight, Jim’s event was cut short. He had to go over to the aforementioned banquet.

Why? Well, Jim was honored by the NWCA as the recipient of the Dan Gable “America Needs Wrestling” Award. Jim’s impact as solely a wrestling fan has been far-reaching … and near reaching as well. A Cedar Rapids native Jim has done a number of things aimed at supporting wrestling, not just through his blog, but through a tickets for kids program to get local wrestlers (and those not so local) free tickets to the Division III championships.

I interviewed Jim and my former boss, Mike Moyer of the NWCA. You can watch that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2QUHXI41Zo

I got a chance prior to going over to the Crowne Plaza to meet up with a few fans, along with Kent Sesker (Craig’s brother) and Kyle Klingman of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Museum and Institute. Always good to catch up with those two.

As I mentioned yesterday, this trip hasn’t been the same (so far) without Kyle riding shot gun in my truck. Last year was a blast, and I can’t mention that enough.

Got to catch up with some D3 coaches I’ve met and befriended over the years: Bruce Haberli at NYU, Roger Crebs at Lycoming, Mike Clayton at Stevens Tech, Leo Kocher at Chicago and Drew Black of Wesleyan, just to name the few. Also talked shop with E-Town coach Eric Walker – whom I didn’t recognize without an eyepatch. Backstory: Walker was poked in the eye working out with 125-pounder Tyler Erdman last year, and went through the tournament with one eye.

With the festivities winding down and the YouTube videos uploading, check TheMat.com’s D3 Special Section for all the happenings on Friday and Saturday.

I like to call my blogs before any festivities get started “Day Zero.” Basically, it signifies the pre-start to what’s happening with tournaments. I started the “Day Zero” thing a few years back when I was blogging for InterMat. I think I was mentioning going to a White Zombie-Anthrax concert (which I never made), and it wasn’t about wrestling.

Well, the trip so far has had zero to do with wrestling, other than driving through Kansas on the way east to Cedar Rapids (I’ll explain why in a second). Two towns I drove near were Colby, home of Colby Community College and Steve Lampe’s program, then Hays, Kansas, home of the Fort Hays State Tigers.

Sadly, Colby’s dropping the sport, but we’ll see Lampe at Northwest Technical Community College next year, as they started the sport.

My coworker, Cody Bickley, was the head coach at Fort Hays State for a number of years. I see FHSU cups and degrees every day. Cody does a great job with our National Coaches Education Program and managing the certification levels (Gold, Sliver, Bronze and Copper).

Anyway, I’m currently holed up in Lincoln, Neb., after putting 7 ½ hours in on the road. I nearly ran out of gas, and thanks to Short Stop in Concordia, Kan., that didn’t happen.

I went through Kansas, then up US-81 to catch I-80 after starting the trip from Colorado Springs and picking up I-70 in Limon (home of Bucknell’s Kevin LeValley). I’d never driven through Kansas, except for a short trip into Kansas City (the Kansas side) back in 2003.

Upon updating my Facebook status about my whereabouts, Willie Saylor of The Open Mat (who got his Masters at Nebraska) mentioned I should hit up DeLeon’s for a breakfast burrito before heading out. In talking with Willie via Facebook after said comment, I told him where I was staying, and as luck would have it, it’s right across the street from said burrito establishment. Hopefully, it won’t hamper the final 4 ½ hours of my drive into Cedar Rapids.

One thing was notably missing on this year’s trip to Division III’s … last year’s co-pilot Kyle Klingman. I left Kyle a voicemail earlier in the day saying, “There’s no skinny runner guy next to me asking about my favorite movies.”

Last year’s trip still ranks as one of the best wrestling excursions I’d ever undertaken, followed closely by the first year I drove to Fargo (2002) and saw a few Major League Baseball games on the way out and did some fishing on the Mississippi down in Wabasha, Minn.

Right now, I’m planning for some interviews from the pre-tournament banquet/Hall of Fame thingy that goes on at the Crowne Plaza, the hotel attached to the U.S. Cellular Center.

I’ve got some ideas, and in the words of fictional sports writer Dickie Dunn (of Slap Shot! Fame), I just want to capture the spirit of the thing (Reg).

I don’t think I’ll go through Kansas on the way back, although with stops, the time difference is negligible. Although, when moving to Colorado, there’s something ominous about a sign that reads “No gas for 71 miles” and a town called “Last Chance.”

Also, while we’re not staffing it, the NAIA championships start tomorrow (Thursday) in Oklahoma City – there’s a link on the front page of TheMat.com with how to follow the event and how to watch the finals live.

With the college postseason already underway, it's time to pack up the truck and head East. Wait, head EAST? Yes, I'll be heading east this time to cover and broadcast three NCAA National Championships the next three weekends. Last year, when Kyle Klingman and I were with Wrestling 411, we had the unique and what we thought was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cover four national championships in four weeks.

Well, we're not going to hit four in four this year, but we will be hitting three in three -- all three NCAA championships in successive weekends. We'll be webcasting the finals of the Division III championships, all four sessions of the Division II championships and the first day of the Division I championships through NCAAsports.com. More information is coming on the times, schedules, etc. for the webcasts, so stay tuned.

I'll also be blogging about the journey. Last year, Kyle and I saw the Alamo, the "Smith"-sonian, drove through Arkansas and put about 5,000 miles on my then-new Chevy Trailblazer. So stay logged in to the USA Wrestling Nation for my daily updates on the trip. I set out on Wednesday, with Cedar Rapids in my sights. The Division III championships were a ton of fun last year.

This year, I'll be keeping a count on how many times the Iowa Confernece fans and the Augsburg fans start the "East Coast Time-Out" chant. It's one of the more ingenious chants many wrestling fans miss by not going to the D3's.

Stay tuned!

Honest question: How much do you know about Colorado wrestling? How much do you know about how awesome their state tournament has been reported to be? I didn’t know, but I was going to find out.

Saturday night, I sat and watched my third different state complete its high school season. Reared in Virginia, I saw nearly a dozen Group AAA and Group AA/A state championships. I went to two Pennsylvania state championships in Hershey while I was working for the NWCA.

The Pespi Center, home of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche would give me my largest finals crowd for the 2010 CHSAA State Finals.

I wasn’t incredibly amazed by the size of the crowd on Friday for the quartefinals and semifinals, but I knew I was in for a sight when I drive into the Pepsi Center lot and park roughly a quarter-mile (probably more) from the arena. Compound this by walking completely around the facility to get to the media entrance and you can see early, this was going to be a big crowd.

There’s 337 high schools in Colorado (according to the announced sportsmanship PSA that was read repeatedly throughout the event). The 337 are split four ways, with the smallest of the schools competing in 2A, while the largest schools are 5A.

With much of my season now focused on international and collegiate wrestling, I haven’t seen near as much high school since moving to Colorado Springs. One thing that did peak my interest in regards to this event were the local kids.

Some of you might remember the Metro Championships broadcast we did on TheMat.com at the end of January. The Metro is a local high school event with all the local Colorado Springs High Schools. USA Wrestling puts this on as a way to serve the local high school wrestling community. Well, with that, I had a chance to see a few solid kids in the finals of the Metro.

Right off the bat, the approximately 13,000 (I’m guessing, but the arena seats 18,121) were ready. The first two kids I saw win state titles were familiar. Geordan Martinez of Pine Creek (in 5A) picked up a major decision over Standley Lake’s Ryan Adams. On the far mat, there was A.J. Rees of Discovery Canyon over in 3A. Rees was leading to start the second over A.J. Salazar of Lake County. Could Colorado Springs claim two of the four state championships at 103?

Nope. Salazar pinned Rees in the second.

Josh Martinez (no relation) stepped to the mat for Pine Creek and worked through a 3-0 victory at 112 pounds. I started feeling some of the emotion running through the facility. Pine Creek didn’t quite shake things up for me, since they’re sitting on the second level about 180 degrees from my perch in the press area.

The first notable eruption that jolted me in my chair came from the fans from Pueblo South. They were celebrating the 112 4A championship by Timothy Urenda. I’m about six feet from the edge of the Pueblo South section. Pueblo’s about two hours south of Denver, probably more tonight because snow and fog have made traveling on I-25 north or south rather unenjoyable. Have I mentioned how much I hate snow?

Pueblo South wasn’t going to keep the credit for too long, as Broomfield snatched it away from them with Courtland Hacker’s victory at 119 pounds in 4A. They were notably louder for each score, including a third period score in Jerry Huff’s 125-pound final with Greeley West’s Joseph Martinez. You could hear the sigh moments later as Huff locked his hands and then gave up a reversal.

One mat over, another local product and Metro champion, Carter McElhany gave up  a takedown three seconds in to his 125-pound final against Mountain Range’s Cory Mitzke. McElhany, from Coronado, had little of it … scoring 13 straight points to pick up a 13-2 major decision. For a fleeting moment, Coronado seemed to own the arena, that was until a late throw in a tight match in 2A stole the proverbial thunder.

Bon Kinder ignited the fans from Burlington, who are sitting in most of section 120 to my left. Kinder was up three and fought off a late takedown attempt, putting Simla’s Andrew Scherrer to his back to end the match.

So at this point, I’m starting to draw some comparisons. Being from Virginia, I’ve seen (and been a part of) some of the more boisterous contingents at state tournaments. We were notorious at Poquoson. One of my teammates once said, “If I wasn’t from Poquoson, I’d hate you guys.”

I’m sure a lot of you can relate to a program (if not your own) in your state. I didn’t see that too much in Pennsylvania, because everyone’s passionate and vocal about their programs, with the pockets of “Poquoson-like” fans residing mostly in District XI.

Also in Virginia, there were the pockets from Great Bridge, Grundy and Christiansburg. In Pennsylvania, Central Dauphin’s fans were out in full force, mainly due to the magical season in 2007 (captured by the documentary Takedowns & Falls).  At least, that’s the season I’m comparing to this, the 2010 CHSAA state championships.

Arena size – Pepsi Center has both VA and PA topped. Arena intimacy? Salem Civic Center … that place doesn’t absorb sound, it amplifies it. Virginia’s AAA state championships have been at 4,000-seat Oscar Smith H.S. in Chesapeake and Robinson Secondary in/around Fairfax. Colorado’s atmosphere’s great … but as much as I like all four groups in one place, I think the most I can handle at one time is two finals. That’s more of a product of coming from the AA & A tournaments in Virginia being held side to side. Pennsylvania’s state championships could have more flavor if there wasn’t such a dry introduction and mat literally surrounded by nothing.

Here in the Pepsi Center, the four finals doesn’t seem to matter as much as I might think, because there’s action to follow everywhere. The awards don’t take too long and there is a crew of announcers ready to go for each class.

After a while, I decided to get a better view, so I headed up to a suite where some friends had some space.

Taking a spot in suite 18, I had a birds-eye view of all four finals and this allowed me to take in more of the tournament than I could from an endzone seat.

The arena came to its feet following Jacob Snider’s fourth state championship. Snider, from Ponderosa, became the state’s 16^th four-time state champion. In a classy display by Colorado wrestling fans, they all stood and cheered, not needed to be prodded by any announcement about the historic feat. No one had to be told, they knew this was Snider’s moment and it was one few (relatively speaking) have ever experienced.

After Snider won his fourth title, I keyed on two wrestlers I’d had a chance to see wrestle each other in the finals of the Metro. Nick Burghardt of Coronado and Dan Barringer of Lewis Palmer. Burghardt was in the finals in 5A against Ponderosa’s Steven Kelly, while Barringer took on Windsor’s Kurtis Ramsay.

Kelly’s 6-2 victory iced the team championship for Ponderosa, but on the next mat, Barringer had to rally.

Pete Isais of USA Wrestling wasn’t worried, and to be quite honest, neither was I, when Barringer found himself down 8-5 at the end of the first period. Ramsay took neutral and Barringer hit his fireman’s to gain control. From there, it was what Pete and I expected – a barrage of two-on-one tilts. Barringer’s top work gave him buckets of backpoints and ultimately an 18-10 major decision. Impressive.

As action focused on 4A heading into 160, I noticed the team score on the scoreboard above the arena. Roosevelt had a 1.5-point lead over Broomfield, a team I’d known pretty well from covering the Ironman in the past.

I quickly pulled up my iPhone and called up the brackets on TrackWrestling.com, as I scanned through the finals matchups, Roosevelt’s Blake Nygren was wrestling at 160 while Broomfield had John VanTrine going at 171. Anyone else … I scrolled through and found nothing. The next two matches would determine the team champion.

Nygren scored a 3-2 victory over Northridge’s Robert Pickrell … this would give Roosevelt a 5.5-point advantage – meaning VanTrine needed a fall for Broomfield to take then championship.

And he nearly got it.

But what boggled me was how ecstatic Broomfield coach Mark Schmidt was, until Schmidt told me afterwards that the team score on the overhead scoreboard was wrong.

So imagine my confusion as I’m sitting here writing this, then hear Broomfield announced as the champions. Well, the VanTrine victory … and just a victory … was what Broomfield needed to take a 119.5-118 championship over Roosevelt.

That just makes the story even better.

We were treated to some exciting upperweight matches, too. And with high respect for the wrestlers, the stands didn’t empty out … many, if not most, stayed until the final match was finished.

Boulder has a monster at 189. The kid’s name is Max Wessell. He pinned Ponderosa’s Derek Good in 54 seconds to complete a 45-0 season. All four of his wins were by bonus – a fall, a major, a tech and then another fall. Impressive performance. He’s got D1 talent and if people aren’t on him already, get after it.

Conor Medbery, probably the state’s most accomplished wrestler in terms of freestyle and Greco credentials, didn’t break a sweat. The Loveland junior pinned Trey Kirk of Cherry Creek in 30 seconds. He probably could have scored it in 20.

Here’s one thing that will always make the multi-class system worthwhile – the drama. I personally think states like California, New Jersey and Indiana do it “the right way” with one state championship, but the case is made when you have performances like the one by Montrose’s Jordan Passehl.

He scored two at the buzzer to beat Arvada’s Dwight Howes. The Montrose fans erupted. This is what I like about the multi-class format … you’ve made the careers for many a wrestler. Sure, you’re giving out four state championships, but while there’s a King of the Mountain attitude within our sport about “being the best,” watching parents crying while their sons come running up the arena stairs is something you can’t reduce.

There’s so many things to go into, but I feel I’ve been too verbose as it is. But I’ll add these final notes.

Burlington, the 2A champions, win the “most active fans” title. They were awesome and that, too, is another reason why the multi-class system has benefits.

Another note: I noticed a lot of last-minute takedowns, escapes and swings in offense. Much of this was because the wrestler with the lead never skated and the wrestler trailing kept going. Sure, you’re supposed to wrestle with the whistle, but even the kids with the lead were still attacking. They weren’t going to run to win a title, they were going to go out swinging. Some won, some lost, but the Colorado High School State Championships puts wrestling on center stage and portrays all the sport and its greatness on the proper stage.

Colorado’s high school wrestlers sport some of the absolute best/worst hairstyles I’ve ever seen at a wrestling tournament. Pink afros, red Mohawks, bleached-blonde tufts and even a checkerboard – the last by 2A heavyweight champ Isaiah Churchwell of Burlington.

So how does it compare to the other state championships I’ve attended? Hard to say. There’s the high power of Pennsylvania, the home tournament in Virginia … but Colorado’s experience is right up there.

Kudos to you Colorado. It was a blast.

Team Places:

2A: 1. Burlington 167, 2. Wiggins 160, 3. Paonia 117, 4. Holyoke 112, 5. Hayden 76.

3A: 1. Centari 157, 2. Lamar 132.5, 3. Olathe 103.5, 4. Florence 90, 5. Grand Valley 81.5

4A: 1. Broomfield 119.5, 2. Roosevelt 118, 3. Montrose 104, 4. Greeley West 97.5, 5. Windsor 89.5

5A: 1. Ponderosa 126.5, 2. Coronado 108.5, 3. Loveland 100, 4. Pomona 96.5, 5 (tie). Rocky Mountain & Mountain Range 94.

   
Wrestling is an economic gateway for the Cubans. Athletes wrestle in Cuba in order to provide a better life for themselves. The athletes are part of various sport schools which focus on certain styles and techniques. The Soviets developed the sport schools in Cuba. When you put a regimented program together with natural athletes you develop a wrestling powerhouse.

In Cuba, wrestling is a way of life. They eat, sleep, and breathe it, outside of baseball and soccer. They call wrestling Lucha Libre. The athletes here wrestle because they have to – not because they want to. It’s their job.

We head down to the national training center in Havana to go through our first Greco-Roman workout. The building is massive – it has four full-size Olympic mats. The building is in bad shape with broken windows and a leaky ceiling. As compared to the Junior National training facility it’s a step up. As the National facility, it also has dorm rooms and you get three square meals a day. The Juniors scratch and claw and fight for the opportunity to make it to the National training facility to get a better life.

Justin Ruiz looks great in the organized Cuban workouts. Robbie Smith, Cheney Haight, Bo Beckman and Faruk Sahin also got in a great workout.

After practice, U.S. Coach Steve Fraser talks with the team and tells them about the legends of the sport who would grab any opponent to work out with. You have to think long-term how the opportunity to work out with a wrestler of that caliber will benefit you. It’s a great lesson from a great coach.

The tournament is going to bigger and tougher than expected. A number of countries are here. France, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, India, and of course, Cuba. We come here to face off against the World’s best.

Later in the evening, I head down to Old Havana. There is a massive Basilica in the heart of the city. There are bands playing music outside on the cobblestone streets. We sit down and eat Ropa Veja, a Cuban staple. As we drive back, the Ocean waves are starting to come over La Malecon. La Malecón is a broad promenade, roadway and seawall which stretches for 8 km along the coast in Havana.

The night is winding down. Tomorrow, the athletes weigh-in. We are 48 hours away from Show time.

In order to get to Cuba, I fly from New York City to Miami. I meet up with U.S. National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser, one of the legends of our sport. It’s been a while since I went down to South Beach, so we head down to grab a bite on the strip and talk wrestling. The next morning we meet in the lobby at 7:30 to catch a charter flight to Havana, Cuba.

We run into some minor issues with ticketing at the airport. I negotiate with the charter attendant to let us get on the plane. After tough bargaining, he pulled me aside and asked, “What is that on your ears?” So gave him a 101 lesson in cauliflower ear. He nods in appreciation.

On our charter flight to Havana, its Fraser, U.S. Army Coach Shon Lewis, World champion Dremiel Byers, Robbie Smith, Glenn Garrison, Jeremiah Davis, Marco Lara and Jose Delgado.

We drop our luggage off, and it cost $2 per pound north of 40 lbs. My luggage cost me $145. I brought a lot of basic necessities for the Cuban people to show goodwill from the USA.

In New York, there are dollar stores all over the city. I spent $400 on different basic necessities. I bought razors, boxers, socks, pens, mini-flash lights, NYC key chains, and candy for the kids. I also brought lipstick and lip gloss. It was tough to convince my fiance as to why I would need that. The reason is behind every man there is a great woman. By giving the men of Cuba this gift they will be heroes to the women in their lives. Happy wife, happy life. Lipstick is hard to come by as it’s a chemical-based product so most likely is shipped from outside the country and will be costly for the people who need the basics.

I sit next to Shon and Rob Smith on the flight over. The flight is about 45 minutes from Miami. As we fly over Cuba, it reminds me of the old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “Commando” with green helicopters on the ground. As we land, the passengers clap in appreciation of the pilot doing a great job.

We exit the charter and walk towards customs. I see a lady with an interesting pin – it had a Cuban and American Flag together on the pin. I ask her if I could buy it. She said no, but nodded in approval and gave it to me as a gift. It was a gracious gesture. I gave her a T-shirt and she was elated. She was so happy that she became our passport through the airport. She treated us as VIPs. She got our Visas together. Each Cuban Visa cost $20, and we spent a total of $200. When we walked through customs, they took our pictures. Cuba was the first place I’ve ever been to where you have to enter a metal detector to enter the country as they worry about what you are bringing into the country. As our friendly Cuban lady assists Team USA through the airport she makes sure our bags were taken care of. We leave the airport and we see a man with a Cuban National Team Jacket. He is our guide from the airport.

As we wait for the vans to arrive, I'm chatting with Dremiel – aka "chocolate chrome"

Dremiel is amazingly funny. I'm in tears as he rips on the guys, especially John Wechter. Dremiel calls him "No Water John" since John never brings his own water and his sole mission is to drink yours.

As I stand outside, it feels like I'm in a nostalgic time warp as I see cars from the 1950s and 60s. Imagine if New York stood still and never changed and the rest of the World began to have technological advances and grow. It’s like Cuba as stood still after the Cold War. It’s a novelty.

We drive through the countryside and we are reminded that the people of Cuba don't have much. It was like déjà vu for me as the place I was born was of similar shanty type structures built out of cinder blocks and tin roofs in Kingston, Jamaica. You are also reminded that this is a Communist country as we approach the different Embassies. The biggest and tallest Embassy in Havana is the Russian Embassy – this massive structure is as tall as a watch tower and is the shape of a key. In Cuba, if you work you make a fixed amount. If you don’t work, you make the same fixed amount.

We arrive at Hotel Meli Habana, which is a very nice hotel as compared with the rest on the strip. We are across the street from the Venezualan Embassy. The hotel has a great sauna and a decent workout facility.

I hang by the bar in the pool as our rooms overlook the ocean. I meet Luis, who is a worker at the hotel and speaks English. We talk about many things.

The air is crisp, the food is delicious and the people are friendly. We have arrived in Cuba.

While the Junior Colleges started up their post-season last week with their district qualifiers, the first NCAA post-season championship started -- and ended -- on Tuesday in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Wartburg claimed yet another Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, edging Coe College 176.5-167. Cornell College finished third with 120 points. The Knights, based in Waverly, Iowa, came in ranked second in the country and would be tested by third-ranked Coe, at least, that's how it would have appeared going into the event.

Wartburg put eight into Tuesday night’s finals, but only came away with two champions – 133-pounder Sean White and 197-pounder Byron Tate.

Interestingly enough, Coe, Cornell, Luther and Dubuque also crowned two champs apiece, giving five schools all 10 championships, but none picking up more than three.

Clayton Rush of Coe solidified his standing as the nation’s top 125-pounder, dispensing rival Mark Kist of Wartburg 5-1 in the championship final. It’s the second time this season Rush has beaten Kist and the sixth in a row.

White edged returning Division III runner-up Nick Nothern of Cornell 3-0, but the Rams would bounce right back as another returning All-American, Kevin Donahue, knocked off Coe’s Chris LeClere 7-5 at 141 pounds.

After championships by Luther’s Jason Pyle (149) and Cornell’s Nicholas Loughlin (157), Wartburg had a chance to roll into the Division III championships by closing the Iowa Conference tournament with five finalists in the final five weights. But the Knights would drop four of the five, with Tate’s 8-3 victory over Coe’s Rob Kramer the only victory.

Dubuque’s Josh Terrell earned outstanding wrestler honors after winning the championship at 165 pounds. The victory over Wartburg’s Carrington Banks was Terrell’s 21^st of the season and eighth in a  row. Terrell avenged a Jan. 23 loss to Coe’s Nick LeClere with a 6-3 semifinal victory.

Returning NCAA champion Evan Brown of Dubuque kept the Spartans rolling, with a 5-0 win over Wartburg’s Dylan Azinger in the finals at 174. Tyler Burkle of Coe followed with a 7-5 triumph over Wartburg’s Todd Becker.

Joining Pyle as champs for Luther was heavyweight Allyn Plattner, who upset John Helgerson of Wartburg in the final. Interestingly enough, Plattner’s only loss within Division III came to David Wyper, Helgerson’s backup, back in January.

Coaches Jim Miller and John Oostendorp will bring solid teams into the U.S. Cellular Center next month in Cedar Rapids for the finale of the Division III season. Having the opportunity to cover and broadcast four national championships last year, the Division III tournament was by far the best in terms of intimate atmosphere, energy, fan interaction and most of all, excitement. Remember, these guys aren’t wrestling for the glory of Division I fame, or even for scholarships. These guys wrestle because they love wrestling and they love competing.

The Iowa Conference championship is just the start of what should be a great tournament season.

Brackets & Team Scores available here.

It's getting pretty late here, or early, depending on which way you want to look at it. I just got back from Hampton, Va., where I was broadcasting the 30th annual Virginia Duals. I figured I'd throw up a quick blog here to kick things off at The Wrestling Nation, USA Wrestling's new social network utility.

I think the biggest improvement it will bring to TheMat.com and USA Wrestling's online presence is an overhauled forum experience that's more in line with the general trend in message boards. The next question is, can we all A) just get along and B ) use them with some tact and respect. The ball's in your court, but one thing you can do is get connected with fellow USAW members via The Wrestling Nation.

Give it a look and let us know what you think.

JB