Jordan Rogers finished with a silver medal and wrestled extremely well all day. It was nice to see a supportive contingent of people there to cheer him on. He made quick work of his opponents from Benin and Guam, and won a tough battle against the Egyptian wrestler. In the finals Jordan was defeated by a Turkish wrestler. It was funny to see all of the Singapore kids that were volunteers run up to Jordan after the tournament because they thought he looked like Zach Effron or Justin Beiber, I'm not quite sure which one. He had quite the fan club!!

Quinton Murphy also wrestled well in the competition to finish in fourth place. He had 2 wins and 2 losses. He also wrestled with a lot of heart and aggression.

In my opinion, Quinton and Jordan have very bright futures in the sport of wrestling and the sky could be the limit if they continue to put the time in and work hard. They now know what its like to compete in an international competition and handled themselves well.

The day after competition was spent visiting Chinatown and buying souvenirs for family and friends back home. We also saw a few temples and took pictures of the beautiful scenery. On the way back to the hotel we saw a man that was playing an instrument for a snake. I don't know what possessed me, but I asked the man if I could hold the snake. My friends took quite a few pictures. We also visited Marina Bay where the Olympic Games ceremonies were held and took pictures with their Singpore monument of a lion. Tonight we plan on going to the lobby of our hotel to the Sporting House, which has offered free drinks and food from 5pm to 10pm for the duration of the Games.

The people of Singapore have been very accommodating and it has been a wonderful experience. Again, thank you USA wrestling for sending me to Mexico to have the opportunity to be evaluted to come here.

Mr./Mrs. Rogers please send the photos to me email that were taken of team USA after the competition yesterday. I would really appreciate it.

Jenna Burkert battled tough to finish in fifth place at 60 Kg. This weight class was probably the deepest of the event, there were numerous talented girls in many exciting matches. I ended up being the mat chairman for the finals of this weight between Mongolia and India. These two girls let it all out on the mat, they showed a lot of heart.

Quinton Murphy and Jordan Rogers weighed in today and received their draws. Refer to the FILA website to find the draws. I talked with Coach Halvorson and he said they look like favorable draws for our athletes. I wish them the best of luck and hopefully we can bring home two medals tomorrow!!

I have been trying numerous different foods over here from asian cuisine to spicy tofu to szechaun (excuse my spelling- I think I butchered that one). Everything has been great and they have been treating the officials very well. We receive transportation to just about anywhere via bus, train, or taxi, although most things are walking distance. I joined some of my fellow officials for dinner last night and then we went to the 71st floor bar in our hotel and that is quite the view of Singapore. It is extremely nice. You can check out my hotel by looking up the Swissotel of Singapore (The Stamford) to find pictures of this luxorious place.

To the parents of the USA wrestlers that requested my email here it is: sam_ccwc1@yahoo.com or smjulian@bmsd.org

Hopefully we can get the entire USA team together tomorrow for some pictures.

Thanks again,
Sammy Julian

After two very long flights, one from Chicago to London and the other from London to Singapore- I finally got here. It took me a while to get internet access, so I apologize. The opening ceremonies were definitely a sight to see and very well planned. I would recommend trying to find it online, hopefully it is archived somewhere on the Youth Olympic Games website. Day 1 of competition kicked off in Greco Roman, where we only had one wrestler competing. Lucas Sheridan from California wrestled well today. He opened the tournament with an 18 second fall over an opponent from the Soloman Islands. Sheridan launched him with a sweet front headlock throw from the feet. His next match was a tough defeat against a wrestler from Egypt. Sheridan lost 3-0, 0-3, 0-1. Sheridan bounced back with a 40 second fall over his opponent from Iraq by using a sag headlock in pretty dominate fashion. In his bronze medal match against a wrestler from Uzbekistan he battled tough. but fell 0-5, 4-3, 0-4 to finish the event in fourth place in his weight category.

In my opinion it was a very smooth day in Greco Roman from an officiating standpoint, very few video reviews and coach complaints. I was a mat chairman for Mat B and my co-chairs were David Rey from France and Vaclav Scheiner from the Czech Republic. Our mat was great, we worked extremely well together and shared some good laughs. During the break we ate lunch in the Food Court in the venue and attempted to eat some spicy tofu, it felt like we were on fire! It was one of the hottest things I have tried in recent years.

Jenna Burkert received her draw today after weigh-ins and her pool includes female athletes from the following countries; India, Singapore, and Bulgaria. Wrestling starts tomorrow at noon, Singapore time and I think that is a twelve hour difference in comparison to the east coast in the United States.

One thing that is very different with the culture over here is that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is also on what we would refer to as the passenger's side. Overall, the people here are extremely friendly and this is definitely a spot to get to if you have the chance. I am very thankful that USA wrestling gave me the opportunity to be evaluated in Mexico for this honor. It is a once in a lifetime experience.

I hope to post something else soon, but as for now I am off to dinner with some of my fellow officials.

Thank you,

Sammy Julian