The teams put on another really fun show this past Friday night in their second intramural show of the season.  There were 16 matches in all, pitting team members against each other.  The team motto this season is, “More Sweat Now, Less Blood Later”, but that definitely didn’t apply here.  There were more bloody noses and lips than we’ve ever had before.  This is a result of the intensity being higher this time with the fights being judged and also shows us that we need to work more on our defense over the next couple weeks.  The kids didn’t seem to mind the blood at all and showed great toughness and heart fighting through it.  The coaches almost had it worse, having to clean the ring after each fight.

There were many candidates for “Fight of the Night” and “Fighter of the Night”.  The coaches chose Alec Pleatman vs. John French as the “Fight of the Night”.  Both of them boxed really well and landed clean, crisp combinations.  Alec has improved a lot this season, winning “Fighter of the Night” at the first show and now contributing to the “Fight of the Night” here.  But John French used his fast hands to land a few more shots and took home the close decision.  All three judges scored it the same, 29-28, with John winning the first two rounds and Alec fighting back to win the 3rd.

Runner-up for “Fight of the Night” was Elle Bisbee vs. Hannah Basil.  Both showed really good technique in their match, with Hannah winning by split decision.  There were many other really good matches, as evidenced by many split decisions on the night.

All of the team members should be proud of their performance, but “Fighter of the Night” goes to Darius Brown.  Darius used his quickness, fast combinations and good power to win his match over John Hautz via corner stoppage after the 2nd round.  The fight was stopped as the corner couldn’t stop the bleeding, although John was game to continue.  Darius has been on a roll lately, winning several amateur USA Boxing bouts as well.

There were other strong candidates for “Fighter of the Night”.  As previously mentioned, John French boxed great in a really tough match.  Aaron Webb boxed by far the best he has in his 4 years on the team, winning a close split decision in a tough match against Shane Thompson.  Some of the 1st year boxers looked really good as well.  Brandon Adams showed a great jab to keep the shorter Nate Todd from getting inside against him.  Lydia Snow showed tremendous improvement from her first match.  Kenny Blount came out strong and aggressive in his match, pushing the pace in a tough fight against Jake Harrington.  Many others also fought great and should be proud of their performance.

Thanks to all who came out and supported the kids.  The High School Team now has two weeks of practice left before heading to New York on Feb 7-8 to take on Aquinas Institute.  Based on their showing tonight, we have high expectations heading into that competition.