Gering wrestler takes 2nd at national tourney...
By Alex Helmbrecht, Sports Editor08/02/2006

There is no offseason for Gering wrestler Brock Smith.
The two-time Nebraska state champion recently finished second at the Disney Duals at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla., beating some of the nation's top wrestlers in his weight class.
Smith defeated nine wrestlers to finish with a silver medal, the best performance he's had at the Disney Duals.
"I'm happy with how I finished," said Smith, who wrestled at 145 pounds. "It's some of the toughest competition in the nation right now. You always come up with someone tough."
In addition to Smith, eight other area wrestlers competed at the Disney Duals. Gordon-Rushville's Kirk Mohr finished with a 6-3 record to earn a copper medal for the White Team.
Morrill's Jacob Gonzales also medaled for the White Team. He finished with a 7-2 record to earn a bronze medal.
Gordon-Rushville's Dayne Reddy, Kimball's Anthony Belgum, Alliance's Riley Essay and Chris Long and Morrill's Jordan Gonzales also competed but did not medal.
The Nebraska team was divided into the Red Team and the White Team. Smith said the teams were determined by wrestle offs before the team competed.
"We have wrestle offs to determine the red and white teams," Smith said. "And if you win, you're on the red team."
For Smith, his silver medal performance was due in large part to his offseason regimen.
"I did all my conditioning on my own," he said. "We had conditioning practice a couple of days a week, but I wanted to make sure I was in shape, so I shadow wrestled and wrestled with my brother.
"It's hard to make weight in the summer because you're not in the mode you are in high school. It always seems like there's so much food around you, so it's really hard not to eat. But once you get around the other wrestlers you get back into reality and you just make it work."
Brandon Smith, Brock's brother, was a coach for the Nebraska team and he enjoyed his time helping the wrestlers improve.
"It's a real eye opener and a good test of skills for the kids who compete," said Smith, who helped assist Gering's former wrestling coach Myron Ellegood the past three seasons. "There's a lot of talented wrestlers with different styles, so I did a lot of scouting to help the guys get a feel for them. Our kids got a big charge out of it, and I think it was a big success."
In his first year helping at the Disney Duals, Brandon helped guide the White Team. He said he'd continue to help in the future.
"It was the first year I've done it, and I had a great time," he said. "I'd like to continue to do it in the future if the opportunity is there."
For Brandon's brother, though, this was his last year wrestling at the Disney Duals. After Brock graduates next May he said he's going to try to compete at national meets to gain recruiting attention.
But Brock still enjoyed his time in Orlando during his "vacation."
"It's strictly wrestling. We didn't do much fun stuff because it's about bettering yourself as a wrestler," he said. "If you like to wrestle, Disney Duals is great because you're going to better yourself because the competition is really tough and you have to be prepared to be in tough matches every time. But it's not a normal vacation. And it just keeps getting bigger every year."

Haven't been around, so good to hear the good news Brock! Congrats and well done!

ref

hey brock, its austin from nchs. it was such a pleasure workin and wrestlin you. you helped me by doing some stuff i have never seen before in a match so i know what to do when i get in those situations. I also thought of how cool it was that all three of us got medals u with silver and mohr and i with the bronze or copper. your a great kid, and good luck this coming season. BRING HOME THE 3 PEAT BABY!!

Hey Austin thank you the trip was tuff but ive learned a lot and fill very strong. Sorry i havent had the time to get back to u ive been working 2 jobs and wrestling and doing some ufc training for a fight i might get. Oh and then theres my g/f and ive been spending as much time with her as i can. Ya it was cool to see us all bring home a medal i wish they were a little higher medals lol but we all learned and are better wrestler because of it. Hey do u have a email or hotmail or anything if you will have to give it me so we can talk more aright well im going to go ill talk to u later and thank u

Brock Smith

yea u can add me at superman_hergee@hotmail.com Yea hope ur UFC trainin is going well, and all the wrestling ur doin sure ur kickin butt. well i'll ttyl man
aust

look congrats brock but you cant just single brock out of the whole team it was obviously a team effort (disney duals), not causing any problems or anything but i just think that the other wrestlers do deserve some respect also

I think Austin is talking about how well they did at 145 since all three were at the same weight