RhodyRaybo's blog

Today I went to "open mats" at riwrestlebuddy's house, which I try to attend as often as I can. He's had as many as 8 show up and sometimes just one (me). I'm only 10 to 15 minutes from him, so going is easy for me. But today it was just me and one other wrestling (one showed up just to spectate), the other wrestler was pecs44.

The first time I met these two guys was over 3 years ago when riwrestlebuddy invited me to his garage to wrestle for the first time and when I got there, lo and behold, there was this well built man standing in his wrestling gear, pecs44. I wrestled with both of them and had a great time. I've wrestled both of them many, many times since. Sometimes in group matches with other guys many other times, I've wrestled them each one-on-one.

But today was the first time since that first meeting, that it has been just the three of us wrestling, and you know what? It was by far one of the best matches ever, because it was with 2 of the greatest wrestling friends ever! I am so fortunate to have such great wrestling memories.

One of my favorite wrestlers whom I refer to as "Kevin" came back into the picture today. Last time I saw him was about 7 weeks ago just prior to him getting injured in his martial arts class. His cast just came off and asked me to come over and possibly do some wrestling, though he was very limited on what he could do at this point. Well, what wound up happening was we had a jobber/heel match with him jobbing. Normally he likes to be very competitve, but we wound up having a great time with me putting him in different holds and squeezing and easing up. He was so glad to be getting some action even though he was receiving a good deal of punishment. He kept thanking me.

Bottom line, there are times that if you want some wrestling action, you need to be a bit adaptable, whether it be to the other guy's limitations or your own. Loved seeing a good friend again and be able to put him in nelsons, scissors, facesitting..etc etc etc

This past week I had 2 more milestone matches. Last Sunday I had my 30th match with "Michael", my favorite jobber. Nothing new happened with this match, but as always, I had a great time beating him up. Also, this afternoon I had my 35th match with another favorite, "Stanley". My match with "Stanley" was how it usually went, lots of sweat, very intense and now I am sore as hell! I so look forward to getting more matches with these 2 buds.

Yes, that's right, I have had 350 matches since I began wrestling 3 years ago. While there were not 350 meetings, about 20 % were group matches that involved more than one opponent. So each opponent at each meeting is a match for me. Matches have lasted from 7 minutes to 5 hours.

But today while I heard from "Ryan" out of nowhere and he asked if I could meet him at my place, so we had a typical match between him and I. We did cut it just a bit short because it was quite warm and humid, even in my basement.

What I'm thrilled about is that my 350th was with a semi regular. Numbers 250 and 300 were both with out of town visitors.

Now if I can just see when "Michael" can have our 30th match together.

Since I began wrestling in July 2011, I can proudly boast of over 330 matches with 72 separate "opponents". Had many wonderful matches, but a few were worth forgetting. But I have decided to report the top 7 here in NUMBER of matches I have had with eachg uy whether it was one on one or a group wrestling gathering.

In 7th place with 16 matches, most of them in my basement, in this corner we have "Jim-Bob", whom I have mentioned several times on previous blogs. While he may be 7th in match frequency, he's actually first in just about every other category. When I met Jim-Bob 2 years ago, we hit it off immediately. He's much stronger and tougher than I am, and he kicks my butt. However, I always have the best time with him and totally comfortable to just talk with him about anything and tell him what's going on in my head while we're wrestling. Love ya dear bro "Jim-Bob"

In 6th place is "Kevin" in this corner with 18 matches. Kevin is one of the craziest wrestling dudes I've ever met and have had a blast each time. About half our matches were in group settings and he's only been to my place a couple times, but the fact remains, wherever I meet up with "Kevin", sparks fly, in a totally awesome wrestling manner. He has an awesome mancave and the highest compliment he has paid me is his arranging me to wrestle one one one with out of towners that he has hosted. "Kevin", I hope to meet up with you real soon.

In 5th place, in this corner, with 20 matches, we have "Joe". Joe is unique because he lives about 400 miles away, but is a very frequent traveler with some volunteer work he does. So whenever he makes it to the Boston area, he contacts me. I even went to his place for a weekend, because this crazy dude has an actual wrestling ring in his basement. I love my matches with him. He is very skilled, as he used to coach wrestling, but he takes it slow and easy so not to actually hurt anyone. What's unique about "Joe"? I'll tell you, wrestling him is like wrestling Lurch from the Adamms Family. Thank you, Joe, for including a slob like me in your wrestling circuit.

And in THIS corner, in 4th place with 21 matches is "Ryan". I met Ryan a couple years ago, and it was months between our first, second, and third matches. But last fall he started coming more frequently. Ryan is a big dude around my age who puts up a great sweat. He also like to swing a lot of punches and tries to get me to my "breaking point". I love it when he eggs me on. So to Ryan I say..."I wanna fight you man...real bad!!!"

And in the next corner in 3rd place with 23 matches is "Daniel"...his REAL name! While I have had many matches with this energetic and extremely friendly guy, many were brief because most of them were in group settings and most in his garage. Daniel loves to invite wrestlers into his garage for group matches. He's unique in so many ways. Friendly, very nimble, and always willing to share wrestling secrets that he knows. To know this guy is to love him, and I know many guys on these pages have actually met Daniel. He's very well known in the wrestling circuits.

And now, in 2nd place is "Michael" with 26 matches, last one with him was just last night. Michael is not only a wrestling buddy, but a close friend. He's a skilled BJJ student of many years who just likes to get beat up when he wrestles. I put him in one hold after another and he tries to get out of them. Despite his desire to job, it's still a good sweaty brawl with him. Originally he came the first 6 or 8 times to my house, but it became easier to wrestle him him if I went and made the 37 minute trip to his house. So we continue to wrestle in his unique space, in his room with the bed moved out of the way. "Michael", your friendship and our matches are both very special to me, so hopefully we'll be able to brawl soon, next week perhaps?

And finally, in FIRST place with a WHOPPING 34 matches, we have "Stanley". My wrestling journey with Stanley is so unique and so awesome, I could write a book about him alone! But what can I say in this brief space? He's in his late 50's, but has the body of a very fit 40 year old. He's very strong, very friendly, and a very skilled karate black belt. I've also considered him my mentor these last couple years because he always tries to push me harder. My matches with Stanley are easily among the most intense. We struggle and see who can pin whom. I used to run out of breath with him, now I have him tapping out more and more often. Face it, Stan, you've created a monster. Another thing I love about Stanley and the same can be said for "Joe" is that he is not afraid to periodically say hello to my wife. I know that takes courage and I think no less of those who are not ready to do such a thing. It's just an added perk to our friendship.

Well, that's my top 7. If anyone wants to know more about my wrestling adventures with these or other guys, please message me whenever!