Thanks for the post. We just returned from the Dr's office and fortunately his thumb/hand is not broken but there is some pretty serious ligament damage in the general tissue around his left thumb. He will be out of Free-style and Greco for at least 3 weeks now and possibly the season. He will be in a soft cast for a little while but wow, am I proud of his heart! The nurse on site, one of our old Oklahoma Coaches Rob Rogers, and Steve Herman from here in Kansas were great. Steve was there helping Nathan before I knew the seriousness of his injury which we didn't know until later in the tournament.
As a Coach/Dad it was a reminder as to how to coach. Myself and Rob were getting on to Nathan for not wrestling well the last two periods of his challenge match, it was a 0-0 score at the end of 1, even after injuring his thumb, but later on we found out why. No one there could hardly believe that with that injury that he continued at all. All of Kansas was represented well at The Reno World Championships, including both our kids and our high school wrestlers. Nathan chose to go up a weight class and take a chance at loosing his Cliff Keen All Star All World Team Award. We really wanted to see how good he was. He likely ended up loosing the award by 1 point but will still receive the Cliff Keen All-Star Honorable Mention with some consideration for a possible co All-Star Award considering the circumstances. I still believe he deserved the All Star Award but then I know I'm partial. I am more pleased with the fact that Nate has learned to give thanks to God and respect his opponent. I tell him 3 things, #1 Have fun, #2 Walk on the mat like a Champion, #3 Walk off the mat like a Champion. He did all three this last weekend while at the same time giving credit to his club(s) both Derby and his old Oklahoma Club, Owasso, and our state, Kansas.
I would also like to especially thank those from across the state that helped make the trip possible for us, without your support we couldn�t have made it and at least now there is a multiple triple crown winner and multi national wrestler of the year winner who knows who Nathan Furches from Derby/Wichita Kansas is.
