MWC Match1: Brett vs. Jerred vs. Kyle RyanCarrWeber

(Match 1: Brett vs. Jerred vs. Kyle

When Jerred read his name on the roster of those six middleweights who would be competing for their weight class's title, he reacted with nonchalance. He had expected it. After all, he had been a state champion amateur wrestler. He had proven his worth in the ring of TW. And he was quite sure he knew *far* more about the sport than either of his opponents. Kyle, thought Jerred, was a pretyboy who would be easily put down. And Brett, in Jerred's mind, was at a major disadvantage because he was used to being in a tag team. Jerred, in his own mind, had at least the first match of this mini-Tournament won.

Kyle elated to read his name among those competing for the MW title. And then he ran into Jerred, who snidely wished him good luck, and Kyle remembered that he was only one of six, and one of the smallest of six, who had a shot at going all the way. He knew Jerred was a successful amateur wrestler who was technically excellent in the ring as well. His other opponent, Brett, was mainly a member of a tag team. A disadvantage, that, thought Kyle. He reasoned that the biggest problem in his first match was probably Jerred. And he resolved to confer about the amateur with Brett.

Brett was as surprised as anyone that he, a member of a tag team, had been selected for the Middleweight mini-Tournament, and wasn't sure how he'd fare. He'd only had one singles match. Also, his opponents were both more experienced with one on one competition. On the other hand, this was a three-way, and therefore a tag match, at least until the first guy gets eliminated. So tag tactics could work. Kyle, reasoned Brett, was a prettyboy puff who would pose no problem, really. Jerred, however, was a skilled amateur wrestler. A state champ, in fact. Perhaps an alliance with the prettyboy would be wise, thought Brett, and he went off looking for Kyle.

Jerred was in a corner of the changing area getting ready for the match by stretching and working out with the freeweights provited mainly for TW wrestlers. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his two opponents conferring, occasionally shooting glances over at him. A gnawing sensation in the pit of Jerred's stomach was quickly put aside by the knowledge that, even if they were allied against him, as long as he could keep them separated, his amateur skill would prove him the winner. And besides, this isn't the final match, he thought, so pinfalls count. And Jerred, if he was good at one thing, knew how to get a pin.
The amateur was still lifting weights when he heard the announcer call him to the ring: "Our first contender in this first match of three for the Teens Wrestling Middleweight Championship, standing 5'10" and weighing in at 155 pounds, high school wrestling state champion Jerred!" The assembled friends and family of the participants, as well as other wrestlers in the audience, cheered Jerred warmly. Going in, he was the decided favorite to advance. "Entering next, the youngest of the three wrestlers in this match, 5'9" and 155 pounds... Kyle!" The few younger girls in the crowd cheered the spunky blond wrestler as he bounded to the ring, standing in the corner opposite where Jerred, seemingly disinterested, was continuing to stretch. "And our final participant, standing 5 feet and 10 inches tall and weighing 165 pounds, please welcome ... Brett!" Brett got very mild applause and a smattering of foul looks and boo's. As a member of Kevin's coterie of terror, Brett was undoubtedly the least popular wrestler in this match.The ref explained the rules, to the participants and the crowd: "The way this match works is simple. Two teens in the ring at a time - I'll roll a die to see who starts. When a tag is made, the teen tagging out will have ten seconds to leave the ring after the one tagging in has entered. If any of you refuse to tag in when you're able to do so, you will be disqualified. If the match ends by normal disqualification, a ten minute break will be had, and the match begun again from the beginning, or from the two who remain after the first pinfall. When you're pinned, leave. Win by pin or submission. Any questions?"

The three wrestlers shook their heads, each exchanging glances with the others. The ref pulled a plain white board game die from his pocket. He instructed that on one or two, Jerred would step out first, on three or four Kyle would and on five or six Brett would. He dropped the die to the mat, and it fell by Jerred's foot. Jerred stepped back and leaned over, "It's a one." The ref confirmed this and directed Jerred, smiling smugly, to the tag corner. Kyle and Brett met at the center of the ring, neither having considered this eventuality. They would have to fight each other before getting rid of Jerred. Oops.

  The bell rang. Kyle and Brett circled a little before engaging each other in a simple lockup in the center of the ring. Brett was able to muscle Kyle into the ropes, where the ref called for a clean break, which both teens gave. When Kyle followed Brett back to the center, however, Brett surprised him with a roundhouse kick to the gut, which he followed by bulldogging his ally's head to the mat. Kyle now lay face-down, holding his head, and Brett tagged in Jerred. Jerred was leery of the exchange, but that didn't help Kyle any as the champion amateur entered with a quick elbow to the kid's upper back. The fair-haired boy was easily manhandled by the more seasoned amateur.

On the apron, Brett smiled. This is even better, he thought. I'll let Jerred tire himself out getting rid of Kyle, and then I'll beat him after he's already exhausted. He watched, quite amused with himself, as Jerred pulled Kyle to his feet, fending off the teen's weak attempts at defense and whipping him into the ropes. A back-body drop put Kyle again on his back, and Jerred dropped to sitting on the kid's chest, lobbing blows to his head despite the referee's protests. Kyle raised his arms to defend himself, but the stronger amateur continued to dominate. He pulled Kyle to his feet and thrust the teen's head between his singlet-clad legs. A powerbomb ensued, and Kyle's tenure in the mini-tournament came to an abrupt halt with a technically perfect cradle and pin applied by Jerred.

Brett's plan had worked - sort of. Jerred had done all the work with Kyle, though the amateur hardly seemed tired, stretching as if the match was now about to begin after a brief warm-up. Kyle peeled himself from the mat and returned, dejected, to the changing area. The ref motioned to Brett to enter the ring, and he did so, snickering at Jerred, who seemed quite amused with himself. While the two had never experienced bad blood before this match, Brett didn't plan on pulling any punches and neither did Jerred, so both knew this might get quite vicious - it was, after all, for a title, and both wanted to be the first middleweight to hold the mantle of excellence for their weight class. The bell rang again, and the wrestlers met at the center of the ring, hesitated only briefly, and locked up.

The two middleweights pushed against each other with absolutely no give from either until Jerred, true to his amateur background, broke quickly from the collar-and-elbow and used a double-leg takedown to topple Brett to the mat. The slightly heavier middleweight was taken by surprise and fell to his back, narrowly avoiding a pin from the ensuing cradle by grabbing hold of the bottom rope. Brett tried to get up, but Jerred was already standing over him, and stomping his gut. Brett was winded and tried to roll out of the way, but Jerred followed till the bigger middleweight had rolled right under the bottom rope to regroup outside the ring. Jerred gave Brett space to get to the apron, and Brett was very cautious in re-entering the squared circle. Jerred let him enter cleanly, though, and the two squared off again.

Brett began the confrontation this time with a clothesline which Jerred didn't expect that put the amateur on his back and prone to a stomp to his shoulder by Brett, who then pulled Jerred to his feet again for a suplex. Jerred arched up when his back impacted the mat, feeling the sting of the move as soon as he hit. Brett pulled him to his feet again and pushed him into the ropes, bending over and waiting for a back-body drop that he would never execute as Jerred quickly tied up his arms and executed a Pedigree, slamming Brett's forehead into the canvas. The younger teen was dazed by the blow, but not so much so that he didn't kick out when Jerred rolled him over and attempted a non-chalant pin. Jerred got up, pulling Brett with him, and then slammed the other teen back down to the mat.

Brett was easy pickings for a wicked stomp to the abs, which doubled him over and enabled Jerred to drop a knee into his opponent's side. Brett hurt all over as he again rolled away from Jerred. This time, though, Jerred stopped the roll with a series of stomps to his opponent's head. Jerred yanked Brett to his feet and threw him at the ropes. Jerred dropkicked, but Brett had the focus to hold onto the ropes and Jerred just fell to the canvas. Brett pulled himself into the corner, where he waited until Jerred, barely slowed at all by his botched dropkick, approached. A well-timed kick to the amateur's chest sent his feet out from under him as he fell to his back right before Brett, who eased around the teen and measured him for a hard elbow to the chest. Brett pulled the amateur to his feet and tossed him into the ropes, meeting his return with a hiptoss which put Jerred squarely in the center of the mat.

Brett thought only briefly before grabbing the ankles of the winded teen, against minimal resistance from Jerred, and wrapping his legs into a figure-four leglock. Taking out the skilled wrestler's legs, reasoned Brett, would be quite the boon to his own success. Jerred tried to ignore the pain, and also tried in vain to pull himself to the ropes. Brett poured on the pressure, bending Jerred's knees against their will. The amateur's arms flailed spasmodically as he tried to free himself, but he choked back the urge to submit to the hold. The ref asked repeatedly whether the amateur wanted out, and repeatedly he insisted he did not. Brett eventually released the hold, and stood to watch Jerred pull his knees to his chest.

The tag team wrestler stomped his amateur opponent for a moment before pulling Jerred to his feet. Brett pushed Jerred into the ropes, but Jerred stumbled into them due to the pain in his legs and managed, when Brett approached, to fire a chop to his chest. The sting slowed Brett, enabling Jerred to push through a single-leg takedown which he quickly maneuvered into a cradle. Brett was panicking and Jerred almost won with the cradle, but the bigger middleweight kicked out on two. Brett was up first, but Jerred was ready when he approached with a drop-toe hold that put Brett on his stomach and in position for Jerred to mount his back and apply a camel clutch.Jerred pulled as hard as he could on Brett's chin, leaning back to crane the teen's neck as much as possible. Brett felt he would snap, even as he pushed down against the mat to alleviate what pressure he could. Jerred leaned back till Brett's chest was almost perpendicular to the mat, and Brett knew he had lost the match. With a final cry, he shouted his submission, and the referee held Jerred's arm aloft. Brett rose, still aching, and shook the amateur's hand. They walked back to the changing area, where Kevin waited with his posse, of which Jerred suddenly remembered Brett was a member. The beating which ensued needs no description, as a six-on one mauling is pretty predictable.