Russian Adventure for Warhawk Wrestlers

PICTURES

June 13 ... from Tim Fader
Several members of the UW-Whitewater wrestling family traveled to Russia in June to learn more about their sport and more about their world. We will post their messages and updates as we get them from the travelers on this site.

We have been back in the United States for three days now. Time moves so fast and in telling the stories and giving the gifts from our trip you realize how lucky we are in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and the United States. After our attempt to clime Elbrus, we shopped, recovered and most of all, looked forward to comming home. 15 days in a very foreign country will make home the best place in the world! I would like to thank everyone that followed the blog and supported, prayed or thought of us during this adventure. I'd like to summarize a couple of things aoubt the trip

Wrestlin--I now know why Russia is the best in the world in wrestling. They don't know much else growing up or at least they don't have a lot of other options. In the Caucauses, where we spent the last several days of our trip, living conditions are pretty tough. A very good wage might bring in $300/month in this region. There is not a lot of TV, video games, excess...they survive. When they "play" they fight, play soccer, or wrestle. We were told of a small village that had two clubs in the center of town. There was not room in either club for one more young wrestler unless someone stopped or got hurt. When we spent the two days with the children from Chechnia, if you jokingly grabbed a 7 year old, he would 2 on 1 you to a body lock. I saw Michael almost pass out when a 9 year old who he was wrestling, got him in a choke lock and seriously applied pressure--we laughed but it was clear that these kids are tough--tougher than many of our youth in America. They wrestle freestyle and are training for the Olympics...we wrestle different styles and train for national championships. Wrestlers in their culture are held up, we were alllowed in this strictly Muslim region because of wrestling. The most successful dinner with told me of the successful men he had coached toasted that I might coach an Olympic champion and the most successful men in my country. It seemed that we would talk about our Abas, Askren, Lawal, Rowlands...these were a couple of American wrestlers they knew about. In America those are our idols as wrestlers...in Russia, non wrestlers idolize Russian wrestlers. They know all of them and follow with a passion that was inspiring for us to see. They thought that seven gold in freestyle would be difficult but didn't rule it out. Most likely a gold may go to another country that had been a former Soviet republic--like Georgia.

Culture--so different that we laughed about many of these things on the way home. Opening a window in a moving vehicle would get you yelled at. They do not like drafts or wind--really. If you had 12 people in a 6 person taxi on a hot day--don't open the window. Similarly, don't expect to get a cold drink or a bag of ice in Russia--they don't go for it. It would cause an "explosion" in your stomach as one wrestler explained to us. Obviously, religious beliefs are a serious difference and one that we encountered many times. You will never see someone sitting on the sidewalk or on the ground---they squat for a really long time. Bathrooms were much different and our guys gave ratings on every toilet we found in Russia (ratings also went to women, food, and levels of friendliness!). I suppose there is not as much happiness or at least outward expression of happiness as you will see in America. Often people are very quiet and very serious looking. We tried to win people over on subways or in airports (kill em with kindness)--it seldom worked. There was a little bit of English spoken in Moscow...occasionally. In the Caucauses, none. Everyone has a cell phone and it is used all the time. Many people smoked and in large dinner parties, there was some very serious vodka drinking. The youth seem much different than the older Russians in the big cities--maybe that isn't a difference. Most buildings seemed very run down and even in the nicer places we stayed, there were things missing that were overlooked. The food was not what we expected. Many guys thought that they would lose weight or fight to survive the lack of food. The opposite was true--the food was good and for us, it was very plentiful. Borscht, the meats, chai, cucumbers, tomatoes, kasha, shishlik, schwarma (close Mike?), spoiled yogurt, dried fish, caviar, bread, chocolates, boiled eggs, pine cones in juice....we tried them all many times--especially borscht.

Our group--I am only writing a summary, mostly from our last night in Moscow. We had a lot of success and disappointment on a two week trip. Everyone agreed that this was a trip of a lifetime-how can you forget it? We had many memorable moments that were brought up by everyone.

I was really impressed with how our group of 8 managed the beginning struggles in the trip--we missed the first two days of our trip because of Ironman and our emergency landing. We then finally did get to Moscow and we lost 15/16 bags of luggage for three days. Even then Tom never got his climbing pack in time. We trained, toured and competed with the same clothes and borrowed wrestling shoes and I never heard one guy complain. It was frustrating but not a complaint.

Everyone loved the outdoor arena and all the wrestling events. They especially like the warm up games before practices that we are sure to use more at Whitewater in the future. The run up the mountain in Nalchik and the first park run stood out. The banquets were incredible and our tour of the Red Square was memorable. The day that we spent working at the drug and rehab center when we made a soccer field and helped build three brick walls was very special. The director told a story of how he prayed that he would get the help to get his facility going and he told us that God answered his prayers when we walked through the gates. He told me that it would have taken one man a month to do what our group did that day.

It wasn't about the wins and losses on the trip however I do wish that some more of our Warhawks could have made the trip--the impact is immeasurable. I can think of 6 or 7 wrestlers in our program that could really use this experience--it gives us a very good opportunity to do this again in the near future. Both Casey and Taylor had bouts of sickness that took away from their trip a little bit. Karl and Matty got injured during wrestling and that changed their trips. I think Elbrus left everyone feeling disappointed and those that were really interested would like another shot at it someday.

I'll stop rambling...it was a great trip..an experience that leads to changes. If you read this and would like to know more--give me a call, I'm more than happy to talk! Thanks one last time to James, Ansor, Rashid, the Schnaidts, Russell, Aquaman, Mousa and Michael--you all left lasting impressions.

June 10...from Tim Fader
We had a serious travel day yesterday and have adjusted to our new surrounding in Nalchik. We are staying in a place up above the city--everyone needed some sleep. Casey has had some bad luck with his throat--might be strep again but he has rebounded today and is back up and moving. Three guys went in to get Russian haircuts today--they were not given any instruction on how to cut the hair but sat pretty quiet--it could have been a lot worse that it turned out. The rest of us were hoping for something drastic.
We had a great run to the top of the hill outside of town this morning. On the way up we had an old guy in shorts only running with an 8 foot long stick coming downhill. At every tree, he would plant the stick in the trail, run up the tree and jump down while still running. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Easy day and we are waiting for these three busloads of children to show up at our place--I think a serious soccer game is going to breakout tonight!
Until next time

May 24 ... Preparing to Leave
My name is Casey Powell, I'm a freshman going on to be a sophomore at Whitewater next fall. The reasons I wanted to go to Russia is because I want to learn new styles of wrestling and enhance my wrestling skills. The biggest thing I want to do in Russia is learn some new wrestling styles. I expect it to be some intense wrestling and have a boat load of fun!
Sincerely,
Casey Powell

May 24 ... Preparing to Leave
Hi my name is Matt Schuck I am going to be a Junior next year here at UW-W. We are leaving for Russia tomorrow at 8:30 pm. There are a few reasons I want to go to Russia. I can't wait to experience the wrestling in another country. Im sure that it will open my eyes to a whole new world of wrestling. I also can't wait to climb Mount Elbrus. I climbed a mountain last summer and it was an amazing experience. I expect to have a lot of fun and work out a lot. Thank you to everyone who helped me be able to go on this trip without you all this would not be possible.

So far Russia has been a blast trying the new foods, seeing the beautiful women, wrestling in some of the top wrestling clubs, and being a part of a new culture. Going from Moscow to Nalchik was like night and day. Moscow reminded me a lot of Las Vegas with it being so busy and a city that never sleeps. Nalchik is a lot more laid back and not as busy but once you get in town there are many flee markets and things to do. Unfortunately during my trip I got strep throat so the last two days we were in Moscow and two days into Nalchik I felt pretty crappy but now that I’m better with this super medicine I was given which clears strep in 3 days I feel like a new man. Although my wrestling isn’t going as well as I wanted to I am keeping in mind that I just got done being sick and is just an awesome learning experience. The dual meets are very exciting and have an intense atmosphere. The fan attendance rate out here is pushing our home dual meet attendance at Whitewater. There is so much more to say but I have little time to write since I have to pay to use a computer but I cannot wait to come home and share my wonderful Russian experiences with my friends and family.

Casey Powell 0-4, 0-4
Taylor Schuck 0-2, 1-7
Matt Schuck 2-4, Fall
Tom Trieloff 0-6, 0-6
Matty Z 1-2, 0-6
Karl Voeck 1-2, 2-2, 2-5

Second Dual

Casey 0-2, 0-1
Taylor 7-3, 8-0
Matt S 1-7, 3-4
Matty 1-7, WBFall
Tom 5-11, 0-6
Karl 0-5, 2-1, 2-3
Matt s LBF

There were many things that were obvious. We had guys that didn't battle position very well and then tried to do things that they don't do. The first match we were extremely tentative-great experience for these guys. Tom Trieloff and Matt Schuck wrestled one guy that had some upper body techniques that I have never seen. He was unbelievable and was a crowd favorite. I have never seen anyone in the USA that hits things with that amplitude and explosion--mango, Lester, this was something to see--ask Tom about it!

We had a banquet after the match. James an AIA man in Nalchik has been extremely helpful. Today we are wrestling on mats put out in the street. They have been advertising this on the local Television---wrestling is everywhere!!

Love you mom and dad.
Matt

Mother Russia here we come!
My name is Michael Schnaidt and ever since my freshman year at Whitewater, coach Fader has wanted to take a trip to Russia. In 1993 my family moved to Moscow and after graduating from high school I moved to Wisconsin to study at UW-W. I am excited for our trip and the cross cultural experience for our guys. We've packed about as much activity into two weeks as possible! We'll be dualing with clubs in Moscow and several cities in southern Russia. I expect a bit of culture shock for our team when we arrive but I know we will all enjoy the different experience and gain much from our travels. Russia was my home growing up and I can't wait to share this new world and culture with our team from Whitewater! Our whole team would like to say a big thanks to All-American Wrestling Supply and Joe Miller for donating dozens of wrestling shoes, singlets and shirts to give away on our trip. The gear will be much appreciated in Russia. That's it for now, we fly tomorrow.

May 24 ... Preparing to Leave

May 24...Ready for take off
One day until take off, and my excitement is building up. A year of planning is finally coming full circle. I remember one day sitting in Coach Fader's office and him talking about taking a wrestling trip to Russia. He asked if it was something I would do and without hesitation I said yes. I said yes because I knew it was a chance of a lifetime at wrestling with the best in the world. Not only the wrestling, but the chance to experience a whole in culture is something that I have always wanted to do. Now with the great support of my wife, family (Anita Robak), friends, and local business my dream of wrestling in Russia is about to come true. I look forward to experiencing a new culture, the worlds best wrestling, and climbing a mountain. I will be writing again from Russia. Thanks everybody for your support and love....
Karl Voeck

May 24 ... Ready for Take Off

I think we took care of everything yesterday or at least I hope. Its easy to see how excited everyone is. We all got the great news to start the day off about ASU reinstating their wrestling program. I think a lot of wrestlers love the sport because you control your own destiny--it's all up to you and what you want to put into it. ASU received a tough challenge and wrestlers everywhere put themselves into it and won. This is tremendous news

I spent the afternoon taking training wheels off my son's bicycle and pushing him down the street. Rye went from falling down every couple of feet to wobbly riding down the entire street right into the barricade at the end or our block. I had to run out in front of him to stop him at the end of the block...he learns to turn and he'll be set--he will have it by the time we get back!!   Molly and Tracey want to go with us--I told them they will get bear fur hats when I get back but that doesn't do it I guess...

Our preflight meeting went well--why is it that everyone is going to the same place to do the same things and one guy can put it all in a day pack and another has three full suitcases? We got everyone square with packing, visas, passports, money, insurance, cameras, electrical adapters and wrestling. The ruble exchange is 24 to the US dollar. The 10 day forecast for Moscow is high of 59-65 and no sun. Michael says that the sun disappears in Moscow for as much as 3 months at a time in the winter.

Four guys set off to stay at Matt Schuck's house for the night--it is real close to O'Hare Airport. I am leaving in a few minutes with Tom, Karl and Matty to meet them. We leave tonight at 8pm and land in Moscow on Monday at 8pm so between time change, travel and a layover in London, we lose an entire day.   I look forward to it all--the experience. We have a chance to wrestle in several different areas, meet new people, see a different culture, and climb Mt Elbrus--I've read enough about all of this--it's definitely time to go. Good luck to the Warhawks in the World Series--bring another trophy home!!

May 22 ... Preparing to Leave
We have a group of eight heading to Moscow Russia on Sunday May 25th. This has been a plan in the works for several years and this fall, student assistant Michael Schnaidt started to make things happen. Michael grew up in Moscow and speaks fluent Russian. He wrestled for two years at Whitewater and was a part of the coaching staff this past year. He knows several clubs and has been to both areas that we are visiting. We started with three people that were interested and moved to our initial meetings with 19 that had interest. We spent the last six months fundraising and the UW Whitewater contingent is Michael, Matt Zwaschka, Matt Schuck, Karl Voeck, Tom Trieloff, Casey Powell, and myself. We plan on spending 3-4 days in Moscow and will work with two wrestling clubs in practice and dual situations. We will then fly to Nalchik in southern Russia and spend the rest of our time there. We will be staying in a completely different culture but wrestling is a very strong common ground.   We will spend time with a home for Chechnian children and at the end of our stay we have a guide to help us try to climb Mt Elbrus. We will fly home on June 10th.

We appreciate your help as well as Dr. Plinske, DLK, John Tincher, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation (Steve Hensel and Dave Black), Frosty's, UW Whitewater, and all our personal support/sponsors that have helped out a great deal in making this a trip to remember. We will send the first segment on Saturday night before we leave--I hope to send a picture or two as well...

Thanks
Tim

June 7...Tom Trieloff
Well last day before are long travel back to the states! 67hrs till I see my girlfriend! It's been a great trip but with all of our activites done everyone has got the itch to get back home. Elbrus was a monster. Our group of nine climbers was windled to 7 due to wrestling injuries and the mountain took 3 more because of the altitude. So we set off at 2:30am with three people and head lamps. Two guides Fader, Musa, and myself. You could quickly feel the MT.'s wrath burning your legs, lungs, and playing games with your head. After three hours of straight climbing I began to get a headache and feel dizzy. We took a break and then noticed bad weather moving our way. We made the decision to turn back. The walk down was just as bad as going up. Knees and quads were aching. It is a challenge I hope to embark upon again sometime in my life. Cant wait to get back to the states see you all soon!

June 7...from Tim Fader
An update from Russia on the first computer we have seen in four days. We wrestled our last dual meet in Russia in an outdoor stadium. The place was crowded with Russians and there were folk dancers before each round of wrestling. it rained part of the dual but that wasn't the difficult part--the russians were. Matty, Tom, Taylor, and Casey all won a match. There was another large feast when we were done complete with toasts, about 10 courses of food and music. We spent the night travelling into the Caucauses and stayed at an alcohol and drug rehab center. Wednesday we spent the entire day helping build a building that they will use to house residents. We also used sickles to clear the field next to the building which became an instant soccer field. They prepared a sauna for us that was not like anything else \i have ever seen. It was over 100 Celsius which made it uncomfortable to be in. Michael commented about his hair being on fire and we both couldn't sit on the wood becuase it left burns on your butt. As we left, a Russian resident of the center crawled into the upper area along the coals and smiled--unbelievable.

We have been in the Elbrus region for three days. We got transport from our trusted driver Oscar and made it to Terskol. James set us up with a guide and equipment and we headed to the barrels at over 11000 feet. We took two lifts to get there and when we arrived at the lasat station, our guide changed the plan. We had a guide and a snowcat to take us up farther on the mountain to get the best chance of summiting with this group for $500. He then told us that he wanted another guide and no snowcat for $600 or he wouldn't do it. Very frustratiing as we were in a situation where we take it or go down.

We made it to the barrels in early afternoon. We made a good meal and settled in. \hard to beat the view from that spot! \michael felt some altitiude sickness that got continually worse and eventually the guide recommended he go down the mountain--\karl went with him and ther went our translator and the most motivated climber!

We woke up at 1am to a clear night but many feeling the altitude. Mousa, Tom and I got our equipment on and took off with our two guides.

We hiked for 3.5 hours straight before our first break. This was somewhat higher than where the snow cat was to drop us off. None of us felt great and a large storm was coming straight down the mountain at us. Our guide made the decision to go back down and we were in a snowstorm by the time we made it back to the barrels at 7:30am. As Tom described it"empty"--kind of a disappointing end to a much anticipated climb.

We have one day for freetime here in the mountains. We make it to the airport tomorrow and back to the U.S. I will write more when it is easier to find a computer. Taylor is pretty sick right now--some sort of digestive problem and he has been in his room next to the toilet for a day--

June 3...from Karl Voeck

Things are going SMOOOTH, Finally....
Since the last time I wrote we flew to southern Russia for some more wrestling and to climb the mountain. We started our first day down here with an awesome run up a hill; it was a lot like running the cog in Colorado. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and seeing some of the town of Nalchik. We started the next day off by playing with some orphan kids that are on vacation from their home country. Then we went off to practice in town, were we learned some pretty sweet moves for the coach. The best yet. Then later that night we had a duel with a club in a town about 30 minutes a way. There were more people watching then at any of our home duals. As for how I wrestled, well it was tie 1-1 periods and I was winning with 5 seconds in the last one, and some how it turned into about 30 seconds. (they added time to the clock) Oh well I feel I won. My next match was the same way but this time I needed I takedown to win and when I got in on his legs the time was up... funny how that works. But after all the wrestling we went to dinner at the Minster of Sports uncle’s house, and there was more food then you can imagine. It was a party complete with dancing and vodka... Most of us had to make speeches too. It was awesome. We have one more dual today, which I might not be wrestling in because I hurt my knee. After that it is off to the mountain....

June 3...from Matt Schuck
Well I haven’t written in a long time but this has been an amazing trip. I’m sure you have heard a lot about it from the others blogs but I’ll still talk a little about my favorite things. So far the wrestling has been awesome we have had three duals and we are about to have our fourth and final today. We have had three practices and again our last is today. The wrestling here is great and I have been learning a lot. This has definitely been an eye opening experience. The culture here is so different then America and it really makes you appreciate where you come from. We have gone on a few morning runs and they have been great. My favorite run so far has definitely been when we first got to Nalchik. We had a morning run up this small mountain, it took about 25 minutes to get to the top and when we did my lungs were burning and you could feel every muscle burning. Last night we had a dual and everyone got two matches. I felt we were really competitive in the second dual. After the dual the other team took us to the leader’s house to eat dinner. I would call it a feast not a dinner. Hopefully we can get some pictures for you all to see. It was unlike anything I have ever seen, there was toast after toast, and probably forty people sitting at one long table. Like I said, today is the last day of wrestling and then we are off tomorrow to do some charity work to help out the community. On Thursday we will begin our adventure of trying to climb Mount Elbrus the tallest mountain in Europe. We will actually begin our climb on Friday morning but we begin getting prepared on Thursday. I probably won’t write until this is all over or until the airport in Moscow. This has been the best experience of my life and I just want to thank everyone again for helping me get here. Love you mom and dad, I miss you so much. I love you Stephanie. I can’t wait to come home and see everyone and tell you about everything and show you the pictures.

June 3...from Tom Trieloff
Things here seem to fly by at a furious pace. Since being in the Caucus region you can really tell the difference in the Russian people. They are a lot more friendly and interested in our group. Today we are going to get in our last practice before our dual meet tonight that may be held outside in the city streets which would be awesome. We wrestled in Baksan last night and let me tell you the level of competition has been raised. Not having much experience wrestling freestyle I’m horrible in top and bottom situations. The first match I wrestled last night I didn't score a point. The guy turned me like I was not even fighting. In the second match I was more competitive before being thrown for 5 plus 1 for amplitude! I was just along for the ride! When it happened all I could do was smile and laugh a little. After wrestling we went to Oma's an ultimate fighter’s house and they had a feast for us! We ate, danced, and made toasts to new friends! The night ended well and was a great experience. I miss my loved ones back home and can't wait to see you all but this is an experience I will never forget.

June 3...from Casey Powell
So far Russia has been a blast trying the new foods, seeing the beautiful women, wrestling in some of the top wrestling clubs, and being a part of a new culture. Going from Moscow to Nalchik was like night and day. Moscow reminded me a lot of Las Vegas with it being so busy and a city that never sleeps. Nalchik is a lot more laid back and not as busy but once you get in town there are many flee markets and things to do. Unfortunately during my trip I got strep throat so the last two days we were in Moscow and two days into Nalchik I felt pretty crappy but now that I’m better with this super medicine I was given which clears strep in 3 days I feel like a new man. Although my wrestling isn’t going as well as I wanted to I am keeping in mind that I just got done being sick and is just an awesome learning experience. The dual meets are very exciting and have an intense atmosphere. The fan attendance rate out here is pushing our home dual meet attendance at Whitewater. There is so much more to say but I have little time to write since I have to pay to use a computer but I cannot wait to come home and share my wonderful Russian experiences with my friends and family.

June 3...from Tim Fader
Results from yesterday's dual--the club in Baksan was very good. We pulled up to a deserted looking building and inside was two mats with balconies and cement seating that had old men, young kids, business looking people and everyone was there to see the dual. We did not wrestle very well the first match--overmatched in some. These are the results

June 3...from Michael Schnaidt
Good Morning from Nalchik! Yesterday we dueled a local freestyle club and were introduced to Russian, Caucus wrestling. :) After the dual we were invited to a banquet by the Minister of Sport and Culture from the city of Baksan. This morning we'll practice in Nalchik and in the evening dual another club in the area. James, a local missionary from Colorado, set up a guide for climbing Mt. Elbrus and reserved huts on the mountain to sleep Thursday night.

June 1 ... from Michael Schnaidt
Hello from Nalchik. Our team arrived in the Caucases yesterday and was situated in a nice hotel. Its been great for me to be back in Nalchik and connect with some friends here. This morning we ran up a small hill that overlooked part of the city. Tomorrow we have a practice and dual scheduled in a near-by city. After wrestling with local clubs on Monday and Tuesday, we plan on driving to pre-Elbrus and beginning our summit attempt.

May 30...from Tom Trieloff
Today was the first day of dual meets for our team. We woke about 7:20am to go have breakfest with this lady that I swear has something for Matty!(HaHa) Not really she yells at him every chance she gets! I ate a light breakfest because I didn't want any problems with the food! We then went to the rooms to chill for a bit and wait for our new guide Aquaman! Which is a friend of our guide Musa. We got two taxis and headed to the gym. By the time I got there I think I had smoked 10 cigs! The driver was chain smoking and I was in the front seat just catching all the second hand smoke. When we all arrived we made our way to the gym, changed, and began to warm up! Fader and the Russian director set up matches, after a brief intro and gift exchanges we were ready to barosa!(Russian for wrestling.) We wrestled well as a team overall in this first dual. We were so excited and didn't know what to expect. My match started with me pushing the pace and I think I scored on three push outs in a row. The guy I was wrestling and I got in a scramble and he sprained his elbow so I won by injury defult. After having a nice lunch with the team at the facility we went shopping for souviners before our next dual. When we arrived at the next dual Taylor and I went upstairs and the next group of guys got stuck in the elevator. So after 25 mins they finally made the way to the wrestling room. They paired use up and we began to wrestle! The competion at this club was a little better. My first match was with a guy from Georgia and it was a physical match. We actually started shoving each other after the we were supposed to stop. I ended up losing the match in two periods. I was up four nothing in the second but I need to work on my conditioning:( HAHA) My second match I wrestle a Guy that was a beast that just beat up on me. But I went back for seconds and he beat me up again, but that is why I am here to wrestle the best and make a run next year for a national title. Take care talk to you soon!

May 30...from Karl Voeck
Holy Cow!!! The word is Hectic!
It has been a very interesting trip so far as you can see from many of the blog posts.. Our group has been very good about dealing with what is thorwn our way, which has been everthing, like if it was going to happen, we would just say figures and move on. (if there are any spelling errors in this blog it's because i have no clue which button it is, there are in russian) Today was the frist day of duals mets for us. It was a great experince. They were not very formal, but still had an anoucer, line-up, and exchanging of gifts. In one dual I got a wooden spoon. (oops I was going to give that to the mother in-law, I still will, love you mom) We all wreslted good, but most calls went the russians way even if it was close. (very bias...) There were about 30-70 people watching at each and some of our wrestlers wrestled more than once. (I wrestled twice in the first dual, and once in the second) I wrestle the good old Fader style, and broke all three guys I wrestled. After each dual we would trade things with the other wrestlers and I got some sweet stuff, and no Adam Latella (or any body else.) you can’t have the single I got!!! I got an awesome jacket and a russia army t-shirt... We have had friends of Micheals leading us around the city (getting taxi’s for the right price, and they have been awesome.. Musa his friend does speak english but we get by with him, he is very smart on the streets and getting us around.. Oh and lastly one more thing was thrown at us, fader, matty, matt achuck, me, and michael’s friend were all stuck in an elvator for 30 mins... It was a very small elevator... It was hot... Tomorrow we fly to southern russia for more wrestling and culture. We got to get up in three hours to get to the airport.. Again thanks to everybody for this eye opening experince in hetic Russia... Michaela, I love and miss you... See you all soon...

May 29 ... from Michael Schnaidt
Writing from an internet cafe in northern Moscow...Today was an event filled day for our team from Whitewater. After our morning run and breakfast, we headed down to the city center to meet my Dad and Sergei for a tour of the historic downtown. Thus far our trip has been eventful and full of surprises and last minute schedule changes. Before leaving for Russia i reminded everyone to be flexible and go with the flow...today proved to be an exercise in patience, perseverance and perspective as we endlessly worked to retrieve our bags from the Domededovo airport. We've had great contact with local Russians and a good experience with the wrestling culture. Tomorrow we have two duals and on Saturday we head south!

May 29 ... from Tim Fader
Thursday night and it has been awhile...not as easy to find a computer as I thought. Russian taxi driver yelled at me for a couple of minutes to put on my seatbelt in the front seat and then smoked two cigarettes with all the windows up for the next 10.

I have learned a lot the last couple of days. I have learned that the most worthless word in the Russian language is "privyet" (hello) as no one seems to respond. Michael tells me that "if they don't know you, why would they say hello to you." That is a different way of looking at things and I am learning that is not the only thing the Russians look at differently.

We have spent three days with out baggage. Somehow our airlines lost 15 out of the 16 bags we checked in at Chicago. Everyone has been working out in the morning and wrestling at night with the same clothes. The thing I respect about our group is that they haven't complained one bit--I think Trieloff kinds of likes it and I know Karl does. Still the airline customer service department here in Moscow needs some work! Tonight after finally finding out that 8 bags were received on Wednesday but they did not feel like delivering them to us in our dorms, we finally got a taxi to go get them. We had to walk backwards through customs acting like we didn't hear the guards speaking to us and then yelling at us. I thought Steven Schnaidt was going to be brought down at one point. Michael talked them into letting us go through the lost baggage and we did find 12 bags--they only had 8 accounted for and then they told me that they would only deliver them when all 15 arrived. I watched Transaero and British Airways actually almost come to blows figuring out who's responsibility it was. We grabbed the bags and went to practice...with our own shoes and clean clothes for the first time,,,,

We did get to sightsee a little this morning. The team had a Russian historian as a tour guide for most of the day and he was great. It helped put some meaning into little square plaques on the Kremlin wall or statues of soldiers. I don't understand the meaning of keeping Lenin on display in the mausoleum...when Russia changed in the 1990's away from Communism, what significance does Lenin hold to Russia today? Lenin and Stalin have a serious place in Russian and world history-I'm just not sure why they are revered?

Wrestling has been perfect. The guys have seen a lot in what we have been able to do. We haven't had our things and we have been adjusting to travelling for 2 days straight but it has gone well. We have practiced with two different clubs and the Russians literally line up to wrestle the Warhawks. Matty and Tom got a lot of attention the first night as they scored a lot of points. They switch a lot when they play or wrestle, one two minute go and then a new partner comes in. One team in soccer and then another comes in. The American stays out there the whole time...interesting

May 28 ... from Tom Trieloff
Today started with a brisk morning run followed by a quick breakfast before hitting the Metro for Red Square! We had a tour guide named Sergei that seemed to know everything that we asked of him. We visited Lenin's tomb, tomb of the unknown soldier and countless other site of beautiful downtown Moscow. After the tour we had short turn around to get to our evening training session. We started by playing Basketball/Rugby which was very physical to say the least. We then ended with 3 ten minute drill sessions for tomorrow’s dual meets! At the end of practice I found out that I was the only guy on the team that did'nt have their bags accounted for and still have no change of clothes. The guys have been helping me out but I would say I'm not the most pleasant smelling of the bunch right now! Imagine !6 days in Russia with nothing but the clothes on you back. We I guess I will say a little something before bed tonight and hope for the best! Hope all is well in the states.

May 26...I thought we were going to Russia!
Okay... We got on the plane to London and ended up in Newfoundland. What!!! For those of you that don't know where that is, it is in Canada. There was a guy that was on our plane that got to dunk and must of mixed it with some drugs, and he passed out, so we had to land because he needed medical attention. That is how we ended up in Newfoundland. The plane had to dump fuel because it was to heavy to land. Then after being on the ground in St. Johns for two hours they said that a value went bad in our left wing. So after two more hours of waiting they said that the crew was over the legal limit of hours that the could work. Result one night stay in St. Johns, Newfoundland. They should of hit the value with a hammer, Air Force style. We will spend the day here and get back on the plane tonight and continue the trip to Russia. It's all part of the experience of a lifetime.... Hopeful the next time I write will be from Russia...
Karl Voeck

May 26...New Foundland?!?!
Family and Friends,
Welcome to Russia!!!!! oops I mean to New Foundland!! We had a very unique situation on our aircraft shortly after we left Chicago. Unfortunately due to some passagenger's poor decisons and bad expedition behavior we had to make an emergrency landing in the small city of St. Johns in New Foundland Canada. Very frustrating as I was hoping to wake up in London and then make it to Moscow and try to get on the wrestling mats. Once we landed the plane had a mechanical error so we have to stay here until 10 PM tonight. Then we will finally be on our way to mother Russia. Anticaption and excitement are still my two most common feelings as we fill in the time of our layover. Started one book so far on the plane called "The Finally Lecture" it is very good read so far talking abouty the important things in life and making your childhood dreams true. Thak you to all those for helped make this dream of mine come true!! It is greatly appreciated and I am truely thankful to all those that supported myself and our crew on this trip. God Bless and happy Memorial Day!! To all those vets out there thank you for giving us our freedoms and being able to live in the best country in the world. Dad happy memorial day, you have been on my mind all day long, thank you for everyting. Mom you too, thanks for all you have done!! That's it for now, off to a free dinner, thanks British Airways.
Matt Zwaschka