Practicing year-round, enduring a four-month long season, attending early morning meets, and overcoming injuries are all things sophomore Cory Troutman does to maintain his wrestling skills.
“Cory is a hard worker when it comes to wrestling and has been dedicated to the sport for a number of years now, he puts in a lot of time during off-season, and he wrestled a ton this past summer and has improved,” said wrestling coach Brandon Sisson.
Troutman first started wrestling in the fourth grade, ever since then he has worked hard to get to where he is today.
“I started because my dad kind of pushed me to do it, then I got into it and started having some success,” said Troutman.
He has been working hard and achieving many accomplishments since then. He has been on the national team for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and has done out-of-school wrestling. He has also had some injuries that have acted as minor setbacks. He said when he is injured he does not take a lot of time off so he can stay in shape, although athletes must also keep attitude in mind as well.
Sisson said that the mental aspect of wrestling is as important as the physical.
“Cory, as well as a number of the wrestlers, needs to work on the mental aspect of the sport. So often people concentrate so much on the physical aspects of sports but if your mind is getting in the way it doesn’t matter what you have been taught,” said Sisson.
One of Troutman’s main goals is to become a state qualifier before the end of high school. Hopefully the time and hard work he has put into this sport has paid off.
“I want to become a state qualifier, I’ll do anything and everything that I can. I will work harder and it will really pay off in the practice rooms.”
The very feel of holiday spirit is in the air where a big sparkling Christmas tree can be seen in the front of the historic downtown Jeffersonville outdoor skating rink.
With the holidays quickly approaching, downtown Jeffersonville has become full of festive cheer. One of the main holiday attractions is the Rockefeller Center-inspired outdoor ice skating rink. The rink is complete with hanging lights and holiday music. The rink also offers special discounts and events on different days of the week.
“It gives you something new to look at. At indoor skating rinks you just stare at a wall, at this outdoor skating rink your scenery is constantly changing,” said senior Kaitlin Hein.
The scenery of downtown Jeffersonville brings the holiday spirit to the ice rink.
“I loved the decorations that they had set up around it. It gave [the rink] a holiday feeling and it was really pretty,” said Hein.
With illuminated snowflakes on every telephone pole down Spring Street and local shops participating in the festivities as well, there is a range of holiday spirit and activities through the downtown area.
“I really enjoy ice skating, it gets me into the Christmas spirit. It’s just a fun thing to do, part of the reason I love winter,” said freshman Bryce Romig
Students who have not yet attended the rink say that it is on their “to do” list this season.
“I want to go because I’ve never ice skated in an [indoor] ice rink. Just outdoor ice rinks in Chicago. I want to compare them,” said sophomore Danya Sandoval.
Schimpff’s Confectionary is participating in the festivities with holiday decorations all over the store and special Christmas candies such as ribbon candy, their famous candy canes, and peppermint bark. Schimpff’s also will be selling ornaments.
The ice skating rink will be open until Jan . It is $8 per person including the ice skates. There is a $6 group rate for groups of 10 or more. The special events and discounts are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Kids skate for $4 on Tuesday if they bring a receipt from a local restaurant, and on Thursday if they bring a receipt from a locally-owned Jeffersonville shop. Fridays are teen night with a DJ from 7-10 p.m. and Sundays are Skate with Santa from 1-4 p.m.
By Claire DeFrancisci
Additional reporting by Rebekah Landers
This is the weather forecast this week for the Floyds Knobs area.
This week there has been a noticeable amount of warm weather in the Southern Indiana region. Instead of a foot of snow Southern Indiana has had several inches of rain. The lack of accumulating snow will damper the chances of snow days before Winter Break.
“I want it to snow really bad, it’s not normal for it to be this warm in December,” said sophomore Deja Jones.
The abnormally warm weather is most likely not here to stay. According to Astronomy and Meteorology teacher CJ Jackson, the temperature will drop to a high of 34 degrees within the next five days.
“Right now [the weather] is above average because we’ve had so many high temperatures. That’s because last year we had such cool temperatures over the European landmass. We had big blocking dome of pressure, and it wasn’t allowing the weather to move like it normally does. This year it’s moving like it normally does, so we’re getting unusually warm but kind of normal. That’s going to change in the next five days,” said Jackson
The next question that comes up is whether or not the school corporation will have snow days before the end of the semester. This year if FC has snow days before Winter Break, then the school will use the snow make-up days on Dec. 21 and 22. Many students and teachers have different opinions on this new system.
“I think that it’s a bad thing because families plan to travel and they expect to have the entire Christmas Break to do that,” said sophomore Tiffany Bowen.
For this reason it is strongly encouraged for families to not plan vacations around finals week, in case any sudden changes in the schedule occur. Although most students are reluctant to give away time from the much anticipated Winter Break, Jackson has a different view on the subject.
“[The snow make-up days] are pretty good because it helps decompress the prom and graduation issue when you have as many inclimate days as we have had over the past two or three years then that gets us to the point where we have to ask if we have to back commencement up so it kind of relieves that pressure. It’s awkward in that we have not done it before, but based on our last three years it will be a good way to relieve some of the pressure,” said Jackson.
To check up on the weather watch your local news or type in your zip code to the Weather.com site.
This Saturday Student Renaissance will host the annual Holiday Bazaar here at FC. It will offer homemade merchandise made to be great gifts this holiday season, according to co-sponsor DeAnn Thrasher.
“This is a great way to shop for Christmas presents without the hassle of driving all the way to Clarksville to go to the mall,” said senior Brittany Murray, one of six senior leaders of Student Renaissance.
Renaissance will offer a wide variety of products such as jewelry, candles, scarves, and many more Christmas and holiday gift ideas. The bazaar will also provide snacks. Thrasher said Santa will be there all day to pose for pictures for a donation for Renaissance.
“There will be refreshments for a price. We have sack lunches, drinks, hot chocolate, and desserts,” said Murray.
All of the proceeds that come from the bazaar will go back to the students of FC.
“We do the academic pep rally in April and some of the money goes to that,” said Thrasher.
The Student Renaissance leaders plan the activities. Senior Kendall Ladd is another of the six senior leaders that contributed in the organization of this event.
“We put on the Holiday Bazaar because it’s a good way for the community to come together,” said Ladd.
There will be 60 vendors and they will all have a selection of items with varying prices. The bazaar will be located in the spine of FC on this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Check back Saturday to see pictures of this event.
Official news source for Floyd Central High School
