I was just flipping through my Sooner's Illustrated and saw Jaydan Bird signed with OU. I sure missed seeing that kid on the mat!

Yeah, he gave a verbal about a year ago. With the LB's they have coming in, he may have trouble there. Maybe he will turn into an Austin English type of DE? It's kind of strange that we played them both in FB during their sophomore years. English tore us up, maybe around 200 yards rushing, but we contained Bird pretty well at Andover Central...I'm thinking around 20 yards rushing. It's really good to see those 3 star kids with good small school backgrounds sign. They seem to out work the 5 star kids!

Hopefully this link will work. If it does not, just go to www.soonersports.com and look around for interviews on the right side. Lots of cool stuff, even if you are a Kansas guy that likes to get his butt kicked on a regular basis by the guys in red whose nicknames actually signify less than honest intentions during a land rush back around 1889 or so. Oh well, beats a Jay Hawk or a Purple Wildcat....still never have fighred out these Kansas cheers and I have been here since 1992. Manhattan is a nice town though. Radical tailgaiting in a semi-friendly atmosphere as long as they know you!

http://www.cstv.com/allaccess/player/07-oas-mediaplayer-okla.html?content=mms://a1981.v8108e.c8108.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1981/8108/v0001/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/okla/08-09/video/m-footbl/02feb/20090204_signing_day_segment6.wmv&school=okla&

Auston English didn't play in Kansas so how did he tear your team up in football? Auton English

You may be thinking of Eric or Alan English who played at Augusta and were pretty good football players. Both played at Bethany and were KCAC Honorable Mention Team Selections. They had a brother named Austin who I believe graduated last year but I don't think he was quite as good of athlete.

Alan also was a decent wrestler taking 5th in the 4A heavyweight division.
2002 4A 275

How good was Jaydan? How did he do at State before going to Conway this year?

I know that he was a Kid's State Champion in 2004.

Here are the placers that year! (Notice the 6th place wrestler)

165:
1st Jaydan Bird Northwest Grizzlies
2nd Augustus Allen Elk County
3rd Josh Sanches Johnson Co. Renegades
4th Carson Wood Baldwin
5th Layton Everhart Gypsum Valley
6th B. J. Finney Clearwater

Eric:

Not to take anything away from Jaydan on his 2004 Kids State championship, because that was a great championship for the young seventh grader in 2004 but I also have to point out that B.J. Finney was only a sixth grader that year and he has grown a lot and gotten considerably stronger since then.

Here are some more recent high school performances of Jaydan Bird that show what potential he had as a wrestler. He no doubt would have deservely been at the top or very near the top of Chief's All Class list at either 215 or 285 list this year if he had continued to wrestle after his sophomore year.

His freshman year was extremely impressive for a young 189 wrestler. Notice this year not only the quality of the names that surrounded him in the final state standings but also notice that the other placers were four seniors and one junior. It is very tough for a 13 to 14 year old freshman of this size to grapple against older 17 to 18 year kids. Strength is such a major factor in these weight classes and there is normally a tremendous strength difference between a freshman and a senior. Jaydan must have been one stud freshman to have accomplished this and the amazing thing is that he was following in the footsteps of Atticus Disney of the same school who was winning his first state championship that year as a 215 sophomore. I believe Atticus as a freshman the previous year took third in 215 as a freshmen.

2006 4A 189 State Championship

1st--- Jesse Strawn Holton (12)
2nd--- Chris Sutton-Kearn Concordia (12)
3rd--- Josh Marrs Clay Center (12)
4th--- JAYDAN BIRD Andover Central (9) Freshmen record 26-12
5th--- Jake Clark Buhler (12)
6th--- Josiah Goodley Goodland (11)


Jaydan improves his state place as a sophomore and his record as he moves up to the 215 weight class in his final year of high school wrestling 2007. Again notice the quality wrestlers that this young sophomore was keeping company with.

4A State 2007 215

1st--- Jake Kober Santa Fe Trail
2nd--- Matt James Clay Center
3rd--- JAYDAN BIRD Andover Central record (31-3) sophomore year (Bird won 3rd place match by Fall at 3:25)
4th--- TJ Hawkins Goodland
5th--- Nick Kriss Colby
6th--- Kelly Johansen Hiawatha

I never saw Jaydan wrestle. He was always just a little heavier than my son as a youth wrestler. Obviously though from his youth and high school record, Jaydan Bird was a very good wrestler and he would have been one of our top senior wrestlers this year if he had continued to wrestle as a junior and senior.

Jaydan was the real deal on the mat...no question. He wrestled kids with us and he was one BIG boy. We commented several times that he was bigger each year then Jarrett ever was....

Ms. Jenni

Actually, I was thinkiing of Austin English, who played at Canadian Texas, who never wrestled to the best of my knowledge. Canadian Texas is closer to us than the Wichita area by about an hour and a half or so, I would guess. Trust me Ricky, I know my Sooner football. I think he played an outside backer instead of a defensive end in high school, and the kid could run. Jaydan Bird was a pretty good kid as well on the mats.

jayden is doing great at ou.he will not be a defensive end.he is a stud linebacker and can play inside or out.he is already moving up the depth chart amd is currently number 2.the kid can play and he will play early on.i talk to jayden on a regular basis and he loves it.